Producing the Fruit of the Righteousness of Christ

⁹And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:9-11

If we only read Philippians 1:9-11, we would not understand fully what Paul is saying about the righteousness of Christ.  In fact, the entire Epistle to the Philippians points to the righteousness of Christ.  If we are to produce the fruit of Christ’s righteousness, we must understand what the fruit is, or otherwise we would not produce anything.  Now, since this theme is one of the most difficult in the Reformed theology, I want your undivided attention.  In the following, I shall disperse to you a high level theological thinking that I do hope and pray we all may have and hold dearly in our heart.

Allow me at this moment to disclose to you the problem of the church in Philippi, which prompted Paul to write this epistle.  One of the main symptomatic problems in Philippi was envy and rivalry or competition.  In Philippians 1:15-17, Paul writes:

¹⁵ Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. ¹⁶ The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷ The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

Those people were envious of Paul.  They saw Paul as their competitor.  Thus their gospel preaching was motivated by their desire to drown Paul.  The implication was then that there was a dissension among the believers in Philippi.  Because of the dissension, Paul writes them an exhortation:

¹So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 2:1-5)

This is where Paul then appeals to Christ’s fruit of righteousness:

⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  (Philippians 2:6-8)

I shall come back here later, because this famous passage is at the heart of Paul’s argument and exhortation to the Philippians.  But, for now, let us proceed deeper into the problem of the church in Philippi.

            The envy and rivalry were rooted in the wrong motive and practical belief.  Their theology might be alright, but their motive and practical belief were the main reason of the dissension among believers, and because of that Paul writes them a warning:

² Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.  (Philippians 3:2)

What infiltrated the church was the motive to get rid of Paul and the practical belief in the things of the flesh, which in in this case the confidence in the circumcision and the obedience to the Law of Moses.  If we are to categorize those who put confidence in the flesh in Paul’s time, it was the people who were still holding on to Judaism.  These people might proclaim the right Jesus and all, as could be seen in Philippians 1:12-18, however they put so much emphasis on the glory of the flesh and all its earthly achievements.  This problem became the main content of their dissension.  They did not have the same mind.  They judged people based on the achievements in the flesh.  Paul, who was in Judaism himself, a very devout Pharisee prior to his repentance, has to speak strongly:

³ For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— ⁴ though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.  (Philippians 3:3-6)

If Paul were to use his achievements in the flesh as points for judgment as he describes in verse 5-6, his ”rivals” would be left in the dust.

            This is not something we can underestimate.  The envy and rivalry are real in the ministry.  Even today we see pastors compete with one another on things of the flesh.  In this 21^st century we see how the sin of those people in Philippi being repeated over and over again in the modern churches.  Pastors compete with each other over who could do better in ministry.  And how they compare notes?  By arguing: 1) who has more members, 2) by whose church building is grander, 3) by how rich and successful they have become as a religious leader, 4) by how their members adore them, 5) by how big their church is, 6) by how much the church asset is valued, 7) by how many good things they have done, and so on and so forth.

Another kind of competition is also brewing among pastors when they show: 1) who put more hours in the ministry, 2) who got sick more in doing ministry, 3) who has preached more often, 4) who has preached to more people, 5) who has gone to more remote areas, 6) who has even neglected their families over ministry, 7) who has been hated more and attacked more by the heathens or by those who hate the Lord, 8) who suffers more when doing ministry, and the list goes on.

Brothers and sisters, isn’t such competition basically the same thing as those people who envied Paul?  Isn’t it basically the same with those who saw Paul as their rival or competitor in ministry?  So in the same way, they all boast in the flesh.  Their faith is not in Jesus Christ.  Their faith is in the flesh!

Now, to all of God’s servants, be it pastors, or elders, or deacons, or committee leaders, or church activists, pay careful attention to what Paul says in Philippians 3:7-11 if you truly desire to produce the fruit of Christ’s righteousness:

⁷ But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 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— ¹⁰ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

All of his achievements in the flesh, he counts as rubbish.  Though those achievements may get people to admire him, or get him a seat of honor, or lead him to wealth, power, and fame, Paul says bluntly that they are a loss.  For Paul, all those achievements and all the efforts he put into achieving them are a waste.  All for the sake of Christ.

            Brothers and sisters, all the achievements in the flesh, the bigger church, the increasing number of church members, the large sum of offerings, or even the numbers of people preached to, the size of the crusades, the numbers of illnesses acquired when serving the Lord, and many more like that, are not the fruit of the righteousness of Christ.  Why then are you chasing after that?  Why are churches, Christian institutions, individual Christians, chase after the wind, or what Paul calls as garbage?

            Paul is drawing the attention of the Philippians to him, who has every reason to put his confidence in the flesh, but that he throws all those achievements in the flesh into the trash bin.  And in turn he is pointing the Philippians toward something else.  He wants them to know there is something much more valuable than all the grand achievements he had acquired in being a prominent leader of the elite religious group in Israel.  And that something has rendered all his achievements in Judaism nothing, rubbish, garbage.  That something is Christ Jesus.

