Philippians 3 (2026)

With that, then, let's turn to Philippians chapter 3 for our New Testament reading. Philippians chapter 3, verse 1, hear now the inerrant, infallible, and inspired Word of God. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.

To write the same things to you, to me indeed, is not grievance, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law a Pharisee.

Rejoicing in the Lord Amid Grief

Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded. And, if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereunto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us, for an example. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

May God add his blessing to the reading and hearing of his most holy word. So, in verse 1, we have a repetition and a reason for a repetition. Rejoice in the Lord. There are three or four times in this epistle when the apostle commands the people of God to rejoice.

Last Wednesday night, we heard a little bit about that. We were reading from Deuteronomy 14, and we heard about that it was too far for them to drive their sacrifice animals three times in the year for Passover, for the Feast of Booths, and the Feast of Wheat or Shavuot.

And so, they were told that in the land where they lived in their tribe, that they could convert those sacrificial animals into money. And then they could carry that money with them. They could bind it up in their hand.

And when they got to Jerusalem, they could spend it on anything that they wanted and rejoice there before the Lord. They were to rejoice before the Lord. Beloved, let us admit that there is enough in this life to grieve over.

There's plenty of grief. Every time we open the Scripture and we see the condition of our world, the condition of the church, the condition of our families, the condition of our own hearts, we will find something over which we might grieve.

I think what Paul is doing here is acknowledging that, and yet he is telling us to reprogram our priorities. It's not that grief is unlawful and we should never grieve. It's that we should not grieve to the exclusion of rejoicing.

And that even in the midst of our grief, we might find some rejoicing, some things, that while we find unsettling, unsatisfying, difficult, and grievous to us, that even in those things, there is something over which we might rejoice.

Certainly, if we would meditate and we would take the command that the apostle Paul has here to rejoice seriously, we would not become like some of the older pietists who believed that it was spiritual to grieve and not spiritual to rejoice.

No, Paul will say here that it is as spiritual to rejoice as it is spiritual to grieve. And he will grieve later on. I tell you now, as he says, even weeping that they are enemies of the cross of Christ.

Did our apostle not know grief? He did. Did he know rejoicing? Most certainly so. And so, beloved, our lives are to cover the gamut. Is Christ not the God of our affection of a state at its highest and at its lowest?

And so, our Lord Jesus Christ, who knew, I believe, although it's not recorded in Scripture, I believe he knew how to rejoice, how to laugh. He knew how to weep. He knew how to grieve. He ran the gamut of human emotion and affection, all in complete uprightness.

And so must we. But I think that as sincere Christians, this command is very appropriate for us. Because we are sensible of our failures. We are sensible of the failures in the world around us. And should we focus inordinately upon those, we would leave off rejoicing.

But let us not do that then. Let us follow the command of the apostle. And even in our griefs, find cause for rejoicing. Even as Jeremiah will say in the Lamentations chapter 3, in that section between 38 and 48, where he will say, Wherefore doth the living man complain, being chastised for his sins?

Rather, let us lift up our heart and our hands unto the Lord. The lifting up of our heart and our hands is indeed a species of rejoicing, even in the midst of the destruction of Jerusalem. So rejoicing, very, very important here.

And he will say the same thing, by the way, in chapter 4. Once again, he will command and command and command to rejoice. And we're not talking about giddiness here. We're not talking about insensibility.

We're not talking about being or becoming senselessly presumptuous or anything like that. But beloved, in every grief that comes our way, we remember, don't we? And we rejoice over the fact that the Lord has chastised us less than our sins deserve, as Ezra has said.

And that we have yet something over which we might rejoice. Okay, so, so much for that. I spent a little bit of time on it because Paul repeats and repeats in the book. Now we move on. And Paul will talk about these evil workers, these folks that are in the midst of the church here.

And he will call them three things. Dogs, evil workers, and the concision. Dogs. Let's talk about dogs first. We don't have the same conception of dogs as the first century did. Dogs in the first century, they weren't the cute and cuddly things that, you know, some people lay down in their beds with.

