Philippians 3:1-11 - Take Out the Trash
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Introduction:
According to multiple estimates, the average American produces around 4 pounds of trash per day. This amounts to a little over 1400 lbs of trash per year!
Before you start worrying that this is going to be a political message, let me let you know why I mention this. We produce a lot of physical waste in our lives. I’m not saying that we don’t need to take care of this beautiful creation that God has given us. We absolutely should.
However, today, we are going to talk about an even greater waste that we produce. Personal pride, self-righteousness, worldly-focused and worldly-driven accomplishments and accolades - they are all trash and rubbish as Paul states in relation to Jesus Christ.
Do we feel the same way as Paul about our lives apart from Christ? Do we see the value of Christ far outshining the rubbish we have in this life? Or are we trying to attain righteousness and significance on our own only to look around and find that we are sitting in a pile of our own life’s garbage?
Join me as we read Philippians 3:1-11:
1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
4 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:
5 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;
6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 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
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—
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Prayer
Today we are going to discuss where true righteousness comes from (spoiler alert - it isn’t from within us!):
I. Christ Ascribes Righteousness…Not According to the Flesh (1-6)
I. Christ Ascribes Righteousness…Not According to the Flesh (1-6)
Paul’s Heeding (1-2)
Paul’s Heeding (1-2)
1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. 2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
This word, finally, can be a little confusing because it seems like it referring to what was just said. However, it is clear that he is about to remind the Philippian believers about things he has taught them in person during a previous encounter with them. It is used here more as a transition word and could likely be better stated, furthermore.
Paul again encourages the Philippian believers to rejoice. Many pastors who entitle their sermon series (I don’t, personally) choose to use the word ‘joy’ somewhere in their series title. That is because the word rejoice (Greek chairo - pronounced she-air-o) occurs some 9 times in these four chapters and the word joy (Greek - chara - pronounced sha-ra) five times. Joy in the midst of suffering and trials is a common theme in these chapters. In this first verse Paul wants the believers in Philippi to get back to the basics. He is reminding them of what he had taught before when he was with them.
What was it that Paul taught them before? He tells them to look out for the dogs, evildoers, and those who mutilate the flesh - referring to Judaizers or other legalistic and falsely religious people. This is quite a warning. The word look out here means to be sure to see these people coming. It is a word that we have discussed before when we studied John 20 on Easter. This is where we get the word blip (Greek blepo), which is a short take on something. He wants them to be hyper-vigilant because these evildoers are cunning and can work their way in to the ranks of the believers and sneak their ideas of legalism and works-based righteousness in slowly. He warns them to take note of the blips of false teaching that can work their way in. Paul is offering a strong heeding or warning to the people of Philippi.
We can take heed from this warning today as well. We must be vigilant in guarding our churches from such false teachers - those who are quick to brag on their own accomplishments and their own reasons for righteousness. Be careful and wary of those who come to a church with guns a blazing and ready to show this church how ministry is to be done. Those who come in critiquing the band, the pastor, the members, and even the decorations. Oftentimes these persons are dangerous my friends. I love zeal and I am so excited to see those who are zealous for the Lord and more than ready and willing to serve in any way possible. But we must be wary of those who have zeal but also are self-righteous. This is why the Bible is so clear on our need to vet leaders in the church. Our church has a safety net in place and that a new Elder/Pastor must be a member for at least three years before being placed in the position (unless we ever have a paid position) and a deacon must be a member for two years. We want to be sure to vet people before allowing them to have authority in our church. In a world full of false teachers, we must stand guard over the church and hold our religious leaders to a high standard of accountability.
Getting back to our Scripture - I find it interesting in Paul’s word choice in the phrase mutilate the flesh. This is actually a word that means false circumcision.
Without going into too much graphic detail, the prefix for the Greek word meaning true circumcision (see verse 3 - true circumcision) is -peri (peritome - pare-ee-tow-may) meaning around – which makes sense in the understanding of the word. The other word he uses here for false circumcision (katatome - cat-a-tow-may) meaning mutilate is not so organized to say the least. Obviously, Paul is saying that these false teachers are mutilating and twisting the Gospel. They are not the real deal.
Next we see...
