Philippians 3

Philippians 3:1

V. WARNING AGAINST FALSE TEACHERS (3:1-3) 3:1 Finally, my brethren does not mean that Paul is about to close his Epistle. The literal meaning is As for the rest … . The same word is used again in Phi_4:8. He exhorts them to rejoice in the Lord. The Christian can always find real joy in the Lord, no matter what his circumstances may be. The source of all his singing is high in heaven above. Nothing can really affect his joy unless it first robs him of his Savior, and this clearly is impossible. Natural happiness is affected by pain, sorrow, sickness, poverty, and tragedy. But Christian joy rides high over all the billows of life. Proof of this is found in the fact that Paul gives this exhortation from prison. Surely we can take the advice from such a man as he! He does not find it irksome to repeat himself to the Philippians because he knows it is for their safety. But how does he repeat himself? Does this refer to the preceding expression where he urges them to rejoice in the Lord? Or does it mean the verses to follow where he warns them against the Judaizers? We believe that the latter is in view. Three times in verse 2 he uses the word beware. To use this repetition is not tedious for him, but for them it is a true safeguard. 3:2 They are to beware of dogs, … of evil workers, and of the mutilation. All three expressions probably refer to the same group of menfalse teachers who sought to put Christians under the laws of Judaism and taught that righteousness could be obtained by law-keeping and ritual. First of all, they were dogs. In the Bible, dogs are unclean animals. The term was used by Jews to describe Gentiles! In eastern countries, dogs were homeless creatures, running wild in the streets and scrounging food as best they could. Here Paul turns the tables and applies the term to those Jewish false teachers who were seeking to corrupt the church. They were really the ones who were living on the outside, trying to exist on rituals and ceremonies. They were picking up the crumbs when they might sit down to a feast.Secondly, they were evil workers. Professing to be true believers, they gained admission into Christian fellowships in order to spread their false teachings. The results of their work could only be evil. Then Paul also calls them the mutilation. This is a sarcastic term to describe their attitude toward circumcision. Doubtless they insisted that a person must be circumcised in order to be saved. But all they meant by this was the physical, literal act of circumcision. They were not at all concerned with its spiritual meaning. Circumcision speaks of death to the flesh. It means that the claims of the fleshly nature should not be allowed. While they insisted on the literal act of circumcision, they gave full rein to the flesh. There was no heart acknowledgment that the flesh had been put to death at the cross. Paul was saying that they were mere mutilators of the flesh, who did not distinguish between the ceremony and its underlying meaning. 3:3 In contrast with these, Paul states that we (true believers) are the circumcisionnot those who happen to be born of Jewish parents or who have been literally circumcised, but those who realize that the flesh profits nothing, that man can do nothing in his own strength to win God’s smile of approval. Then Paul gives three characteristics of those who are the true circumcision:

1. They worship God in (or by) the Spirit. That is, theirs is a true spiritual worship, not one of mere ceremonies. In true worship, a person enters into the presence of God by faith, and pours out his love, praise, adoration and homage. Soulish worship, on the other hand, is occupied with beautiful buildings and ecclesiastical furniture, with elaborate ceremonies, with brocaded priestly garments, and with whatever appeals to the emotions.
2. Members of the true circumcision rejoice (or glory) in Christ Jesus. He alone is the ground of their boasting. They do not pride themselves in personal attainments, in cultural background, or in faithfulness to sacraments.
3. They have no confidence in the flesh. They do not think they can be saved through fleshly efforts in the first place or be kept by their own strength thereafter. They do not expect any good from their Adamic nature and are therefore not disappointed when they find none!

