Bible Questions Answered:
“...the bible says Paul
believed he had to work at making resurrection possible. This he
earned....”
Scully/ Lisburn, United Kingdom
(Northern Ireland)
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
Philippians 3:10,11 KJV
10 That I may
know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of
His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death;
11 If by any
means I might
attain* unto the
resurrection of the dead.
*Attain-Greek:Katantao
(Kat-an-tah-o): Arrive
at, attain, come.
Philippians 3:10,11 NLT
10 I want to know Christ and
experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to
suffer with Him, sharing in His death,
11 so that one way or another I
will experience the resurrection from the dead!
Let us parse this
verse from the Apostle.
Philippians 3:10,11 NLT
10 I want ..
to know Christ and
experience the mighty power that
raised Him from the dead. I want
to suffer with Him,
sharing in His death,
11 so that one way or another I
will experience the resurrection from the dead!
First of all, did
the Apostle believe in, Grace, Salvation, or Resurrection by works? Something that had to be earned?
Philippians 3:9
NLT
And become one
with Him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying
the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For
God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith.
Did the Apostle
Paul, believe in “earned, grace, salvation, or resurrection by
works? Absolutely, positively not! How do we know, why, he
plainly tells us so!
Romans 3:20-24
KJV (Apostle Paul)
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law
there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the
knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the
prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God
which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that
believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Galatians
2:16,17 KJV (Apostle Paul)
16 Knowing that
a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of
Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that
we might be justified by the faith of Christ,
and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law
shall no flesh be justified.
17 But if, while we seek to be
justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is
therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
Ephesians 2:8,9
KJV (Apostle Paul)
8 For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is The Gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man
should boast.
Philippians 3:3
NLT (Apostle Paul)
For we who worship by The Spirit Of
God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ
Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort,
Titus 3:5-7 KJV
(Apostle Paul)
5 Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by
the washing of regeneration, and renewing of The Holy Ghost;
6 Which He shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior;
7 That being justified by His
grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal
life.
Everything that we
as Christians receive, we receive by faith, through the grace and
mercy of our living, loving God.
Philippians 3:10,11 NLT
10 I want ..
to know Christ and
experience the mighty power that
raised Him from the dead. I want
to suffer with Him,
sharing in His death,
11 so that one way or another I
will experience the resurrection from the dead!
The theme of Paul's remarks is that above all things, he wished to
know Christ, to experience His power, to suffer with Him, sharing in
His death.
Not, to “earn,” God's grace, salvation or resurrection, but to be
like Him, in holiness.
What Paul once thought as of great value in his life, now has become
a determent to knowing God.
Philippians
3:7-9 NLT
7 I once thought these things (keeping the Mosaic law) were
valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ
has done.
8 Yes,
everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded
everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain
Christ
9 and become
one with Him..."
Time and time again, the Apostle stated that what we receive from God
are His Gifts (5- “Gifts of God”/ Romans 6:23/ I Corinthians 7:7/
Ephesians 2:8/ II timothy 1:6)
Paul experienced The Power Of God, in and flowing through his life as
he ministered to others. And he chose the way of the cross, that of
disdaining anything that was not the risen Lord of glory, this he did
unto death.
Matthew 16:24
KJV
Then said Jesus
unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny
Himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
Paul's one goal, was to serve and be like the precious Savior who had
called him.
Philippians
3:12-14 NLT
12 I don’t
mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have
already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection
for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
13 No, dear
brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one
thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press
on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize
for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Dear friend, is that you goal?
