Philippians 3:8-9 English Standard Version

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Let us focus on the last line of text here and ponder this issue of dependency.

Paul’s comment of counting all things as loss places him in a position of dependency. He learned this because he came to know Christ as being all he needed to live his life and accomplish his mission.

In the book “The Intercessor” Rees Howell gave up the money he needed for his mission because someone else needed it. He stood on the train platform with nothing more than faith in the promises of God to provide for his needs. The funds he needed arrived in time for his journey from an unexpected source. God kept His promise and that is a clear demonstration of faith in the sufficiency of Christ in the face of an uncertain future because he depended on God’s Word beyond what his eyes could see.

That is an extraordinary case of faith and most of us will not have to face such testing of our faith. However we do face smaller tests of dependency in which our faith can play a role to give us the peace to do what is required of us.

We might not think of faith as an issue of dependency because we have been taught to be self-reliant and to make our own way in the world. That is the world but it is not this life of faith which we enjoy in Christ. We walk by faith in a world that cannot understand faith until they might come to see it because of us and how we react to the stressors we face in this world.

We cannot help those who do not see our acts of faith but to those who ask why we act differently than others in those situations, we have an answer. It is because of who we are in Christ. We have a witness for them about a life changing experience.

Christ makes the difference and we depend on Him and Him alone.

Matthew 22:29 English Standard Version (ESV) But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

There is a line in a movie I remember even though the movie is long forgotten and the context is lost on me. “You are wrong, just be wrong in your wrongness.”

For a Christian nothing hurts more than to be chastised by Christ for being wrong.

Taking a defensive posture with our Lord and trying to rationalize our behavior does not allow our hearts to grow closer to Christ. Just be wrong.

Being told we are wrong by people we respect does not grow us closer to them when the way  it is loosened upon us as judgment. Babes in Christ are not taught to love like God if we do not allow the power of God to administer a measure of grace to less than perfect people.

We are not perfect, we are being perfected. Being in a state of grace does not mean we will always remain babies. We will grow in grace if grace is sown in us properly.

Isaiah 44:24-25 English Standard Version

24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,

25 who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back  and makes their knowledge foolish,

Christ alone is our redeemer, our Savior, our Lord, and He is the Word that changes our hearts.

It is our minds that need correction, not our hearts. Just accept being wrong and look forward to our Lord who is our righteousness because we had none of our own.

Philippians 3:8-9 English Standard Version

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—