Philippians 3

Outline

Be Firm Against The False (1-3)

2. All For Christ (4-11)

3. Pressing Toward The Goal (12-16)

4. Our Home Is Heaven (17-21)

Chapter Theme- Have The Knowledge Of Christ

Theme verse Philippians 3:8 “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ”

1.Be Firm Against the False (1-3)

Verse 1

Philippians 3:1 “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.”

“Finally”

Paul is shifting the focus of his letter right here

Remember where we left off at the end of chapter 2

Paul was promoting Epaphroditus and explaining his situation

Now he says “finally my brethren” to shift his focus.

“my brethren”

Its a good practice to call each other brother or sister

“Rejoice in the Lord.”

This is the 5th time Paul encourages the Philippians to rejoice!

Paul keeps reminding them over and over and over that they have every reason in the world to rejoice!!!

And the reason they have to rejoice is because of being “In Christ”

Blessings of being in Christ

We dont rejoice in our circumstances

only rejoice in the Lord

“For me to write the same thing to you is not tedious,

This is the only time in the entire bible, that this word “Tedious” or “Okneros” is used.

The definition listed for this word is reluctance, or holding back.

So this is what Paul is saying here

I am not going to hold back preaching the same things to you Philippi!

The word of God is true and it is powerful and it never changes!!

Friends we needs to have the same mindset (may we never get bored of teaching from Gods word)

May we never especially get bored of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!!!!!!

“but for you it is safe”

The word safe is used to describe something that is firm and cannot be overthrown!!

It is safe (Faith building/Strengthening) for us to hear the words of life!

If you hear the Word of God (especially the Gospel) over and over and you listen with a seeking heart. You won’t be overthrown

Verse 2

Philippians 3:2 “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!”

“Beware of the Dogs”

This word beware means to continuously be on the lookout for.

When Paul says dogs, that is a description of the Judazing teachers teaching false doctrine!

Those Judazing teachers were filthy and dangerous just like a stray dog with rabies.

We may not have Judazing teachers today but we have a lot worse!

We need to be on the lookout for the “dogs” of this culture

Athiests

Calvinist teachers

“beware of evil workers”

These Judaizing teachers weren’t lazy!!

There are evil workers today!

Again he says beware

Paul is clarifying that teaching and abiding by the old law now is evil!!

“Beware of the Mutilation”

Again he says beware!

This word mutilation in the greek rhymes with the word circumcision!

So this is a play on words by Paul and he is taking a serious stab at one of the main teachings of these judazing teachers!

These false teachers believed that circumcision was still essential to salvation as a servant of God!

And Paul is saying beware of these people that teach this false doctrine about circumcision

James E on this verse “What now counted as nothing, they counted as everything”

Explain James E quote

And because of this, Paul tells the Philippians to beware and look out for these false teachers

Verse 3

Philippians 3:3 “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,”

“For we are the circumcision”

Look at this beautiful contrast from the last verse!

Paul changes who he’s talking too!

He says “WE” are the circumcision!

He’s talking about the Lords church! The brotherhood!

Those Judazers are teaching about how important physcal circumcision is, but we are the spiritual circumcision!!

Just the people in the old law would have their evil flesh purged and their physical filth cleansed.......

We as children of God under the new law have had our hearts cleansed from the filth of sin!

Uncle Lyndon study analogy

To know Jesus You have to be of the Spiritual circumcision

“who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,”

Here Paul lists 3 things that the church of Jesus Christ does!

This is the identity of the church!

We worship God in the Spirit

John 4:23–24 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.””

2. We rejoice in Christ

Romans 5:11 “And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

3. We have no confidence in our flesh (All our confidence is in Christ!

John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

2. All For Christ (4-11)

Verse 4

Philippians 3:4 “though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so:”

So Paul finishes the last verse talking about how the Church of Christ and as followers of Christ in general, we should never have confidence in the flesh!

Then he says here that hypothetically....… if there WAS anyone else in the world that could have confidence in the flesh or in physical things, it was Paul

This may seem like a prideful statement at first but in reality its just the truth!

