Click here to view the entire service
Philippians 3:1-7, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; 3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, 4 although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: 5 circumcised the eighth day of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. 7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
“Finally, my brethren” doesn’t mean Paul is about to end his letter. He’s not like those preachers who announce, “In conclusion…” and then go on for another half hour. No, Paul is shifting his focus for the rest of the letter directly onto Christ and how we are to live with Christ the center of our lives. He’ll refer to Christ 20 times by name, title, or pronoun just in chapter 3. Here’s a quick summary of chapters 3-4. Along with the focus on Christ, he tells us to rejoice in the Lord. He wants to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. Paul’s righteousness is from God through faith alone. He forgets the past and reaches forward to God’s future. He reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven and we’re getting brand new, remodeled, eternal bodies, just like Christ’s glorified body.
Then in chapter four Paul first clears up a rift between two ladies, Euodia and Syntyche. Then he again calls us to rejoice in the Lord, not once but twice! He tells us to be anxious for nothing but pray about everything. He wants us to know God’s peace in difficult times, where to focus our thinking, how to be content regardless of our circumstances, to find Christ to be our all-sufficiency, and the blessings of a giving church. Then he gives final words of greeting all around and prayer for the grace of God in our lives. Philippians is truly a great little letter with wonderful spiritual instruction to keep our focus on Christ.
Now in Philippians 3:1-7 Paul is going to clearly distinguish for us the difference between false religion and the genuine thing. Let’s wrap our thoughts around four truths.
SOME TRUTHS YOU NEED TO HEAR OVER AND OVER.
Philippians 3:1, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.
Just like musical instruments need repeated tuning, Paul reminds us again and again to rejoice in the Lord. Joy is the dominant tone of the Christian’s life. We are so prone to sink into grumbling and complaining that Paul has to repeat himself and he’s not timid about it – “Reminding you is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.” Steeping our hearts in the joy of the Lord based on a solid doctrinal foundation is a safeguard to ward off false teaching. When Christ is your joy and heart satisfaction, you won’t be looking anywhere or for anything else to fill up the empty places your life. The phrase “rejoice in the Lord” is only used by Paul and three other times in the Old Testament.
Psalms 35:9, And my soul shall rejoice in the LORD; It shall exult in His salvation.
Isaiah 41:16b, But you will rejoice in the LORD, You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
Zechariah 10:7, Ephraim will be like a mighty man, And their heart will be glad as if from wine; Indeed, their children will see it and be glad, Their heart will rejoice in the LORD.
The sphere of our rejoicing is “in the Lord.” You will never exhaust all the reasons to rejoice in the Lord. You rejoice in who He is and all He has done for you through His incarnation, life, death, resurrection, ascension, interceding for you right now at the right hand of God, and returning for you! He’ll never leave you nor forsake you. That means there’s never a time to stop rejoicing in the Lord. Listen to Peter sound this joy note.
1 Peter 1:8, And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.
This was the keynote of those early believers in Acts. Over and over they rejoice.
Acts 5:41 – So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.
Acts 8:8 – There was much rejoicing in Samaria when the gospel came and changed lives.
Acts 8:39 – The Ethiopian eunuch received Christ and went on his way rejoicing.
Acts 13:48 – When the Gentiles heard the gospel included them, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
Acts 13:52 – And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 15:3 – Paul and Barnabas brought great joy to all the brethren as they described in detail the conversion of the Gentiles.
R. C. Sproul wrote, “The Christian is always in the Lord and the Lord is always in the Christian, and that is always a reason for joy. Even if the Christian cannot rejoice in his circumstances, if he finds himself passing through pain, sorrow, grief, he still can rejoice in the Lord.” James 1:2 says the same thing, “Count it all joy when you encounter various trails.”
Steeping our hearts in the teachings of Scripture deepens our joy. Psalm 119:14, “I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches!” Hello! Did you hear that? Knowing God through His Word, knowing His character, wisdom, justice, power, holiness, especially His sovereignty, knowing God, trusting God, casting all your cares on Him because He cares for you. That’s where the joy is! And never forget Nehemiah 8:10, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
There’s a time to mourn over sin, but God’s forgiveness and cleansing should bring us right back to rejoicing in the Lord. There are also joy thieves we need to confess, like fear, anger, anxiety, jealousy, bitterness. So Paul says, “It’s no trouble to me to repeat this charge over and over. In fact, it’s to your advantage and will safeguard you from false teaching.” Safeguard means what he is writing will guard you from stumbling or getting all tripped up. People filled with the joy of Christ will not be easy prey for false teachers.
YOUR JOY IN THE LORD WILL HELP GUARD YOU FROM FALSE TEACHERS.
