Sermon Tone Analysis

Philippians 3

Circumstances and people can rob us of joy, but so can things; and it is this "thief" that Paul deals with in chapter three.

It is important to see the total message of this chapter before examining it in detail, so perhaps the following outline will be helpful.

Vs. 1-11 Paul's past - the accountant, "I count" new values,

Vs. 12-16 Paul's present - the athlete, "I press" new vigor,

Vs. 17-21 Paul's future - the alien "I look" new vision

What Paul is describing is the "spiritual mind."

In verses 18 and 19, he describes professed Christians who "mind earthly things," but then in verse 20 he describes the believer with the spiritual mind, who “mind heavenly things."

You will recall that the city of Philippi was actually a Roman colony--a "Rome away from Rome."

In the same sense, the people of God are a colony of heaven on earth.

"Our citizenship is in heaven" (v.

20a,

NASB), and we look at earth from heaven's point of view.

This is the spiritual mind.

It is easy for us to get wrapped up in "things," not only the tangible things that we can see, but also the intangibles such as reputation, fame, and achievement.

Paul writes about "what things were gain” to him (3:7); he also mentions

Forgetting "things which are behind" and

Reaching Forth "things which are before" (3:13).

In Paul's case, some of these "things" were intangible, such as religious achievements

a feeling of self-satisfaction and morality.

We today can be snared both by tangibles and intangibles and, as a result, lose our joy.

But even the tangible things are not in themselves sinful.

God made things, and the Bible declares that these things are good (Gen.

1:31).

God knows that we need certain things to live (Matt.

6:31-34.

In fact, He "giveth us richly all things to enjoy" (1 Tim.

6:17

But Jesus warns us that our lives do not consist in the abundance of the things that we possess

Quantity is no assurance of quality.

Many people who have the things money can buy have lost the things that money cannot buy.

The key word in Philippians 3:1-11 is count (Phil3:7-8

In Greek, two different words are used, but the basic idea is the same: to evaluate, and to assess.

"The unexamined life is not worth living," - Socrates

Yet, few people sit down to weigh seriously the values that control their decisions and directions.

Many people today are the slaves of "things" and, as a result, do not experience real Christian joy.

In Pauls’s case,

TIC

CALMOS

before he knew, Christ seemed to be very commendable: a righteous life, obedience to the Law, the defense of the religion of his fathers.

But none of these things satisfied him or gave him acceptance from God.

"Religious" people today, Paul had enough morality to keep him out of Jail that they’ll be ok.

No one has enough righteousness to get him into heaven!

It was not bad things that kept Paul away from Jesus--it was good things!

He had to lose his “religion” to find salvation.

One day, Saul of Tarsus, the rabbi, met Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and on that day, Saul's values changed (read Acts 9:1-31).

When Saul opened his books to evaluate his wealth, he discovered that apart from Jesus Christ, everything he lived for was only refused.

He explains in this section that there are only two kinds of righteousness (or spiritual wealth)-works righteousness and faith righteousness--and only faith righteousness is acceptable to God.

1. Works Righteousness (3:1-6)

The Exhortation (3:1-3).

"Finally" at this point does not mean Paul is about to close the letter because he keeps on going.

The word means "For the rest."

» and introduces the new section.

Paul's "Anally" at 4:18 is the one that means "I am about to close."

Paul has warned the believers at Philippi before, but now he warns them again.

"Look out for dogs!

Look out for the workers of evil!

Look out for the mutilation!"

To whom is he referring in this triple warning?

The answer takes us back into the early history of the church.

From the very beginning, the Gospel came "to the Jew first" (see Acts 3:26; Rom.

1:16),

so that the first seven chapters of Acts deal only with Jewish believers or with Gentiles who were Jewish proselytes (Acts 2:10).

In Acts 8:5-25, the message went to the Samaritans, but this did not cause too much of upheaval since the Samaritans were at least partly Jewish.

But when Peter went to the Gentiles in Acts 10, this created an uproar.

Peter was called onto the carpet to explain his activities (Acts 11).

After all, the Gentiles in Acts 10 had become Christians without first becoming Jews, which was a whole new thing for the church.

Peter explained that God had directed him to preach to the Gentiles, and the matter seemed to be settled.

But it was not settled for long.

The Holy Spirit sent Paul out to minister, especially to the Gentiles (Acts 13:1-3; 22:21).

Peter had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles in Acts 10, and Paul followed his example on his first missionary journey (see Acts 14:26-28).

It did not take long for the strict Jewish believers to oppose Paul's ministry and come to Antioch, teaching that it was necessary for the Gentiles to submit to Jewish rules before they could be saved (Acts 15:1).

This disagreement led to the conference at Jerusalem that is described in Acts 15.

The result of the conference was an approval of Paul's ministry and a victory for the Gospel of the grace of God.

Gentiles did not have to become Jewish proselytes to become Christians!

But the dissenters were not content.

Having failed in their opposition to Paul at Antioch and Jerusalem, they followed him wherever he went and tried to steal his converts and his churches.

Bible students call this group of false teachers who try to mix Law and Grace "Judaizers."

The Epistle to the Galatians was written primarily to combat this false teaching.

It is this group of "Judaizers" that Paul is referring to in verses 1-2.

He uses three terms to describe them:

(1) "Dogs" _The Orthodox Jew would call the Gentile a "dog," but here, Paul calls orthodox Jews "dogs"| Paul is not just using names; he is comparing these false teachers to the dirty scavengers so contemptible to decent people.

Like those dogs, these Judaizers snapped at Paul's heels and followed him from place to place, "barking" their false doctrines.

They were troublemakers and carriers of dangerous infections.

(2) "Evil workers" _These men taught that the sinner was saved by faith plus good works, especially the works of the Law.

But Paul states that their "good works" are really evil works because they are performed by the flesh (old nature) and not the Spirit, and they glorify the workers and not Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:8-10 and Titus 3:3-7 make it clear that nobody can be saved by doing good works, even religious works.

A Christian's good works are the results of his faith, not the basis for his salvation.

(3) "The mutilation" Here, Paul uses a pun on the word "circumcision."

The word translated as "concision" literally means "a mutilation."

The Judaizers taught that circumcision was essential to salvation (Acts 15:1; Gal.

6:12-18), but Paul states that circumcision of itself is only a mutilation!

The true Christian has experienced a spiritual circumcision in Christ and does not need any fleshly operations.

Circumcision, baptism, the Lord’s supper, tithing, or any other religious practice cannot save a person from his sins.

Only faith in Jesus Christ can do that.

In contrast to the false Christians, Paul describes the true Christians the "true circumcision" (see Rom. 2:25-29 for a parallel):

(1) He worships God in the Spirit.

He does not depend on his own good works, which are only of the flesh.

(See John 4:19-24.)

(2) He boasts in Jesus Christ_-People who depend on religion usually boast about what they have done.

The true Christian has nothing to boast about (Eph.

2:8-10).

His boast is only in Christ!

In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus gives a parable that describes these two opposite attitudes.

(3) He has no confidence in the flesh_-The popular religious philosophy of today is, "The Lord helps those who help themselves."