Paul’s Holiness (3)
Paul’s Holiness (3)
3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
Paul teaches on what true circumcision is in regards to the New Covenant - it is those who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ and put no confidence in the flesh. He is saying that true righteousness and holiness comes from faith and trust in Jesus Christ and being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Our confidence does not come through our works. As we have discussed time and time again, our righteousness is as filthy rags or a polluted garment - Isaiah 64:6
6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Note that Paul makes quite the bold claim in this verse. We may miss this claim fairly easily because we are Gentiles (meaning non-Jews). But he states at the beginning of the verse, ‘we are the circumcision.’ Do you get how big of a deal that this statement is? Who is Paul speaking to? The Philippian believers. Remember that these are Gentile believers in Philippi. These are people that Israel considered unclean for centuries before. And now he identifies himself as one of them! And to beat that - he uses the Abrahamic Covenantal Seal as the foundation of his identification.
Circumcision was a big deal to the Israelites. This was the mark, or seal, of the covenant God had with Abraham as seen in Genesis 17:10
10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
This was an exclusive covenant. Only the children of Abraham could share in this covenantal relationship. Israel would come through the line of Abraham (Isaac - Jacob - who was renamed Israel by God).
But now Paul has identified all Gentile believers as covenantal sons and daughters of God under the New Covenant mediated by Jesus Christ. Praise God for our adoption as sons and daughters of God through the blood of Jesus Christ that makes us holy. This righteousness is not found in our own flesh or in our own holiness but instead in Christ. We glory in Christ alone.
Interestingly, after discussing Paul’s holiness, we get to...
Paul’s Haughtiness (4-6)
Paul’s Haughtiness (4-6)
4 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: 5 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; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
After encouraging the Philippians to hold fast to the work of God for their holiness and not their own works, he goes into a monologue about his own works. He wants to remind these legalistic dogs or evildoers that he could try to rely on his own works as well. He lets them know that they can’t outwork him and that they haven’t outworked him. He wants them to be humbled and realize that it is not by works that we are saved. If it were, then he would have been considered righteous. Yet he was called out by Jesus Christ personally for his sinful and self-righteous religiosity (Acts 9).
I would encourage each of you to read Paul’s conversion in Acts 9:1-18 today. Time fails me to go into detail, but we see Jesus Christ physically, temporarily blind Paul and call him to repentance. The man, Paul, who had tried to do everything right was called out personally by Jesus Christ!
This sounds eerily familiar to the rich young ruler we see in Matthew 19:16-22. This man had also kept the law in an impressive way. He could boast like Paul. Yet Jesus knows this man has an idol - his financial wealth. He asks the man to sell all he has and follow Him. The man responds like this Matthew 19:22
22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
This rich young ruler worshiped the idol of money while Paul seemed to worship the idol of self-righteousness and pride. Listen to Paul expound upon his reasons for boasting:
Paul’s Reason He Could Boast in the Flesh (Verse 5):
His Heritage
Circumcised on the eight day
Israelite
Benjaminite (true lineage and not just a convert - he was authentic. he even knows what tribe he is from!)
Hebrew of Hebrews
2. His Works
A Pharisee who kept the Law.
Zealous persecutor of Church and defender of Judaism
Righteous and blameless in respect to the Law
R.R. Melick made the following statement in his commentary on this great book:
These seven characteristics of heredity and achievement reveal that Paul’s accepting Christ did not occur because he was marginally Jewish. He had not failed in his own religion. He had seen a better way and had chosen to follow it.
R.R. Melick
Paul had tried his best to follow the letter of the Law. He had outworked all of his peers. Yet he still missed the mark.
How are you today my friends? Are you still trying to work your way to God? Do you have a belief system that your good deeds have to outweigh your bad deeds or you have to do certain works in order to be truly right with Christ? Learn from Paul’s boasting here. As we will see in a moment, he was saved despite his haughtiness. I pray that you are as well. I pray that you quit trying to earn salvation and that you live in the grace of Jesus Christ. He died on the cross for your sins after living a perfect life. He rose three days later and now is at the right hand of the Father. All you must do is repent (turn away from your sins) and believe in Jesus Christ and you may be saved. How beautiful is this free gift of God. After you are saved, the Holy Spirit, as we mentioned in verse 3, will indwell you and do good works through you. The Holy Spirit does these good works through you not in order to save you but instead because you are already saved! May you glory in Christ and not the flesh as verse 3 said so beautifully.
We have seen in this first point and sub-points that Christ does not ascribe righteousness based on the flesh. Next we see that...
