Q2. The Obstacle of Pride

[Sank T Monius]

Philippians 3:2-6
Q). Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree?
A). Paul isn't merely neutral towards his religious credentials because they are empty in themselves. They don't satisfy the heart. And the pride they represent stands in the way of grasping something much more valuable -- knowing Christ intimately.
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Q). Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle?
A). When Paul weighs the value of knowing Christ vs. his religious credentials, his religious credentials tip the scale as "rubbish" (NIV, NRSV) or "dung" (KJV). The Greek noun skubalon means "dung, muck," both as excrement and food gone bad. To return to his former place is absolutely abhorrent to Paul.
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Q). In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith?
A). There is a certain arrogance in being affiliated with a certain denomination which can be an impediment to developing a genuine relationship with Jesus.

[WinstonY]

Q2. (3:2-6) Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree? Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith? 

 

There are probably at least three reasons why Paul is not neutral about his pedigree.

1) Paul is never neutral, he is either for or against. Take the case of putting self ahead of Christ, Paul  would never tolerate this in his help. John mark was sacked from Paul's side because he had put his own interests first and quit the missionary journey. Paul was very upset and angry. Paul could not be neutral. Paul wishes to die for Christ as this would be gain. 

 

2) and his heritage as a pharisee is seen as nothing as it to was not work for Christ. Paul is now in contempt of the pharisee position that one can merit heaven's doors by their good deeds and their works when it is, as Paul knows, only by the grace of God and belief in Jesus Christ.

 

3) Also, if Paul does not attack his background and clearly show his contempt than others will attack him through his pedigree. Paul most clearly distance himself from his old life in order to have success in his new vocation. 

 

 

A religious background can carry baggage that makes it hard to accept Jesus as Lord.

[Aleezah]

1. (3:2-6) Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree? Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith?

 

• 1.  First, because they [Jewish 613 laws and traditions] are empty in themselves. They don't satisfy the heart. Second, the pride they represent stands in the way of grasping something much more valuable -- knowing Christ intimately. When you weigh the value of one vs. the other, his religious credentials tip the scale as "rubbish" (NIV, NRSV) or "dung" (KJV). The Greek noun skubalon means "dung, muck," both as excrement and food gone bad.  2.  Judaism is not obsolete; however, for Paul it became a noose around his neck because he could not use it to bring people to Christ.  He was a new creature in Christ old things were passed away and all things created new [1 Cor. 5:17] 3.  There is a large percentage of anti-Christ in the world today.  Since Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith [Heb. 12:2]; without knowledge of Him, that will be an impediment to one’s faith. 

[Old Jerry]

Paul isn’t merely neutral about his religious pedigree because he know that it isn’t worth anything compared to what Jesus Christ has done for him. He know that he can’t save himself and that it takes Christ to do that. That is the reason that he called it dung or obstacle because it would get in the way of knowing the Savior.

We have also been given beliefs that may not save us. If our religion gets in the way of knowing the Savior then we need to get rid of those beliefs as well.

[DebLam3teach]

Paul was adamant about his reliance on Christ's righteousness to be acceptable to God.  With his Jewish heritage and rabbitical training, he could have easily relied on those things to give credibility to his walk with God.  Instead, he chose to follow Christ and His redemption instead.  The things in my religious background that could be an impediment to my faith is:  coming to Christ at an early age; early opportunites to minister the Gospel; going to a Christian college; homeschooling for eleven years. None of those things make me more spiritual than any one else. 

[charisbarak]

He couldn't be neutral about it--it wasn't about Paul it was about Jesus and any thing that took the place of the glory of God was to be treated as foul. He wanted to totally rely on God, not on his credentials. Especially when witnessing--making you holier than thou.....

[blezed]

Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree? Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith?          

