Sermon Tone Analysis

*            WHAT IS ‘TRUE’ CHRISTIANITY?

Philippians 3:1 - 9 (11)   *                                    *

In this life we encounter many different situations in which we evaluate ourselves.

·        When a young couple is dating, they tend to periodically evaluate their relationship.

Does it show promise?

Is it mutually enriching?

Will this be the love of a lifetime?

·        Businessmen evaluate themselves in their business life as they endeavour to determine how the business is doing.

They try to analyse the economic climate.

Will they be able to ride out any unexpected storm in the economy?

Can they anticipate making a good profit?

·        Again investors regularly evaluate their investment portfolio in the light prevailing stock market trends ~~ considering whether they should change the distribution of their funds.

·        Surely then, because of its *eternal* significance, it is even more important that we evaluate ourselves spiritually.

Are we *really* in a right relationship with God?

Is *true* Christianity *our* experience ?

It is so easy for us to be fooled, and in that great final day, if we don’t really know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, tragically it will be far too late.

If we look closely at the portion of God’s Word before us, we find that Paul explains what is meant by *true* Christianity.

When we focus on the third verse of *chapter 3, *we can really begin to evaluate ourselves as far as our relationship with God is concerned – the Apostle says, 

“For* we* are the *real* circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh...”.

The immediate context of the passage provides us with the background to Paul’s statement.

In the early days of the Christian Church there was tremendous opposition to the gospel from many different quarters.

As far as the apostle Paul and the background of this passage is concerned, opposition came from the *Judaisers*.

They were Jews who had come to know Christ, but still clung very strongly to their Jewish ways and traditions.

They would go to an early convert and say to him that it was wonderful that he had come to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour, but that he also needed to become a *Jew*.

For that man to become a Jew, he had to be circumcised in the flesh.

Their insistence that circumcision was an indispensable condition of being justified in God’s sight, was *absolutely abhorrent* to the apostle Paul.

The reason why he would not tolerate it, was because he had come to understand the *complete sufficiency* of the sacrificial death and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It was *absolutely sufficient* for salvation.

Nothing could be added to it, not even religious ceremonies.

Now some of our religious ordinances are from God and we continue to practice them.

They add richness and meaning to life, but we cannot benefit from them when it comes to the matter of salvation.

Baptism, for instance, is a good and necessary Christian ordinance, but its value lies in its ability to demonstrate visibly to believers what actually happens when Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit cleanse them from sin.

As helpful as baptism is, it cannot participate in the work of salvation.

Jesus Christ *alone* is absolutely sufficient for each one of us.

We will notice that Paul uses very strong language for these Judaisers and refers to them as dogs and evil workers - those who intrude where they are not wanted ~~ who prowl about looking for an opportunity to carry out their evil deeds.

Paul’s rhetoric and urgency in the original text is difficult to duplicate in English: it is something like,

“Watch out for those dogs!

Watch out for those criminals!

Watch out for those mutilators!”.

Paul uses a derogatory play upon words and calls them those who merely ‘*mutilate the flesh’*.

This is quite an astounding statement from a man who had been such a devout Jew - to look upon the sign of the Old Covenant as merely *mutilating the flesh*.

But such was his understanding of the grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ!

We, too, need to be wary of those in the church who are perhaps sincere, but have incorrect theology and attempt to add legalistic requirements to God’s free gift of salvation.

Those who insist for example that everyone *must* speak in tongues or be baptised, otherwise they *cannot* be a *true* Christian.

Beware!

Search the Scriptures and hold on to the truth of God’s Word!

We have then in verse three this tremendous text where the apostle Paul says,

“For* we* are the *true* circumcision, who worship God by the Spirit, glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh...”.

Paul takes the text and applies it *spiritually*, speaking about the circumcision of the heart; of inward purification and consecration.

The Apostle can make this claim for the Old Testament recognises that the *human* *heart* rather than *physical features* are God’s *real concern*.

We see this in the books of Deuteronomy and Jeremiah, where emphasis is placed on *circumcision of the heart* as that which God really desires.

And only the Holy Spirit can do this !

*Nobody *but God the Holy Spirit can circumcise our hearts; otherwise there is no way in which we can be saved.

·        What is the result of this circumcision which takes place inwardly; this circumcision which opens our spiritual eyes? 

·        Who are the people who are really circumcised in the sight of God?

They are those “...who worship God by the spirit, who glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh...”.

 

*VERSE THREE,* which is a key verse, can be broken up into three parts and we will focus on these three areas, expanding on them within the context of the passage.

If we commence with the *last *part of verse three, we see that a *true* Christian man or woman is a person who places* ‘no confidence in the flesh’*.

The apostle Paul makes that point very strongly.

He states that if anybody on the face of the earth had reason to boast, surely it must have been him.

Yet he turns his back on the things upon which he could place his confidence; upon four different aspects of ‘the flesh’:

 

·      *He speaks first of all about the pride of his ancestry or heritage:* 

He says in *verse 5*, he was “...circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews...”    

Paul could boast as much as anyone about his Jewish heritage.

He was circumcised a Jew at the correct age, came from pure Jewish stock within the esteemed tribe of Benjamin, and was thoroughly steeped in the Hebrew language and tradition.

In other words he was saying nobody could have been more of a Jew than he was.

Now some would argue that if a man was a Jew:

·      surely he must be right in the sight of God? 

·      Surely if he had such a prestigious ancestry, *that* must put him in a right standing with this holy God of the Bible?

Heritage is a wonderful thing and we value our Parents and Grandparents, from whom we receive so much.

We are proud of our ancestry.

However, no matter where we have come from, no matter how illustrious our heritage may be, Christian or otherwise, that in itself can never put us in a right standing with God.

Paul understood that and the apostle deliberately turned from his heritage because it could *not* bring him to God.

*Only* Christ could do that.

So he discounted his heritage.

He brushed it aside!

Every day the Christian comes into the presence of a holy God.

And when he comes into God’s presence,

·        How does he enter ~~ how does he pray?

·        Does he come boasting about himself or his Christian heritage in any manner whatsoever?

No, the *true* Christian, like the apostle Paul, understands that he cannot boast about himself one little bit as he comes into the presence of this holy God.

 

·      *Secondly, Paul discounts the pride of orthodoxy ~~* the pride of *strict compliance* with traditional, Jewish religious observances.

He says again in *verse 5* *“...concerning the law, a Pharisee...”.*

In Acts 23:6 we have Paul boldly declaring to the Sanhedrin,

*“I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee.”

*

Now nobody could have been more religious in the days of Jesus Christ than the Pharisees.

They were the “separated ones” ~~ the conservative wing of Judaism who interpreted the Mosaic Law most strictly and who did everything in the most scrupulously correct manner.

They followed religious practices every day of the week.

Paul was a devout Pharisee and yet he came to understand that one can be as religious as one likes and yet be totally lost.

Paul says that he’d nothing to boast about in this regard whatsoever - about what he’d done religiously.

It didn’t put him in the right with God.

Many of us will recall some of the fabulous things that were said about Princess Diana after she was tragically killed, or, closer to home, of things said about Brenda Fassie after her sudden death.

And one hears on occasions after someone has died that they were *so religious*, as though somehow that did something for them in their relationship with God.

It may have done absolutely nothing for them.

They may have been just as lost as any heathen in the jungle.

·        What about us? 

·        Do we see that religion* in itself* can do nothing to procure, or ensure salvation for us?

To be a *true* Christian, we need a personal relationship with God the Father through His unique Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

·      *Thirdly, there was the pride of activity:*

In *verse 6* Paul states *“...concerning zeal, persecuting the church...”.*