Scripture References: John 20, Isaiah 64:6, Gen 17:10, Acts 9:1-18, Matthew 19:16-22
II. Christ Ascribes Righteousness…According to Faith (7-11)
II. Christ Ascribes Righteousness…According to Faith (7-11)
Paul’s Humility (7-9)
Paul’s Humility (7-9)
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 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 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—
He then moves on to his humility. But whatever gain he had - worldly wealth, worldly honor, worldly respect, worldly influence, worldly comfort....He counted as loss for the sake of Christ. He saw all of the gains of the world by obeying the world’s system as things that weren’t anything because he knew they would all burn up in the end.
As the poem by C.T. Studd states:
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
CT Studd
Is that were you are my friends? Do you see the things of this world as rubbish as Paul calls them? As Paul states in verse 8, does the worth of Christ surpass the worth of everything else? Or are you invested in acquiring the things and accolades of this world to the determent of your soul and relationship with Christ. Believe me, the things of this world do not give you lasting joy or fulfillment. Only Christ can give us true of joy and peace.
In verse 9 we see that Paul puts his faith and hope in Christ and Christ’s righteousness and not himself and his own works. He has tried to find righteousness through the law and found that perfection is impossible. No matter how much he strived to be perfect he continued to sin and fall short. This is seen so clearly in Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We all fall short of the glory of God. No matter how hard we strive and try to be good and do good, we continually fail. But praise God we as believers are given the righteousness of Christ. We don’t have to rely on our own strength and goodness to make us righteous. We are given this free gift from Jesus Christ.
I pray that each of us humbles ourselves before Christ like Paul did. True righteousness, Paul states, comes through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no other way in which a man may be saved other than through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). There is no other way that we may be declared righteous apart from the saving power and blood of Jesus Christ.
After discussing Paul’s humility, we come to Paul’s final hope...
Paul’s Hope (10-11)
Paul’s Hope (10-11)
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Chris Tomlin came out with a song a couple of years ago called ‘Resurrection Power.’ There are many different Scriptures that this song communicates, but we see this phrase ‘power of his resurrection’ here in verse 10. What is this resurrection power that we may know? Simply put, it is the power over death through Christ. We have no power in our own right. We cannot fight the enemy of our souls on our own. We have no power to take up our life after we die. But praise be to Jesus Christ that He does! He has the power over death! He has defeated death for all time. We can now have eternal life through Jesus Christ! There is no greater power in the world than the power of Christ. And Christ showed his greatest display of his power and glory in His own resurrection.
We must firmly hold on to this truth. We know where our hope for a brighter future is. It is in Christ alone. We know we have an eternal glory that we will be able to share in as we glory in Christ Jesus.
Yet we see Paul discuss something else as well. While on this side of eternity we are to continue to identify with Christ here as well. This victory in our heavenly eternity brings tribulation on this earthly side of eternity.
Jesus was clear when He said no servant is greater than his master - John 15:20
20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
We will and should share in the sufferings of Christ.
Last week we discussed Timothy’s proven worth. This word could also be translated proven character. And we discussed Romans 5:3-5 where we learned that suffering produces perseverance and perseverance produces character and character produces hope.
Paul understands the necessity of sufferings. He joyfully and willingly subjects himself to sufferings because of his love for Christ. He wants to identify with Christ, and the best way to do so was to suffer like Jesus. Keep in mind that Paul understood that he brought nothing to the table to contribute to what Christ had done. Paul’s suffering would not aid Christ in any way. There was no forgiveness of sins because of Paul’s sufferings. But instead, Paul wanted to do whatever he could to advance the Gospel and identify with Christ.
His great hope was that he would have eternal life with his Savior.
Scripture References: Romans 3:23, Acts 4:12, John 15:20, Romans 5:3-5, Hebrews 11:1
Conclusion:
As we come to a close, I want to leave you with one important question...
What is your great hope?
We discussed Paul’s great hope. Better stated - Paul’s great assurance. As we see the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Paul was assured of his great hope. Are you my friends? Are you assured of your great hope? Is your great hope eternity with our loving Savior - Jesus Christ? I pray it is, and I pray that you are assured of your great hope. If not, I’d love to talk with you after the service and let you know how you can be assured of this great hope in Christ Jesus.
Let us pray.
Prayer
If you would like to learn more about salvation through Jesus Christ or want to obey Jesus by obeying the first commandment of a believer in going through the waters of baptism - please let me know.
Have a blessed week.