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Philippians 3.1-9
March 15th 2020
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So last week, after telling the believers at Philippi to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling by allowing God to work His will in and through them, and to walk as blameless sons and daughters of God, and then after addressing his desire to sent Timothy and Epaphraditus to them, Paul now writes:
Philippians 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
So lets go back to verse 1 here where Paul says
1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
“Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.” Who is “the Lord” that Paul speaks of here?
In Acts chapter 1 we read that the apostles got together and they were trying to decide who should fill Judas place in the twelve and at verse 24 we read:
“And they prayed, and said, “Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen.”
Here the same Lord is being prayed to that Paul is speaking of here in Philippians – but who is this Lord spoken of? We note that the apostles added the line, “which knowest the hearts of all men.”
This ability (to know the hearts of all men) is declared throughout the Old Testament to be a particular trait assigned only to God as Jeremiah 17:10 says
“I, Jehovah, search the heart,” and 1st Chronicles 28:9 reads
“for YHWH (written LORD) searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever.”
We know that this very trait was present with the Lord Jesus Christ, and is confirmed in him in Revelation 2:18-23 when he speaks to the church at Thyatira and says:
18 These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;
19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
And then jumping down to verse 23 he, the Son of God, concludes and says:
23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
For these reasons (and more) it is believed that this prayer in Acts from the Apostles is believed to have been addressed to the Lord Jesus Christ who has overcome the flesh that once limited him and has now ascended and was in full control of the church and its people.
This consideration is also based on the fact that the name “Lord” is the common name that the apostles applied to Jesus during and after his mortal life.
(Acts 2:36; 7:59; 10:36; 1st Corinthians 2:8; Philippians 2:11; Revelation 11:8)
We also know that the apostles worshipped Jesus, rendering him divine honors once he ascended as Luke 24:51-52 reads at the scene:
“And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”
Of course, Thomas, after His resurrection referred to Him as His Lord and His God and Jesus did not correct Him – proving that in his resurrected state Jesus of Nazareth had fully assumed to the person of God into the heavens.
As such, having all things placed in His hands by His father, He, Jesus of Nazareth, born of a woman, born under the Law, was now (especially pertaining to the church) over all things, and because of these things it is assumed that this prayer in Acts was to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And from all of this I assume that the “Lord” that Paul is speaking about here is Jesus.
This view then concurs with scripture that says it is proper to render him Divine homage as John 5:23 says, “That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.” And Hebrews 1:6, says “And let all the angels of God worship him.”
Looking to such things we openly concur that he is divine, that he is worshipped, prayed to, knows the thoughts of man, and therefore to speak of Him is to completely and fully speak of God Himself.
For those of you who wonder about all of this relative to my views of the man-made teachings on the trinity, I have no issue with Jesus being God, or with God from the beginning as His Word – my issues lies with the human application of three co-eternal, uncreated persons as distinct as Manny, Moe and Jack. That interpretation is of Man and that is all I will say.
SO . . .
Philippians 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
The idea here is, that with a Lord such as ours, there is reason to rejoice!
Then Paul adds a cumbersome line to the verse, saying:
“To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.”
It seems that this line means that Paul is saying that he has no problem repeating the same advice to them that he has given before; that for him to record these exhortations, and transmit them by a letter, might be the means of great benefit to them and was therefore not burdensome or oppressive to him in anyway because he knew it was all for their safety or welfare.
And this leads Paul into giving – and repeating – some of his advice, saying:
2 Beware of dogs, (arf) beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
Of course, I doubt very much that Paul is talking about actual dogs but in the east dogs were often without masters and they were known to wander in packs in the streets and fields, and feed upon dead things including corpses.
Because of this reputation, they were deemed unclean and to call another person a “dog” was a much stronger expression of contempt then than it is today among us.
So much so that the Jews called the heathens “dogs,” and the Muslims called Jews and Christians the same name. Our culture sees dogs in a much more complementary way, so this sounds odd to us.
“Beware of evil workers,” which in all probability was a reference to the same “dogs” just mentioned and Paul is probably speaking of Jewish teachers that roamed and bit and attacked others (feeding on death things). And then he adds another description to these teachers saying:
“Beware of the concision.”
