This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, July 28, 1991.

Our scripture tonight begins in Philippians chapter 1, verse 27, and we will be reading through chapter 2, verse 13. Hear the word of God. Only express your citizenship in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.

In no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you and that too from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now here to be in me. If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete, by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let each of you regard one another as more important than himself. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this mind in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do, for his good pleasure. Our Father, we ask of You that we might be given strength by Your Spirit to fight against every bit of laziness within us, that we might strain our nerves and exercise that strength, in fact, that energy which You have granted us in Christ, in order to be attentive to be about Your work. We ask, Lord, for Your forgiveness wherein we have fallen asleep in our pursuit of those things that are right and true. We ask, Lord, that we might be zealous for the things of the kingdom as You stir us up, making us willing by Your Spirit and deed. We do pray with confidence, knowing that You are able to grant to us those things which we ask And we pray our Father in faith, through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

A few messages back, we talked about the Apostle’s anthropology. That is, the Apostle’s doctrine of man. You may recall something of what we said on that occasion. On the one hand, it seems as if the Apostle had a very low view of himself. Yet, on the other hand, it seems that he had a very high view as he looked upon himself in light of Christ, in light of his union with Christ.

Tonight we want to consider another word. It’s one of those big theological terms once more, and this term is soteriology. Soteriology. If you’re taking notes and you’re Wondering how to spell that, you can ask Jonathan after the service. Now that’s s-o-t-e-r, s-o-t-e-r-i-o-l-o-g-y, soteriology. That comes from a Greek term that means savior or savior. refers to salvation itself.

So here we are dealing with the apostles doctrine of salvation. The doctrine of salvation and we will want to look especially as we bring things to a focus by and by. You will want to look at it as we bring things to a focus. We will look at Philippians chapter 2, those verses that had become so important for us. But let me put in front of you something of a basic structure of Paul’s approach, and I think that you will find that this is not extraordinary to Paul, that if you were to look in the Gospels with a discerning eye, if you were to look at the epistle to the Hebrews, at Peter’s letters, In fact, anywhere you may turn in the New Testament, you would find evidences of this approach to the whole question of salvation, the approach which, in fact, the apostle puts before us so powerfully. Now, I might say that there is a dimension to the apostle’s presentation of the doctrine of salvation that grips us grips us indeed.

I mean, he’s the one who’s able to say things like Philippians 1.21, for to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain. the personal element that is intertwined in his doctrine there that is very powerful, very helpful.

You may recall Galatians 2.20, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Well, if you’re not gripped by those verses, I have to judge you’re made of stone, and you’re not really with me here as we’re wading into the matter of Paul’s soteriology, or his doctrine of salvation.

Well, first of all, as you think of the apostles’ doctrine of salvation, I want you to think of the phrase, Christ for us. You can personalize that a bit, be even more specific, Christ for me. Use that as something of a motto. Christ for us. Now, this teaching comes out in a number of places in Paul’s writings. Now, you may recall some of those places on your own. I’ll give you a little help here.

If you were to look, for instance, at 1 Corinthians 15, that’s a marvelous text. I know you realize that. It’s marvelous for many reasons. not least of which is fifteenth chapter first Corinthians is the great resurrection chapter and if you want a little bit of encouragement for your life just pick up your Bible and read that thing from beginning to end and if you’re not floating by the end of it well again you may well be made of stone. Right first Corinthians fifteen but at the outset of that chapter, the Apostle is concerned to set before his readers, or his hearers, the gospel which he considers to be of all importance.

He says, for instance, in verse 3, For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins. There it is. Christ for us, or Christ for me. All right, Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. All right, there’s an encapsulation of the apostles’ doctrine of salvation as it pertains to this fundamental matter of Christ for us. Christ in our place.

Now, there are other places in Paul’s writings where this comes out. In part, it comes out in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. You may just want to turn over to that and note the marvelous statement that the apostle makes in the fifth chapter there as he’s speaking about God’s work in Christ by which we have been reconciled to God. Now, you find that in verse 20 of that fifth chapter in 2 Corinthians, but if you look at verse 21, You have this marvelous declaration, he made him, that is God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf.

There is Christ for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Now the latter part of that statement is going to carry us a little further and a little deeper, but at least there at the outset of that verse you have this rather direct statement concerning the fact that Christ is for us, that he has been set for us as a sacrifice, that by root of him we have had our sins removed, and through him we are reconciled to God.

Marvelous stuff. This is the gospel. This is the stuff for which Paul will himself give his life. You can turn over to Galatians chapter 4. Right at the outset of that letter, you have another statement there in Paul’s salutation. where he’s speaking about the grace and the peace that comes from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 4, “…who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of God our Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” Well, some marvelous statements with regard to this focus in Paul’s doctrine of salvation.

Christ for us, Christ for me. Are you convinced of it? Are you convinced of it yourself? Can you speak as the Apostle does with respect to these matters? Christ on the cross for me, dying there for me, in my place. Christ rising again, that I might live through Him. All right. Simple gospel fare. At least so far, we’re straight on the Apostle’s doctrine of salvation. But I want you to go on now and consider the depths of Paul’s doctrine at this juncture.

