Philippians 3:1-11 - Christ’s Greatness

Phil 3:1-11

Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a safeguard. 2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh— 4 even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Vs. 1 - Paul agains tell the church in Philippi to Rejoice.

This is not some vague encouragement but knowing they are suffering for their faith and that he has just used two men as an example of what true servant hood looks like and he himself is in prison but rejoicing he can say to them to rejoice, even when your faith costs you.

What does Paul mean when he says “write the same things to you…?”

is he talking about what he has written or what he is about to write?

Is he talking about rejoicing in the Lord, or about who they should be aware of? (dogs, evil workers, those who mutilate the flesh).

For Paul the extra effort to repeat something is not a burden if it helps build a safeguard for his readers.

Vs. 2 - a three fold beware

Dogs - not actual dogs but a metaphor of those driven by flesh - Dogs were unclean animals and despised by the Jews.

evil workers - those who do evil

those who mutilate the flesh - a reference to physical circumcision? most likely considering what we read in verse 3

Vs. 3 - Paul new identifies who the true circumcision are.

The OT idea stemmed from a physical change where as Paul identifies true circumcision in Col as a circumcision of the heart

Colossians 2:11–13

11 In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ;

With this spiritual circumcision Paul sets forth three affirmations of christian status and privilege…

Worship by the Spirit of God - reminiscent of Jesus’ words to the woman at the well in John 4:24 where he said “true worshippers will worship the father in Spirit and in truth.” - there no need for a place to worship for worship to happen.

Boast (glory) in Christ Jesus - We boast in Christ for our salvation for it is not what we have done but what has been done for us by him

no Confidence in the flesh - Whereas those who had physical circumcision could have confidence in their flesh or good deeds such as be circumcised, we do not have confidence in our deeds but our confidence is in the one who did what we could not!

Vs. 4 - Paul now states his thesis for his argument that he will prove in the next verse.

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more:

Vs. 5-6 - Paul now sets their confidence in the flesh with his pre-conversion confidence

circumcised on the eighth day, - By placing his circumcision on the eighth day as the first item in this list, Paul emphasizes that he had a “first class” circumcision in a Jewish family that fulfilled the requirement of the law

a member of the people of Israel, - Paul is claiming genealogical purity; his blood is untainted by any Gentile blood. The name Israel is the main self-designation of the Jewish people and conveys a religious message: we, the descendants of the patriarch Israel, are God’s chosen people

of the tribe of Benjamin, - The favored place of the tribe of Benjamin in the history of Israel begins with Benjamin himself: he was loved in a special way by Jacob as the son of his favorite wife, Rachel, and the only son to be born in the promised land (Gen 35:16–18). The tribe of Benjamin produced the first king of Israel (1 Sam 9:1–2), maintained loyalty to the tribe of Judah when the other ten tribes deserted the Davidic monarchy (1 Kings 12:21), and inherited within its territory the city of Jersusalem (Judg 1:21). Paul’s Hebrew name, Saul (Acts 13:9), may reflect the pride of his parents in one of the most famous members of their tribe. Paul expresses this pride in his tribe as a reason he has for more confidence in the flesh than others.

a Hebrew born of Hebrews; - This claim is not simply an indication that Hebrew (Aramaic) is his mother tongue. His fluency in Hebrew revealed his educational background and his cultural position. Ever since the Hellenization of the Mediterranean world in the third and second century B.C., the Jewish people were divided by language and culture. The Jews who were highly assimilated into the Hellenistic culture lost their use of the Hebrew language and their commitment to the Hebrew culture; they also accepted and participated in the political structures, social patterns, educational curriculum, ideological values, religious rites, and physical features of Hellenism

These first four describe his heritage that was passed down to him from his highly orthodox Jewish parents.

The next four describe his personal achievements

as to the law, a Pharisee; - he is aligning himself with influential moral leaders who “are esteemed most skillful in the exact explication of their laws

6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; - As Paul boasts about his unsurpassed zeal that far excelled the Judaizers who were working to purify his churches, he presents the bitter irony that his extraordinary zeal for the purity of the people of God (ancient Israel) caused him to persecute the true people of God (the new Israel).

as to righteousness under the law, blameless. - As a Pharisee Paul determined and evaluated the quality of his upright behavior by the OT law as it was interpreted and amplified in the oral law. He reports that “the exertion with which he observed scrupulously the law’s prescriptions, interpreted in their most rigid sense, led him to attain a perfection which was without lapse or defect.” Within the framework of the entire law, however, faultless does not mean sinless, since “a blameless observance of the law involved using the means of atonement for sin.

Vs. 7-9 - Paul compares what he has to that of Christ.

His gains he counts as loss because of Christ

everything he has, he counts as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

All the loss he has suffered he counts as rubbish so he may gain Christ not a “look what I did for Jesus” righteousness, but a look what Christ did for me” righteousness that is from God based on faith.

Vs. 10-11 - Paul wants to know

Christ

Resurrection

his suffering that leads to death

In what ever way he is to die, “somehow”

he wants to attain the resurrection of the dead!

Here's the tension worth sitting with in a group: Paul had every reason to trust his own performance and pedigree, and he calls all of it loss. For us, this might not be religious credentials—it could be our work ethic, our moral track record, our parenting, our theological knowledge. The invitation isn't to stop trying or achieving; it's to stop building our identity and security on those things. Ask: what's the "good stuff" in your life that quietly functions as your source of confidence before God instead of Christ himself?