Rachel Workman: 3 Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the
Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard
your faith. Whatever happens, rejoice in the Lord. That's a good verse. I
don't practice it enough. When the answer is no rejoice in the Lord. When hard
times fall rejoice in the Lord. When things are great rejoice in the Lord.
2 Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. 3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! Good advice indeed. We are to watch out for those who do evil. We are not exempt from the powers of evil. I love verse 3 we rely on what Christ Jesus has already done for us. End of story. We don't rely on a specifically worded prayer, a series of events, or any type of human works. We rely on what Christ has already done.
5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.[c] For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
2 Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. 3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! Good advice indeed. We are to watch out for those who do evil. We are not exempt from the powers of evil. I love verse 3 we rely on what Christ Jesus has already done for us. End of story. We don't rely on a specifically worded prayer, a series of events, or any type of human works. We rely on what Christ has already done.
5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.[c] For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
There is a lot of meat in these verses. There
are a couple of things that stand out to me. Faith seems to be a central theme
here. Everything seems to depend on it. Faith is God's way of making us right
with himself. It's our faith in Christ that makes us righteous. We cannot
achieve righteousness on our own. It's only through the sacrifice of Christ on
the cross that we are made righteous before God. We need to rejoice, we have
every reason to rejoice every day. I sometimes can't believe how much God loves
us.
____________________________________________________________________________________
John
Burnett: The Goal of Life
3 Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it
is a safeguard for you.
2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil
workers, beware of the [a]false circumcision; 3 for
we are the true [b]circumcision, who worship in
the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,
4 although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If
anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: 5 circumcised
the eighth day, of the nation 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 the righteousness which is in the Law, found
blameless. Beware of the dogs is a good way of
putting what we should be doing when watching out for false teachers teaching
false doctrines. Paul was definitely not politically correct. Paul
tells us here that we cannot put our confidence in ourselves (flesh) or our
righteousness. Paul claims that he was righteous according to the law but
not the new law. Love your God with all your heart, soul, mind and
strength and you neighbors as yourself (He failed miserably here when he
persecuted Christians).
7 But whatever things were gain to me,
those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More
than that, I count all things to be loss [c]in view of the surpassing
value of [d]knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord, [e]for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and
may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the
Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes
from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection and [f]the fellowship of His
sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 [g]in order that I may attain
to the resurrection from the dead. Here, Paul
puts a relationship with Christ in the proper context. There is nothing
that he has gained that compares to knowing Christ. All he had gained, he
counts as loss compared to the value of knowing Christ. The richest man
on earth has nothing if he doesn’t know Christ because all he has will be taken
away. To those who know Christ, all things will be given. The meek
shall inherit the earth.
We are imputed or given
Christ’s righteousness on our record when we repent and put our trust in
Him. We will also face sufferings for his sake but what we attain from
that is resurrection from the dead and eternal life with Him. Unless of
course the rapture happens before we die. Have a great weekend and GO
TIGERS.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Allen
Michaels: 3 Further, my brothers and sisters, 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. The
Bible is our safeguard both morally and theologically. When we read it
individually and publicly in church, it alerts us to corrections we need to
make in our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those
evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who
are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ
Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— These “dogs” and “evildoers” were very likely Judaizers
– Jewish Christians who wrongly believed that it was essential for Gentiles
to follow all the Old Testament Jewish laws, especially submission to the rite
of circumcision, in order to receive salvation. They were motivated by
spiritual pride.
Paul criticized the
Judaizers because they looked at Christianity backwards – thinking that what
they did (circumcision; cutting or mutilating the flesh) made them believers
rather than the free gift of grace given by Christ. What believers do is a result
of faith, not a prerequisite to faith.
It is easy to place more
emphasis on religious effort (“confidence in the flesh”) than on internal
faith, but God values the attitude of our hearts above all else. Don’t judge
people’s spirituality by their fulfillment of duties or by their level of human
activity. And don’t think that you will satisfy God by feverishly doing his
work. God notices all you do for him and will reward you for it, but only if it
comes as a loving response to his free gift of salvation.
It almost appears that Paul
is boasting about his achievements. But he is actually doing the opposite,
showing that human achievements, no matter how impressive, cannot earn a person
salvation and eternal life with God. Paul did not depend on his deeds to please
God because even the most impressive credentials fall short of God’s holy
standards. Are you depending on Christian parents, church affiliation, or just
being good to make you right with God? Credentials, accomplishments, or
reputation cannot earn salvation. Salvation comes only through faith in Christ.
4 though I myself have
reasons for such confidence.
