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What if 'Good' Isn't Enough - Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon Series: Partners in Christ

Paul begins chapter 3 with a command to the church at Philippi, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.” This isn’t the first time that Paul has commanded the church at Philippi to rejoice in this letter and it won’t be the last time he commands them to rejoice. In 2:17-18 Paul wrote, “Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.” Later we’ll see him write in 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” While Paul was incredibly grateful for the church at Philippi and their partnership in ministry with him thus far, he had also exhorted the church at Philippi not to ease up. In 1:9 Paul told them, “it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment.” And in 2:12 he told them, “. . . as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, [continually] work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” In order to do this the members who made up the church were going to have to stand firm in one spirit (1:27), strive side by side for the faith of the gospel (1:27), and look not only to their own interests but also to the interests of others (2:4). It also meant that they would, like Christ (and like Timothy and Epaphroditus) encounter hardships and suffering. For many, this probably wasn’t reason for rejoicing. They had already partnered with Paul in the work of the Gospel. They had already encountered hardships and were expecting more. And rather than receiving a letter from Paul instructing them to take some time off, they got a letter that said they needed to continue to work out their salvation, continue to love more and more, and continue to endure the coming hardships and sufferings.

I don’t know about you, but my first response to news like this isn’t rejoicing. But note that Paul doesn’t tell the church to rejoice in their situation or to rejoice in their circumstances – he tells them to rejoice “in the Lord.” Jesus is the only One who according to 2:9-10 is “highly exalted” and who has been given the name that is above every name. He is the ultimate source and object of joy and the only thing which can help individuals overcome the hardships and sufferings that come from living for Him. So Paul tells the church at Philippi to rejoice in Jesus. Paul had an understanding from Scripture that rejoicing in the Lord strengthens and enables believers to stand firm in the midst of trials and sufferings. Nehemiah 8:10 tells us that, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Psalm 81:1 says, “Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob!” And Habakkuk 3:18-19 says, “yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength.” Paul had discovered that the secret for standing firm when living for God and encountering trials wasn’t to grumble against or resent God – the secret for standing firm while serving Him was to rejoice in Him. So Paul commands the church at Philippi in light of the sufferings they had already endured and in light of the sufferings that were still to come, to rejoice in the Lord.

In verse 2 Paul gives a second command which he repeats three times, “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.” In this verse Paul is warning the church at Philippi (which is made up of primarily Gentile believers in Christ) to be aware of and on the look out for a group of individuals that were known as Judaizers. The group we refer to as Judaizers was made up of Jews who did not recognize faith in Christ alone as that which saved. They believed that in order for an individual to really and truly be one of God’s chosen people that he/she had to be a part of the Jewish people. So those who were a part of this particular group would often go to great lengths in order to convince Gentile believers in Christ that it was necessary for them to adopt a Jewish lifestyle and to live according to Jewish law. They were in essence trying to turn those who were not Jews into Jews (thus the name – Judaizers). They were a group that was proud of their Jewish heritage, proud of their self-righteousness which they believed came through the Law, and in some ways hostile towards those who did not conform to their way of living. And Paul turns the table on this group in a unique way when he warns the Gentile believers in Christ at Philippi to be on the look out for these individuals who may come on to the scene with intentions of leading the church at Philippi to conform to Jewish law and tradition.

In first century Jewish culture dogs weren’t considered family pets. They were regarded as despicable creatures and were despised because they would eat absolutely anything, including other dead animals and their own vomit. So the Jews would often use the title of ‘dog’ to insult and describe their enemies. (See Psalm 22:16, 20; and 59:6, 14 for examples.) In their minds, those who did not conform to and keep the Law were unclean, and so they regarded them as just like dogs. They also tended to view those outside the Jewish faith as ‘evildoers’ (see Psalm 14:4). If they weren’t striving to do good in God’s sight by keeping the Law, they were in fact doing evil. The Jews were often (like many of us) guilty of great self-righteousness. They saw their determination to keep and do the Law as that which gave them favor with God and which made them God’s people. It was also their justification for looking so judgmentally upon those outside of the Jewish faith. But in an unbelievably shocking warning, Paul begins to tell these Gentile believers (those considered dogs and evildoers) to be on the look out for the dogs, evildoers, and mutilators of the flesh – titles Paul was using to describe these Judaizers! What a sense of irony and insult! But in Paul’s mind those titles were accurate descriptions. You see these Judaizers, who were still in reality unclean because they were relying on their own works to earn their forgiveness and salvation, were looking at those who had actually been made clean by faith in Christ as unclean dogs. The church at Philippi, though made up of those who were Gentiles and born outside of Israelite lineage, had been made clean by faith in Christ and His atoning sacrifice. So the title ‘dogs’ was an inaccurate description of the church at Philippi, but a fitting description of the Judaizers, who were in fact still unclean like dogs. And in attempting to convert those who had placed their faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord to a religious system that was based on the idea of earning forgiveness and salvation through the keeping of the Law, it was actually the Judaizers who were doing evil. Then, in a final insult, Paul looked upon that which the Jews and Judaizers took so much pride in – their circumcision in the flesh (which in their mind was a physical marker of their rightful place among God’s people) - and likened it to an act that pagan worshippers used to participate in. Certain pagan religions throughout history have taught that by mutilating one’s flesh (inflicting pain on oneself or cutting oneself) that they could please or appease the gods that they worshipped. Self mutilation was nothing more than an act performed upon oneself with the intentions of earning favor with one’s god. Paul says that the Jews had lost the meaning of circumcision. What was supposed to be an outward sign and demonstration of a circumcised heart (i.e. belief in Messiah), had turned into nothing more than a legalistic practice. Circumcision was no longer a sign of one’s belief but an act performed by those who wanted to be good Jews and earn God’s favor. Paul says that those Judaizers who were demanding that Gentile believers be circumcised were really nothing more than those who practiced mutilation of the flesh because there was no belief in the Messiah in their hearts.

