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the Race:Lessons from Paul for Today’sWoman

Making a Spiritual U-Turn

Phil. 3:4-9 (NASB)“If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Phil. 3:4-9 (NASB)“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”

Making a Spiritual U-Turn

We are all headed in the wrong direction, as Paul was

• By trusting in our deficient resumes for God’s acceptanceo We think we’re righteous (pride) o We fail to compare our resumes

to God’s word.

Romans 3:9-18 (NET)“What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for

we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, just as it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one,There is no one who understands,There is no one who seeks God.All have turned away,Together they have become worthless;There is no one who shows kindness,

not even one.

Romans 3:9-18 (NET)Their throats are open graves,They deceive with their tongues,The poison of asps is under their lips.”“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood,Ruin and misery are in their paths,and the way of peace they have not

known.” “There is no fear of God before their

eyes.”

Making a Spiritual U-Turn

We are all headed in the wrong direction, as Paul was

• By trusting in our deficient resumes for God’s acceptance

• By opposing God, even if sincerely believing we are following him

Romans 5:10 (NET)“For if while we were enemies we were

reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?”

Making a Spiritual U-Turn

We are all headed in the wrong direction, as Paul was

We must each make a u-turn, as Paul did• By humbling ourselves

as sinners

Philippians 3:7-8 (NASB)“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish in order that I maygain Christ”

Making a Spiritual U-Turn

We are all headed in the wrong direction, as Paul was

We must each make a u-turn, as Paul did• By humbling ourselves

as sinners

Romans 5:6-8 (NET) “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Making a Spiritual U-Turn

We are all headed in the wrong direction, as Paul was

We must each make a u-turn, as Paul did• By humbling ourselves

as sinners• By trusting in Jesus and

his righteousness

Philippians 3:8-9 (NASB)“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”

Making a Spiritual U-Turn

We are all headed in the wrong direction, as Paul was

We must each make a u-turn, as Paul did• By humbling ourselves

as sinners• By trusting in Jesus and

his righteousness

1 Corinthians 15:1-10a (NET)

“Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried,

1 Corinthians 15:1-10a (NET)

and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.”

Making a Spiritual U-Turn

We are all headed in the wrong direction, as Paul was

We must each make a u-turn, as Paul did• By humbling ourselves

as sinners• By trusting in Jesus and

his righteousness