Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, (6) who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, (7) but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (9) Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, (10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, (11) and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The letter to the Philippians was written by the apostle Paul during the time he was in chains in Rome. Our verses today are profoundly Christological – written not to refute heresy or error but to give a solid theological understanding of Christ Jesus who is the example of supreme humility and love. The Bible is silent on self esteem – to grow in humility we must understand the incarnation and death of Christ.

Christ voluntarily took on human nature and entered time and space to rescue from God’s judgment people who did not deserve it. Jesus is not a created being but is true God. He added human nature to divine nature but did not cease to be God. His human nature was without sin. His human body was subject to human ailments, aging and death – He was human in every observable way. Christ Jesus didn’t surrender any attribute of deity; He did not cease to be God when He took on the nature of man.

All of the Bible is Christological and the center of all doctrine is not Bethlehem but Calvary. All of salvation history points to this. Man was alienated from God because of sin and atonement was necessary – this was impossible for man to accomplish. We are given Christ, true God and true man and his sacrifice of atonement and in faith in His sacrifice man is saved. Christ was raised up from the dead to the height of exaltation and every knee shall bow and every man will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. In Him our sins are are no longer remembered.

So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (9) But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (10) And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (11) But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

The letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul to the Christians in Rome. In the verses we study today the theme is the secure salvation of believers and all of chapter 8 is a series of arguments in support of the unmerited and unchanging love of God in Jesus Christ. Those whose minds are hostile toward God – which man is in his natural state – cannot please God and they have no grace. The natural consequence of this enmity is spiritual death while spiritual awakening is life and peace. In verse 9 Paul adds that the decisive test of true faith/spiritual life is if the Spirit is in us – we can go through the formalities but dwell in the Spirit only by name. But where the Spirit does live His presence will be marked in us and we behave as we believe.
In our bodies already exists the principle of decay. The body will die because of sin but the spirit will live because of righteousness. Our redemption in Christ is perfect but the full benefits of justification are not fully received the moment we believe. We remain subject to pains, sorrows, trials and the necessity of dying. But our spirit in Christ is life – here meaning in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation because in the faithful the work of salvation has already begun; they will have eternal life.
We are either in the flesh (natural state) or in the Spirit and it is evident in the direction of our life; our behavior is the decisive test of character. There is no safety, no holiness, no happiness to those who are not in Christ. The Spirit reconciles us to God and enables us to please Him. Our hearts are changed.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (5) even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (6) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (7) that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast. (10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The letter to the Ephesians was written by the apostle Paul. In our verses today Paul reminds the Christians in Ephesus that the natural state of man is one of condemnation and spiritual death; believers are delivered from that state by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. The design of God is the manifestation of the riches of His grace. By God alone in Christ, by grace alone, are the faithful saved – the gratuitous nature of salvation is the prominent idea of these verses and Paul returns to this truth again and again – that man neither deserves to be saved nor can redeem himself. Time is collapsed here as salvation for the faithful, in measure, is already enjoyed and its continuance is certain by the nature of our union with God.

Salvation is entirely of grace. We are saved by grace; saved in faith and not in works or merit. Even faith is not of ourselves but is the gift of God. Works without ANY qualification are excluded and we are NOT self redeemed but only of Christ. We are God’s workmanship and He and not ourselves has made us what we are. That men are elected/chosen to holiness proves that holiness is not grounds of election – Paul is saying that “created in Christ Jesus for good works” is not the ground on which men are chosen but the good works are the inevitable result of conversion.

My favorite, c.s.Lewis writes in Weight of Glory “And that is enough to raise our thoughts to what may happen when the redeemed soul, beyond all hope and nearly beyond belief, learns at last that she has pleased Him whom she was created to please. There will be no room for vanity then. She will be free from the miserable illusion that it is her doing. With no taint of what we should now call self-approval she will most innocently rejoice in the thing that God has made her to be….”

For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; (23) but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, (24) but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (25) Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

The letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. In chapter one he had been addressing the divisions in the church at Corinth and in the verses we study today, Paul draws attention to one of the chief causes of conflict which was/is two different points of view regarding the gospel. The first lens through which man views the gospel is a secular one which rejects the idea of absolute truth – men think they are in control of their destiny and relativism is king. (How has this advanced the world?) Through the second or biblical lens man sees the gospel as the power of God.

The Jews expected the Messiah would be a great and temporal prince – Christ was lowly in the world’s eyes and His death was shameful and cursed for a deliverer and king. The Greeks (everyone else) laughed at a story of a crucified Savior and despised Paul’s way of telling it. They sought wisdom as cultivated and “sophisticated” men of learning and would not accept the plain doctrine of the cross. But man does not know God by human wisdom as that exalts man. Not just the message of the gospel was rejected but also the manner of preaching. Paul was not eloquent and God chose unlikely men – not of learning or authority or wealth or power – to carry the message to the world. God does not seek as man seeks.

Christ is to the faithful wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption; all we need or can desire. Christ is God’s will. Man is humbled and God is glorified by the whole scheme and experience has shown the insufficiency of human wisdom – left alone man is unable to attain any saving knowledge of God. Christ is the power of God and those called not only see but experience this. The gospel does infinitely more than human wisdom could ever conceive much less accomplish. If men don’t believe the fault is not in the doctrine taught or the mode in which it is taught but in the objector.

What then shall we say to these things? if God is for us, who can be against us? (32) He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (33) Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. (34) Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

The towering letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul. The verses we study today are immediately preceded by Paul assuring us that God is sovereign and all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose; those elect who at a certain point are called and justified. This process is secure because it isn’t about us but about Jesus Christ being glorified as God’s purpose. God is not neutral and if we are NOT in Christ we are under God’s wrath and headed for eternal judgment. Nothing of salvation comes from our own “good works” but only in Christ’s redemptive act.

God’s sovereignty in saving us demands a response of worship and submission – and means the faithful must evaluate all opposition and difficulties in light of God’s Grace. God has already done the greatest thing for us in the sacrifice of His Son and it follows He will freely give us all things for a holy life. Christ’s death was not a humanely caused tragedy but a divine solution to our sin and guilt. God’s answer for guilt does not lie in us but with God and Christ alone. In verse 32 we are told that Christ was delivered up for us all and “us all” in context means those who God foreknew, predestined, called, justified in Christ and will finally glorify – those, God is for.

There is nothing in us to deserve being justified. Jesus paid the penalty we deserved. Our justification is rooted in God’s sovereign election. Therefore, if God is for us, who can be against us? Indeed.