The term “concision” means “a cutting off” and was probably yet another reference to the circumcised Jews who viewed circumcision improperly. Hainv mentioned them this leads Paul to add (at verse 3)
3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
For we (followers of Christ – Christians) are THE circumcision – meaning we have the proper view and understanding of the act, that it is of the heart and by the Spirit and not of or in the flesh.
This circumcision allows us to worship God in the Spirit and to rejoice in Christ Jesus and to have no confidence in the flesh, which intimates that those who rely on their circumcised flesh are of the opposite views and attitudes.
Because we do NOT look to the flesh for our justification we are able to worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus.
To me, this is worshipping God the Father, God with us in His Son, and rejoicing in Christ Jesus by God’s Holy Spirit.
Worship is reserved for God alone. And rejoicing is aimed in God’s giving us His only Son whom we know by the Spirit. And Paul adds a very natural line to the words that “we” are the circumcision:
“Having no confidence in the flesh.”
No confidence in our own corrupt nature; or in any ordinances that relate merely to the flesh. We do not depend on circumcision for salvation nor on any external rites and forms in the flesh whatever. We do not have any advantages with God based on our earthly rank, blood or fleshly positions.
And we have zero confidence in such. And at this point Paul brings in his own person and history, speaking of the flesh, to illustrate his point, saying:
4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Paul, of course, came from a very devout form of Judaism, which was ensconced in the flesh. And so, in verse four he seems to be saying:
“However, when we talk about the flesh and having confidence in it, I have much to say. In fact, if anyone thinks that he has reasons to trust in the flesh, I have more:”
And at this point he gives us a list of his fleshly history, saying:
5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
“I was circumcised in exact compliance with the law.”
“Of the stock of Israel,” meaning that he descended from the patriarch Israel, or Jacob; and, therefore, was able to trace his genealogy back as far as any Jew could.
This was his way of saying that he was not a convert nor were any of his ancestors converts. He was therefore distinguished from the Edomites and others who practiced circumcision; he was distinct from the Samaritans, who were made up of a mixture of people; and from many others, even among the Jews, whose ancestors had been once heathen, and who had become proselytes.
He was pure.
“Of the tribe of Benjamin.”
Benjamin was one of the two tribes which remained when the ten tribes revolted under Jeroboam, and, along with the tribe of Judah, Benjamin afterwards maintained its allegiance to God.
So, in saying this Paul is revealing that he was not one of the tribes that revolted but that he had as high a claim to the honor of being a Jew as anyone could boast.
“A Hebrew of the Hebrews.”
And this expression is the Hebrew way of expressing the superlative degree! A Jew of Jews meaning every advantage that he could have had and inherited he had!
And then adding to it all he says, “as touching the law, a Pharisee.”
Meaning: Of the strictest sect of all of the Tribes. Of course, by now we know that the Pharisees were distinguished among the Jewish sects for their rigid adherence to the letter of the law and by strict adherence to traditions passed down over the centuries. He naturally adds at verse 6:
6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
I was so zealously moved by all of these factors I became actively involved in persecuting the church (and we know how he did that).
Now, zeal and zealotry were considered valued attributes among the nation of Israel. It wasn’t like our day where zealots are condemned and mocked for flying planes into building.
References to zeal among the Nation are found in 2nd Kings 10:16 Jehonadab says:
“Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD. So they made him ride in his chariot.
And of course, we have the Messianic Psalm 69:9 which says:
“For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.”
And Psalm 119:139 “My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.”
Here Paul proves that he had shown the highest degree of zeal that was possible going so far as to put people to death for breaking the traditions of the faith.
Therefore, if anyone could hope for salvation on the ground of extraordinary devotedness to religion, it would have been him.
And he adds:
“Touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”
Meaning as far as righteousness could be obtained through the Law – especially the ceremonial elements of the Law, Paul had reached that point.
And relative to the way the Pharisees thought salvation by the mere observance of law was possible, Paul believed once believed that he had arrived.
