"Christ Alone" Philippians 3:1-11 When I was little I went to see my Aunt and my cousins and there new adopted dog. After visiting my family I went out into the garage to see the adopted dog, I petted the dog, bent down and rubbed my face against his side and then all the sudden….bam…the dog turned on me and bit my nose almost completely off my face. I still have a scar to this day….from the surgery. In the text before us the Apostle Paul wants us to beware of some dangerous dogs. These dogs are not animals, they are teachers who are altering the gospel. These teachers are leading people astray and forcing people into following a bunch of man made rules and regulations in order to be a part of their particular denomination. They teach that there are a whole bunch of pre-requisites to becoming a Christian and there is NOT We worship by the Spirit of God. The Christian realizes that true worship is not about the ritual we perform it is about the attitude of the heart. We can go through all kinds of rituals and devotional acts and still not truly worship. When churches insist that rituals are necessary for salvation, they are adding to the requirements of the gospel and diminishing the work of Christ. Let me give you a little list of some of the things that often are on our list, • you need to go to a certain kind of church. • you have to repeat certain words (like the Lord's Prayer, the Doxology etc.) • you need to be baptized a certain way • you have to take communion a certain number of times • you need to read from a certain version of the Bible • you need to sing a certain style of music • you need to have a certain experience • you need to express your worship in a certain way (being very demonstrative or not) • you need to behave in a certain manner Any time we make something other than personal reliance on Christ a requirement for salvation we are setting ourselves up as God! We are saying you can't be "saved" unless you are like me. We are robbing glory from the Savior! We are setting up hindrances to people coming to Christ in faith. Once we truly come to Christ in Faith - our whole life changes!!!! When we Focus on Christ, it allows us to rejoice IN THE LORD. Perhaps the best way to understand this is to see it in terms of the opposites. • rejoice in the Lord rather than in your own good works • rejoice in the Lord rather than your spiritual "highs" • rejoice in the Lord rather than our feelings • rejoice in the Lord rather than our circumstances • rejoice in the Lord rather than our achievements • rejoice in the Lord rather than in the blessings He gives us The joyful Christian does not put confidence in their experience, their education, their memberships or their service. They put their confidence in Christ! IN Philippians 3: 4-9, Paul says: I was a church member all my life. I took lots of classes and received a theology degree with honors. Everyone agreed that I was a model Christian. I served on boards and committees and aggressively defended the faith. I was baptized as an infant and an adult. I was "sprinkled" and "immersed". I took communion as often as it was offered and I always gave more than my tithe. I was looked up to by Christians of all denominations. Paul looked good. But the thing that kept Paul from the Lord was not he didn't need Christ because he thought he was doing pretty good by himself! The majority of people around us who are hoping to "get to heaven" are hoping they will be good enough. They are trusting their achievements, accomplishments and goodness. The key verse is verse nine. The true gospel is "being found in Christ, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ -- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." We need someone to come to our rescue.