Philippians 3:2, Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision;
Paul fires out three present active imperatives: blepete, blepete, blepete. Beware, beware, beware. Look out, look out, look out. Be constantly on the lookout for these dangerous operators.
They creep and sneak into churches. Paul is lovingly severe here, like a parent warning his child against dangerous people who can harm them: “Do not reply to anyone on the internet.” Paul calls them dogs. Now many of us like our dogs. Is Paul anti-dog? No, he’s not talking about cute or cuddly dogs like we’ve got. He’s comparing these false teachers to snarling, ugly, savage, filthy curs. That’s what these false teachers are who are trying to subvert the gospel and seduce your souls. Calvin says, “They assailed true doctrine with their impure barking.” Paul calls them evil workers and false teachers who are undermining and destroying God’s truth, the gospel, and churches. And then he calls out false circumcision or mutilators.
Paul had no qualms about exposing and rebuking false teachers. He warned the Ephesian elders in the book of Acts.
Acts 20:29-30, “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
Who were these evil operators? In the first century they were those Judaizers who dogged Paul’s trail and worked hard to steal his converts and ruin churches with their legalistic preaching against the pure grace of Christ, the sufficiency of Christ alone. The Judaizers taught that faith in Christ wasn’t enough; that Gentiles had to become Jews. By requiring Gentiles to be circumcised to be saved, they added works to the gospel and Paul goes after them with a vengeance. In Galatians 1:8 Paul said if anyone brings a gospel different from what he taught, that is salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, even if an angel brings a different message, let him be accursed! Our salvation is complete in Jesus, nothing more and nothing less.
Paul dealt with these same dogs at length in 2 Corinthians 11.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15, For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
We could trace the history of false teaching ever since the first century. These dogs and evil workers went after the doctrines of salvation, adding works like circumcision. Later they went after the person of Christ. They said He was not fully God or fully man or two persons and one nature. Those early believers had to call councils to correct false teachings. There were four major councils in the first several centuries – Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381), Ephesus (431), and Chalcedon (451). Later when Satan sent his dogs and evil workers to twist and corrupt the gospel of sovereign grace in the church of Rome, God raised up Luther, Calvin, and others to clarify the gospel of justification by faith alone, not by good works. And these evil workers never stop. As long as Satan is alive and well he’ll have his false teachers corrupting the truth of the Word of God.
We have plenty of false teachers and evil workers today, from the major cults to liberal, truth-denying preachers and professors in churches, seminaries, and universities. Megan Basham authored the book Shepherds for Sale. She notes, “Satan’s wolves in sheep’s’ clothing secretly slip into the church for one reason: to prevent it from snatching more souls out of the fire.” Until Christ returns, this spiritual war against the gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of God’s Word will not end. The way to counter false teaching, of course, is with the truth of God’s Word.
THREE MARKS OF TRUE CHRISTIANITY.
Philippians 3:3, for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,
The true circumcision is not physical or outward, but the circumcision of the heart. God does heart surgery by His Spirit through faith in Christ, cutting off our connection to Adam’s sin and depravity and placing us in Christ with a new heart. Then Paul counters all this false teaching with, as one teacher said, “one of the best, brief definition of a true Christian” in verse three. Ask yourself, do these three definitions describe you?
First, do you worship in the Spirit of God? Remember what Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well.
John 4:23-24, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
What does this mean? First, you don’t worship with rituals and ceremonies and keeping special days. Worship is of the heart and based on truth. You remember who your God is in all His attributes – holy, just, merciful, loving, sovereign, infinite, eternal, immutable. The Spirit will lead you to worship God as your heavenly Father. You don’t depend on incense and candles, pictures and statuary. You come to church motivated in your heart by the Spirit of God to rejoice and hear God’s Word, especially the gospel of the grace of God. You realize you are in God’s very presence as you sing and pray and listen to the preaching of the Word of God. Psalm 2:11-12 captures the essence of true worship, “Worship the LORD with reverence and rejoice with trembling.” True worship is the combination of reverence and joy. Then verse 12 in the ESV says, “Kiss the Son!” That’s the perfect attitude of true worship – reverence, joy, and love.
Second, do you glory in, boast in, exult in Jesus Christ alone as Lord and Savior? He is the focus of our personal lives and our corporate worship. In Christ alone our hope is found, He is our light, our strength, our song; this cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm. While the false teachers were boasting in their ethnicity, their ritual, ceremony, circumcision, and keeping the law, Paul was always boasting in Christ alone.