Paul isn't merely neutral about his religious pedigree because he recognizes that they are empty themselves and don't satisfy the heart.  It interferes with knowing Christ intimately.   Paul considers it worthless when compared with knowing God.  What he rejects is the false assumption that one can earn righteous standing before God by one's credentials and a well-lived life.  My religious background could be an impediment to my faith by feeling that my religion/denomination is the only true religion/denomination. 

[Nikka]

Compared to the grace of God, everything in this world is meaningless.

We seem to forget that this world belongs to God. He created us because He loved us and wanted us, everything else is rubbish.

 

Compared to others, my upbringing was good, filled with the love of God and servitude to our "neighbor". But did I understand it then? NO.

It is during our journey that we see the grace of God and revel in it more and more.

 

Nothing is important, except God.

 

To live is Christ, to die is gain! (Phil.1:21)

 

Paul isn't boasting about his past, and ride on these coat-tails. He makes us understand that our past doesn't mean anything; today is what counts, how we live and how we can glorify God

[hanks]

Q2. (3:2-6) 

Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree? 

Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? 

In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith?

He is warning the Philippians against the Judaizers. 

These false teachers who sought to put Christians under the laws of Judaism and taught that righteousness could be attained by keeping the Jewish laws and rituals.

He lists his religious pedigree to show that his credentials are the best of the best, yet they are worth nothing in God’s eyes. 

Human achievement, no matter how impressive, cannot earn our salvation or eternal life with our Lord. 

Ancestry, nationality, culture, education, religion, or any personal accomplishments can be a hindrance to our faith. 

In order to gain Christ, we might have to turn our backs on the things we prize most highly. 

 

[forgivenforgivenforgiven]

Shalom to the Saints by Faith in Messiah Yahshua.

GREETINGS:

1.Paul saw his religious pedigree as empty it didn't satisfy his heart. Pride was in the religion he came out of. That is why he considered his religion Rubbish it could not be compared to the Faith he had in Messiah.

2. He considers it an obstacle because it would hold him back in following the truth and becoming Messiah like. His religion was earning ones credentials to stand before Yahweh. He rejected that teaching.

3. Religion in most part causes one to have only head knowledge with no change in ones life in becoming Messiah like. Paul's faith in Messiah was heart knowledge that meant he was a doer of the Word. Head knowledge is being religious: being a hearer of the Word, deceiving their own selves. It was hypocrisy.

Being religious causes one to be prideful, arrogant, and full of themselves. That cannot be present when following Messiah Yahshua. When the people needed healing they went to Him and He healed them. He didn't ask them what church they belonged to or what doctrine did they believe?

He wasn't interested in religion He gave them truth. He said:

"Go and sin no more, your Faith has made you whole."

"Go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."

"Your Faith has made you whole.

Following Messiah means to, "Walk by Faith not by sight."

In Revelation Yahshua says, "When I return will I find FAITH on the earth?"

HE DIDN'T SAY RELIGION.

Have a blessed week.

With much love in Messiah,

FAITH

[Rose22]

Pauls passion for Christ makes it impossible for Him to remain neutral about His Religious Pedigree.

He firmly believes it is mere waste...what really matters to Him is not living Faith from the ego self ...pride, self richeousness ect..but rather from a Heart turned to Christ by Grace..and a desire to know Him intimately..this is not religion...it is relationship! Which was everything to Paul..He lived the word of God and Gave Glory to God from that place..

He considers it dung, loss and an obstacle..because it's divisive....Paul always trashes any thing that separates us from the love of Christ....Paul was right to do this because all faithful love comes from the heart and not the head!

[ducminh]

Saved by grace through faith in Christ is the new covenant that God has offered to mankind which surpasses the old one that He has made with Abraham, the father of the Jews in the flesh.

 

Heb 8:6  But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

Heb 8:7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

Heb 8:8  For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

Heb 8:9  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

Heb 8:10  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

Heb 8:11  And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

Heb 8:12  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

Heb 8:13  In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

 

The blood of Jesus Christ shed for the forgiveness of sin has taken over the sacrifice of animals in the Mosaic laws.  The commandments of God is now written in the mind and hearts of those who believe in Jesus Christ.  Christ is now the high priest and the advocate for those who are called to the faith.

