Scubula: Counting It All Loss for Christ

In one paragraph

The sermon worked through Philippians 3:2 through 4:3, covering ground from the previous week and pressing further. The preacher's central concern was showing how both religious self-reliance and unchecked personal freedom are ditches on either side of the gospel road, and that Jesus is the answer to both. The passage closed with Paul's plea for two quarreling women to live in harmony, which the...

Read together

1. Philippians 3:2 beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision
2. Philippians 3:3 we are the true circumcision who worship in the spirit of God and take pride only in Christ Jesus
3. Philippians 3:4-6 Paul lists his pedigree: circumcised eighth day, tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of Hebrews, Pharisee, persecutor of the church, blameless under the law
4. Philippians 3:7-8 whatever things were gained to me I counted as loss because of Christ, counting all things as scubula
5. Philippians 3:9 be found in him, not having righteousness of my own from the law but through faith in Christ
6. Philippians 3:10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection
7. Philippians 3:11 the somehow of attaining to the resurrection of the dead as a statement of humility
8. Philippians 3:12-14 not that I have already grasped it; forgetting what lies behind, pressing on toward the goal
9. Philippians 3:15 therefore all who are mature, let us have this attitude
10. Philippians 3:16 keep living by the same standard to which we have attained
11. Philippians 3:17 join in following my example and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us
12. Philippians 3:18-19 enemies of the cross whose god is their appetite, whose glory is in their shame, who have their minds on earthly things
13. Philippians 3:20 our citizenship is in heaven from which we eagerly wait for a savior the Lord Jesus Christ
14. Philippians 3:21 he will transform the body of our lowly condition into conformity with his glorious body
15. Philippians 4:1 my beloved brothers and sisters, my joy and my crown, stand firm in the Lord
16. Philippians 4:2 urging Euodia and Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord
17. Philippians 4:3 true companion help these women who shared Paul's struggle in the gospel, whose names are in the book of life
18. Philippians 4:4-7 rejoice in the Lord always; do not be anxious; the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus
19. Philippians 2:5-11 have this attitude which was in Christ Jesus who humbled himself to death and was highly exalted
20. Philippians 1:6 he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus
21. Ephesians 2:8-9 saved by grace through faith, not of works, so that no one can boast

What was said

• Look back at something you inherited religiously or are proud of doing right, and ask honestly whether you have been trusting that instead of Christ.
• If you have been at odds with another person in the church, pray for them this week without the goal of changing their position, trusting God to reveal what needs to be revealed to each of you.
• Find someone in your congregation who is on a different side of a disagreement and choose to treat your shared citizenship in heaven as more real than whatever divides you.
• Read Philippians 3 and 4 on your own this week so the theological ground the speaker laid is fresh before next Sunday when the series continues.
• Sign up to volunteer with children's ministry, either Sunday school starting September 13 or Awana starting September 14, by scanning the QR code or speaking to Jenny, Amy, or Philip.

Talk about it

1. Paul lists his religious pedigree, things like his tribe, his training, his zeal, and then calls all of it loss compared to knowing Christ. What are some things you have trusted in, religious or otherwise, that you have had to reckon with in a similar way?
2. The preacher talked about growing up thinking the church seven miles down the road could not possibly be saved, and mentioned being part of something called the Merit Baptist Association. Where have you seen the tendency to treat religious effort or affiliation as the thing that puts you right with God?
3. He described two ditches: the legalist who says you must keep the law to be right with God, and the antinomian who says freedom in Christ means anything goes. Which of those two errors do you think is harder for you personally to recognize in yourself, and why?
4. Regarding Euodia and Syntyche, the preacher said Paul urges them to live in harmony but not necessarily in unison, the same song but different notes. Have you been in a situation where a disagreement in a church started pulling people into opposing teams? What helped, or what did not help?
5. The passage says our citizenship is in heaven, and the preacher said that crosses all the geopolitical lines and all the isms. What does it look like in practice for someone to live as though their primary citizenship is in heaven rather than in any earthly camp?