After the warning to be on the look out for these Judaizers Paul gives the church at Philippi a word of encouragement – a word that would be challenged by the Judaizers when they did show up on the scene. “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (vs. 3). The Judaizers would be coming to the church at Philippi and demanding that they be circumcised. But Paul tells the church at Philippi that they were already ‘the circumcision’ – not because they had been circumcised outwardly in the flesh, but for other reasons. The first reason Paul gives as evidence that they are the ‘true circumcision’ is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Paul tells the church at Philippi that they are the circumcision because they worship by the Spirit of God. The foremost distinguishing mark of every believer in Christ is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. That is the authenticating sign that someone has genuinely trusted in Jesus as Savior and Lord. When an individual comes to faith in Jesus as the Messiah an outward sign is no longer needed as a marker of genuine faith because there is an even greater sign marking the life of genuine and true believers – it is the presence of the Holy Spirit. Paul then gives a second reason that those who made up the church at Philippi were part of the ‘true circumcision,’ but he does so by giving evidence in a two part statement. Evidence two ‘a’ is that the believers making up the church at Philippi gloried (or boasted) in Christ Jesus. Jesus – the Son of God and the Savior of the world – was the only One in whom the church at Philippi gloried. This wasn’t true of the Judaizers. They didn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah and they did not in any way glory in Him. The object in which they gloried was the Law. The Law had come directly from God and was given only to the people of Israel. It was the object that (in the mind of the Jews) demonstrated that God viewed the Israelites as His chosen people and the means by which the Israelites earned favor with God. But God’s intentions were not for people to glory in and boast in the Law. God’s intentions were always that He would be the One in which people gloried and boasted. And when He made salvation possible through His Son (as opposed to through the Law) God alone would have stood out as the only object in which people should glory. Evidence two ‘b’ that Paul gives that those who made up the church at Philippi were part of the ‘true circumcision’ is that they “put no confidence in the flesh.” This piece of evidence goes hand in hand with the object of their glory. Because the church at Philippi had understood that their salvation came through Jesus’ death and resurrection on their behalf, their confidence was completely and entirely in Him. They understood that the reconciliation they had with God was not a result of their own efforts, but solely the result of Jesus’ work and efforts. The Judaizers on the other hand, because their glory was in the Law, had put their confidence in their own ability to carry out the Law that God had given them. Paul wanted the church at Philippi to be aware of the distinctions between them and the Judaizers. But rather than be confused by the Judaizers or led away from a Christ-centered faith to a Law-centered religion, Paul wanted the church at Philippi to understand that the evidence in their lives made it clear that they were in fact the genuine people of God who were in right relationship with Him.