 

Heb 9:11  But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

Heb 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Heb 9:13  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Heb 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

 

God is now worshiped in spirit and in truth, no more religious rituals can overtake this new allegiance that God has offered to mankind through Jesus Christ.

 

Paul did not deny the privilege of his Jewish origin, but recognised the Mosaic laws is now fulfilled by Christ Jesus, thus the circumcision of the flesh and the sacrificial blood of animals are now nullified.  The new covenant is opened not only to the Jews but to the entire human world.

 

We can see that false doctrines have been introduced by men and created new types of Jew-liked Christians.  We have a multitude Christian clans, each of them are proud of themselves through their religious practices and rituals of their churches.  Most of them deny the perpetual commandments of God, so they can invent their own ways of worship.  They forget that Jesus Christ has never abolished His initial commandments given to mankind.

 

Christians are following their own ways, they do not abide to God’s commandment and His word of truth.  The fruit of the new wave of doctrines that come after the death of the apostles is the multitude of Christian churches.  They are now calling for a new unification, but that is not for upholding God’s laws and His truth; they are trying to rebuild the tower of Babel.  Their actions will fulfil the book of Revelation 13.

[lighthouse2014]

Q2. (3:2-6) Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree? Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith?

Because of Judaizers claim that one must be circumcised and become a Jew to be saved, Paul has told the Philippians that he has more to boast about then they do. Circumcision is putting confidence in the flesh instead of faith in God and the Lord Christ Jesus.

Paul considers all things a loss because he has given up all material, customs and rituals to know Christ intimately.

My original religious back ground was a impediment to my faith because I was taught to in order to get to Christ I had to go through another mediator, example  a saint.   

[van]

Paul was neutral about His religious pedigree and realize that he felt empty though he had riches and was full Jewish. He had a lot of worldly physical things, but he was missing Jesus Christ. That's something I can witness to myself. I had a lot of physical things, good job, good education but my heart still felt empty. I felt that my life wasn't complete. When Jesus came into my heart, wow, that was the answer I was looking! That's when my heart felt complete. Material things didn't matter. The only thing that matter was live my life for Jesus material things wasn't important anymore. Thank you Jesus for coming in my life.

[haar]

Q2. (3:2-6) Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree? Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith?

Paul is proud to be a Jew but he does not now believes that it is anything to him since being born again. He now believes that what matters most is being transformed by rebirth through Jesus which is also applicable to even the the Gentiles. Thus his consideration of his former credentials as dung.

Our religious background can be an impediment when we trust in it for being right with God.

[haar]

Q2. (3:2-6) Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree? Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith?

Paul is proud to be a Jew but he does not now believes that it is anything to him since being born again. He now believes that what matters most is being transformed by rebirth through Jesus which is also applicable to even the the Gentiles. Thus his consideration of his former credentials as dung.

Our religious background can be an impediment when we trust in it for being right with God.

[haar]

Q2. (3:2-6) Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree? Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith?

Paul loves his religious pedigree but believes that his new found Lord Jesus Christ is far more important to him. And that salvation is by faith not mere religious activities.

Religious background can be an impediment if we lean on it as our yard stick for righteupness.

[Commissioned]

Q2. (3:2-6) Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree? Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith?  

 

Paul is neutral about his religious pedigree because in light of that which is eternal it means nothing.  Paul considers it loss, dung and an obstacle because such knowledge and status can stand in the way of one seeking to be humble and seeking to know God, who He is and by the teaching of the Holy Spirit. The obstacle that Paul faced is the same in this age.  If we are not careful and allow the order of the day to influence us we too would fall to the spirit of pride and thus lose a humble standing with God.     ​

[RD35]

Q2. (3:2-6) Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree? Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith?

