Philippians 3 - Leaving Law and Pressing On to Jesus
A. The futility of a relationship with God based on the principle of law.
1. (1-2) Warning against the influence of legalistic Jews.
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. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!
a. Finally doesn’t mean that Paul is almost finished - he is a preacher, after all! But we should expect some sort of summing up of the letter when he says finally.
b. Rejoice in the Lord is a fitting theme for the whole letter. Paul shares with the Philippians the “secret” of being able to rejoice in the Lord - not in circumstances or in situations, but in the Lord who works all things together for good.
i. This abiding joy is fitting for the believer because it shows that we really do trust in a God, whom we really believe is in control. When we believe this, it isn’t any surprise that we are then filled with joy!
ii. Rejoice in the Lord: “The entire phrase may be the Christian equivalent of the Old Testament exclamation, Hallelujah.” (Martin)
c. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe: Paul assures the Philippians that he doesn’t mind reminding them of the same things - it is for their safety.
d. Beware of dogs is a harsh reference to the troublemaking legalists who were attempted to deceive the Philippians. Dogs is exactly the term of contempt Jews would used towards Gentiles. Paul says a lot by using it of these Jewish-influenced legalists.
i. Muller quoting Lightfoot: “The herds of dogs which prowl about Eastern cities, without a home and without an owner, feeding on the refuse and filth of the streets, quarreling among themselves, and attacking the passer-by, explain the applications of the image.”
e. Beware of evil workers: This describes both what these legalists do (working evil), but also a slap at their emphasis on righteousness with God by works. Paul will allow that they have a concern for works, but they are evil workers!
f. Beware of the mutilation: Here is another harsh reference to the insistence of these Jewish legalists on circumcision for Gentiles. All with the idea that someone must become a Jew first before they can become a Christian.
i. However, Paul does not see their insistence on circumcision as something beautiful or noble; he regards it as an ugly example of mutilation.
ii. Martin on the mutilation: “By a pun, he mockingly calls it a mere cutting, katatome, i.e. mutilation of the body on a par with pagan practices forbidden in Leviticus 21:5.”
2. (3) Paul defines the true circumcision.
For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,
a. For we are the circumcision: These Jewish legalists considered themselves the ones truly circumcised and right with God. But Paul says that he and his followers are the true circumcision.
b. Who worship God in the Spirit: This defines the true circumcision. They worship God in the Spirit, as opposed to the fleshly and external worship emphasized by these legalists.
c. The true circumcision are also the ones who rejoice in Christ Jesus. Their joy is not found in their own ability to be justified by the law or by their law-keeping. Jesus and Jesus alone is their joy.
d. The true circumcision are the ones who have no confidence in the flesh. They do not trust in their own ability to be righteous before God through external works, but their only confidence is in Jesus.
3. (4) Paul knows that he was more qualified to be justified by the keeping of the law than any of his present legalistic opponents were.
Though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so:
a. I also might have confidence in the flesh: Curiously, often those who promote the idea of having confidence in the flesh are the same ones who are the least qualified to have such confidence.
b. This is because of the principle Paul explains in Colossians 2:23 - These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
4. (5-6) Paul’s “qualifications” for confidence in the flesh.
Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
a. Paul first lists four things that were his possessions by birth.
i. Paul was circumcised the eighth day in accordance with Leviticus 12:3.
ii. Paul was of the stock of Israel, a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and an heir to God’s covenant with them.
iii. Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin, a distinguished tribe. Benjamin was distinguished by the fact that it gave Israel her first king, Saul (1 Samuel 9:1-2). It was the tribe that aligned itself with faithful Judah when Israel divided into two nations at the time of Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:21). It was also the tribe that had Jerusalem in its boundaries (Judges 1:21).
iv. Paul was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. This contrasts him with the Jews who embraced Greek culture as it spread through the Mediterranean. In that time, many Jews became ashamed of their Jewishness and tried to live and act as much like Greeks as they could, sometimes even to the point of having their circumcision cosmetically restored or hidden so they could enjoy the Roman public baths without being noticed as Jews.