For not only is the Apostle concerned about Christ for us, he is also concerned about our relationship to Christ under this heading. Yes, Christ for us, but also Christ in us. Christ for us, but also Christ in us. Now, there is a reciprocal relationship that we must keep in view as we consider this matter of Christ in us, because it’s not going to be just a matter of Christ in us, it’s going to be a matter of us in Christ. So, there’s this union that exists between Christ and his own, and thus, as it pertains to the matter of soteriology, we are moving into the doctrine of union with Christ. Union with Christ. Christ for us, but us in Christ. Now, this is where we have to put a little effort into matters. We have to think a little bit. We have to work at it.

Do you understand the notion of corporate personality? Hey, there we go. Corporate personality. Do you know what I’m speaking about when I say corporate personality? Can you name some obvious corporate personalities in Scripture? I mean, those who appear to be living there and standing in the stream of the history that was recorded for us in Scripture, indicating realities and truth that pertain to more than just them, in obvious ways.

They have a larger larger realm scope of operation than just for themselves. Now, who might you suggest? Would you, for instance, think immediately of Adam? Well, I hope so. Being Presbyterian and being convinced of the doctrine of the covenant, You have come to understand the figure of Adam in a rather unique way. You see him in Pauline terms. He’s a corporate personality. All of his posterity are in him. Isn’t that what we learn in the catechism, the little kid’s catechism? He represented all his posterity. All of his posterity were in him. Yes, okay.

So, we have the corporate dimension of personality, As it comes across to us in the pages of the Scripture, and let me say this to you, the Reformed people are the ones who have worked hardest on this issue and done the greatest amount of justice to it in their own theological and doctrinal formulations. Adam, a corporate personality, more than just an individual, an individual to be sure, historical in every sense of the term, but more than just an individual. His people, his posterity, are in him. As you go through the Old Testament, there are other figures that just step out of the page at you, and you’re able to see the corporate dimension of their life. You think of Abraham. Have you ever reviewed the life of Abraham from this standpoint? Here he is called out of Ur of the Chaldees.

He goes to the Promised Land. He isn’t there very long. He goes down to Egypt. He doesn’t stay there. He comes back to Egypt. He’s not in the Promised Land too long before there’s a division between him and his nephew Lot, and then the king from the east comes, the king of Shinar, king of Babylon, if you will, takes his nephew and company away into captivity, and Abram goes after, rescues, brings him back.

Hey, this sounds familiar. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It’s almost as if the history of Israel is in the man. Well, and you think about the kings of Israel, and you might get a little upset about the way the Bible tells the stories. The king was good and the people prospered. The king was bad and people were judged. That’s not fair. It’s not fair, is it? The king ends up being a corporate personality, for good and ill amongst the people.

Well, lots of other examples of this throughout the Old Testament. We come to the New Testament, and what do we find? We find Jesus Christ. Is he just, individual, portrayed as such? Oh, no. Oh, no. His people are in Him. He carries them in Him. Now, how do you read the Gospels? Biographies of Jesus? Well, yes. along a certain line, the biographies of Jesus. But are they more? Yes, they are.

You see, you are drawn into the story because you are in Christ. So, as Christ’s story is told, as it unfolds, your own life is being unfolded. For you are in Him. The gospel is about you, just as it is about Christ. For Christ has included you in Himself. over against, then, Adam.

In that classic formulation of this doctrine, over against Adam there is, then, a second Adam, Jesus Christ. We could point to statements in Paul’s letter that make that claim. Romans chapter 5, the end verses. Again, in 1 Corinthians 15, just take a look at verse 22. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

The corporate dimension of these respective personalities, covenantal heads, who include within them their posterity. All right. So then, We are in Christ. We are in Christ. Now, it’s important that you keep in mind here that we are specifically speaking about Christ’s humanity.

Do we really believe that we are in Christ, in that Christ is essentially deity? That he is equal with the Father and the Spirit from all eternity? That we are actually participating in his divinity? But that’s the dimension of our relationship to him? No, not at all. We are not becoming divine. We are not becoming gods, as it were.

If you wish to embrace that kind of doctrine, then join some New Age movement, or go and join up with the local Mormon church. May teach that. You see, it is specifically in His humanity that we are united with Christ, that we are in Christ. Christ then becomes the focus for us in our understanding of the full range of redemptive experience, the full range of salvation. That may sound a bit mysterious. Let me unpack that a little bit for you. In our relationship with Christ, is there to be something called adoption? Well, yes, there is. Let’s run through the order of salvation. Is there not to be something called adoption? We are adopted into the family of God, are we not?

There is also justification. We are justified, that is, we’re declared to be righteous. In God’s sight, for the sake of Christ, whose righteousness is imputed to us and received by faith alone. We are to be sanctified, are we not? We are to be set apart for Him. We are looked upon then. as holy and progressing in holiness. We are glorified, are we not?

That is, we are raised up with Christ, we ascend, do we not ascend with him? We share in his session, his heavenly session, and we even share in his second coming. So, the full range of the redemptive experience is grounded in Christ himself and becomes ours because of our relationship to him.