Philippians 3:4

VI. PAUL’S HERITAGE AND PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS RENOUNCED FOR CHRIST (3:4-14) 3:4 As Paul thought of how these men boasted in their fleshly advantages and attainments, a smile doubtless formed on his lips. If they could brag, how much more so could he! In the next two verses, he shows how that to a pre-eminent degree he possessed those natural assets in which man normally glories. He seemed to have belonged to almost every kind of aristocracy which excites the dreams and kindles the aspirations of men.Concerning these two verses, Arnot has said: The whole stock-in-trade of the self-righteous Pharisee is inventoried here. He delights to display the filthy rags and make a show of them openly.You will notice that Paul speaks of: pride of ancestry (v. 5a); pride of orthodoxy (v. 5b); pride of activity (v. 6a); pride of morality (v. 6b). 3:5 Here, then, is the list of Paul’s natural and fleshly advantages: circumcised the eighth dayhe was a Jew by birth, not an Ishmaelite or a convert to Judaism. of the stock of Israela member of God’s chosen earthly people. of the tribe of Benjamina tribe that was considered an aristocratic leader (Jdg_5:14), and the one that gave Israel its first king. a Hebrew of the Hebrewshe belonged to that segment of the nation that had held onto its original language, customs, and usages. concerning the law, a Phariseethe Pharisees had remained orthodox, whereas the Sadducees had abandoned the doctrine of the resurrection. 3:6 concerning zeal, persecuting the churchPaul sincerely thought that he had been doing God’s service when he had attempted to wipe out the sect of Christians. He saw in it a threat to his own religion and therefore felt he must exterminate it. concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blamelessthis cannot mean that Paul had perfectly kept the law. He confesses in Rom_7:9-10 that such was not the case. He speaks of himself as being blameless, not sinless. We can only conclude that when Paul had violated any part of the law, he was careful to bring the sacrifice required. In other words, he had been a stickler in seeking to observe the rules of Judaism to the letter. Thus, as to birth, pedigree, orthodoxy, zeal, and personal righteousness, Saul of Tarsus was an outstanding man. 3:7 But now the apostle makes the great renunciation. Here he gives us his own Profit and Loss Statement. On one side he lists the above-mentioned items, the things that had been gain to him. On the other side he writes the single word Christ. They all amount to nothing when compared with the treasure which he had found in Christ. He counted them loss for Christ. Guy King says, All financial gain, all material gain, all physical gain, all intellectual gain, all moral gain, all religious gainall these are no gains at all compared with the Great Gain.As long as he trusted in these things, he could never have been saved. Once he was saved, they no longer meant anything to him because he had seen the glory of the Lord, and all other glories seemed like nothing in comparison. 3:8 In coming to Christ for salvation, Paul had renounced all things and counted them worthless when compared to the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord. The excellence of the knowledge is a Hebrew way of saying the excellent knowledge or the surpassing worth of knowing.Ancestry, nationality, culture, prestige, education, religion, personal attainmentsall these the apostle abandoned as grounds for boasting. Indeed, he counted them as dung or rubbish in order that he might gain Christ.Although the present tense is used in this verse and in the one following, Paul is looking back primarily to the time of his conversion. In order to gain Christ, he had had to turn his back on the things he had always been taught to prize most highly. If he were to have Christ as his gain, he had to say goodbye to his mother’s religion, his father’s heritage, and his own personal attainments. And so he did! He completely severed his ties with Judaism as a hope of salvation. In doing so, he was disinherited by his relatives, disowned by his former friends, and persecuted by his fellow countrymen. He literally suffered the loss of all things when he became a Christian. Because the present tense is used in verse 8, it sounds as if Paul was still seeking to gain Christ. Actually, he had won Christ when he first acknowledged Him as Lord and Savior. But the present tense indicates that this is still his attitudehe still counts all else as rubbish when compared to the value of knowing the Lord Jesus. The great desire of his heart is: That Christ may be my gain. Not gold, or silver, or religious reputation, but Christ. 3:9 And be found in Him. Here again it sounds as if Paul was still trying to be found in Christ. The fact is that he is looking back to the tremendous decision which faced him before he was saved. Was he willing to abandon his own efforts to earn salvation, and simply trust in Christ? He had made his choice. He had abandoned all else in order to be found in Christ. The moment he believed on the Lord Jesus, he stood in a new position before God. No longer was he seen as a child of sinful Adam, but now he was seen in Christ, enjoying all the favor which the Lord Jesus enjoys before God the Father. Likewise he had renounced the filthy rags of his own self-righteousness, which he had sought to win by keeping the law, and had chosen the righteousness of God which is bestowed on everyone who receives the Savior. Righteousness is here spoken of as a garment or covering. Man needs righteousness in order to stand before God in favor. But man cannot produce it. And so, in grace, God gives His own righteousness to those who receive His Son as Lord and Savior. He (God) made Him (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2Co_5:21). Again we would like to emphasize that verses 8 and 9 do not suggest that Paul had not yet received the righteousness of God. On the contrary, this became his possession when he was regenerated on the road to Damascus. But the present tense simply indicates that the results of that important event continued up to the present and that Paul still considered Christ to be worth far more than anything he had given up. 3:10 As we read this verse, we come to the supreme emotion of the apostle’s life. F. B. Meyer calls it The Soul’s Quest for the Personal Christ.The most frequent treatment of this passage is to spiritualize it. By this is meant that sufferings, death, and resurrection are not to be taken literally. Rather, they are used to describe certain spiritual experiences, such as mental suffering, dying to self, and living the resurrected life, etc.