1 Corinthians 1:30-31, And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’
This is how you know if you’re a Christian or not. Where is your boast? Where is your hope? Why do we boast in Christ? Who is He? The God-Man who humbled Himself to come to this rebellious humanity to live a perfect life, die a substitutionary death, bearing God’s wrath against our sins, providing propitiation, reconciling us to the Father, the just One for the unjust ones, to bring us to God. Who could not glory in this? He showed us our sin, our true need. He took our sins and gave us His righteousness. He saved us by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. He gave us new abundant life, new strength, new affections for God, new understanding. He made us new creations in Christ, new everything. He not only saved us from eternal hell but redeemed us to spend an eternity with Him in eternal bliss! This is why we glory in Christ Jesus! We glory in Christ Jesus because there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
Third, do you put no, absolutely no, confidence in your flesh, your natural being? In Adam we have all sinned, we are all corrupt and depraved. We are all lost and have nothing to bring to God except our sin. There is no number of good deeds we could do to erase our guilt before God. Yet, confidence in the flesh is exactly what so many people have as their way to heaven. “Hey, I’ve been a pretty good person.” Remember that rich young ruler? He came running up to Jesus, kneeling before Him, and calling Him good master. He asked the right question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus: “You know the commandments.” Young ruler: “Teacher, I’ve kept all the commandments from my youth up!” He seemed sincere. Mark says, “Jesus felt a love for him.” Jesus: “Sell everything you have, give it to the poor, and follow Me.” This wealthy young man was functioning in the flesh. He had much wealth. And he went away grieved! He needed a work of grace in his heart. Like so many, his confidence was in the flesh. He was proud of his wealth and good deeds. He just wanted some assurance of heaven when he died. Jesus said, “How hard it is for a rich man to enter heaven, but with God all things are possible.” Here’s the good news. God is able to make a rich man poor in spirit. But as long as he loves his wealth most of all, he is boasting in the flesh.
HUMAN GOOD WILL NEVER BRING YOU TO GOD.
Philippians 3:4-7, though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Paul isn’t bragging here. He’s telling the truth, the facts. If anyone of those false teachers thinks they are good enough for God in their flesh, Paul says, “I out-fleshed them all.” Then he recounts all of his Jewish pedigree and his life under the law, even to the point of being blameless under the law! There he goes, up that Damascus Road, a bundle of Jewish perfection, even going to foreign cities to put Christians in chains and throw them in prisons as heretics against Judaism. But then on that road Paul met the Christ he was persecuting!
Acts 9:3-6, Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
If any conversion illustrates the sovereignty of God over the soul of a man, Paul’s certainly did. He’s a self-righteous Pharisee with impeccable Jewish credentials when suddenly Christ gives him a new humbled heart. His life turned around 180 degrees and he becomes the most Christ-loving human being ever! German theologian Phillip Schaff said Paul is the most influential character in history. But in 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul freely confesses his own sin, “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief!”
What humans speak of as gain, Paul counted as loss (vs. 7). Paul looked at his spiritual ledger book. All the inherited and achieved human good, human righteousness, all his religious accomplishments are on the loss side, and on the gain side there is one word: Christ. This is why he worships in the Spirit, glories in Christ Jesus, and puts absolutely no confidence in his human and religious achievements. This is why Paul rejoiced in the Lord and urged all God’s people to find their greatest joy in their relationship with Jesus Christ.
I’ve been rereading Iain Murray’s biography of Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Mrs. Lloyd-Jones, Bethan, wrote about different people who came under the sound of her husband’s gospel preaching. A drunkard named “Staffordshire” Bill had been a door-to-door fish salesman. Often the neighbors saw his pony taking the fish cart home in the afternoon as Bill lay backward off the driver’s seat into the bed of unsold fish. One day Bill came to hear Martyn preach. He said, “I was there last night and that preacher said nobody was hopeless. He said there was hope for everyone. If there’s hope for everyone, then there’s hope for me.” Bill tried to come back to the service several times but chickened out. The third time someone asked him, “Are you coming in, Bill?” Then preciously added, “Come and sit with me.” Bill went in, heard the gospel, trusted Christ and was saved. He was nearly 70 when God shined the light of the gospel into his heart. His life was radically changed; he attended every meeting. Mrs. Lloyd-Jones described him, “That old battered face was transformed and radiant with an inner joy.” That’s the joy of the Lord in the heart of a redeemed sinner.
What about you? Whether your human credentials are impeccable like Paul’s or you wonder if there’s any hope for you, do those three traits of a true Christian characterize you? Can you honestly say you worship in the Spirit of God, glory in Christ Jesus as your Lord and sin-bearing Savior, and put absolutely no confidence in your fleshly human good or works? Christ alone can save your soul. Bow before Him and trust in His payment for your sin’s when He died on the cross and rose again. Find the joy of the Lord as a redeemed sinner.