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THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL - A GROUP STUDY IN PHIL.3:1-11

All quotations are  from the Living Bible Paraphrase

IMPORTANT NOTE TO GROUP LEADERS: This form of study on the Phil.3:1-11 passage has a simplification in it that you need to be aware of.  For the particular group of people for whom the study was especially  written The Living Bible paraphrase was chosen for its simple language. The main issue for the group was salvation by self-justification or by faith in Christ alone. But the Living Bible (LB) oversimplifies v.9 - please compare it with the verse in the NIV. The LB translation considerably weakens the meaning of the verse by not explaining the reference to 'not having a righteousness of my own..... but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.' (NIV) This righteousness through faith is what is called imputed (or 'credited') righteousness  and is the reckoning or crediting of Christ's righteousness (His perfect life) to the believer on the basis of which God is able to accept us (see Gen.15:6). Some would maintain that imputed righteousness is a forgotten doctrine today, so its omission from this study is not a trivial matter. For further study on this issue please see articles on the Doctrine for Everyone page - particularly Article 1 Part 3. For a group with more experienced or mature members this issue should not be omitted and so the NIV should be used. 

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‘1Whatever happens, dear friends, be glad in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you this and it is good for you to hear it again and again…... 3We Christians glory in what Christ Jesus has done for us and realise that we are helpless to save ourselves.
                    4Yet if anyone had reason to hope that he could save himself, it would be I. If others could be saved by what they are, certainly I could! 5For I went through the Jewish initiation ceremony when I was eight days old, having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish home that was a branch of the old original Benjamin family. So I was a real Jew if ever there was one! What’s more, I was a member of the Pharisees who demand the strictest obedience to every Jewish law and custom. 6And sincere? Yes, so much that I greatly persecuted the church; and I tried to obey every Jewish rule and regulation right down to the very last point. 
                    7But all these that I once thought very worthwhile - now I’ve thrown then all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone. 8Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have put aside all else, counting it worth less than nothing, in order that I can have Christ, 9and become one with him, no longer counting on being saved by being good enough or by obeying God’s laws, but by trusting Christ to save me; for God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith - counting on Christ alone. 10Now I have given up everything else - I have found it to be the only way to really know Christ and to experience the mighty power that brought him back to life again, and to find out what it means to suffer and to die with him. 11So, what ever it takes, I will be one who lives in the fresh newness of life of those who are alive from the dead.’ [Phil.3:1-11]

‘For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord’ [Roms.6:23]

‘24Now God says he will accept us and acquit us - declare us “not guilty”- if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. 25For God sent Christ Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to end all God’s anger against us.’ [Roms.3:24,25] 

1. Why can Christians be ‘glad in the Lord’ (v.1) according to v.3? 

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2. List the 6 things Paul might have claimed as reasons why God should accept him… and consider the equivalents for us

1. …………………………........................                                    2.………….…………………….

3.……………….……….................….......                                    4.………………………………..

5……………………….................…….....                                    6………………………………..

3. So on what basis does God accept Paul - and us? See vs.7,10 and Roms.3:24

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4. What is it that Christ’s death has saved us from? See Roms.3:25

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5. Why does Paul need to ‘count’ [ie rely] on Christ alone - what for?

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6. What does Paul mean by ‘knowing Christ’ - vs.8,10?

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7. What great change does Paul refer to in v.11 that is true of all who put their faith in Christ?

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