However, we would like to suggest that the passage should be taken literally. Paul is saying he wants to live as Christ lived. Did Jesus suffer? Paul wants to suffer too. Did Jesus die? Then Paul wants to die by martyrdom in his service for Christ.

Did Jesus rise from among the dead? Then Paul wishes to do the same. He realized that the servant is not above his Master. Thus, he desired to follow Christ in His sufferings, death, and resurrection. He does not say that all must adopt this view, but for him there could be no other pathway. That I may know Him. To know Him means to gain practical day-by-day acquaintance with Him in such an intimate way that the apostle himself would become more Christlike. He wants the life of Christ to be reproduced in himself. And the power of His resurrection. The power that raised the Lord from the dead is set forth in Scripture as the greatest display of might which the universe has ever seen (Eph_1:19-20). It would seem as if all the hosts of evil were determined to keep His body in the tomb. God’s mighty power defeated this infernal army by raising the Lord Jesus from the dead on the third day. This same power is placed at the disposal of all believers (Eph_1:19), to be appropriated by faith. Paul is stating his ambition to experience this power in his life and testimony. And the fellowship of His sufferings. It takes divine strength to suffer for Christ. That is why the power of His resurrection is put before the fellowship of His sufferings. In the life of the Lord, suffering preceded glory. So then it must be in the life of Paul. He must share Christ’s sufferings. He realized that there would be nothing of an atoning value in his own sufferings as there was in Christ’s, but he knew, too, that it would be inconsistent for him to live in luxury and ease in a world where his Lord was rejected, scourged, and crucified. Jowett comments: He was not contented to share the triumph of Olivet; he wanted to feel something of the pang and chill and loneliness of Gethsemane.Being conformed to His death. As mentioned before, this is usually explained as meaning that Paul wanted to live the crucified life, to die practically to sin, self, and the world.

But we feel that such an interpretation robs the passage of its shocking force. It does mean that, but also much more. Paul was a passionately devoted follower of the One who died on the cross of Calvary. Not only that, he was present when the first martyr of the Christian church died; in fact, he was an accomplice in murdering him! We believe Paul was actually anxious to pour out his life in the same way. Perhaps he would have felt embarrassed to meet Stephen in heaven if he had come by any more comfortable route than martyrdom.

Jowett agrees: Many Christians are satisfied with expenditure in which there is no shedding of blood. They give away what they can easily spare. Their gifts are detached things, and the surrender of them necessitates no bleeding. They engage in sacrifice as long as it does not involve life; when the really vital is demanded, they are not to be found. They are prominent at all triumphant entries, and they willingly spend a little money on colorful decorationson banners and palm branches; but when Hurrahs and Hosannas change into ominous murmurs and threats, and Calvary comes into sight, they steal away into safe seclusion. But here is an Apostle who joyfully anticipates this supreme and critical demand. He is almost impatient at his own dribblings of blood-energy in the service of the kingdom! He is eager if need be to pour it out! In a similar vein Hudson Taylor wrote: There is a needs-be for us to give ourselves for the life of the world. … Fruit-bearing involves cross-bearing. Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. We know how the Lord Jesus became fruitfulnot by bearing His cross only, but by dying on it. Do we know much of fellowship with Him in this? There are not two Christsan easy-going Christ for easy-going Christians, and a suffering, toiling Christ for exceptional believers. There is only one Christ. Are we willing to abide in Him and so to bear fruit? Finally, C. A. Coates says: The knowledge of Christ in glory was the supreme desire of Paul’s heart, and this desire could never exist without producing an intense longing to reach Him in the place where He is. Hence the heart that longs after Him instinctively turns to the path by which He reached that place in glory, and earnestly desires to reach Him in that place by the very path which He trod. The heart asks, How did He reach that glory? Was it through resurrection? And did not sufferings and death necessarily precede resurrection? Then the heart says, Nothing would please me so well as to reach Him in resurrection glory by the very path which took Him there.