b. Paul lists three things that were his by personal choice and conviction.
i. Paul was concerning the law, a Pharisee: This tells us that among an elite people (the Jews), he was of an elite sect (the Pharisees), who were noted for their scrupulous devotion to the law of God. “There were not very many Pharisees, never more than six thousand, but they were the spiritual athletes of Judaism. Their very name means The Separated Ones. They had separated themselves off from all common life and from all common tasks in order to make it the one aim of their lives to keep every smallest detail of the Law.” (Barclay) The concern that Pharisees had for keeping the law is reflected in passages like Matthew 23:23.
ii. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church: Paul was not merely an intellectual opponent of perceived heresies, he was an active fighter against them - even in his blindness to God. Paul’s observation that the Jews of his day have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (Romans 10:2) was of course true of his own life before God confronted him on the road to Damascus.
iii. Concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless: This shows that Paul achieved the standard of righteousness which was accepted among the men of his day - though this standard fell short of God’s holy standard. By man’s interpretation of the law, there were those who were deceived into thinking that they really were blameless, like the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-23).
c. In summary, if anyone could lay claim to pleasing God by law-keeping and the works of the flesh, it was Paul. He was far more qualified than his legalizing opponents were to make such a claim.
5. (7) Paul rejects all confidence in the flesh.
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
a. These I have counted loss for Christ: Any of the corrupting teachers Paul warned against would be proud to claim such a pedigree. But Paul makes it plain: these things I have counted loss for Christ.
b. Paul counted these things loss. It isn’t so much that they were a loss by their very character, as much as he chose to regard them as loss.
c. They are counted loss not so much because they were harmful to Paul, but because they were ways in which Paul sought to please God in the energies of the flesh. Before Paul became a Christian, he thought all this made him a success in the effort to please God by works.
B. Paul’s utter confidence in a living relationship with Jesus Christ.
1. (8) Paul’s gain in Jesus Christ.
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
a. Yet indeed I also count all things loss: Paul did not only count his religious pedigree as a loss; he counted all things loss - but he counted them lost in view of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.
i. It wasn’t so much that those things were worthless in themselves, but compared to the greatness of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, they really were nothing.
ii. Paul puts here a personal relationship with Jesus Christ at the very center of the Christian’s life. He joyfully accepted the loss of all other things for the greatness of this personal relationship.
b. For whom I have suffered the loss of all things: This counting loss was not merely an internal spiritual exercise. Paul had indeed suffered the loss of all things that he might gain Christ.
i. Never lose sight of where Paul writing this letter: a Roman prison, where he truly could say that he had suffered the loss of all things.
c. Count them as rubbish is strong wording. Literally, Paul considers them as excrement - as dung; not only worthless, but offensive.
i. The Greek word for rubbish had one of two uses: excrement from the body, or table scraps that were fit only to be thrown to the dogs.
2. (9) The spiritual benefits of his gain in Jesus Christ.
And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
a. Because Paul is in Him, he can renounce his own righteousness and live by the righteousness which is from God by faith. The foundation for his spiritual life is in what Jesus has done for him, not in what he has done, is doing, or will do for Jesus.
b. Paul here exposes the great difference between the legal relationship stressed by his opponents and his personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The difference is between living and trusting in your own righteousness and living and trusting in God’s righteousness given through faith in Christ.
3. (10-11) Paul’s experience of a personal relationship with Jesus.
That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
a. That I may know Him is the simple plea of Paul’s heart. It is a plea unknown to the legalist, who must necessarily focus on his own performance and status to find some kind of peace with God. But Paul wants Jesus, not self.
b. Knowing Jesus means knowing the power of His resurrection, the new life that is imparted to us now, not when we die.
c. Knowing Jesus means knowing the fellowship of His sufferings. It is all part of following Jesus and being in Christ.
i. Suffering is part of our heritage as “King’s Kids” - we get to be part of the family of suffering: If children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together (Romans 8:17).
d. Being conformed to His death reminds us that being in Christ also means being “in” His death. These words had particular relevance to Paul who faced possible martyrdom.
e. If, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead: Paul was not morbidly focused on suffering and death in the Christian life. He saw that they were a necessary way to the goal of resurrection life right now and the ultimate resurrection from the dead.
i. This was a goal that was worth any means to Paul. The suffering was worth it, considering the greatness of the goal of resurrection from the dead.
ii. Remember that Paul wrote this having experienced more suffering than we will ever experience, and he wrote it from imprisonment. This isn’t just theory, but a lived-out theology.