We know from the teachings and the parables of Jesus that this view was not correct – that it was impossible to access God after this life by the Law for a number of reasons.
One, nobody could keep the Law perfectly, and two, the blood of bulls and goats shed for sin did not have the power to wash away for good.
That required the blood of a another with human blood, born under the Law and willing to submit to all that His father commanded as a means to be the perfect sacrifice for the world. Of course Paul ultimately learned this from the Master Himself. But back to the point at hand – by the Law Paul was at the top of his game, and here he laid his qualifications out.
But he did this to make a point – his next point, saying:
7 But what things were gain to me (his heritage, his tribe, his zeal,) those I counted loss for Christ.
What he thought and believed were to his gain, what he valued as a Jew, in the face of what Christ became in his life, he now, at this writing, counted it loss.
“What I thought were advantages and gains in my life I now see as losses in the face of Christ.
Perhaps he refers to these things as once representing for him a great foundation for his future (in terms of his place among men and the Nation) but instead of them providing him a brilliant future of distinction and prosperity they were now seen as a complete loss.
“A waste, irrelevant, and a hindrance to him.”
When I consider this view of Paul and assign it to myself, I understand what he means.
All the temple work, the mission, the Sunday meetings, and seminary lessons delivered over the years – all the false devotions – they could be seen (in the face of having received Christ into my life) as loss.
However, in my life, while I see all the things I was once involved in religiously, all the works, and study, and involvement as totally empty in the context of having been active in religion and toward my personal salvation, I DO see God using all of these things from my past in ways I could have never anticipated when I was involved with doing them.
I see the same situation with Paul – though this is not what he says here. In other words, I see Paul’s history and experiences as vital to what God used him to do and be at this point in his life.
In any case, Paul threshes verse 7 out a bit more for us in verse 8, saying:
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Yea doubtless, in other words, “without question, I count all things but loss.”
Not just the things he has specified but all things. When we really think about it, this is a most astute admittance. Scripture is clear in its position that our lives are but a vapor and in the face of this we are reminded of the value of knowing Christ who takes our existences and makes them eternally viable.
All other things – as great as they can be in our mortal lives, are in fact ephemeral. And Paul seems to realize this perfectly which enables him to say here that he counts all things but loss . . .
“for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”
“In comparison to the priceless knowledge I possess of Christ Jesus my Lord,” Paul says, he counts all things about his life loss.
The value of knowing the Lord, understanding the Lord, having an intimate relationship with the Living God, Paul says is far more valuable than all of the things of which his life and existence once consisted.
And key to this expression is the term knowledge (that he possessed of Christ Jesus his Lord). That knowledge, “that knowing of the Lord.”
The importance of this knowledge was stated way back in Jeremiah 9:23 where we read:
“Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.”
I am preaching to the choir here because you know very well that the reason we study the word (in the way we do) is so that we can understand and know Him better and better.
We are taking time out of the lives we have been given to seek Him out, to learn of Him, because in this knowledge and in this understanding, there is real living and real life, remembering that Jesus himself said in John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Paul understood; he knew the value of this so well that he was able to honestly write that he considered everything else in his life “loss” by comparison. And he echoes this in other places – like
1st Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
And then in Colossians 2:2 he wrote of his intentions for believers, saying:
“That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
And in this we discover the added value of an informed understanding and knowledge of the Living God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ – IN THEM – ARE HID – all the treasures – of wisdom and knowledge!
What true eternal value could there possibly be in obtaining wisdom and understanding of things that are passing, that are not eternal in nature, that will not last especially to the exclusion or omittance of the wisdom and knowledge of God which is had by and through knowing Him?
Because of Paul’s intimate relationship with Jesus, he was able to comprehend, at least in part, the value of this knowing, and this caused him to end Romans 11 with:
Romans 11:33-36 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
So again verse 8 where Paul says:
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: “for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,”
When Paul became a Christian he surrendered all of the brilliant prospects he had in his life – everything on which his heart had been placed.
He abandoned the hope of the honor of men, of social distinctions and he sacrificed every prospect of monetary gain with all of its promised luxuries.
