Bible Study Series: The Book of Philippians
Philippians 3:1-8 Losing my religion and gaining Christ!
By Fraser Gordon
Continuing on with our studies in the book of Philippians, we'll explore the first 8 verses of Chapter 3 in this lesson.
Php 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. 2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!
Rejoicing is one of the major themes in the book of Philippians. In the context of this we must remember that Paul is in prison, chained to a wall or a prison guard. Even though his circumstances are one thing, Paul is full of joy and rejoicing in the Lord. He starts by being nice in verse 1 but then in verse 2 his tone changes and he goes from being nice to aggressive. He's asking the believers in Philippi to look out for certain types of people who want to pull believers down so they are not full of joy.
Dogs and evil workers
There are three things to be aware of, the first one is dogs. We know in scripture that the Gentiles were often talked about as dogs. In the context of the day dogs were not pets like we have in our western societies. Our pets are sometimes treated better than our loved ones, they get pampered, looked after and cuddled. But in those days dogs were wild, unclean and normally scavengers. Paul refers to people who destroy our rejoicing in the Lord as dogs. Psalm 22 is a prophetic psalm speaking of Jesus on the cross. In verse 16 Jesus says For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me, referring to those that were around him as dogs.
Paul goes on to say beware of evil workers. Certain groups of people followed Paul around undermining and destroying his ministry. The biggest group were Judaisers. Paul would spend time establishing a church in grace, and then once Paul had gone, Judaisers would come and undermine what he had said. They would put a yoke back on the new believers telling them they must observe this, this and this of the law bringing them back under legalism. Another group of evil workers who followed Paul were the Gnostics, those with extra revelation. They would say that although Paul has told you this, this is what we have received from God, perverting the gospel which Paul had given.
The mutilation
Next, he says, beware of the mutilation. Other verses will say beware of the circumcision. He's using strong words here referring to the covenant of circumcision God had with Abraham. Circumcision was given to the nation of Israel by God and all males were circumcised on the 8th day as a sign they were separated to God. As a side note on the 8th day vitamin K levels peak in newborns assisting the blood to clot. This led many to believe they had acceptance before God just because they were circumcised but all it was was a sign of something deeper. They may have been circumcised in the flesh, but true circumcision was of the heart. The word actually means concession and it is translated as mutilators. Circumcision means to cut around. Here in the West, when we buy meat, it has been cut around the bone and is usually packaged and presented nicely. In many parts of Asia if you buy meat it has been chopped off and you get everything: the meat, bones, and parts of the skin. The difference is that one has been cut around precisely and the other one has been mutilated. Paul is referring to his own people mutilating the flesh in the act of circumcision for no gain instead of understanding the wonderful spiritual truths behind it. Beware of those who only see circumcision as a way of acceptance toward God. God had a much deeper spiritual purpose in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Php 3:3 For we are the circumcision,...
Paul is referring to those that are in Christ.
Col 2:11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
In other words, there is a circumcision by which all the body of Christ has partaken and it's not the physical act of cutting around the male organ. True circumcision is that you have been crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians says that there is a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. You were placed in Christ, into his death, his burial, and his resurrection. The circumcision that has been done to you is the putting away of the sinful flesh. It has been cut off. Paul is referring to true circumcision - those that have come into a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. You have been circumcised due to your union with Him in death, in burial, and in resurrection.
True Worship
Php 3:3…who worship God in the Spirit,...
He goes on to write that those who are of the true circumcision, worship God in the Spirit. Man has an inbuilt desire to worship. In times past, people would take a piece of wood, fashion it, and then call it their god. They would bow down to something they had created and made with their own hands. Modern man may not take a piece of wood and carve it into an object to bow down to but modern man still worships the works of his hands and trusts in these works to deliver him. There is also the worship of nature. We see an amazing sky and say it is beautiful so in a limited way we can worship God as the God of creation. Romans 1 says we can know what God is like by the things He has created. You can look at a beautiful wave, a mountain, the sky, or any part of God's creation and praise God for the wonderful things He has made. But your worship of God is limited. There is also an emotional aspect to worship. We go to a concert and have an emotional response to the music and the same is true of worship in church which we can also have an emotional response to. Sitting in church is different because it is God centred but it is still limited. Paul writes that those who worship God worship in the Spirit. It's not of yourself, an emotional response or an intellectual one; it's in the Spirit. In John 4.23 Jesus spoke to the woman at the well and said to her that the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth so true worship, which I believe Paul is writing about here, is when the Holy Spirit leads us and makes Christ real and alive to us. This results in a sense of worship and praise in our spirit as a response toward God. So true worship in the Spirit is when the Holy Spirit magnifies Christ, or God reveals something to us of Himself and our response is to worship and praise the Lord.
Php 3:3 …rejoice in Christ Jesus,...
There is one central figure in all of scripture and it is the person of Jesus Christ. From Genesis to revelation all scripture is about Him, His death, burial, and His resurrection. The subject of the word of God is a person and we are to rejoice in Him.
Willpower
Php 3:3…and have no confidence in the flesh,
The world's view is to believe and have confidence in yourself. You have what it takes, that's what the world drums into us and our children. All the world's idols are looked up to for what they have achieved through self-confidence. Scripture is very different and Paul writes that those that worship God in the spirit have no confidence in the flesh. When you look at the vessels God loved to use, they were weak so that He could show Himself strong in and through them.
