Philippians 3:1–11
This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.
I just got a text that said that one of the toilets in the nursery is clogged. Normally I would go and take care of that, but I can't do that right now. Sorry. That's what keeps me humble in my job. All right. Pride goes before the fall. Haven't you found this to be true in your own life? When things seem to be going well, our confidence can easily switch from God, where our confidence should be, to ourselves.
I can remember back in 2012, seems like a century ago, probably for some of you, maybe some of you weren't even born yet, I thought my first sermon that I preach here at Third Avenue had gone pretty well. I can remember thinking, I can do this. I don't really know why I was so nervous in the first place. Well, about six months after that, I got another chance to preach. And let's just say that it didn't go as well as the first time. You can scour the website to try to go find those sermons.
Turns out the first one wasn't that great either. Why do we do that? Why do we get overconfident in our own abilities? Why does our confidence shift from God to ourselves so easily? That's what we're going to talk about this morning. We're going to be looking together at Philippians chapter 3. I've been slowly preaching through the book of Philippians for about seven years now. Has anyone been here for all of the sermons? I see a few hands. The last one I did in this series was about two years ago.
Anybody remember that one? Maybe one or two, a handful. It's okay, I had to go back and read it again to remember what I had said. So I'll go ahead and catch us up in the book. We're jumping into the middle of Paul's argument here. So a little background on Philippians. Philippians is a letter that Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, sometime around A.D. 60. So 30 years or so after Jesus was dead and rose again. The church of Philippi was started by the apostle Paul about 10 years before that.
So A.D. 50 or so. We can read about this in the book of Acts chapter 16. Paul met Lydia and she believed the gospel. Then Paul met a demon-possessed girl. This slave girl was converted, but the girl's owner was unhappy. And so Paul was thrown into prison. Then God miraculously saved Paul and Timothy from prison. And when the jailer thought that they had escaped, he was about to kill himself. And they yelled out and said, we're still here.
and then the jailer was converted. And that's the start of the church in Philippi. Like we said, Paul was writing to this church about 10 years later, this time from another prison cell, but he was likely in Rome this time. And there was a number of reasons why Paul wanted to write to this young, decade-old church that he had founded. The church had sent him a financial gift, so he wanted to thank them. You can read about that in chapter 4. But the church was also under threat.
There was a threat from within the church. That's also in chapter 4. But there were also threats from without the church. That's what we're going to read about today in chapter 3. There were false teachers preaching false gospels. And there was a threat of disunity in the church. So Paul wrote to this church to thank them, to counter heresy, to remind them of the gospel of Jesus Christ. that Christ, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, humbled himself and took on human flesh for our sake. The overarching message of Philippians is a message of joy in the gospel, even in the midst of difficult circumstances. It was the gospel that brought Paul and the Philippians together in the first place. It's the gospel that unites them. It's the gospel that informs their daily lives. And it's the gospel that gives them hope for the future.
Paul urges the Philippians to unite for and rejoice in the things that matter most. That's the message that we're going to talk about today. Rejoice in the Lord. Stand firm in the gospel. These themes are woven throughout chapter 3. So let's read our passage this morning. We're going to look at Philippians 3, 1 through 11. It's on page 981 in the Pew Bible if you want to use that. Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble for me and is safe for you. Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. 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. 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, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 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, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Well, Paul starts chapter 3 by saying, finally, which is exactly what many preachers say when they're about halfway done with their sermon. We're in the middle of this letter, and Paul is switching gears. He just finished talking about Jesus and wanting to send Timothy and Epaphroditus to this church, and now he's switching gears to combat a major threat that is facing this church. So here's the main idea of our passage this morning. To the Christian, Jesus is everything. So rejoice in the Lord and put your faith in him, not in yourself or anything else. To the Christian, Jesus is everything. So rejoice in the Lord.
Put your faith in him, not in yourself or anything else. We'll break this down into two points. Point one, reject false gospels and put no confidence in the flesh. That'll be verses two through eight, roughly. Reject false gospels and put no confidence in the flesh. And point two, rejoice in the Lord and his salvation. That'll be verse 1 and then verses 9 through 11, roughly.
Rejoice in the Lord and his salvation. So point 1, reject false gospels and put no confidence in the flesh. The Philippian church is in danger. There are false teachers teaching a false gospel. These teachers are likely the Judaizers, if you're familiar with the Judaizers. They're called Judaizers because they taught that Gentile believers, that is non-Christian or non-Jewish Christians, they needed to become Jewish in order to become a part of the people of God.