It is the martyr spirit. Paul wanted to tread as a martyr the pathway of suffering and death, that he might reach resurrection and glory by the same path as the blessed One who had won his heart. 3:11 Here again we are faced with a problem of interpretation. Are we to take this verse literally, or are we to spiritualize it? Various explanations have been offered, the principal of which are as follows:

1. Paul was not sure that he would be raised from the dead, so he was straining every muscle to insure his participation in the resurrection. Such a view is impossible! Paul always taught that resurrection was by grace and not by human works. In addition, he expressed the definite confidence that he would participate in the resurrection (2Co_5:1-8).
2. Paul was not speaking of a physical resurrection at all, but was referring to his desire to live the resurrection life while still here on earth. Perhaps the majority of commentators hold this view.
3. Paul was talking about physical resurrection, but he was not expressing any doubt about his participation in it. Rather he was saying that he was not concerned about the sufferings that might lie before him en route to the resurrection. He was willing to undergo severe trials and persecutions, if that was what lay between the present time and the resurrection. The expression if, by any means does not necessarily express doubt (see Act_27:12; Rom_1:10; Rom_11:14), but strong desire or expectation that does not count the cost. We agree with the third interpretation. The apostle wanted to be conformed to Christ. Since Christ had suffered, died, and been raised from among the dead, Paul wanted nothing better than this for himself. We fear that our own desire for comfort, luxury, and ease often causes us to remove the sharp, cutting edges of some of these Bible verses. Would it not be safer to take them at their face valueliterallyunless that sense is impossible in the light of the rest of the Bible? Before leaving this verse, we should notice that Paul is speaking of the resurrection from among the dead. This is not a resurrection of all the dead. Rather, it describes a resurrection in which some will be raised, but others will remain in the grave. We know from 1Th_4:13-18 and 1Co_15:51-57 that believers will be raised at the coming of Christ (some at the Rapture and some at the end of the Tribulation), but the rest of the dead will not be raised until after Christ’s Thousand-Year Reign on earth; cf. Rev_20:5. 3:12 The apostle did not consider that he was already perfected. Perfected refers not to the resurrection in the previous verse, but to the whole subject of conformity to Christ. He had no idea that it was possible to achieve a state of sinlessness or to arrive at a condition in life where no further progress could be achieved. He realized that satisfaction is the grave of progress.Thus he pressed on in order that the purpose for which the Lord Jesus had saved him might be fulfilled in him. The apostle had been apprehended by Christ Jesus on the road to Damascus. What was the purpose of this momentous meeting?

It was that Paul might from then on be a pattern-saint, that God might show through him what Christ can do in a human life. He was not yet perfectly conformed to Christ. The process was still going on, and Paul was deeply exercised that this work of God’s grace might continue and deepen. 3:13 This man who had learned to be content with whatever material things he had (Phi_4:11) never could be content with his spiritual attainments. He did not count himself to have arrived, as we would say today. What then did he do? But one thing I do. He was a man of single purpose. He had one aim and ambition. In this he resembled David, who said, One thing have I desired of the Lord.Forgetting those things which are behind would mean not only his sins and failures but also his natural privileges, attainments, and successes which he had described earlier in this chapter, and even his spiritual triumphs. And reaching forward to those things which are ahead: namely, the privileges and responsibilities of the Christian life, whether worship, service, or the personal development of Christian character. 3:14 Looking at himself as a runner in a race, Paul describes himself as exerting every effort toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The goal is the finish line at the end of the race track. The prize is the award presented to the winner. Here the goal would be the finish of life’s race, and perhaps more particularly the Judgment Seat of Christ. The prize would be the crown of righteousness which Paul elsewhere describes as the prize for those who have run well (2Ti_4:8). The upward call of God in Christ Jesus includes all the purposes that God had in mind in saving us. It includes salvation, conformity to Christ, joint-heirship with Him, a home in heaven, and numberless other spiritual blessings.