Everything that these Judaizing teachers valued and everything that the world valued............... Paul had it

And Paul is about to list his accolades and accomplishments

Lets keep reading in verse 5

Verse 5

Philippians 3:5 “circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;”

“circumcised the eighth day,”

Getting circumcised on the eighth day was a big deal in Jewish culture—it showed you were a full fledged Jew

In verse 5, Paul’s basically saying, “I checked all the boxes when it comes to being a faithful jew, including the box of circumcision!

“ of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews;”

These 3 descriptions are Paul just emphasizing his jewish identity!

The phrase "a Hebrew of the Hebrews" means Paul came from a pure Hebrew lineage and he was raised strictly according to Hebrew customs, language, and traditions.

This emphasizes that he wasn’t just ethnically Jewish—he was deeply immersed in Jewish culture and religious life!

Now think about this...

That makes Pauls transformation and commitment to Christ even more powerful.

“concerning the law, a Pharisee;”

The Pharisees were the most strict, well studied, highly respected, and deeply knowledgable group out of all of the Jews when it came to the law of Moses!

And Paul was one of them!!

He even studied under gamaliel one of the greatest teachers of that time!

He had literally given his life to the old law and jewish customs!!

He knew the old law in and out!

So Paul was NOT just a jew..… He was the most elite jew you could possibly find

Verse 6

Philippians 3:6 “concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”

“concerning zeal, persecuting the church”

Paul truly believed that Christians were blasphemers!!

His persecuting was keeping the law according to the jews

He was the most zealous persecutor out there!

Acts 8:3 tells us he made havoc of the church

Verse 7

Philippians 3:7 “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.”

Here Paul changes his tone

He says all of those things that I was confident in and that I counted as spiritual achievments and I thought made me an amazing guy.........

I count those things loss for Jesus

Its a mindset shift!!!!!

Paul THOUGHT that those Jewish things were gain but now he considers Jesus to be his gain!

In fact, Pauls physical achievments negatively affected his relationship with Christ!

What seemed so good to Paul earlier, has become baggage and it means nothing

Boat analogy with Paul Acts 27:38 “So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea.”

What seemed important wasn’t anymore

Look into our own lives and see if we have baggage that we need to let go of for Jesus Christ!

Verse 8

Philippians 3:8 “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ”

“Yet indeed”

This phrase is strengthening and furthering the point that he is making!

INDEED! YES!! THIS IS TRUE!!

“I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,”

Paul goes a step further here!!

Not only do I count those things I accomplished as loss for Jesus

But ALL THINGS!

Anything that competes or goes against Jesus Christ and my relationship with Him!

For Paul maybe that was roman wealth, pride, friendships

For us maybe its money, hobbies that steal our time, temptations

“ for whom I have suffered the loss of all things”

Physical Sufferings

– 3 times he was Beaten with rods 

– 5 times he was Whipped 39 lashes each 

– once he was Stoned (and left for dead)

– 3 times he was Shipwrecked 

Spent a night and a day in the open sea

Faced Constant Danger

From bandits

From his own people (Jews)

From Gentiles

In the city

In the wilderness

At sea

From false teachers

Personal Hardships

Hard labor and toil

Nights without sleep

Hungry and thirsty

Cold and exposed

Emotional and Spiritual Burden

Daily pressure of concern for all the churches (2 Corinthians 2:4 “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.” )

Paul’s life was marked by intense suffering, not because he was weak, but because he was fully committed to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ no matter the cost.

His endurance is a powerful example of what we need to do!

“and count them as rubbish”

Paul had endured so much.

But he counted everything he suffered, he thought about it as trash compared to gaining Christ!

Gaining Christ was what was important to Paul!

That word rubbish means manure, trash.

All of the Jewish accolades that Paul had, they were stinking worthless trash to Him!! Thats a big deal!

Paul had some serioulsy big accomplishments according to the worlds standards.

Analogy about if I were the president, It would be trash compared to gaining Christ!!

“that I may gain Christ”

Paul just talked about how all of these accomplishments mean nothing! They bring no purpose!!

He says here that Gaining Jesus Christ is what gives him purpose!!!!!!!!

If your an Athiest, you have no real purpose, no real identity

But Jesus gives you a purpose and an identity as a child of the Living God

Verse 9

Philippians 3:9 “and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;”

“and be found in Him,”

Paul wants to be “found” in Christ!!!!!!!!!! What does that mean?

The word found means to be exposed or be found with or BE LOCATED WITH

Analogy of a boy and girl at a meeting/friend at a meeting!!