You might be a little confused at this point. You’re thinking, well, when was Christ adopted? I thought he always was the Son of God. The point that I am making to you is this, that everything that you hope to experience in your redemptive experience is already experienced in Christ and is found by virtue of your union with Him. If your hope is adoption, you must find adoption in Him, for your adoption is by virtue of your relationship to Him.

Now I want you to look at a verse. Acts chapter 13. Paul is preaching. in Antioch of Pisitia. I want you to look at Paul’s message as it begins there. I want you to look at it at verse 32 and following. This is what Paul says. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that he raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second psalm, thou art my son, today I have begotten thee. Now you tell me, when did God beget the Son? According to this statement, that is made by the Apostle as he makes appeal to the 2nd Psalm. When was it that the Son was in fact begotten? Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee. What day was that? Was that the day of the Incarnation? Was it some day in eternity hid from us? Not according to the Apostle. He tells us that it was the day in which Jesus was raised from the dead.

You see, there is a sense in which Christ becomes the Son. Even though He has been the Son from all eternity, He becomes the Son for us, for we are in need of becoming sons. And this One who undergoes this experience through death and resurrection is making Himself available to us. We, by union with Him, are then being adopted. The adoption is found in Him, and that’s why that adoption is unmovable. It cannot be shaken.

Christ’s own adoption is certain and secure, and you by faith are united to that adoption, and therefore your adoption is certain and secure. We can do the same thing with justification. Was Jesus justified? I want you to look at 1 Timothy 3.16. There’s a phrase in that statement that says that Jesus Christ was justified in the Spirit. That is, he’s justified when he comes in contact uniquely with the realm of the spirit, and that’s nothing less than when he was raised from the dead.

Sanctification. All we need do is turn to the passage that we have been looking at, Verse 8 of Philippians 2, “…and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death.” There’s the sanctification of the Son. He became obedient. He learned obedience through the things which he suffers. That’s how it’s put in Hebrews 5, verse 7. So there is a sanctification that is experienced by Christ before there’s any sanctification experienced by you.

And glorification, we know all about that. We know about ascension, we know about session, we know about heavenly life, we know about second coming. We are told by Paul that we are actually seated with Christ in the heavenly places, that that is the realm of operation with regard to us by virtue of our union with Christ. So wonderful is this union with Christ as we turn over to Colossians 3, and we are told that we died and our life is hid with Christ in God. Verse 3 of Colossians 3, and we’re told that history itself will bring to a conclusion the full manifestation of this union that exists between us and Christ. In verse 4 of that third chapter of Colossians, when Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him and glory. You are going to participate in the Second Coming.

Well, the full range of redemptive experience of your salvation is found in Christ. And that is why it is important for Paul to emphasize the fact that we are in him. This exalts grace. It excludes work. If you are looking for adoption, it’s found in Christ. If you’re looking for justification, it’s found in Him.

Sanctification, the same. Glorification. In fact, that’s why Paul is able to speak about our sanctification and our glorification in the past tense, as already accomplished facts. We are in the One who has been. finally and fully adopted, justified, sanctified, glorified, ascended, who sits in glory, whose second coming shall mean the reign over all that is.”

Well, that’s the we-in-Christ dimension of our union with Christ. There is one other dimension, And that is Christ in us. Not only us in Christ, but Christ in us, or Christ in you. You see then why we said at the beginning of the message we were going to focus finally, by and by, on Philippians 2? Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Here is the completion of the Pauline circle, of Paul’s circle of salvation. We preach here that already our lives, being so united to Christ, are positioned actually in the heavenly places.

But do you see what’s happening? For us, who have been so exalted, so positioned, we are in the heavenly places, but who is the one we observe there? Who do we see, having been so privileged by faith? Do we not behold Him who gave up His place in glory and humbled Himself and came down and made Himself servant of all? The one we behold in glory is the one who has the nail prints in His hands and feet, the wounded aside, the marks of His humiliation. and observing Him by faith, being united to Him by faith, even though we are exalted into the presence of God and have a seat in glory. We now humble ourselves after the fashion of His humiliation and make ourselves servants in this world as long as God the Father is content to have us live here.

That’s the power of it. Now, I said the Pauline Circle because I want you to think of a circle in your mind. The circle begins down here. Your union with Christ through justification, your union with Him in His resurrection places you above, in glory. But you beholding the one to whom you have been united constrains you than to humble yourself after the fashion of his humiliation, so that you are in the world for the sake of service in his name, his life coming to expression in you.

For to me, to live, is Christ. So when we talk about Paul’s soteriology, his doctrine of salvation, it will be fundamentally the message concerning Christ for us. But it will also be the message of Christ in us, or our union with Christ, so that we are seen to be in Him, as He also is coming to expression in us. So grateful is Paul that he is consumed by the person of Christ.

For him to draw a breath, for him to utter a word, for him to lift his hand, he is at work disciplining himself so as to see Christ at every turn and to bring Christ to expression. why this is the testimony of a man not only beloved of God, but of a man who loves God with all of his heart. You are the people called by Christ’s name. You say, Christ died for me, but you also say, Christ lives in me. Do you not? Amen.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.