In verses 4 through 6 Paul looks back upon his life as a Jew and compares his life to the lives of those Judaizers who would be coming and attempting to lead these Gentile believers to trade in their faith and to take up the practice of Judaism. These Judaizers were the ones who (more than other Jews) held tightly to their Jewish heritage and efforts to keep the Law as the means of their right standing with God. But after Paul says in verse 3 that believers in Christ don’t put any confidence in the flesh, in verse 4 he says that if they did he would have reason for great confidence. In fact, Paul says that he would have greater reason for having confidence in the flesh than any other Jew. “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 . . .” (vs. 4). Paul then begins to describe why he would be able to have such extraordinary confidence. “Circumcised on the eighth day . . .” Not only had Paul received the defining mark of Judaism (i.e. circumcision), he had what would have been considered a first class circumcision. Jewish law prescribed that Jewish boys were to be circumscribed on the eighth day after their birth. And while many who converted to Judaism later in life received circumcision of the flesh, Paul had done so in the way that fulfilled the Law pertaining to circumcision entirely. “Of the people of Israel . . .” This meant that Paul was of the actual ‘race’ of Israel – that his genealogy traced back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Paul wasn’t a Gentile who at one point had converted to Judaism, Paul was an actual descendant. “Of the tribe of Benjamin . . .” Throughout Israelite history the tribe of Benjamin seems to have a favored position. For instance Benjamin, himself, was a favored son of Jacob because he was born of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel. It was from the tribe of Benjamin that the first king of Israel was selected. And it was the tribe of Benjamin which inherited the portion of the Promise Land which contained the city of Jerusalem. So Paul’s confidence went beyond just being a descendant of Jacob, his lineage traced back to one of the favored tribes. “A Hebrew of Hebrews . . .” This statement is a reference that deals with the genuineness of Paul’s Judaism. The influence of the Greek culture at the time was very strong. The Greek language had become the predominant language of the time and other aspects of the Greek culture had begun to permeate other existing cultures. Many Jews during that time were becoming ‘hellenized,’ which meant that their Judaism was being heavily influenced by and shaped by Greek culture. When Paul declares that he was a Hebrew of Hebrews he was declaring that his Jewish heritage was still genuine and pure. While he was fluent in the Greek language, he had not abandoned the Hebrew language altogether. He still held onto his grasp of the Hebrew language and protected his Judaism from being corrupted by Greek influence. “As to the law, a Pharisee . . .” Among the Jews the ancient Jewish historian Josephus said that the Pharisees, “are esteemed most skillful in the exact explication of their laws.” It was the Pharisees who had a superior understanding of the Law and it was their goal to make sure every Jew was living in accordance with the Law. As G. Walter Hansen comments, the life of a Pharisee, “was totally law-centered, law-controlled, and law-promoting.” Paul says that this is what defined him as a Jew. He wasn’t ambivalent towards the Law and he wasn’t apathetic or lethargic in regards to the Law. Paul was consumed with the Law. “As to zeal, a persecutor of the church . . .” According to Terence Donaldson, “Zeal was more than just a fervent commitment to the Torah (i.e. the Law); it denoted a willingness to use violence against any – Jews, Gentiles, or the wicked in general – who were contravening, opposing, or subverting the Torah.” In other words ‘zeal’ in Paul’s context dealt with the fervent commitment to defend the purity of Judaism and its laws. Before his conversion to faith in Christ Paul was so zealous for Judaism and the Law that he persecuted the church because he saw the church as a threat and opponent to Judaism. Paul witnessed Jews replacing the centrality of the Law in their lives with the worship of Jesus, and this enraged him. Listen to Paul’s own words in his letter to the church at Galatia, “For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it” (Galatians 1:13). While living as a Jews Paul saw it as his job to uphold the idea that “the people of God” were the ones faithfully keeping the Law. The message of the church was that “the people of God” were the ones who had put their faith in Jesus and who were true followers of Him. As a Jew, Paul couldn’t stand for this and so he made every effort to destroy such a message. “As to righteousness under the law, blameless . . .” In this phrase Paul speaks to his upright behavior in regards to the Law. From the Jewish perspective, the Law spoke almost exclusively to behavior. Take for example just a few of the 10 Commandments, “You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:13-16). Very little of the Law spoke to the intent of the heart, so it wasn’t completely crazy for some Jews to boast that they had kept the Law. Jesus even had an encounter with a rich, young ruler who claimed to have been blameless in regards to the Law (see Luke 18:18-21). But we see in Matthew 5 that Jesus had a different perspective on the Law. The Law dealt not only with one’s actions, but also the intentions of the heart. So while some might be able to claim complete obedience to the Law in regards to their actions, the reality is that we all stand guilty when we take into consideration the intentions of our heart.