So how are we “found In Christ??”

Through a relationship with Jesus

How do we obtain a relationship with Christ? (read, pray, study,)

When we spend time with Jesus people will see it

To be found in Him means to be have your identity in Him

“not having my own righteousness, which is from the law”

This line is Paul telling Philippi about where true righteousness comes from.

He’s not advocating for calvinism and saying that the only reason he’s righteous is because God forced Him to be and that he had no choice in the matter;

he’s saying that even though he had all the religious credentials and followed the law to the letter, that kind of righteousness wasn’t enough!!!

but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;”

Instead, Paul points to a righteousness that comes through faith in Christ

This is something you have to choose, something you respond to.

it’s not about being born into the right family or being predestined,

but it’s about hearing the gospel, believing it, and choosing to follow Jesus.

Paul’s story is so powerful because it shows that even someone with the “perfect” religious background still had to surrender and obey the gospel to be truly right with God.

And it also shows that it doesn’t matter how far you’ve gone, you can still be “found in Christ” TODAY

Verse 10

Philippians 3:10 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,”

“that I may know Him”

We can know Jesus through worship

We can know Jesus through baptism

We can know Jesus through reading His Word (John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”)

Jesus desires us and our time!!!!!!!!

He’s knocking on our doors not only for salvation but also for our time and relationships!!!!!

A lot of times we pray to God the father, but what about Jesus??

“And the power of His resurrection”

There is power in the resurrection of Jesus Christ!

1 Corinthians 15:20–22 “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.”

There is power in the Physical resurrection

Salvation comes through the resurrection

Our faith is not futile! Our preaching is not empty! we’re not liars! We’re not still in our sins!

“and the fellowship of His sufferings”

To know Jesus and to understand Him, we have to share in some of the sufferings that He went through!

We may not experience the same level of sufferings that Jesus did, but we still share similar ones!

Anxiety (The Garden)

Extreme Fatigue

Failed relationships (Judas)

Grief over death (John 8)

Being mocked

He took up His cross and we need to take up our Cross

“being conformed to His death,”

This goes back to what chapter 2 was talking about

Philippians 2:8 “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

To be conformed to the death of Jesus, we need to have ultimate obedience to God and His will Just like Jesus

Conformed means to take the same form as

Paul’s goal is to die to himself! Die to sin and self like Jesus did

Verse 11

Philippians 3:11 “if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

“if, by any means”

This phrase means a possibility, but Paul is meaning it as an expectation!

In the last verse he just got done talking about the resurrection of Jesus

Now Paul is hoping expecting himself to resurrect one day!

This resurrection is the day when Jesus comes back

2. Pressing Toward The Goal

Verse 12

Philippians 3:12 “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected;

Think about everything that Paul had done!

Spiritual Devotion & Transformation

His crazy conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9)

Immediate obedience to Christ’s call, despite his past

Went and got Baptized (Acts 9:17–18)

Completely stopped his former life as a persecutor of Christians

Got into this mindset here in chapter 3 where he Counted all things as loss for the sake of Christ (Philippians 3:7–8)

Preaching & Evangelism

Preached boldly in synagogues and public places (Acts 9:20; Acts 17:22–31)

Preached the Gospel of Christ to Gentiles, breaking cultural barriers (Romans 15:16)

Defended the Gospel before kings and governors (Acts 26)

Planted churches across Asia Minor and Europe

Trained leaders and evangelists like Timothy, Titus, and Silas

Authored 13 New Testament letters that still affect people to this day

All of the suffering he’d been through for Jesus

All of these things Paul had done but he still wasn’t perfect!

Pauls saying im not flawless Morally or spiritually

We/You can never be perfect!

When we realize that we aren’t perfect/flawless, then that makes us more aware of sin

Sin is a battle!!!

We can never earn our salvation! Nothing we could ever do would be enough! We aren’t worthy to have salvation and we weren’t worthy of Jesus sacrifice

But we were worth it to Jesus

Now there are requirements and things that Jesus has told us to do, and if we don’t adhere to them then we will spend eternity in hell seperated from Him

So look at Pauls mindset when it comes to his life!

He says im not perfect yet.............… BUUUTTTTTT

“but I press on,”

Paul says you know what I may be human and I may not be perfect.......