 

 

First, because they are empty in themselves. They don't satisfy the heart.

Second, the pride they represent stands in the way of grasping something much more valuable -- knowing Christ intimately.

 

Paul considers his religious pedigree loss, dung, an obstacle because when you weigh the value of one vs. the other, his religious credentials tip the scale as "rubbish"  or "dung".

 

My religious background did not allow me to have a relationship with Jesus Christ but was only a list of do's and don'ts and religious duties which were according to it, needed to gain righteousness.  It was more about works and not the victory of Jesus. 

 

[Debra Grant]

Q2. (3:2-6) Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious 

pedigree? Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? In 

what way could your religious background be an impediment to 

your faith?

 

1. Paul considers whatever was to his profit now to be a loss 

for the sake of Christ that he may gain Christ and be found 

secure in him.

 

1. They are empty in themselves. They don't satisfy the heart.The 

pride they represent stands in the way of grasping something 

much more valuable -- knowing Christ intimately.

 

1. Knowing that it is more of serving what God has for his people.

Not giving in to everything the world have.

[Debra Grant]

Q2. (3:2-6) Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious 

pedigree? Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? In 

what way could your religious background be an impediment to 

your faith?

 

1. Paul considers whatever was to his profit now to be a loss 

for the sake of Christ that he may gain Christ and be found 

secure in him.

 

1. They are empty in themselves. They don't satisfy the heart.The 

pride they represent stands in the way of grasping something 

much more valuable -- knowing Christ intimately.

 

1. Knowing that it is more of serving what God has for his people.

Not giving in to everything the world have.

[Stanley Tavaziva]

Q2. (3:2-6) Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree? Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith?

 

It is easy to place more emphasis on human effort than on internal faith, but God values the attitude of our heart above all else. Don’t judge people’s spirituality by their fulfillment of duties or by their level of human activity. And don’t think that you will satisfy God by feverishly doing his work. God notices all you do for him and will reward you for it, but only if it comes as a loving response to his free gift of salvation.

 

At first glance, it looks like Paul is boasting about his achievements. But he is actually doing the opposite, showing that human achievements, no matter how impressive, cannot earn a person salvation and eternal life with God. Paul had impressive credentials: upbringing, nationality, family background, inheritance, orthodoxy, activity, and morality . Paul did not depend on his deeds to please God, because even the most impressive credentials fall short of God’s holy standards.  Credentials, accomplishments, or reputation cannot earn salvation. Salvation comes only through faith in Christ

[brucerobert]

Q2. (3:2-6) Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree? Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle? In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith?

 

Paul was expressing that eventhough he got a good world education; without God he is nothing.  As in John 15:2, the scripture indicates that when we don't bear fruit we are at lost. God want's us to bear fruit and how we do it is by sharing His gospel of Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son.  We are nothing without Him.

 

 

[joey felipe]

Q2. (3:2-6) Why isn't Paul merely neutral about his religious pedigree?

 

Answer: First, because they are empty in themselves. They don't satisfy the heart. Second, the pride they represent stands in the way of grasping something much more valuable -- knowing Christ intimately.

 

Why does he consider it loss, dung, an obstacle?

 

Answer: He consider it loss because literally when Paul decided to follow Jesus he will give-up anything that will make his life easy & convenient and by being Christ disciple he instead will suffer and sacrifice.  

 

In what way could your religious background be an impediment to your faith?

 

Answer: Sometimes my religious background become an impediment to my faith when I question myself why some pagan practices are the same with our christian faith.

[Rod Beenleigh]

His credentials are based on man's standards, so are empty, not satisfying the deep yearnings of the heart,

 

I want to know Christ!! So Paul wanted to discard anything that stood in the way.To know Christ is worth giving up everything.

 

Many years ago I was duped by a religious sect/cult and am now sensitive about the introduction and acceptance of pagan tradition in the church.