From a Jewish perspective, when it came to having confidence in being in right relationship with God, there was no one who could have had more confidence than Paul. No one! Not even this group of Judaizers who seemed to be intent on bringing others outside of Judaism into compliance with its Laws and practices. Paul had absolutely every reason to have confidence in the flesh, and yet according to verse 3 he put no confidence in it. Why? The answer is profoundly simple – Jesus! “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (vs. 7-9). From a Jewish perspective all that Paul had was a positive asset – his lineage, his heritage, his understanding of the Law, and his blamelessness in regards to that Law, etc. All that Paul had from a Jewish perspective was making the case that he was in good standing with God. But after having an encounter with the risen Jesus one day on a trip to Damascus Paul’s perspective on life changed! Paul encountered the Son of God! In Acts 9 we read that Paul was on his way to arrest and persecute true believers in Jesus but that Jesus stopped him along the way and asked Paul, “Why are you persecuting me?” In that moment Paul’s perspective on life began to radically change. Paul had an encounter with the very God whom he thought he was pleasing, only to find out that his actions were in fact persecuting Him. And in the days and weeks that followed, as Paul began to discover the truth of who Jesus was, he began to be challenged with his Jewish way of thinking. Paul began to see that all of those things he thought were assets for positioning him in right standing with God weren’t assets at all. His lineage, his heritage, and all that he had done only served to make much of himself. These assets declared that Paul was right before God because of who he was and what he had accomplished in life. They made Paul and the Law that he kept the objects of his boasting. And after having an encounter with God the Son, glorying in and boasting in self just didn’t seem to make much sense. The splendor and glory and majesty and holiness of God declare that the only One in whom we ought to glory and boast is God, Himself. And when we see in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God’s plan of salvation being worked out it begins to become clear that our salvation with God and our reconciliation to Him isn’t at all based on what we do, but entirely based on what He has done. So it’s because of Jesus (or “for the sake of Christ”) that Paul counts all of his assets as loss.

In verse 8 Paul says that he now considers ‘everything’ (not only those things once considered assets) as a loss in light of the “surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” The ‘knowing’ Paul is making reference to here isn’t a simple intellectual knowledge of or awareness of Jesus – it’s an intimate and personal knowledge that only comes when someone is in a relationship with Him. Paul says the worth of intimately knowing Jesus and being in a relationship with Him surpasses all things. And now that he’s experiencing that relationship and intimate knowledge of Christ everything else in comparison seems as a loss and as rubbish. Paul isn’t looking any longer for things he can do to put in his assets column – all he wants to do is “gain Christ and be found in Him.” This is so unbelievably cool! The story of the Bible begins with this amazing recounting of God’s creation of the world. And Genesis 1 and 2 tells us that when God created the world He made it without any blemish. Everything was perfect and in that perfection God and man had a personal and intimate relationship with one another. But the Bible tells us that man fell out of right relationship with God by trying to put themselves in God’s place and acting in disobedience to Him. The Bible called this sin and it tells us that it began to spread through all of creation like a virus so that nothing was left unaffected by it. That sin marred God’s perfect creation, including all men, and the result was that sinful man became separated from their holy God and subject to His wrath. But the Bible also tells us that God had this unbelievable plan to rescue His creation, and reconcile man with Himself. That plan would require a rescuer. But there wasn’t any rescuer capable of carrying out the plan. So the Bible tells us that God wrapped His Son in flesh, made Him a man, and sent Him to be our rescuer. God sent Himself! It’s the absolute opposite of what Adam and Eve did in the garden – there man tried to make himself God, but in God’s plan of salvation God made Himself into man. And after living a perfect life and demonstrating over and over again that He was God, Jesus died on the cross, taking the sins of humanity upon Himself, and endured God’s complete and full wrath for our sin. Jesus died for our sins and then was buried in a tomb for three days. But because Jesus was the sovereign King, even death was subject to Him. So after three days in the tomb Jesus rose again, having conquered sin completely. (Then this is where it gets even better.) Having taken our sin fully upon Himself and having made full payment for our sin so that God was completely satisfied, Jesus then offered to humanity His righteousness. He understood that those who were covered in His righteousness could get back what they once lost – an intimate and personal relationship with God. Those of us who were once separated from God because of our sin can gain Jesus and be found in Him, “not having a righteousness of [our] own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (vs. 9). We can have once again that which we were created for, not because of our own righteousness, but because of the righteousness of Jesus which we are given freely when we put our faith in Him.

Too many people in our culture today are busy looking for things that they can put in their asset column. They are looking for good deeds they can do, good charities that they can give to, and good moral standards to hold onto that are better than most other people’s. They believe that if their good is good enough that God will look favorably upon them and that they will be in right standing with Him. But while Paul once lived his life in a very similar fashion, he also discovered that his way of thinking and living wasn’t helping him obtain right standing with God – it was hurting him. His ‘good’ wasn’t enough and no matter what he did, it would never be enough. His ‘good’ was leading him into a life of self-righteousness, a life of pride in his own works, and a life that gloried in something other than God, Himself. He discovered that God alone was the only thing worth knowing and glorying in and that gaining Him and being found in Him wasn’t a matter of what he could do, but a matter of what God had already done through Jesus. Paul had to be reconciled to God not by his own righteousness, but by the shed blood of Jesus and His righteousness, which Paul could only obtain by placing his faith in Him. And the same thing holds true for us today. When it comes to salvation from sin and the reconciliation we need with God, ‘good’ is not enough – only Jesus is!

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