1 Co 1:26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
The world says believe in yourself, have self esteem, confidence and carve out your own destiny. But the Bible says that when you approach God have no confidence in the flesh, that no flesh should glory in His presence. Paul came to the understanding that in his flesh dwelt no good thing and those that worship the Lord are to have no confidence in it either. Paul had been a Christian for about 30 years at this point in Philippians. Do you think he came to this conclusion at his conversion? I don't think so. Convictions of this kind take time. You don't normally get that at your conversion. It takes years and years of growth in the Lord to know what your flesh is like and to have no confidence in it. Paul initially spent three years in Damascus and then at least 11 years in Arabia. These are big periods of time where he learned to put aside all his self-confidence. Paul was outstanding among his own people but over time he came to see that it meant nothing and was actually a hindrance. 2 Corinthians 11.30-33, is what Paul actually boasted in, If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. That was what Paul wanted to boast about. In Acts 9 there is a massive contrast between the Saul of Tarsus who travelled to Damascus full of the power and authority of men to do what he thought was the will of God, and Paul the apostle escaping those who wanted to kill him in Damascus by hiding in a basket while being let down a wall. How humiliating this must have been for this great man! Yet we see in 2 Corinthians that he wants to boast in it and uses it as an example. This was his apprenticeship into persecution and he boasts about how humiliating it was. Very different to how he came to Damascus the first time, full of man's power and authority to arrest Christians. Paul does not want us to have any confidence in the flesh.
In 1732 George Whitfield started attending church regularly, singing hymns, psalms and praying daily. The Wesley brothers, who were Methodists, had this really strict club called the Holy Club which Whitfield joined. The members fasted on Wednesdays and then added Fridays as well, receiving communion once a week. They regularly visited the sick and prisoners and studied Greek. They brought their lives under a strict regime of accounting for and recording every moment of the day and brought it under God's direction. They would not eat and at times they would not speak. They went into the wilderness to pray and sometimes prayed on cold ground lying down for hours. At one point as a result of lying on the ground George Whitfield’s health deteriorated so much that he nearly died. He was eventually given a book by Wesley and the light of God flooded into the soul of George Whitfield and he was converted. You see he had done all this and he hadn't even met the Lord Jesus Christ! It was all done in the confidence of his own flesh. When you read the list of what he did it makes us who are believers in Christ feel ashamed because of the level of commitment. Yet he did it all out of his own fleshly ability and willpower, and he hadn't even met Christ! George Whitfield ended up being a great English preacher who brought many to the Lord. He would preach in open fields and had an amazingly loud voice.
A profit and loss statement
Php 3:4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Now Paul lists his achievements and the confidence that he had in himself naturally. This is Paul's past confidence and pride in his ancestry, his orthodoxy, the pride of his service toward God, and the pride of his morality. The first part is pride in his ancestry. He was a Jew by birth and circumcised on the 8th day, separated to God right from birth. The first King, Saul, even though he was a bad king, was from the tribe of Benjamin and apparently when the Kingdom of Israel split the tribe of Benjamin stayed with the tribe of Judah. So they were loyal to the things of God. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Next, he takes pride in his orthodoxy. Of all the groups the Pharisees were strict, faithful, and dedicated to observe all the laws of God. Then he writes about his pride of service. He had zeal. Paul thought he was serving God when he was on the road to Damascus and in his heart he was 100% zealous for the things of God until Christ shone into his heart. Then he took pride in his morality. From a natural point of view his whole desire was to keep and perform the law of God, and for that, he said he was blameless. He wholeheartedly lived for God's law, even though he hadn't had a revelation that Christ had fulfilled the law.
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
From a natural point of view Paul had achieved greatly from his heritage and culture and had exceeded his fellow men. Yet in verse 7 he adds it all up, all his life's work is like a profit and loss statement. Paul looked at all he had accumulated from his heritage and self effort and placed it all as a liability because he counted all things as a loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ. He counted them as rubbish to gain Christ. Some versions say dung. His ancestry, nationality, culture, education, religion and personal attainment were laid aside. He gives no grounds for boasting so that instead he may gain a person, Jesus Christ. The only thing that a man needs to possess and be satisfied in this life is Christ. He is the only asset.
Remember that Paul is writing this 30 years after his conversion. He looks back at all the things he had attained in his life and declares it all to be dung, all loss so that he may gain Christ. Christ is the only profit in life. So the question for us today, saints, is: What is it that you take pride in? Do you take pride in your position in society? Do you take pride in your position in the church? Is it heritage or ancestry that you take pride in? Is it the success you have and the money you have earned that gives you security? All these things are well meaning in themselves, but if you take pride in it, if you think it will deliver you or keep you secure then you are mistaken. All these things need to be counted as dung and the only thing that really counts at the end of the day is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately I went to an unbeliever's funeral last week for someone I knew. When they summed up his life they spoke of all the things he was interested in and things he liked doing. That was good in one sense but in a profit and loss statement it's all dung, rubbish. None of those things count for eternity, they're only interests. On the other side of the statement, the only profit we can get is what Paul described. He looked at all of it and counted it all loss that he may gain Christ, to be found in Him. He's the only thing that is worth gaining in life. I have gained a person and He has placed me in Him and will secure me for eternity. I have a God whom I can serve eternally. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only thing that counts as profit.
Verse 8 contrasts what Paul used to live for and what he lives for now. He used to live for his heritage and ancestry and the God whom he thought he was serving. But now he lives for the living Lord Jesus Christ. Paul could say I no longer have confidence in the flesh, I had confidence once, but not anymore so that I might be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ Jesus.
Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for what Paul finally realised. It didn't come overnight nor even at his conversion. In the same way that you led Paul, we ask that you would lead us also. That we would see the greatness of our God and have no confidence in ourselves. Let the light of God dawn on our minds and hearts and we would see that Christ Himself is the greatest gain in life. We thank you for Your word and we thank You for Paul and his experience. We rejoice in You this day in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in, knowing that You love us and care for us.
God bless saints.