The Marks of Christian Maturity | Philippians 3

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In this sermon, we explore the essential marks of a mature Christian as laid out in Philippians chapter 3. Before diving into Philippians, we take a moment to reflect on the foundational truth of our salvation in Christ, remembering that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works, as taught in Ephesians 2.

The sermon focuses on the way a mature Christian thinks, drawing directly from Philippians 3:15: "Let those of us who are mature think this way".

The speaker identifies three core marks of a mature Christian based on the passage:

• 1. The mature Christian relinquishes all self-righteousness.

  
  

  • This is the way of thinking that puts no confidence in the flesh or our own ability to appease or earn favor with God.

    
    

  • Paul, despite his impressive religious credentials (circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, a Pharisee, blameless under the Law), counted all of it as loss and rubbish for the sake of knowing Christ.

    
    

  • Religious acts like Bible reading, serving, and giving are good and should be part of a follower's life, but they do not make us right with Jesus or make God love us more.

    
    

• 2. The mature Christian believes that their righteousness comes through Christ alone.

  
  

  • Our righteousness, or right standing before God, comes through imputed righteousness by way of faith in Christ alone, not by our works.

    
    

  • This belief means that our regular wrestling with sin, doubts, and fears does not remove our right standing with God, as we have been given all of Christ.

    
    

  • Christian maturity is a growing understanding that there is no greater love God can show us than what has already been given in Christ.

    
    

• 3. The mature Christian is primarily motivated by the world to come.

  
  

  • We press on toward the goal of the "upward call of God in Christ Jesus," forgetting our former self-righteousness and sinful pursuits.

    
    

  • Followers of Christ are compared to those who walk as "enemies of the cross," whose minds are set on earthly things, whose god is their belly, and whose end is destruction.

    
    

  • By contrast, our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our bodies to be like His glorious body.

    
    

A key takeaway is that the growth process takes a lifetime—even Paul admitted, "Not that I have already attained it or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own".

Ultimately, a key mark of Christian maturity is a growing and deepening faith in Christ. This faith transforms our engagement with spiritual disciplines: we read the Bible to know the God who loves us, we pray because we truly believe He hears us, and we serve passionately because we have tasted His goodness.

Scripture References:

• Philippians Chapter 3

• Ephesians Chapter 2

• Galatians 2