Not that. They were mangy, flea-bitten, scavenging things that you couldn't leave anything out because they would foul up, they would ruin. They were often, you know, in days when there was not a lot of refrigeration, where you couldn't go out to the lake in the winter and cut out ice blocks to save into the summer.

You would hang your meat outside and let it dry. But dogs were always pilfering such things. They were taking your chicken's eggs. They were not the cute, cuddly things that we know them as today. And so when we see Paul calling a class of individuals dogs, what they're doing is they're stealing away the Lord's good gifts for us.

That's why he calls them dogs. The second thing that he calls them is evil workers. Notice how this would have flown in the face of those Judaizers who believed they were working that which was good, but they are truly evil workers, teaching people to rest upon their own works.

And then he says that they are of the concision. And so Paul coins a word here. He takes the Greek word circumcision, and he takes that, he takes peri off of the front of it, peritume, the peri which talks about making a cut around, and he'll say katatume.

And katatume is an intensifier, which means they are mutilators rather than those who are truly circumcision. And notice that Paul is not willing in this passage to give up the word circumcision, for we are the circumcision.

Now, why would Paul do that? Because Paul has standing behind him 2 ,000 years of circumcision in its spiritual sense working upon the heart of God's faithful people. And so Paul will not give up the word circumcision even to the Judaizers.

He says what they are truly doing, they are katatume, they are mutilators rather than peritume, those who are cutting away the filth of the flesh. So it's a very interesting turn of language that Paul uses here.

We are the circumcision which, number one, worship God in the Spirit. Number two, notice, rejoice in Jesus Christ. And number three, have no confidence in the flesh. You want to know if you're in Christ?

You want to know if you're a part of the true circumcision? These three things. Do you worship God in the Spirit? That is, in that sincere and heartfelt way? Or are you going through the motions? And we're talking about all venues of worship, secret, private, and public.

Secondly, you rejoice in Jesus Christ. That is, in all of his labor, in all of his work, in all of his doing, in all of his dying. And then third, you have no confidence. In the flesh. Well, you see, this is one of those passages where those marks of being the circumcision are set forth for us so that we might examine our own hearts and make use of it in that way.

All right, so then Paul goes on a tear here for the next few verses. Talking about what it means to have confidence in the flesh. And notice, having confidence in the flesh here, he will put it in the context of the same Judaizing party that is plaguing the Philippian church.

So he'll speak about his pedigree as a Jew. And we might say, it's impressive. It's an impressive pedigree as a Jew. If any Jewish folks would have met with Paul and known his, quote, CV, they would have understood that they were meeting God.

Right? He had the pedigree of proper Judaism. Circumcised the eighth day. Stock of Israel. Tribe of Benjamin. Hebrew of Hebrews. Touching the law. Pharisee. Concerning zeal. Persecuting the church. Touching the righteousness which is in the law.

Blameless. That is, no outward sin that I could ever be accused of. I lived according to the straightest sect of our religion, is how he says it elsewhere. A Pharisee. Well, a lot of folks would simply stop right there.

I'm in. I'm golden. That's not what Paul said. Those things that were gained to me. Notice who they were gained to. They were not gained to the Lord. All of those things that people will bring to the Lord at the end of days.

Oh, but Lord, we have done many mighty works in thy name, Matthew chapter 7. We have prophesied in thy name. What are they doing? They're bringing their offerings, aren't they? Here's my offering, Lord.

This is what I've done. This is my offering to you. And, of course, those things, those righteousnesses are as filthy rags as they sound. Not acceptable. And so Paul will say, they were gained to me. That is, they were good for my ego.

They were good for my standing. They were good for the honor of men. All of those things were gained to me. But with regard to my knowledge of Christ and drawing near to him, they were lost. They kept me from him.

They were lost. And so, beloved, as long as we are caught in the mode of doing good things for God and God accepting us on that basis, we will be farther and farther and farther from Christ rather than drawing nearer and nearer and nearer to him.

Unless we, with the Apostle Paul, have this realization that our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and they are no way acceptable to him who is holy, holy, holy. Every time someone comes into the presence of the Lord in the Old Testament, what do they see?

