SINCERE YET SO WRONG

 

At the end of World War I, General Pershing sent word to the troops in Europe announcing a victory parade through the streets of Paris. There were two requirements for the soldiers to qualify to march in the parade: They had to have a good record; and, they had to be at least 186 centimeters tall. Word came to one company of American soldiers and the excitement built about how great it would be to march in that victory parade.

Being Americans, no one knew for sure just how tall 186 centimeters was. But the men began comparing themselves, lining up back to back to see who was the tallest. The taller men in the company were ribbing the shorter ones, “Too bad for you, Shorty! We’ll think of you when we’re in Paris!”Then the officer came to find out if there were any candidates for the parade. He put the mark on the wall at 186 centimeters.

Some men took one look at the mark and walked away, realizing that they weren’t even close. Others tried, but fell short by a small amount. Finally, the tallest man in the troop stood up to the mark and squared his shoulders. But he discovered that he was a quarter of an inch shy of the mark (6’ 1/2”). When those men compared themselves with themselves, some thought they were tall enough to qualify. But when the standard came, it proved that none qualified.

Paul was annoyed by a group of false teachers (Judaizers), who infected the churches he founded with a subtle error. While they accepted that a person must trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, they added works to faith in Christ as an essential requirement for salvation. In Philippians 3:2 Paul strongly warns the Philippians to beware of this subtle error.  People are not born again because they have met some prerequisites.

Paul goes on to argue that if ever there was a person who could get to Heaven on the basis of earthly entitlement and credentials, it was him. He can match and excel any human goodness the judaizers want to glory in as the basis for right standing with God. He was once a judaizer like them  and he did not change directions because somehow he could not come up with the necessary credentials for the good works route to Heaven, he had all of them.

In Philippians 3:4-6, Paul puts up his list of credentials. His list contains four inherited and three acquired qualities. Of the inherited qualities, he begins with circumcision, the topmost requirement for Heaven according to the Judaizers. Paul was circumcised on the eighth day in accordance with Jewish law. He was a citizen of Israel, the covenant nation by birth. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, the tribe “beloved of the Lord” (Deut.33:12). He was a pure Hebrew; there was no intermarriage to taint his descent.

In addition to these, Paul had worked hard to acquire a number of things which he thought would commend him to God. He had become a Pharisee, the strictest sect of Judaism. Pharisees sought to obey the Law to an extent of tithing even their table spices (Matt.23:23). Measured by the righteousness of the Law, Paul was blameless. He kept the Law and the Jewish traditions perfectly.

By human standard, if anyone deserved Heaven it was a Pharisee. But one day Jesus made a surprising statement, he said “I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of Heaven” (Matt 5:20). The Pharisees were devoutly sincere in their religious convictions, but they had missed the truth (John 14:6). One may be devoutly sincere in his religious convictions and at the same time be sincerely wrong.

To a Jew, zeal was the greatest quality in religious life. As a Pharisee Paul was a zealous defender of his religion. He went from town to town breathing out threats and slaughtering the disciples of the Lord (Acts 9:1), whom he viewed as a threat to his religion. He had a reputation of protecting Judaism. Paul was not passive, he was completely zealous in the cause that he thought right; but with all his zeal, he was still a lost sinner.

Paul was so sincere yet so wrong. He was using the wrong measuring stick! When he looked at himself and looked at others, Saul considered himself to be righteous. But one day as he journeyed to Damascus, a light shone around him from Heaven and he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. (Acts 9:3-6)

Paul was shocked, the person he thought of as merely human and a heresy leader was now speaking to him from the heavens; and his blinding light made him blind for three days. The person who started the journey breathing fire had to be led by the hand to some obscure disciple house to get help. Surely Jesus was the Lord of Heaven. Saul had been wrong and lost all along. At that point he realized that all the credentials he was counting on them get him to Heaven were only garbage.

So he threw them away and took hold of Christ. Trembling and astonished he said, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” What he saw and heard that day made him realize that Christ was the way to the father. He never forgot the encounter and his change of direction was permanent. He realized that flesh can never achieve the righteousness of Christ. His only hope for salvation was grace.

A man may have "zeal without knowledge," while another may have knowledge without zeal. Paul's had zeal without knowledge. But even though Paul’s zeal was misdirected, we see the personality of a man who never did anything half way. And, once that drive was harnessed in the right direction, he was greatly used for God's kingdom. We should not forget that men with misdirected zeal may hold great potential for the kingdom of God.

Paul was as righteous as a human could attain in his own strength, but still fell short of God's requirement of perfect righteousness. Since Paul's day, people have tried to get to Heaven through many ways. Some think they will get there because they are born in a Christian family. Others think they are will get there because they are baptized. Others put faith in their church attendance or membership.

Paul was sincere, totally committed, zealous, faithful, outwardly righteous and yet utterly wrong and headed straight for Hell! He was using the wrong measuring stick, comparing himself with others and trusting in his own good deeds and dedication as the basis for his eternal destiny. But when he saw the blinding glory of the righteous Lord Jesus Christ, he was undone. He had to write off everything he had been trusting in as a total loss.

It is commonly thought that the way to get into heaven is by being a good person. People compare themselves with others and think, “I’m good enough because I’m better than my neighbors”. They compare themselves with others and figure that they’re in the top half that’s going to make it. The absolute righteousness of God, not just in our outward behavior, but in our thoughts, is the standard we must live up to if we want to get to Heaven by our good works.

We may look at someone who has broken every command and think, “I’m better than he is.” But one broken command is just as effective as all broken commands in plunging someone to destruction. Whoever breaks one commandment is guilty of breaking them all (James 2:10). That’s why Paul concludes “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). We must put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified (Gal 2:16).

No matter how good a person is, they can never be good enough to earn an entry to Heaven if they are not born again. God graciously enabled Paul to discover that before it was too late. The words of one great hymn say “my hope is build on nothing less that Jesus Christ my righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. When he shall come in trumpet sound, oh may I then in him be found, clothed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before his throne”.