4. (12-14) The future of Paul’s relationship with Jesus Christ.
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
a. Not that I have already attained: Paul speaks from such spiritual maturity and purity that we might expect he believes that he has conquered all these difficulties and sees himself as having “arrived.” But he assures us this is not so. There is no perfectionism in Paul.
i. How many Christian leaders cultivate the attitude that they have already attained!
ii. “Just as a little child is a perfect human being, but still is far from perfect in all his development as man, so the true child of God is also perfect in all parts, although not yet perfect in all the stages of his development in faith.” (Muller)
b. But I press on: Because Paul realizes that he has not “arrived,” there is only one option open for him. He must press on. There is no turning back for Him.
i. When Spain led the world (in the 15th century), their coins reflected their national arrogance and were inscribed Ne Plus Ultra which meant “Nothing Further” - meaning that Spain was the ultimate in all the world. After the discovery of the New World, they realized that they were not the “end of the world” - they changed the inscription on their coinage to Plus Ultra - meaning “More Beyond.” Which motto better expresses your Christian life - “Nothing Further” or “More Beyond”?
ii. This is where child-like faith meets real maturity. A child can’t wait to be bigger, and always wants to be more mature.
iii. Paul has put his hand to the plow and will not look back (Luke 9:62).
c. That I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me: Paul pressed on for what Jesus wanted. His effort was put forth to do God’s will, not his own.
i. Also, Paul knew that Jesus had laid hold of him, and would not let him go. Yet he did all he could to lay hold of Jesus and His plan for Paul, knowing that there was a mutual cooperation and effort.
d. Paul was focused on one thing, and would not let those things which are behind distract him from it. The one thing was the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
i. We often let those things which are behind distract us, whether they be “good” things or “bad” things, we may let them keep us from what God has in front of us.
ii. Satan wants us to live either in the past or in the future; God wants us to press on in the present, because the present is where eternity touches us now.
iii. Paul knows that a race is won only in the present, not in the past or in the future.
e. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus: What is the prize Paul speaks of? The prize is the upward call of God. The prize is the call itself, not the benefits that come from the call or any other thing. The prize is being able to run the race at all, working with God as a partner to do the work of His kingdom.
f. As everything else, this upward call of God is only in Christ Jesus. The legalists might say they followed the upward call of God, but they certainly didn’t do it in Christ Jesus, they did it in the efforts of their own flesh.
5. (15-16) Paul exhorts the Philippians to adopt this same attitude.
Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
a. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind: Those who are really mature will have this mind. If they do not, Paul trusts that God will reveal the necessity of having it.
b. God will reveal even this to you: Paul has great trust in the ability of the Lord to deal with His own people. He doesn’t have the attitude that if he doesn’t convince them, they will never be convinced.
c. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule: However, Paul will not allow a lack of understanding to excuse anyone from doing what they do know to be the Lord’s will. What we don’t know can never excuse us from doing what we do know.
d. Let us be of the same mind: Part of doing what we do know is being of the same mind. This is a call to unity (a unity of truth, against the potential division brought in by the legalists) that looks back to Philippians 2:1-2.
i. The problems of unity facing the Philippians did not spring from great problems with carnality (as did the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 3:1-4). Rather seems to be a danger brought on by pressure, both from the outside (Philippians 1:27-30) and from the inside (Philippians 3:2). Paul wants to make sure that this pressure pushes them together, not driving them apart.
C. Walking the walk.
1. (17) The good example of walking the walk: Paul and others.
Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.
a. Join in following my example: We shouldn’t think that Paul is being egotistical here. He knows that he is not a sinlessly perfect example, yet he is still a good example. He can say as he does in 1 Corinthians 11:1 - Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
i. We need concrete examples. While it is wrong to put our trust in any man, it is hypocritical for any preacher to say “do as I say, not as I do.”
ii. Curiously, there seems to be a rather real spiritual dynamic at work on this principle. Pastors and church leaders are a pattern for their people, if they intend to be or not. It is amazing (and sometimes frightening) to see how a congregation takes on the personality of its pastor, in both good and bad ways.
b. And note those who so walk: As well, Paul isn’t so proud to think that he is the only one who can be such an example. He tells the Philippians to note those who so walk in the way he is speaks of, and he notes that the Philippians have us as a pattern (not I as a pattern).
2. (18-19) The bad examples: the enemies of the cross.
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame; who set their mind on earthly things.
a. With great sadness, Paul realizes that there are many who walk in a manner contrary to what he teaches. He regards these people as enemies of the cross of Christ.
i. These enemies of the cross are really the opposite of the legalists, who celebrated their “liberty” in Christ to the indulgence of their flesh.
ii. Paul had to contend with people like this in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 and Romans 6, who thought that salvation comes without repentance and conversion, and who thought that as long as your “soul” was saved, it didn’t matter what you did with your body.
iii. These people were truly enemies of the cross of Christ, who did not want to follow Jesus by taking up His cross of self-denial (Matthew 16:24-26).
iv. And now tell you even weeping: The work and the end of these enemies was that they, in their disregard for God’s holiness, gave ammunition to the legalist’s accusation that Paul preached a cheap grace that required no commitment of the life.
b. Whose end is destruction: Destruction is same word used for perdition in other places (such as Philippians 1:28). This can refer to either their ultimate damnation, or to the present destruction of their lives. Probably, their ultimate damnation is in view.
c. Whose god is their belly: This describes the idolatry of these enemies. Not that they are necessarily focused on what they eat, but belly here has a broader reference to sensual indulgence in general. They live for the pleasures of the body, mind, and soul.
d. Whose glory is in their shame: This shwos the misplaced priorities of these enemies. They glory about things they should be ashamed about.
e. Who set their mind on earthly things describes the focus of their life. It is not to please and worship God, but to get along in this world. Their attitude is that of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21.
3. (20) Our citizenship and our Lord.
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
a. For our citizenship is in heaven: We need to appreciate all this would mean to the Philippians, who valued their Roman citizenship so greatly. Just as the Philippians could consider themselves citizens of Rome, and were under Roman laws and customs, even though they were in fact far from Rome, so Christians should consider themselves citizens of heaven.
i. One paraphrase of citizenship is in heaven reads like this: “We have our home in heaven, and here on earth we are a colony of heaven’s citizens.”
ii. Paul is saying: “Just as the Roman colonists never forgot that they belong to Rome, you must never forget that you are citizens of heaven; and your conduct must match your citizenship.” (Barclay)
b. From which we also eagerly wait for the Savior: As Philippians would eagerly await a visit from the emperor in Rome, even more so should Christians eagerly await the coming of their ‘emperor” - Jesus Christ.
c. Savior was a title given to the Caesars. In 48 b.c. Julius Caesar was declared to be “the universal savior of mankind.” It then became a common title for the ruling Caesar. Paul means something when he applies the title to Jesus in the context of citizenship.
d. The Lord Jesus Christ: Not only was the title Savior applied to the Caesars, but so was the title Lord. It wasn’t long after the time of Paul that Christians were martyred for refusing to Caesar Lord, claiming that Jesus was the only Lord.
2. (21) The proper work of our Savior: transforming our bodies.
Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
a. Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body: Our Savior can do, and will do something that no Caesar can. When we are resurrected, we will have the same type of body that Jesus Himself had when he was resurrected.
i. Jesus was not merely resuscitated from the dead in the same body. He was resurrected in a new body, patterned after the old yet equipped and fitted for heaven.
b. According to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself: This is possible only because the God we serve is omnipotent. He is able even to subdue all things to Himself, and accomplish something as amazing as the resurrection of our bodies after the pattern of Jesus’ resurrection.
© 2001 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission