False Gospels - [Philippians 3:1-3]

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John Knox, one of the men of God that is known for his boldness, he used to say,
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I never feared the devil, but I always trembled when I stood behind the pulpit. So before we come to the
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Word of the Lord, let us come to the Lord of the Word. Father, we want you to be honored.
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We are grateful for how you revealed yourself to us through your precious Word. And Father, work in our hearts and our minds that we may bring all our minds and hearts into submission to you so that we may treasure the
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Word as we are supposed to for what it is, and it is indeed a treasure.
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So Father, we want you to be honored today, whether it's through the proclamation of your Word or whether it's through the preacher or whether it is through the hearer.
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Father, we want you to be glorified as we hear your Word and as we become doers of your
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Word as well. So Father, in this time, help us to focus, help us to just understand what you would want us to understand from your
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Word. We want you to be glorified. In Christ's name. Amen. An old
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Latin proverb says, praemonitus praemonitus, meaning being forewarned is being forearmed.
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And I think there is a lot of truth in that old Latin proverb, isn't there? I mean, warnings are helpful in many ways.
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They do forearm us. They equip us, in a sense. They protect us.
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We are taught from a very young age, and we teach our children from a very young age to heed warnings.
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We teach them some important warnings. Do not touch the stove. Do not play with the fire. Do not talk to the strangers.
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Do not eat stuff from underneath the sink. Right? Millions of people have lived because they heeded, they have taken some warnings seriously.
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Fire alarms warnings have saved lives. Hazardous substances warnings have saved lives.
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Weather warnings have saved lives. And yet at the same time, millions, thousands, probably millions of people have died, or at least have hurt themselves seriously because they ignored warnings.
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They drive when they're drunk. They go where they're not supposed to go.
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They eat or use what they're not supposed to eat or use. They walk across the busy street with their noses stuck in their phones.
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You can Google a bunch of videos of people getting into different accidents because they are staring at their phone.
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As Bonnie Miller, one of the persons that walked into the pier into Lake Michigan because watching, staring at,
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I think, her phone and needed to be rescued by lifeguards. In 2006, 250 people were seriously injured and ended up in emergency rooms because of staring at the phone accidents.
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One year later, 500 people. In 2008, over 1 ,000 people.
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And who knows how many today? A good warning warns. And when heeded, when taken seriously, in a sense, becomes a source of security for us.
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A good warning safeguards us, protects us. And it becomes a source of security, and in a sense, not directly, but indirectly, it becomes a source of joy as it allows you to avoid something harmful or injurious.
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Because next to the warning, the other side of the warning is something that is true.
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The warning is trying to warn you against and yet the opposite of the warning is something that allows you to walk in safety and security.
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So in our passage today, Paul is warning the Philippians. So please open your Bibles to Paul's letter to Philippians chapter 3.
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We're going to be reading and studying verses 1 through 3. So what Paul is doing in the letter to Philippians, it's a dear church of Paul's.
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It's one of the warmest letters we can find in the New Testament that Paul has written. It's a precious church he planted during his second mission trip.
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It's a church that he thanks God for because they've been partnering in the Gospel with him.
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They were not a rich church and yet they participated. They would send gifts to him.
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They would be partners in the Gospel. But as he begins chapter 3,
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Paul begins to warn the Philippians. He begins to warn them because as much as they were a good church and he was thankful for them, the danger was real.
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They were in danger of being influenced by a false type of the Gospel, of Christianity.
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They were in danger of being influenced by a counterfeit Christianity. So Paul is writing in chapter 3 a warning, a very serious one.
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Actually, if we think about it, it's one of the most serious warnings in life.
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There is nothing more serious than the warning that Paul is making in Philippians chapter 3, verses 1 through 3.
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And that is the warning against counterfeit version of Christianity. Because if we get the
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Gospel wrong, we get eternity wrong. This is a very serious warning that Paul is going to write about.
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He's going to warn them against false version of Christianity that leads people to eternal death in hell.
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And at the same time, he is going to reassure the Philippians about the true version of Christianity and he's going to stir up and motivate their hearts to rejoice in the
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Lord. So he's going to contrast the false and counterfeit version of Christianity with the real thing.
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And he's going to encourage their hearts. He's going to do that because he knows that this warning and this reassurance are essential to safeguard their souls and fuel their joy in the
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Lord. So we're going to look at Philippians chapter 3, verses 1 through 3.
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Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, we who worship by the
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Spirit of God, and we who glory in Christ Jesus, and we who put no confidence in the flesh.
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So as we're going to look at this passage, in verse 2 comes the warning.
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In verse 3 comes the reassurance that we're going to look at. But in verse 1 comes the framework.
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Framework in which Paul places these verses, not only these verses but really all of chapter 3.
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Verse 1 gives us the background, the main idea, why Paul is going to write what he's going to write.
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It gives us a framework for what he is going to talk about and why he is going to say what he is going to say.
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He begins verse 1 with saying, Finally, my brothers. This is kind of a confusing word depending on your translation in ESV.
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It says finally, it is a confusing one because it sounds like he's going to end his letter soon but he goes for two chapters.
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So really the word finally here functions grammatically as a breaker, as a paragraph breaker.
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It really can be translated as then, as for what remains. For what remains, dear
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Philippians, this is what I want you to know. To proceed, in other words, as I'm going to proceed farther, or for the remainder of what's remaining to be said,
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I want you to focus on this. And this is what he says.
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So finally, as for what remains, dear Philippians, I want you to rejoice in the
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Lord. I want you to rejoice in the Lord. And the theme of joy, of course, you're probably familiar with this.
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The theme of joy is permeating this letter, this epistle. It's coming out of the epistle.
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It's like the golden thread that holds the epistle together. And so Paul, in chapter 1 in verse 4, he speaks about himself praying for the
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Philippians with joy. In verse 25 of chapter 1, Paul is speaking about himself striving for the joy of the
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Philippians. He is expressing his desire for them to rejoice, to have joy.
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In chapter 1, verse 18, Paul is assuring them that although he is in prison, he rejoices.
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He has joy. And in verse 17 of chapter 2, he says, even though his life is being poured out as an offering, he assures them of his joy.
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In verse 18 of chapter 2, he expressed his desire for the Philippians to be joyful, as well as he is joyful.
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And then at the end of chapter 2, verses 28 and 29, even as they receive
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Epaphroditus, the minister that was sent from Philippi to serve Paul, as they receive him back from the mission trip, he wants them to rejoice.
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And then we come to chapter 3, verse 1. And he makes it very clear and direct for the very first time in this epistle.
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As a command, he says, Rejoice in the Lord. I call you,
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I commend you, I expect from you, you must rejoice. And for the first time in the epistle, it shows up with a qualifier.
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So when I think about rejoicing, dear Philippians, I think about your joy in the
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Lord. It is a specific type of joy. So for the first time, it appears with this qualifier, in the
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Lord. In other words, it is the Lord Jesus Christ that in Paul's mind is the occasion, he is the source and he is the reason for joy, for true
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Christian joy, for true lasting joy, even in the face of severe circumstances, such as his own, as he was riding from a prison.
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Paul will repeat this command to rejoice with double force in chapter 4, verse 4.
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Rejoice in the Lord always. I repeat, rejoice. So such joy, the joy that Paul wants to speak about, he commands them to have, is a joy independent of adverse circumstances, because it is a joy that is not placed in the circumstances.
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It is the joy that is placed in the unchanging reality of the work and person of Jesus Christ. Alistair Begg said, that joy is the rational state of the
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Christian in view of his spiritual position in Christ. It is the rational state of the
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Christian in view of his spiritual position in Christ. Therefore, Paul can write and command the
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Philippians, rejoice in the Lord. So, since this joy is sourced in Christ, Christ is the reason and source of this joy, of course it is dependent on a person being in Christ.
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You cannot rejoice in the Lord if you are not in the Lord. You may not, you cannot rejoice in the
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Lord if you are not Lord, if you don't know the Lord. Therefore, Paul is going to focus on Christ and he is going to focus on the doctrine of salvation in chapter 3.
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This is largely what the focus of chapter 3 is. It is the most doctrinal chapter of the letter to Philippians.
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And yet it is placed in the framework of rejoicing in the Lord. Isn't that interesting? That the experience of joy in the life of a
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Christian is directly related to the doctrinal truths that Paul is going to explain in regards to salvation.
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How theology fuels our joy in the Lord. So, Paul, this is what he is going to focus on.
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He is going to focus on the doctrine of salvation. It is a chapter about joy -inspiring truths of Christianity, in other words.
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As Paul is writing in the framework of joy, he is going to write about joy -inspiring truths of Christianity.
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You see, they already heard and knew these truths from Paul, but he desired to remind them of them.
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Because as we continue in verse 1, he says, To write the same things to you is no trouble to me, and it is safe for you.
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So Paul is really writing something they had already known, they had already heard. But as a good shepherd,
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Paul knew that good warning is needed as it would safeguard their soul, and good reassurance is needed as it would fuel their joy.
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They needed the reminders, and so do we. My father often used to say,
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Our memory is good. It is just very short. And so Paul is going to write something they had already known, they had heard before, and yet it is going to safeguard their souls.
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I think of Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1, verse 12. He says, I am not tired of reminding you over and over again of these truths.
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You need to be reminded. So this is what Paul is going to do. So what follows is the warning in verse 2, and the reassurance of the real thing in verse 3.
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And we need to pay attention, because this is the most important warning we can hear.
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It's the warning against counterfeit Christianity. Beware of counterfeit
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Christianity, verse 2. Look out for the dogs.
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Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
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Beware, beware, beware. Paul says three times.
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The triple repetition underscores the urgency and severity of this warning. It's interesting, because Paul explodes with this harsh language for the first time in this very warm and friendly letter, when he thinks about those who undermine the gospel.
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When you think about how Paul begins his letters, his epistles in the New Testament, what is it that he always does in the beginning of each epistle?
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He thanks God for the churches. Even for the church in Corinth.
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The church that was so full of problems, of divisions because they were arguing who's better, because they have a better teacher.
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Divisions over how spiritual they would consider themselves to be. And yet, Paul thanks God for the work of grace among them.
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There is one epistle in the New Testament Paul never thanks for that church.
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And that is the letter to Galatians. Why is Paul not thanking God for the
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Galatians? Because the gospel was undermined in the church in Galatia.
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You foolish Galatians. You are so easily deceived by a different gospel, and there is no different gospel.
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And if anyone preaches a different gospel, he should be accursed. That's how important the gospel is for Paul.
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So he explodes with this harsh language, look out for dogs, evildoers, those who mutilate the flesh.
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And he uses this very harsh language. And the warning was against the Judaizers.
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When we read it, we see dogs, evildoers, and those who mutilate the flesh, and we don't really know who is it that he's talking about.
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But as we study this passage and the vocabulary that Paul is using, there is certain reality of what these people believed and proclaimed that is hidden behind the vocabulary that Paul is using here.
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So the warning is really against the Judaizers, a specific group of people that were spreading a counterfeit version of Christianity.
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See, in the early church, it was those who taught a combination of God's grace and human effort is necessary for one's right standing before God.
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If you want to be saved, of course it is by grace of God, but it is also by your own effort.
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It is a doctrine not strange for us today. Although we may not experience Judaizers so much today, we experience this doctrine in Roman Catholicism, we experience it really in every religion in the world, where the key for one's salvation is always one's effort and confidence in self.
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And this is what Judaizers were about. They were specifically calling Christians to conform to the
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Mosaic law of the Old Testament, of Judaism. Circumcision especially was promoted as necessary for salvation, the act of circumcision.
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Gentiles had to become Jewish proselytes first, and then they could come to Christ, according to the
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Judaizers. The doctrine of the Judaizers was a mixture of grace, of course salvation was through Christ, but it was a mixture of works, because salvation in the end came through observing of the law.
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And this false doctrine was dealt with in Acts 15 at Jerusalem Council. But it never stopped.
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Judaizers went after Paul, they went into the churches which he planted, and they were trying to influence the people and say,
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Ah, this Paul, you cannot listen to him. You have to conform to the expectations of the
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Mosaic law and Judaism. So Judaizers held that there must be something we can do to earn grace, to earn the right standing before God.
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And they infiltrated churches, and they infiltrated churches in Galatia. But the church in Philippi apparently was in danger.
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Maybe Paul was expecting that Judaizers are going to show up soon in the church in Philippi.
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So he's warning them. And he does not want to just call them names, dogs, evildoers, mutilators of the flesh.
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He is actually identifying what is it, what is the characteristic of the counterfeit of the falsehood that stands behind their version of Christianity.
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So each of these terms carries a specific meaning. So first he says, I want to warn you, beware of the dogs.
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Beware of the dogs. Look out for the dogs. In other words, what Paul is saying here, beware of those who put confidence in their ethnic belonging.
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Beware of dogs. Dogs back then was a derogatory term used by Judaizers in regards to Gentiles.
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You see, Jews in general, they viewed Gentiles as unclean dogs. It was very common for the
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Jews to do that. They thought of themselves as superior because they were Jews, because they had ceremonial laws.
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They were given the law, they were given the laws about clean and unclean foods, about purification rituals.
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So they looked at Gentiles who didn't follow those laws about clean, unclean animals and rituals, purifying rituals.
