Philippians 3:1-7

 Philippians 3:1-7

The church has always had and always will have opposition. Paul is about to confront a heresy that was based on rule-keeping religion. It is no accident that as he prepares to address rule keepers, he begins by calling the disciples to joy. There is a fundamental conflict between joy and rule keeping. The most joyless people you'll ever meet will be those who are attempting to live by keeping rules. Rule keeping can keep you out of trouble, but it will never make you righteous before God. It will never give life. It can never bring joy. 

Paul uses the most aggressive Jewish insults to describe those who are propagating a rules-based religion. First he calls them “dogs.” Second, he also says that rather than doing good by their rule-keeping religion, they are actually “evil worker’s”. He calls them the “false circumcision.” This is not the typical word for circumcision. Rather, it literally means mutilation. Circumcision is a compound word the two parts of which mean “cut” and “around.” The word Paul uses here is a compound word that means “cut” and “down.” It would be hard to imagine three more insulting descriptions of a Jewish religious leader. In contrast to these three insults, Paul says that Christians are the “true covenant people of God,” “worshipers in Spirit and Glory,” and “put no confidence” in what they can accomplish in themselves.

Next, Paul beats them at their own game. The Judaizers were acquainted with and students of the Law, but Paul had mastered it. Paul gives seven examples of how, if someone wanted to boast in the law, he would be their superior. Four of these characteristics were inherited, and three were chosen. In verses 4-5 he demonstrates that he was no Johnny-come-lately. His Jewish pedigree was as good as anyone's. The three aspects of Jewishness that he chose were of the most committed form. He was part of the strictest sect of Judaism; he was a Pharisee. His passion was such that he became a zealot. The word zeal was related to boiling water, always agitated, always rolling. And perhaps most importantly, he kept himself perfect regarding the rules of behavior. 

But whatever the advantages there may have been to all these qualifications in verse 7, Paul describes it as “loss.” The word means damaged goods. If you purchase a product and open the package to find that it is broken or it is inherently unable to deliver what was promised, it is damaged goods. The word also refers to a business deal gone bad. The negotiations are complete, but the goods or services turn out to be below what is described. And you know the money is wasted and lost. That is a description of life based on rules; it is never better than damaged goods.

“Lord, give me the joy that comes from grace, not the grief from keeping rules. AMEN