It appears that he gave up all of his friends and perhaps lost a wife and family in the mix – for what?
A life of pain, rejection, and discomfort, a life of uncertainty, a life of having to rely upon the Lord for his everything and in the end a life that ended in imprisonment and martyrdom.
And yet here he says that he counts all that he once possessed and looked forward to as “dung.”
This is the only time this word appears in the Record and it means “dregs or refuse of an item; what is thrown away as worthless; chaff, offal or what remains after an animal is slaughtered.
It is a fantastic word to describe utterly worthless, even offensive, waste – and Paul applies it to the cumulative value of his former life when compared to his ability or opportunity to “win Christ.”
Again we find Paul here placing himself (and his relationship with Christ) as unfinished, as ever-increasing and described in the language of a “future potentiality” and not a “foregone fact.”
He does this occasionally in scripture which directly alludes to the reality that even in His own personal walk he did not see the prize as won, certain or complete until he took his last breath.
This is not to suggest that Paul was earning his salvation but rather he was stepping deeper into what the Lord had for him in his life.
He adds to the definition of what it meant to him “to win” Christ in the next verse, saying:
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
In other words to (verse 8) win Christ, (Verse 9) “And be found in Him” was for him like exchanging all of his life of works and achievements (which he sees as heap of dung by comparison) for a standing before God that could not be compromised.
Let me explain.
Paul has taken all of his works of the flesh and all that he was by virtue of being a law-abiding Jew and clearly described them, in comparison to the Knowledge of Jesus, as worthless.
And here in verse 9 he makes it clear that their worthlessness, which was by the Law, was a wholly and an utterly inferior means of obtaining his salvation (of being found in him) for this did not come by such external things that he enjoyed and possessed, but, he says:
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but
And he goes on and explains the most reliable uncontestable source of salvation we can have, adding:
but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
God sent His Son and said:
“Believe on Him. Place your faith on Him.”
And through this faith something happens. Something is gifted to those who choose to place their faith on Him:
God Himself deems that person perfectly justified and righteous, or as Paul puts it:
“the righteousness which is of God is bestowed” (again by faith)
In other words, and this is big folks –
do we want to stand before God holding our own righteousness (as a means to secure our salvation) OR do we want to rely on the righteousness of God that He gives to us (which is by faith?)
Paul is saying here that in the face of all of his past righteousness and ultra-Hebrewness, His Pharisaicalness, His tribe of Benjaminness, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that the RIGHTEOUSNESS which proceeds from God is light years ahead and a trillion times more valuable then all of his own!
(beat)
See, God is the author of our pardons and being pardoned is part of the righteousness which a person (who has been justified by God) possesses.
Therefore, possessing the pardon that God bestows is to have God sees the justified sinner as if he or she had not sinned–and therefore his righteousness is of God.
And when God is the source of all the goodness and grace and mercy a person will receive, that person is truly holy, truly clean, truly sanctified.
In this sense all the righteousness which a Christian has is “of God.”
So all of these passages have been Paul’s way of telling us that he sees it far more advantageous and valuable to be saved by God’s righteousness over his own because when God bestows grace, righteousness, sanctification (by FAITH) THAT grace, justification and sanctification is perfect and cannot be disputed – whereas the sanctification by works of our flesh certainly can.
After having established this about God’s righteousness imputed to believers by faith, Paul ends our day together by describing what it amounts to in his life, saying:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.
In other words, having surrendered the value of all of his works, seeing them as loss and dung, and having been made righteous by His faith on Christ Jesus, a righteousness that he received by God himself, Paul now describes his purpose in it all, saying:
10 That . . . I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.
That I may now be fully acquainted with his nature, his character, his work, and with the salvation which he has wrought out.
Did you catch it? It’s there.
In verse 8 Paul introduces us to the value of knowing Christ, and here he tells us the most intimate, perhaps best means of really knowing our Lord, Savior and King:
“That . . . I may
know him,
and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings
By what means? How? Paul tells us saying:
“being made conformable unto his death.”
And we will end here and address this point next week.
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