They needed to follow the Mosaic law in order to become part of the people of God. This is a false gospel that pops up all over the New Testament. We see many authors warning about this false gospel of the Judaizers. To be clear, this isn't like the guys from Philippians 1. If you can remember back that far, there are other people preaching the same gospel that Paul preached. Some from goodwill, others not, with bad motives.
In that scenario, Paul rejoices that the gospel is being preached. Here, though, Paul rails against these false teachers because they're preaching a different gospel. You might recall what Paul said about false gospels in Galatians chapter 1, where he was also combating these Judaizers. Listen to what Paul says about false gospels. But even if we, that is Paul himself, or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed.
As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. Paul could not be more clear. As Christians, we cannot partner with other Christians who preach a different gospel. By the way, this is why we simply cannot transfer a member of Third Avenue. If you're a member of Third Avenue, we cannot transfer your membership to a church where they preach a different gospel. So what are some of these different gospels that are out there today? Well, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox reject justification by faith alone, which we see in our passage right here. The Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox churches reject justification by faith alone. So we would never transfer one of our members to a Roman Catholic church or Eastern Orthodox church. What's another one?
Churches that insist that baptism is required for salvation, that the Holy Spirit saves a person when they are baptized. These churches are teaching baptismal regeneration, contrary to what Paul teaches. They teach that it is during baptism when a person is saved. That's not what the Bible teaches. We want to be absolutely clear that, yes, baptism is commanded. If you have been saved, you should get baptized.
But we want to be absolutely clear that it is not baptism that saves you. Baptism is not required for salvation. The thief on the cross next to Jesus put his faith in Jesus, and Jesus promised him that he would be with him in paradise. There are countless other Gospels, and Paul says, of all of them, if anyone teaches a different Gospel, let him be accursed. So what does Paul say about these false teachers here in chapter 3? Look at verse 2. He calls them dogs. The significance here is probably lost on us a bit because dog is mostly a positive term today, but it wasn't back then. This isn't Lassie we're talking about. Two people understood that reference. This isn't your pet. These were nasty, filthy animals. They're wild. Even further, dog carried a religious overtone. You can think back
to Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman. Dog is what Jews sometimes referred to the Gentiles as. So here Paul is saying, you Judaizers, you think you're part of the people of God? The tables have been turned. You're on the outside now. You're the dog. Then Paul refers to them as evildoers. Evildoers. Again, this is somewhat of a play on words for Paul. Paul's not merely saying that they're sinners or that they're evil. The Judaizers would have thought of themselves as doing good works by obeying the law. But Paul says instead that their insistence on obeying the law for justification is actually them doing evil. Finally, Paul calls them mutilators.
The word for mutilator there actually rhymes with circumcision. So we have another play on words here with Paul, who's a great writer and speaker. Circumcision is peritome, and mutilation is katatome. There's your Greek for the day. Other translations might say, look out for the false circumcision. That's what Paul is getting at here. Another name for the Judaizers was the circumcision party. The Judaizers insisted that Gentile believers needed to be circumcised and follow the law in order for them to become true believers and part of the people of God. But Paul scandalously calls this act a mutilation of the flesh. What the Judaizers see as a necessary part of salvation, Paul says, is mutilation, almost as if it's a pagan ritual. Well, Paul continues his train of thought in verse 3. Look at that. Paul says that we are the circumcision, we who believe the true
gospel. We are now the people of God. Well, how can that be if Paul insists that circumcision is not necessary? Well, it turns out that Paul knew the Old Testament better than the Judaizers. You see, circumcision was a sign of the covenant that God gave to Abraham, but Abraham was not justified by works. On the contrary, Abraham was justified by his faith before he was ever circumcised. Paul gives a full explanation of this in Romans chapter 4. You should read that later and meditate on it, but the point is this. Circumcision was a sign. It was a sign meant to point to something else, which is why even in the Old Testament, God tells Israel that they need to circumcise their heart. Listen to what Paul says in chapter 2 of Romans. 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. True worship of God is not
merely outward and physical. It's like Jesus said, true worship is done by the Spirit in truth. And Paul, echoing Jesus, says that the true people of God will worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. So here's the sticking point. The Judaizers, their confidence was in their own works. Paul insists that the true people of God put no confidence in their works, no confidence in the flesh. So he presses the point in verses four through seven. Paul says, if you want to talk about confidence in the flesh, I had every reason to be confident. I was circumcised on the eighth day according to the law. I was descended from Jacob.
I can trace my ancestry all the way back. I'm of the tribe of Benjamin, which was a good tribe. In terms of pedigree as a Jew, Paul had it all. As to his way of interpreting the Old Testament, he was a Pharisee, which was one of the most respected schools. As to his zeal as a Jew, he persecuted Christians. He was very, very zealous. And as for his righteousness under the law, blameless. That's not to say he was sinless.
Paul's not claiming to be sinless here. He's saying that his outward acts that could be viewed, there's no way that someone could say you were guilty. He's blameless under the law. So in pedigree, in observable behavior, Paul had everything going for him. He had every reason to be confident in the flesh. But then he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, and everything changed. Jesus knocked Paul on his behind. Everything Paul thought he knew was turned upside down.
Complete reversal. So now Paul says that every gain that I had is now a loss. Every W is now an L. I think that's how the kids say it. Indeed, for Paul, everything is a loss compared with knowing Christ Jesus. Even more than that, Paul says everything that I used to consider a gain, I now consider rubbish or dung, feces, the dirtiest of dirty things.
It's worse than a loss. It's actually a liability now. Why? Because these things that I used to put confidence in caused me to not see my need for Christ. Anything that could tempt you to put your confidence in yourself is a liability. So what am I saying? That it's pointless to obey? That it's pointless to read the Bible? That it's pointless to teach your kids the Bible? You can see logically how some might get to that point. So let me be clear. I'm not saying that. Paul is not saying that.
This is exactly the charge that Paul faced every time he preached the gospel of grace. What then? Should we go on sinning? No, of course not. Paul saw his upbringing and his training as a liability, but of course God used Paul's upbringing in incredible ways. Someone like Paul, who was in the school of the Pharisees, had memorized the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, by the age of 10. By the age of 14, he would have memorized much more of the Old Testament. And God used Paul to do amazing things. Paul wants us to know that apart from Christ, that training was rubbish, dung, worthless. These things can be liabilities. They can cause us to rely on the flesh. So along with your training and your discipline and your teaching of your children and yourself, pair it with reminders of the gospel.
The training, the obedience, all of that stuff can be used for good, but it can't save you. What are those things for you? What are the things that give you reasons for confidence in the flesh? Are you from good stock, from a good Christian family? Have you always been an obedient child? Have you always gone to church from the time you were born? Have you walked the aisle and been baptized?
Grew up in a Christian home, baptized at an early age, member of Third Avenue Baptist, graduated from Bible college, and master of divinity. As to my quiet time, daily. As to my podcast listening, the briefing, and Bible talk. None of these things are bad. Of course, they're good. These are good things. But the danger is where your confidence comes from. Does it come from those things or does it come from Jesus?
Have you subtly shifted your confidence to those good things instead of Christ? Kids, kids in the room today. Kids, listen up. Your obedience cannot save you. No matter how good you think you are, no matter how hard you try, you cannot save yourself through obedience. Obedience is good. You should obey your parents, but obedience will not save you. Are you trusting in your morality, your list of do's and don'ts, your parents' list of do's and don'ts? If so, forsake it all for following Christ. Turn to Jesus. God will forgive you for trying to earn salvation. We should glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.
And we know from experience that trying to live a perfect life, it's impossible. But thankfully, God has provided another way, the only way, which leads us to point two. Rejoice in the Lord and his salvation. Rejoice in the Lord and his salvation. So scroll back up to verse one or look back up if you're reading the physical Bible. Rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me, and it's safe for you. When Paul says to write the same things, what's he talking about? Is he talking about rejoicing in the Lord, or is he talking about the stuff that comes after that, the warning against the Judaizers? Commentators debate back and forth. Honestly, I'm not really sure it matters, though. It could be one or the other. It could be both. Either way, it's all important. Paul said all of these things. They're all important. I think
the most interesting thing to take away from this line is that as pastors, this is what we do. We stand up here and we say the same things. We read the Bible. We preach to you the Bible. That's what we do. I'm not going to say anything new today. I'm simply going to tell you what's in the Bible. That's safe for you. And it's no trouble for me. Why? Because we so easily forget the truth of the gospel.
