Class Notes, Phil 3:1-21

Phil 3:1-6 (NIV) Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put 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; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
• What is suggested in verse 1?
• One, finally suggests that he wants to finish his thoughts about Timothy and Epaphropditus
• Reminder that Epaphroditus is an argument against the health & wealth gospel, as well as the wholeness gospel
• Two with two possibilities, the first is that this wasn't the first letter Paul had written to the Philippians; or that emphasizing joy and rejoicing in the Lord, by writing it again, is never a bad thing
• Third, rejoicing in the Lord is a safeguard
• Rejoicing in the Lord is a safeguard, but against what?  Who are the dogs in verse 2?
• Dogs refers to opponents of God's truth
• Wild dogs referred to vicious animals that threatened the safety of everyone (Constable, 2010)
• Also, and somewhat tongue in cheek, Jews referred to Gentiles as dogs (Matt 15:21-28), but here the reference is to the Judaizers (Jews).  We know that from the context where circumcision is the key issue
• In this case, the Gentiles are clean, and the Judaizers are the dogs.  Yet the Judaizers are trying to make the Gentiles clean through circumcision
• Were the Gentiles circumcised, i.e. verse 3?  Then why does Paul call them the true circumcision?
• This is a case where the context does not make sense taken literally.  The "common sense" approach to any phrase that doesn't make sense literally, is to understand it metaphorically
• The Gentiles were the true circumcision, not because of physical circumcision, but because of a spiritual circumcision of the heart
• True believers are in the church, but he is not saying the church is the "new Israel" (Constable, 2010)
• Paul used three terms to describe the Judaizers
• Dogs
• Men who do evil
• Mutilators of the flesh
• Paul used three terms to describe the true church
• We worship God in spirit (as opposed to the physical rituals and ceremonies defined in the law)
• We glory in Christ Jesus.  We look to Jesus as the one who makes us acceptable to God and not upon our works (or how closely we follow the law)
• We put no confidence in the flesh (for our acceptance before God)
• While the Judaizers believed one had to be a Jew in order to be justified by Christ, it was not limited to circumcision prior to belief, but it defined a way of life after belief in Christ as well.  This is not just an argument about justification, but it is an argument about sanctification, the process whereby we are becoming more like Jesus Christ.  At the return of Christ is glorification (the final phase in our salvation) where we receive our new bodies and become like Christ
• Paul explains that if anyone had reason to take pride in his adherence to the requirements of the law it is him
• Circumcised on the eight day (at the prescribed time from birth, not later as some were)
• Of the people of Israel (not a proselyte)
• Of the tribe of Benjamin (many reasons to be proud for the uniqueness of Benjamin among Jews)
• A Hebrew of Hebrews (both parents were Jews)
• In regard to the law, a Pharisee (the most orthodox sect of Judaism in his day; he was also a disciple of Gamaliel)
• As for zeal, persecuting the church (he was a zealous promoter of Judaism above all things)
• As for legalistic righteousness, faultless (he followed ALL of the laws of Judaism, even the most trivial)
Phil 3:7-14 (NIV) But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, 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 is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
• How does Paul relate his previous position, in regards to the law, with his thinking now?
• All that stuff he now considers "loss"
• He calls it "rubbish"
• His new goal in life was not obedience to the OT law, but rather …
• gaining Christ
• knowing Christ
• having a righteousness that is NOT based on the law, but is totally through faith
• Note that he is not just referring to justification (a one time event) but also sanctification because he says "… through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith"
• "by faith" seems to imply a continuing process
• In verse 10, he expands on knowing Christ by adding two more things …
• Paul wants to know the power of his resurrection
• It would not make sense for Paul to suggest that he wanted to be resurrected since he would at the end of times.  I think Paul wanted to experience the power of the resurrected Christ in his life
• Paul wants to know the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings
• Paul has nothing to add to Jesus' suffering for us.  Our sins are completely paid by Christ alone.  So this fellowship, is that he is willing to suffer for the sake of Christ
• He is willing to give up his life to suffer for Christ's sake, even to the point of death
• Again verse 11 does not make sense or fit with Paul's other teachings if we assume he is not sure about his resurrection from the dead.  Therefor there is another sense to his statement
• The phrase is a very unusual phrase.  Constable had the best thought on this verse.  The dead would be the spiritually dead.  The resurrection would be the rapture of Christians from among the spiritually dead.  In other words, Paul hoped to experience the rapture, and believed it could happen before he died
• This is an important point.  We should all live as if the rapture was going to happen at any day.  Our witness will be critical to those who are left behind in order for them to understand what really happened.  The fact of the matter is that most churches will still be populated after the rapture, and the message of the rapture will be loss'ed to those
• Verses 12-14 emphasize that Paul was not just referring to his position in Christ (without the need for the law), but his everyday life of becoming like Christ (which also does not rely on the law)
• What does Paul say is his focus now?
• Forgets the past
• Looks forward to the future
• Presses forward to win the prize
• What is the prize?
• It is the reward that we will receive at the end of life for how we lived our life as believers
• "Each believer is on the track; each has a special lane in which to run; and each has a goal to achieve. If we reach the goal the way God has planned, then we receive a reward. If we fail, we lose the reward, but we do not lose our citizenship." (Wiersbe, The Bible …, 2:88)
Phil 3:15-21 (NIV) All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
• If you are spiritually mature, you will understand that what Paul says is true.  If a person has the right attitude, God will make that clear to them as well
• Verse 16 is probably directed toward the immature.  What we have attained is what God has revealed to us.  Living up to it, is applying those truths in our life
• The great difference between the spiritually mature and spiritually immature, is that the mature apply God's truth to their lives and the immature do not
• Paul uses himself, as well as Timothy and Epaphroditus as examples.  This is the essential aspect of discipleship.  While no one is perfect, we do well by following those who live according to the pattern of scripture
• Paul warns them at the end, as he had at the beginning, that there are enemies
• He could be referring to the Judaizers.  In which case the destruction is not eternal destruction, but physical destruction (death or discipline), as also described repeatedly in Hebrews
• These enemies have certain characteristics
• Their focus in on the stomach (could be appetite, could be ceremonial foods)
• They glory in their shame (they take pride in things that they should be ashamed of)
• They have an earthly perspective (they are focused on physical and material things)
• Constable suggests that ritualistic observances take precedence of God's place in their life
• In contrast
• Our citizenship is in heaven (not Roman, not Jewish)
• We eagerly await our savior (the rapture)
• We look forward to glorification, when our earthly bodies will be transformed to be like his glorious body