Philippians – righteousness
14/01/23 06:42
Paul’s prayer for the Philippians is that they will be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. For himself he has counted loss what was gain to him so that he may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of his own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
This letter is not doctrinal but hortatory. Paul’s intention is not to explain what is righteousness. He compares one kind of life with another kind of life and in order to advance in the one he counts the other rubbish. It is either or. The two types are antagonistic. They cannot go together. That being clear, the text still raises a few questions, both about the righteousness Paul prays for and the righteousness he hopes to be found having himself.
In Paul’s prayer for the Philippians we may ask if ‘the fruit’ is produced by righteousness or that righteousness itself is the fruit. From the Greek grammer it can be concluded unambiguously that Paul means the fruit consisting of righteousness. So Paul’s concern here is righteous behaviour. Therefore we should not be tempted to look any further than that. To go from here into ‘the doctrine of justification’ will cause us to miss the point.
In his statement of counting righteousness that comes from the law as rubbish, that he may be found in Christ, having righteousness which comes through faith in Christ, Paul again speaks about behaviour in essence, but rooted in his new found relationship with God: to be found in Christ, having a special kind of righteousness, a righteousness that reflects Christ Himself. It is righteousness that can be seen, that is evidently present in Paul’s life. However, this kind of righteousness cannot be compared with law observance. It is the righteousness from God that is based on faith in Christ expressed in lifestyle and character. And if we want to know how that kind of righteousness looks like, we ought to look at Christ Jesus Himself, the One Who went the way of the cross.
Jesus says, ‘For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven’ (Matth. 5:20).
This letter is not doctrinal but hortatory. Paul’s intention is not to explain what is righteousness. He compares one kind of life with another kind of life and in order to advance in the one he counts the other rubbish. It is either or. The two types are antagonistic. They cannot go together. That being clear, the text still raises a few questions, both about the righteousness Paul prays for and the righteousness he hopes to be found having himself.
In Paul’s prayer for the Philippians we may ask if ‘the fruit’ is produced by righteousness or that righteousness itself is the fruit. From the Greek grammer it can be concluded unambiguously that Paul means the fruit consisting of righteousness. So Paul’s concern here is righteous behaviour. Therefore we should not be tempted to look any further than that. To go from here into ‘the doctrine of justification’ will cause us to miss the point.
In his statement of counting righteousness that comes from the law as rubbish, that he may be found in Christ, having righteousness which comes through faith in Christ, Paul again speaks about behaviour in essence, but rooted in his new found relationship with God: to be found in Christ, having a special kind of righteousness, a righteousness that reflects Christ Himself. It is righteousness that can be seen, that is evidently present in Paul’s life. However, this kind of righteousness cannot be compared with law observance. It is the righteousness from God that is based on faith in Christ expressed in lifestyle and character. And if we want to know how that kind of righteousness looks like, we ought to look at Christ Jesus Himself, the One Who went the way of the cross.
Jesus says, ‘For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven’ (Matth. 5:20).