            Paul says a statement that not many understand, even Christians often find it difficult to grasp this statement.  This is Paul’s statement:

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.

Heed carefully what Paul says in verse 9: “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.”  Why doesn’t Paul want to have a righteousness of his own based on doing the law?  Why does Paul want the righteousness of Christ that he accepts through faith?  James gives us a hint to this matter in James 2:10:

¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

Now, who in this fallen state can perfectly keep the whole law?  Paul knows the answer:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

¹¹ no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

¹³ “Their throat is an open grave;

they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

¹⁴ “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶ in their paths are ruin and misery,

¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.”

¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

                                    Romans 3:10-18

Yes, no one is righteous!  Even those who work so hard trying to keep the law is not righteous.  Not even Paul is blameless in keeping the law.  Even though he says: “as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”  It is because he is blameless only in doing the law according to the interpretation of the Judaism, which is flawed in many respects.  Paul is not blameless in keeping the law according to God’s interpretation.  Yes, Paul persecuted the church!  That is his greatest sin!  The only one that is blameless in keeping the law of God in all its truth and righteousness is Christ Jesus.  Thus, nobody could be saved by keeping the law, because none keeps the law according to God’s interpretation perfectly.  This is why Paul does not want his own righteousness, but he wants the righteousness of Christ through faith.

            In his book “How Can I Be Right With God?” R. C. Sproul explains the twofold imputations that happen on the cross of Christ:

All of our sin was transferred to His account, and so the sin moved from us to Him; in God’s sight, Christ was covered with our sins. Our sins are imputed to Christ; He suffered the real punishment of God’s wrath and justice for our sins. But this is only half of the transaction—it’s not enough for our unrighteousness to be transferred to Jesus’ account. Christ took the penalty for our sin, but we still have sin in our lives.  ...  … the metaphor that Scripture uses is a covering—a cloak is put over our sin. Our sin is covered by the righteousness of Christ, the merit that He earned by His perfectly obedient life. When God looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Christ; the Bible says Christ is “our righteousness” (Jer. 33:16). The ground or basis on which we are declared just by God is the justice, righteousness, or merit of Christ.^[1]

If Paul wants and needs the righteousness of Christ so badly, how much more we who are not as good as Paul, humanly speaking?  Paul’s understanding of this mystery is profound.  For without the righteousness of Christ, he can’t enter the Lord’s sanctuary and dwell with Him forever.  Without the righteousness of Christ, Paul wouldn’t gain resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:11).

            This is the time I come back to the famous passage of Philippians 2:6-8 that becomes the main thrust of the entire argument concerning the righteousness of Christ:

⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Paul instructed the Philippians to have the same mind, to be humble, just like Jesus Christ humbling Himself by becoming a man, even though He is God.  There is no argument greater than this.  The Philippians can’t escape this super powerful virtuous example that Jesus Himself has displayed.  If the Holy God can humble Himself in such a dramatic way in order to bey the Father and serve humans, we who are humans and who are already at the same level with one another definitely can be humble toward each other.  Jesus did that in His great love to the Father and to all of us, His people.  Therefore: No envy!  No rivalry!  No competition!  No boasting in the flesh!

            Brothers and sisters, let me sum up to you the meaning of producing the fruit of the righteousness of Christ, which is producing the love of Christ by humbling ourselves toward each other and serve one another.  In John 13:34-35 Jesus says:

³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Let me tell you about my wife’s grandma.  Bobo’s family business was milk factory.  It was a traditional milk factory.  A long time ago when she was still strong, Bobo would wake up early in the morning.  For Bobo, early morning was 3 am.  She would prepare milk for all the pastors she knew in Malang city.  And she knew a lot of pastors.  She sent those milk to each pastor without asking for pay.  She knew that pastors’ salary would not be able to afford milk every day.  She did that every single day, until she could not do it anymore.  The family did not know what she did.  She did not boast about what she did.  She never broadcasted it.  Yet she faithfully did it because she cared for the pastors so very much.  If it was not love, then what was that?  Then Bobo died.  To the family’s surprise, so many people came to her funeral.  It turned out, all of the pastors, the pastors’ families, the pastors’ kids, they all came to pay respect to Bobo.  That’s when the family learned about what she did while she lived.  These pastors and their families were very thankful for Bobo’s silent care and love throughout the years every single day.  Even though it was silent, yet it was so loud and powerful in the hearts of those who were benefited by her.  It eventually became louder as her gracious act was known.

            Brothers and sisters, no need to boast about your achievements in the flesh, even your ministerial achievements.  But continue to produce the fruit of the righteousness of Christ, which is love through humbling ourselves to serve one another.  Just like Jesus voluntarily came down from heaven and assumed the human form so that we could be saved and be benefited by His perfect righteousness, and thus we may live eternally with God, we too must exhibit such quality of Christ because His righteousness has been imputed in us.  Listen again to our passage.  Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, prays a wonderful prayer, for the Philippians, and also for us today:

⁹And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:9-11

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^[1] R. C. Sproul, How Can I Be Right with God?, First edition, vol. 26, The Crucial Questions Series (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust: A Division of Ligonier Ministries, 2017), 29–30.