We need to be reminded over and over again what the truth is. So rejoice in the Lord. This seems like a throwaway line that Paul just keeps sprinkling throughout this letter. Rejoice in the Lord. The word joy or rejoice is used 16 times in this short letter. And it seems disconnected from anything else that Paul is saying in chapter 3. But it's not. It's actually vitally connected.
So why does he start off this section by saying rejoice in the Lord? Well, rejoice is a word we don't use that often. but it has a simple meaning. It means find your joy in. Find your satisfaction in. Be satisfied in this. And Paul says, find your satisfaction in the Lord. If your satisfaction is coming from God, then you won't listen to these false teachers, these false ideas about putting confidence in the flesh.
That's why Paul says rejoice in the Lord. And Paul details why we can find joy in the Lord in verses 9 through 11. So let's look at those. Look at verse 9. First and foremost, Paul says he wants to be found in him. Phrases like in him or in Christ, en Christo, are found throughout the New Testament over 150 times. And they refer to our union with Christ, being united to Christ.
It's by faith that we are united to Jesus. When we are united to Jesus, what happens to him happens to us. This is the teaching of Jesus himself. I am the vine. You are the branches. We are sinners. We are not righteous. We deserve God's wrath. But thankfully, God sent his one and only son to live a perfect life, the life you and I have not lived objectively. Jesus lived a perfect life, and then he took the punishment that we deserve for our sin by dying on the cross. But that wasn't the end. Three days later, he got up from the grave, and now he sits at the right hand of the Father. And if we put our faith in that gospel, If we turn away from sin and trust in Christ and rely on Him, then we too will have salvation.
We'll receive all of the blessings of the gospel. The idea of union with Christ being found in Him is central to the gospel. Some have argued even that it's the central truth of Christianity and that all the blessings of the gospel flow from this truth. That actually seems to be Paul's logic here in Philippians 3. So follow the logic with me. Look at verse 9. Paul wants to be found in Jesus.
That's union with Christ. And therefore receive Jesus' righteousness so that he doesn't have to rely on his own righteousness. That's justification. Also verse 9. So that he might know Jesus' power and be made more like Jesus through suffering. Sanctification, verse 10. So that he might be resurrected to new life. That's glorification, verse 11. In these few verses, Paul beautifully lays out the logic of salvation.
So let's look at each one of these verses a little bit closer and see what we can learn. Look at verse 9. 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. So being found in Jesus is union with Christ. That's what baptism symbolizes. Every time we talk about baptism, we do a baptism here at 3rd. That's what we're talking about.
You're united to Christ. You're buried with him in baptism and raised to new life. Read Romans 6. Meditate on that to see this clearly. From our union with Christ then flows our justification. What is justification? Well, we read about it earlier in the service from our statement of faith. Justification is the declaration from God, you are righteous. Paul makes it clear, though, that it's not you who are righteous.
It's not your righteousness. The righteousness does not come from you. It comes from God. When you're united to Jesus, you get His righteousness. This is what we mean when we say we believe in justification by faith alone. It's right here in this verse. And it's crucial to understanding the gospel. Anyone who denies this truth denies the gospel that Paul preached, which is the true gospel. Look at verse 10. That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.
So here, I argue, Paul is talking about sanctification, the process of being made holy, being made more like Jesus. That process involves knowing Christ and suffering. The combination of those two things will lead to you becoming more like Jesus. This is God's gracious gift to you. Have you ever thought about suffering as a gift from God? Philippians 1, 29.
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake. If you're anything like me, that's probably not your first reaction when suffering comes into your life. What are you doing, God? Why is this happening to me? I just wish God would speak clearly to me about why this is happening. If you're anything like me, you've probably had thoughts like these when suffering comes into your life.
Maybe you haven't gone through times of suffering yet. Now would be a good time to plant this truth deep in your heart. God is graciously going to allow you to suffer so that you will be more like Jesus. He has spoken to us. This is what he has said. It is clear. Suffering will come, and he intends it for your good. Maybe you're in the midst of suffering right now.
You're not alone. We're all going to go through suffering. And furthermore, Jesus suffered more than any of us will ever suffer. That's what Paul just got done talking about in chapter 2. This is the pattern. First suffering, then glory. Remind yourself of these truths. God is going to make you more like Jesus. But you're going to have to suffer for that to happen. Look at verse 11.