They see something that they cannot abide. I'm a dead man, Isaiah says. I'm a dead man, Manoah says. I'm a dead man, Gideon says. Peter says, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, knowing he is in the presence of the Son of God.

So, yea, doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and have finally gotten my mind in line with God's.

I count them but don't, that I may win Christ. All of those things that the world values are but awful, O-F-F-A-L, in the sight of God. A stinky, smelly thing. And we contrast that, don't we, to the sweet savor of Christ.

So then, and be found in him, be found in Christ, that is, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law. But that which is through the faith of Christ. And I need to stop and help you unpack that phrase for a moment.

Because the faith of Christ sounds odd to us. And we're left with a dilemma in our understanding, in our interpretation of that passage. Is it the faith of Christ, that is, the faith that belongs to Christ?

Or is it the faith with regard to Christ, that is, faith directed toward Christ? And beloved, it's the latter. And we want to be careful here. Because we have this sect, this sect that has perverted the gospel in Reformed circles.

We call them the Federal Vision. You'll remember that term. And the Federal Vision have wanted to translate this, not faith in Christ, but the faithfulness of Christ, instead. And so what they have done then, is they have made Christ's faithfulness, and then they will tie your faithfulness to that, as that which justifies you at the end of days.

It's not the faithfulness of Christ, or your own faithfulness that justifies you, beloved. It's your faith in Christ that justifies. And so we have to be very careful how we understand what Paul says here.

There's twice in the book of Romans also that the same construction is used. And they pervert it there as well. So I know that's a technical discussion. What I'm telling you is that the form of the original language leaves some ambiguity there.

Whether we are to understand it, you language nerds will understand this as a genitive or an ablative. As something that is derived from, or something that is concerning with. We translate it in the latter, that it is faith in Jesus Christ, by which we have a righteousness which is not our own, but it comes by faith alone in Christ.

Notice, that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. And so it is imputed by faith alone. And it is unto something that I may know him. The power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead.

And so what the apostle desires in this knowledge of Christ then, the way I take this passage is, he wants to know Christ from one end to the other. In the fellowship of his sufferings, and in the glory of his resurrection.

And it is only in that way then, that we ourselves will attain to the resurrection of the dead. It is an epigonosis, not just a gnosis, but an epigonosis. An epigonosis could be translated as full or an advanced knowledge of Christ.

Not a snipping at the edges kind of knowledge. But from one end to the other. From his suffering to his glory. That's the Christ I want to know. Beloved, let me ask you the question. Is that the Christ you want to know?

From one end to the other. In his completeness. Can you get enough of Christ? Of course the answer is no. Every day there is new mercy. Every day there is new knowledge. Every day there is a depth, and a height, and a width, and an advancement into the knowledge of Christ.

We cannot get enough of him. We want to know him from one end to the other. Of course we know that that knowledge will never be comprehensive knowledge of Christ. Because he is God, and beyond our ken.

But that doesn't mean it's not true. And it doesn't mean that we cannot grow in that knowledge. As a matter of fact, beloved, Christ will roll out more and more of that throughout eternity. And we will continue to marvel at the depths of Christ.

But that's our inheritance. That's the fullness of it. Shall we not enjoy the earnest of it today? That's what Paul is after. He's after that earnest of it. And then the fullness of it. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Notice he will say the same thing in verse 21. That's how he ends the chapter. Alright, so then he will go on to speak about something that I think is a perennial problem with Christianity. A perennial problem.

And the perennial problem is this. That the people of God are often encouraged, especially in modern day evangelical religion. And by evangelical I don't mean the older, more orthodox sense of that term.

I mean the modern evangelical movement. That we are always told, or very often we are told, to look back at something. To look back at the day that you joined the church. To look back at the day that you asked Christ or did the deed.

Some sacerdotal deed where Christ somehow saved you. And you're told to look back at that. I know growing up as a child I was told. Well look back to the date of your conversion. Look back. Write that down in your Bible so that you can refresh yourself often with that.

Look back, look back, look back. And notice that that's exactly what Paul says we ought not to do. Forgetting those things which are behind. Pressing to those things that are before. I press toward the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

So notice what he says. We have not attained. It's interesting, isn't it? Because we're often told, I was told by an elder in a Baptist church once. Well what do you expect from Christ that you don't already have?