If someone else thinks
they have 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 righteousness based on the law, faultless. Why did Paul (Saul at the
time), a devout Jewish leader, persecute the church? Agreeing with the leaders
of the religious establishment, Paul thought that Christianity was heretical
and blasphemous. Because Jesus did not meet his expectations of what the
Messiah would be like, Paul assumed that Jesus’ claims were false, and
therefore wicked. In addition, he saw Christianity as a political menace
because it threatened to disrupt the fragile harmony between the Jews and the
Roman government.
7 But whatever were gains
to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is
more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them
garbage, that I may gain Christ After Paul considered everything he had accomplished in his life, he
said that it was all “a loss” when compared with the greatness of knowing
Christ. This is a profound statement about values: a person’s relationship with
Christ is more important than anything else. To know Christ should be our
ultimate goal. Consider your values. Do they place anything above your
relationship with 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 on the basis
of faith. No
amount of lawkeeping, self-improvement, discipline or religious effort can make
us right with God. Righteousness comes only from God. We are made righteous
(receive right standing with him) by trusting in Christ. He exchanges our sin
and shortcomings for his complete righteousness. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to
know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings,
becoming like him in his death, When we are united with Christ by trusting in him, we wxperience
the power that raised him from the dead. That same mighty power will help us
live morally renewed and regenerated lives. But before we can walk in newness
of life, we must also die to sin. Just as the resurrection gives us Christ’s
power to live for him, his crucifixion marks the death of our old sinful
nature. We can’t know the victory of the resurrection without personally
applying the crucifixion. 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the
resurrection from the dead. Paul was unsure of the way that he would meet God, whether by
execution or by natural death. He did not doubt that he would be raised but
attainment of it was within God’s power and not his own. Just as Christ was
exalted after his resurrection, so we will one day share Christ’s glory.
* I am still confused by the
whole “no confidence in the flesh” thing. Can anybody explain this to me, in
layman’s terms so I can understand it? I would really appreciate it. I did post
some info below that I found on it.
A true Christian is one who has “no
confidence in the flesh”. This means they have utterly despaired of
themselves ... are spiritual bankrupt. When the Holy Spirit does a work of
grace in someone, He convicts them of their sin. Not just sins, but convicts of
the fact that they are sinners by nature and can do nothing to save themselves.
There is no pride in physical decent or in natural abilities. This means one
who is brought to faith, repents of both their good works and their evil works.
Both are equally worthless to God. False teaching glories in something other
than in Christ alone, always pointing to something that we can do; a résumé we
can bring before God to curry His favor, not realizing that He has already
adopted us as sons. Not unlike the older brother in the Prodigal son who
glories that he has worked for his father all his life, not realizing that God
does not first ask us to meet conditions to obtain his love. Those who have
confidence in the flesh also tend to believe in Christ PLUS this or that. That
Christ saved them, but they must maintain their own justification before God.
Glorying in Christ is the antithesis of glorying in the flesh. Pharisees boast
before God of what they have done for him. The Christian is one who has empty
hands every day and can only thank God for His mercy. He thus relies solely on
the righteousness of Christ.
The following give me a
little better understanding;
Who We Are – Those Who Put No Confidence in the
Flesh
Written
by S Benner
“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” (Philippians
3:3, NIV).
The
final element of Paul’s definition of who we are in Christ is this: we are the
ones who put no confidence in the flesh. We don’t measure our worth in
God’s sight by our accomplishments, our good works, how smart we are or how
many friends we have. “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the
sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7, NIV).
This
is the total renouncing of anything that might give me status or a high
standing among the people of this world whether religious or secular, because I
understand that absolutely nothing I do can give me standing with God.
•
Not a University degree or a Bible College diploma
• Not being able to trace my ancestors back to Martin Luther
• Not attending church every Sunday from the day I was born
• Not political activism to defend biblical principles
• Not tithing on my gross income rather than my net income
• Not volunteering countless hours in schools or homeless shelters
• Not giving up a lucrative career to serve on the mission field
• Not being able to trace my ancestors back to Martin Luther
• Not attending church every Sunday from the day I was born
• Not political activism to defend biblical principles
• Not tithing on my gross income rather than my net income
• Not volunteering countless hours in schools or homeless shelters
• Not giving up a lucrative career to serve on the mission field
We
may do all these things, but our confidence does not come from them. Instead
our confidence comes from Jesus Christ. He alone is the reason I have
confidence in my position before God. Thus we are free to serve God
without measuring ourselves against anyone or anything.
Heavenly
Father, forgive my pride, thinking that the things I have done somehow make me
worthy before You. I want to be one of those who put no confidence in the
flesh, but rather put all my confidence in Jesus Christ, my redeemer.
Questions: Are there things you
need to stop putting confidence in? Why is it freeing to put your confidence in
Christ alone?
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