Philippians 3:15

VII. EXHORTATION TO A HEAVENLY WALK, AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THE APOSTLE (3:15-21) 3:15 As many as are mature should share Paul’s willingness to suffer and die for Christ and to bend every effort in the quest for likeness to the Lord Jesus. This is the mature view of the Christian faith. Some would call it extreme, radical, or fanatical. But the apostle states that those who are full-grown will see that this is the only sane, logical, reasonable response to the One who shed His life-blood for them on Calvary. If in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Paul realizes that not all will agree with him in adopting such a dangerous philosophy. But he expresses the confidence that if a person is really willing to know the truth of the matter, God will reveal it to him. The reason we have such an easy-going, complacent Christianity today is because we do not want to know the truth; we are not willing to obey the demands of ideal Christianity. God is willing to show the truth to those who are willing to follow it. 3:16 Then the apostle adds that, in the meantime, we should live up to whatever light the Lord has given us. It would not do to mark time until we came to a fuller knowledge of what is required of us as Christians. While we wait for the Lord to reveal the full implications of the cross to us, we should obey whatever degree of truth we have received. 3:17 Now Paul turns to exhortation, first by encouraging the Philippians to be followers, or imitators of himself. It is a tribute to his exemplary life that he could ever write such words. We often hear the expression in jest, Do as I say, not as I do. Not so the apostle! He could hold up his own life as a model of wholehearted devotion to Christ and to His cause. Lehman Strauss comments: Paul considered himself the recipient of God’s mercy that he might be a pattern; thus his whole life, subsequent to his conversion, was dedicated to presenting to others an outline sketch of what a Christian should be. God saved Paul in order that he might show by the example of his conversion that what Jesus Christ did for him He can and will do for others. Was not this the special object our Lord had in view in extending His mercy to you and me? I believe He has saved us to be a pattern to all future believers. Are we serving as examples of those who have been saved by His grace? May it be so! And note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. This refers to any others who were living the same kind of life as Paul. It does not mean to mark them out disapprovingly, as in the next verse, but to observe them with a view to following in their steps. 3:18 Just as verse 17 describes those whom believers should follow, this passage tells of those we should not follow. The apostle does not identify these men specifically. Whether they were the Judaizing false teachers mentioned in verse 2, or professed Christian teachers who turned liberty into license, and used grace as a pretext for sin, he does not say. Paul had warned the saints about these men previously, and he does so again with weeping. But why the tears in the midst of such a stern denunciation? Because of the harm these men did among the churches of God. Because of the lives they ruined. Because of the reproach they brought on the name of Christ. Because they were obscuring the true meaning of the cross. Yes, but also because true love weeps even when denouncing the enemies of the cross of Christ, just as the Lord Jesus wept over the murderous city of Jerusalem. 3:19 These men were destined to eternal perdition. This does not mean annihilation, but the judgment of God in the lake of fire forever. Their god was their belly. All their activities, even their professed religious service, were directed toward the purchase of food (and perhaps drink) for the gratification of their bodily appetite. F. B. Meyer described these men with keen insight: There is no chapel in their life. It is all kitchen.Their glory was in their shame. They boasted in the very things they should have been ashamed oftheir nakedness and their immoral behavior. They were occupied with earthly things. For them, the important things in life were food, clothing, honor, comfort, and pleasure. Eternal issues and heavenly things did not disturb their groveling in the muck of this world. They carried on as if they were going to live on earth forever. 3:20 The apostle now contrasts the heavenly-minded attitude of the true believer. At the time the Epistle was written, Philippi was a colony of Rome (Act_16:12). The Philippians were citizens of Rome, enjoying its protection and privileges. But they were also citizens of their local government. Against this backdrop, the apostle reminds the believers that their citizenship is in heaven. Moffat translates it: But we are a colony of heaven.This does not mean that Christians are not also citizens of earthly countries. Other Scriptures clearly teach that we are to be subject to governments because they are ordained by God (Rom_13:1-7).

Indeed, believers should be obedient to the government in all matters not expressly forbidden by the Lord. The Philippians owed allegiance to the local magistrates, and also to the Emperor in Rome. So believers have responsibilities to earthly governments, but their first loyalty is to the Lord in heaven. Not only are we citizens of heaven, but we also eagerly wait for the Savior from heaven! Eagerly wait for is strong language (in the original) to express the earnest expectation of something believed to be imminent. It means literally to thrust forward the head and neck as in anxious expectation of hearing or seeing something. 3:21 When the Lord Jesus comes from heaven, He will change these bodies of ours. There is nothing vile or evil about the human body in itself. The evil lies in the wrong uses to which it is put. But it is a lowly body, a body of humiliation. It is subject to wrinkles, scars, age, suffering, sickness, and death. It limits and cramps us! The Lord will transform it into a body of glory. The full extent of the meaning of this we do not know. It will no longer be subject to decay or death, to the limitations of time or of natural barriers. It will be a real body, yet perfectly suited to conditions in heaven. It will be like the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus. This does not mean that we will all have the same physical appearance! Jesus was distinctly recognizable after His resurrection, and doubtless each individual will have his or her own individual physical identity in eternity. Also, this passage does not teach that we shall be like the Lord Jesus as far as the attributes of God are concerned. We shall never have all-knowledge or all power; neither shall we be in all places at one and same time. But we shall be morally like the Lord Jesus. We shall be forever free from sin. This passage does not give us enough to satisfy our curiosity, but it is enough to inspire comfort and stimulate hope. According to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. The transformation of our bodies will be accomplished by the same divine power which the Lord will later use to subdue all things to Himself. He is able to save (Heb_7:25). He is able to aid (Heb_2:18). He is able to keep (Jud_1:24). Now in this verse we learn that He is able to subdue. This is … our God forever and ever: He will be our guide even to death (Psa_48:14).