Philippians 3:1-3
A husband never misses an anniversary.
He buys flowers every year.
He remembers every birthday.
He pays every bill.
He does all the things a good husband is supposed to do.
Then one evening his wife says:
“You remember all the dates, but I miss you.”
Everything is technically right, but the relationship is
distant.
“That’s the danger Paul is warning about in Philippians 3.
The Judaizers had all the dates, all the rules, all the
rituals, all the checkboxes. But Christianity is not
ultimately about keeping a list. It’s about knowing Christ.
You can be very religious and very far from Jesus at the
same time.”
Philippians 3:1-3
Sermon in a sentence:
Paul encourages the Philippians to have joy,
beware of legalism, and keep their focus on Christ.
The first thing we see in verse 1 is an
Appeal to Rejoice
Joy is a theme throughout Paul’s letter to the Philippian
church.
We saw it in chapter 1, Paul remained joyful despite his
circumstances in prison
We saw it in chapter 2, Paul rejoiced when the church put
on the attitude of Christ of humility.
Now in chapter 3 Paul is appealing to the church to
rejoice in the LORD.
He is going to come back to this same theme again in
chapter 4 as well.
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. cf
verse 4.
Nehemiah wrote something similar.
Nehemiah 8:10 “Then he said to them, ‘Go your way.
Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to
anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our
Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is
your strength.”
Paul’s point is that he wants the Philippian church to have
joy.
Paul also mentions it is no trouble for him to write to
them the same things. Repetition is good.
When you hear a Biblical truth again and again it
resonates with you and it becomes familiar to you.
That’s why there is so much repetition in the Scripture.
Jesus would often say, truly, truly I say to you.
Next Paul gives them a,
Warning Against Legalism
Paul warns against the Dogs.
This is ironic because he is referring to the Judaizers. The
Jewish Christians who taught that the Gentile believers
had to have faith plus keep the law and be circumcised.
We read about this in Acts 15:1 “But some men came
down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless
you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses,
you cannot be saved.’”
This is legalism not grace.
The irony is that Paul is calling the Judaizers the same
name they used for the Gentiles. They referred to them
as dogs.
Dogs in Paul’s day were not pets. They were a nuisance,
they were scavengers. It was a hateful way to refer to
someone.
So here Paul uses their own word to refer to them.
Paul warns them against Evildoers.
Again Paul is referring to the Judaizers by the works that
they claimed to keep.
They pretended to keep the law, but didn’t truly
understand the heart of the message of salvation.
Jesus died on the cross to save the sins of mankind.
All who believe in Him and ask Him for forgiveness will be
saved.
Paul’s point is that the Judaizers are not keeping the law,
they are evil workers.
No one can work their way into heaven. Jesus is the only
way.
Finally, Paul warns against Those who mutilate the flesh.
Paul uses a play on words here.
The word for circumcision is Peritome
The word he uses for mutilate is Katatome.
This is the same word used in the Greek OT for when the
prophets of Baal were mutilating themselves trying to get
Baal to answer their prayer and bring down the fire.
Paul’s point is
Circumcision is a matter of the heart, not the flesh.
Circumcision was given by God to Abram when He
changed his name to Abraham in Genesis 17.
God made a covenant with Abraham that He would make
him the father of many nations. He promised to give
Abraham the land of Canaan. He required all of the males
to be circumcised on the 8th day.
Paul knew the hearts of the Judaizers were not seeking
after God. They were only focused on works.
Circumcision has always been a matter of the heart.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, the days are coming,
declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with
the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the
covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when
I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of
Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their
husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days,
declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I
will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and
they shall be my people.”
Paul also wrote about this in
Romans 2:25-29 “For circumcision indeed is of value if
you obey the law, but if you break the law, your
circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who
is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not
his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he
who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will
condemn you who have the written code and circumcision
but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one
outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But
a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the
heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not
from man but from God.”
Circumcision is a matter of the heart.
Remember Jesus is the only way to the Father.
We are saved by grace alone through faith alone.
Not by works, so that no one can boast.
Next we see an,
Example of True Circumcision
Paul provides three marks of the true circumcision.
They
Worship in Spirit
True believers have been transformed by the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit. They are new creatures and their focus
is no longer themselves, but God.
Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well about
worship.
John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship him
must worship in spirit and truth.”
Being a follower of Christ is not about conformity to the
Law or outward legalism, but about worshiping the One
who saved us.
They
Glory in Christ Jesus
The word glory means to boast.
Later Paul writes about his qualifications in the flesh, his
education, his family line, his zeal for the faith.
But Paul considers it all as loss for the sake of Christ,
We have nothing to boast about except Christ.
They
Put No Confidence in the Flesh
If we put our full faith in Christ, we will have no
confidence in our flesh. Because our flesh fails us.
Our confidence comes from the completed work of Jesus
on the cross.
APPLICATION
Avoid Legalism
It’s easy to get caught up in legalism because it is easy
to measure. It’s easy to check things off the list.
Prayer time
Read your Bible
Worship
Attend church
While all of those are good things.
Our focus should be on building our relationship with the
One who saved us.
Jesus knows us intimately and He wants us to know Him
too.
We do that not by checking things off the list, but by
enjoying the presence of Christ in our lives.
Boast in Christ
We have nothing to boast about in our flesh.
But we have everything to boast about in Christ.
He has done all of the work of saving us.
Now we should be telling the world about how He has set
us free from our sin and how He is able to set others free
from their sin too!