Everything. Everything. Is this all there is? I hope not. No, I expect to grow and to advance and to move forward toward Christ. Notice what Paul says. I count not myself to have apprehended but this one thing I do.

Forgetting those things which are behind. And reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. You want to know what assurance is, beloved?

That's it. You will never find assurance looking at a date in your Bible. You will find assurance in what's going on right now. Are you pressing? Are you persevering? Are you moving ahead? Is it your desire, your overwhelming desire to be found in Christ?

When you wake up in the morning, is that what drives you? When you go throughout the day, is that what motivates you? When you lay down at night, is that what you reflect upon? To be found in Christ. And what does he say?

Let us therefore as many be perfect. Wait a minute. I thought you said we're not perfect. He's not using perfect in the term of having attained. He can't be. He just said he hadn't attained. He's saying that the state that he is in of pressing ahead is that state of spiritual tamim, roundedness, perfection, maturity, in that sense.

Not in the sense of the little children in 1 John 2 whose sins are forgiven for his name's sake. Is that all you want, beloved? Is forgiveness of your sins? Or do you want victory over the wicked one and to know him who is from the beginning?

You see how John speaks by way of degrees there. So Paul speaks by way of degrees here. Not just what has happened, but what is happening and what will happen. And so I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Let us therefore as many be perfect, be thus minded. And if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. And verse 16 is extremely important. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule and let us mind the same thing.

What is Paul teaching us now? That we're going to find that on this way toward heaven, that it is a continuum and not any two of us are in the same place on that continuum. There are attainments that we have arrived at that are perhaps advanced over some of our brethren and not as advanced as some others of our brethren.

What are we required to do in that? We are required then to live together as those of varying attainments, varying spiritual attainments. So very important then that we simply don't divide ourselves out into, oh, well, we're the perfect over here and you're the rest over there.

That did happen several times in the history of the church. The Donatus controversy was about that. So we must avoid such things. Now, verse 17, All right, so Paul sets himself and the rest of the apostolic teachers.

And by apostolic teachers, I don't mean only the apostles, but those who assisted Paul in that apostolic work, planting churches and so on, walk according to the example that you have in us. Well, it's quite an example that we have heard here already.

What are some of the things that we might glean from this passage as things that Paul has set forth as examples? Well, first of all, being of the true circumcision, worshiping God in the spirit, rejoicing in Jesus Christ, having no confidence in the flesh.

What else? Showing how not to have confidence in the flesh, right? A desire to be found in Christ, a desire to know him from top to bottom, a desire to press ahead toward him. All of these things are what Paul has set forth as an example.

But there are others that are enemies of the cross of Christ. And Paul will say, I tell you now even weeping that they are enemies of the cross of Christ. For whom is Paul weeping here? It's an interesting question to think about, isn't it?

I think he might be weeping for those in the church who belong to Christ, who are ill-affected and injured, harmed spiritually. Maybe even caused to stumble by these dogs and evil workers. Notice what he says.

Their God is their belly. They glory in their shame and they mind earthly things. So again, another threefold synonymy here. All the same people, right? But talking about who they are in various aspects.

So these things do go together. Whose God is their belly? That means they're driven along with their appetites. Not just appetite for food, but appetite for anything harmful, fleshly. Secondly, their glory is in their shame.

Because they're after whatever appeases their appetite, they find things that appease their appetite that are shameful things, yet they glory in them because they're satisfied. And then they mind earthly things.

They don't have a heavenly mindset. They're not heading where Paul's heading. They mind earthly things. Paul said, our conversation is in heaven here in verse 20. He already said, I'm pressing toward the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, attaining to the resurrection of the dead.

So he's already heavenly minded even before we get to this portion of the chapter. But now he says, our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for the Savior. And once again, we see how the resurrection drives the mindset of the apostle who shall change our vile body and make it like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself.

In other words, this is a display of the mighty power of Christ, that he can take a vile body and make it like his glorious body at the resurrection. It is with that that the chapter ends. Let's stand and call upon the Lord in prayer.