But i’m gonna keep pressing on!

Im gonna my absolute best every single day to be like Jesus!!!

remember Jesus is the standard for how to live!

If you wanna press on you gotta KNOW THE STANDARD

“ that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”

That phrase lay hold in the greek means “to capture!”

SLIDE/Analogy of olympian capturing the end of his race!

He didn’t deserve the opportunity to even race

He had to work extremely hard leading up to the race

The reward at the end of the race wasn’t earned by him, it was given to him by the master

Paul wants to capture the end of the race! heaven! resurrection from the dead

Jesus is preparing a place for us in heaven

Verse 13

Philippians 3:13 “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,”

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended;

That phrase apprehended means “Captured”

Paul is basically repeating what he just said! Philippi, I have not finished my race yet!

Im still pressing on!!

This a humble but earnest declaration from Paul

“forgetting those things which are behind”

Guilt is crippling to the life of a Christian!

It’s hard to deal with mistakes from the past

But we have to deal with it because of how it affects us spiritually

1.How does looking behind us affect us?

Guilt brings Uncertainty about where you stand before God

Hebrews 4:16 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need

2.How do we forget what’s behind??

1.Turn to the cross

1 Peter 2:24 “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

2. Trust in Jesus healing power to forgive

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Michaelangelo marble chipping away analogy

Friends God can take your cracks and your mistakes, and turn you into an incredible servant for His kingdom!

And if we wanna Know Jesus, we have to look ahead to the goal, and not behind us!

“reaching forward to those things which are ahead,”

If we look back, we can’t know Jesus

the prize and the goal is ahead of us!!

So we have to block out the distractions and reach forward

This is intentional!!!!! It takes work

Verse 14

Philippians 3:14 “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

“I press toward the goal for the prize”

We just talked about pressing forward!

Whats the prize???

The prize is heaven, and being like Jesus one day and Paul is about to talk about that in just a few verses!

Like Paul said in chapter 2, the best thing about the prize is being with Jesus

“of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

The upward call is the calling to walk worthy of the Gospel of Christ chapter 1:27

Our call is in Jesus! we listen to His commands

This is not a calvinistic forceful call, but a scriptural standard

Verses 15-16

Philippians 3:15 “Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.

Philippians 3:16 “Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.”

Pauls basically saying, this mindset I have is the mature mindset!

If you want to know Christ, have this mindset that i’ve been talking about!

Not because its the mindset of Paul, but because its setting your mind on things above and focusing on Jesus

If we all have this mindset then we will be unified in one mind

So I encourage you to live and think this way that the bible tells us to!

According to the word

3. Our Citizenship Is In Heaven (17-21)

4 Things Citizens Of Heaven Do

1. Walk With Partners

2. Watch For Pretenders

3. Wait For A Destination

4. Wear A Temporal Body

1.Walk With Partners

Verse 17

Philippians 3:17 “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.”

Paul just told us earlier in the chapter that he isn’t perfect!

Paul wasn’t perfect but he did his best to imitate Christ!

Friends you better find someone to imitate and to walk beside them in their pattern

Do your best to be that Pattern person for others today

2.Watch For Pretenders

Verses 18-19

Philippians 3:18 “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:”

Philippians 3:19 “whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.”

There’s 1 main point that I see in these verses

The Enemies of the Cross of Christ are people who set their minds on earthly things

When we see people that don’t care about Gods word, then they are against Jesus!!!

We need to watch for people in and out of the church

But we need to pull those people in instead of pushing them away!!

3.Wait For A Destination

Verse 20

Philippians 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”

“For our citizenship”

This word citizenship literally means political location

What city are you apart of?

“is in heaven”

Friends when Paul says “our” citizenship, he’s talking about Christians

So if your a follower of Christ then you are CURRENTLY a citizen of heaven!

It says “IS IN HEAVEN” We currently have our names written in the book of life!

But if your not a Christian or your in sin, then you don’t have your citizenship

Just like any other country, they have rules and we follow them

“from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”

We wait EAGERLY!!!!

Titus 2:11–13 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”

4.Wear A Temporal Body

Verse 21

Philippians 3:21 “who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”

“who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body,”

Romans 8:23–25 “Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”

Watch powerpoint for points

Invitation

Are you a citizen of Heaven this morning?