Running
the Race:
Lessons from
Paul for
Today’s
Woman
Please take this time to
silence your cell phone.
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 acceptance
o 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 may
gain 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