That by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead. So here, Paul's talking about the final resurrection. Our glorification. The thought is obviously closely tied to the previous verse. And Paul makes it clear that sanctification, which involves suffering, is necessary in the Christian life. Listen to Romans 8, 17. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him, in order that we may also be glorified with him.
That's the pattern. Suffering, then glory. Why does Paul say that by any means possible? That kind of introduces an idea that doesn't really make sense. What does he mean, any means possible? Has he forgotten the means? Has Paul forgotten what he had said in chapter 1? And I'm sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ?
No, no, he hasn't forgotten what he said in chapter 1, what he just got through saying. No, it's likely that he's anticipating what he's about to say, which we'll talk about next week in verses 12 through 14. Paul wants to make it clear that he doesn't believe that he's already arrived or that he has obtained perfection. We can't just relax and coast. We actually need to press on in the faith. You have to keep believing, even through suffering, through trials, and whatever else comes into your life. But in the end, you will have the glorious hope of the resurrection, provided you persevere until the end. These truths are why Paul rejoices in the Lord, and why he says you can rejoice in the Lord. These shouldn't be dry, academic things that you read about in dusty old books. Not to say
that you shouldn't read dusty old books or systematic theologies or other good books. You should read them, but don't treat them merely as an academic study. We need to know these truths that are in the scripture, and good books can help us understand our Bibles better. Knowledge is crucial, right? Paul talked in chapter one about this. It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless. Sanctification, knowledge is a key part of that. We worship in spirit and truth, but simply knowing the truth is not enough either. We're not saved through obedience. We're also not saved through knowledge. Simply knowing the truth is not enough. You have to actually believe it. And when you believe it, that should lead you to rejoice. It's not a perfect analogy, but imagine looking at a picture of something versus experiencing the thing that's in the
picture. I've actually had this debate with Alex Duke for years. He swears that looking at a picture of a solar eclipse is the same as being in the totality when the eclipse is happening. I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on that one. The debate will continue. But here's a different example, okay? Hopefully everyone can agree with this. What about looking at a picture of food? A perfectly cooked brisket or a juicy ribeye or maybe you have a sweet tooth and it's your favorite dessert, and you're looking at a picture of it, that picture can even make you salivate. But you can't taste the picture. Tasting the food is so much better. You don't look at the picture and say, mmm, that tastes good. Tasting the food is incredible. It completely transcends looking at a picture.
Another example. Think of this. You're looking at a picture of the Grand Canyon or you're standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon seeing it with your own eyes. The vastness. Looking at a picture of the Grand Canyon and being there and looking at the Grand Canyon are not the same thing. So far in your life are you just looking at pictures of the gospel? Have you heard a lot of things about Jesus? And you might say, yeah, they sound good.
But you're still holding back. What's holding you back? Are you afraid of what you might lose? If you decide to become a Christian, are you afraid of what you might have to give up? I promise you, friend, nothing compares to knowing Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Amen. 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 might gain Christ. You can't help but hear Jesus's words in Paul's words here. Matthew, Jesus told his disciples, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? Trying to earn salvation is hopeless. You can't do it. And besides that, it's already been done. Jesus has won salvation. He offers it to you freely. All you have to do is put your faith and your trust, your reliance on him.
And he will save you. Are you willing to lose everything in order to gain Christ? take the plunge, put your faith in Jesus. It's worth it, I promise you. Taste and see that he is good, and then you'll be able to find your joy and rejoice in the Lord. That's what Paul would have us do this morning as we look at this beautiful picture of the gospel.
Not just know it, but believe it and experience it for ourselves so that we too can rejoice in the Lord. Let's pray to our Lord this morning. Our Father in heaven, we thank you so much for the Apostle Paul and the way that you prepared him for ministry, for spreading the gospel to the Gentiles, people like us.
Father, we thank you for the Apostle Paul and his contending for the truth. We thank you that he's given us the gospel to hold, to guard, to protect. We pray, God, that we would always have the true gospel here at 3rd Avenue. We pray that we would never fall to false gospels. God, we ask that you would, by the power of your Holy Spirit, help us to glory in Christ Jesus.
And we pray that you would use suffering in our lives to make us more like your Son. And Father, we look forward to the day when we too will rise from our graves to be with you in paradise forever. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.