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So they were looking at them and they saw them as completely unclean people. And the closest image to uncleanness that they had was a dog.
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So for a Jew, a dog was not a nice thing. It was not a house animal, house pet.
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Dogs were savage animals, walking on the streets, dirty. It's as Peter says in 2
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Peter 2 .22 or Proverbs 26 .11, dog is the one that goes back to its own vomit.
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That's the picture of dogs that the Jews would have. And as they were thinking about the
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Gentiles, they would call them dogs. They would refer to them as dogs, as being unclean.
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So underneath the surface was their ethnic pride. We belong to the clean people.
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And everyone else are dogs. But what Paul does here and what he will do with the other warnings, the two remaining warnings, he turns the table and he uses the derogatory terms that would be used by the
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Jews and he uses it against them, against the Judaizers specifically, against those who are spreading the false gospel.
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So he turns the table and he calls them dogs. In other words, he's saying, by claiming that you are clean on the basis of your belonging to an ethnic group, you are the ones who are in fact unclean.
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You are the dogs. Especially as you go around and you devour the
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Christians from the churches and you try to deceive them. You in fact are the savage, unclean animals that seek to destroy true faith.
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As Paul says in Romans 10, 12 and 13, No distinction is made between Jew and Greek, for the same
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Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him. For whoever will call upon the name of the
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Lord will be saved. For whoever will call upon the name of the
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Lord will be saved. So he's using, he's turning the tables and he's calling them dogs.
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And in fact he's saying, you are unclean. If you walk around and you tell people that real confidence for the right standing before God lays in ones belonging to a group.
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But then he says, beware of the evil workers. Beware of the evildoers.
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Look out for them. And really what he's saying here, he's saying beware of those who put confidence in their works, in their deeds, in their performance.
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Because these men, Judaizers, they boasted in their works. They thought that they were workers of the law.
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Because they had the law and they observed the law. So they thought of themselves as we are workers of good works.
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They prided themselves in being obedient to the law. Probably like Paul himself in chapter 3 when he refers to his past.
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And then in verse 6 Paul says, so once I put confidence in the flesh, right?
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And then he says, as to zeal, I was a persecutor of the church. And as to righteousness under the law,
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I was blameless. That's probably what they were thinking about themselves. We are the observers of the law.
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We are blameless when it comes to fulfilling and performing in good works. So Paul turns the table again.
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And he says, in fact, you are evil. You are evil doers and evil workers.
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And he's using a very harsh language here. They were forcing Old Testament laws upon the
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Gentiles because they took pride in their own achievements and trusted in good deeds as the means of making themselves right before God.
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And Paul, using irony, he says, when you do that, when you are telling people they have to be good in order to be saved, they have to place confidence in their own performance, when you do that, you are in fact doing nothing good.
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You are in fact a worker of evil. You nullify the grace of God and deceive people to doing the same.
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As Paul said in Galatians chapter 2 verse 21, I do not nullify the grace of God.
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For if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
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And then the third warning is beware of mutilation. Look out for the mutilators of the flesh.
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Really what he's saying here, beware, look out for those who put confidence in religious ritual.
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Beware of those who put confidence in their belonging. Beware, look out for the version of Christianity that puts confidence in one's works.
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And beware of those who put confidence in religious rituals. Really what he's saying here, here comes the final slap on the
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Judaizers. Paul calls them mutilators. And Paul really uses a play on words here.
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It sounds kind of good in Greek, and I'm sorry Pastor Harry for butchering
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Greek. But in Greek circumcision is peritome and mutilation is katatome.
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So what he's doing, he's using a play on words here. You think you are peritome, but really you are only katatome.
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You think you are actually by performing the rite of circumcision, you are now making yourself saved and right before God, where in fact all that you are doing is you are mutilating the flesh.
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This is a word that is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, in reference to the pagan priests of Baal in Elijah's day.
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You might remember this story. Those priests who were in this religious frenzy, they were cutting themselves.
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That's in 1 Kings chapter 18 verses 23 to 29. Just listen to this passage, please.
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1 Kings 18, 23, 29. Let the bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it.
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And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it.
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So what happens is that Elijah is challenging the priests of Baal on the Mount Carmel. Let's see whose
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God is the true God. And so they're making an altar, and whose God is going to bring fire on the altar?
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And you call upon the name of your God, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. And the
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God who answers by fire, He is God. And all the people answered,
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It is well spoken. Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose for yourself one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your
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God, but put no fire to it. And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying,
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O Baal, answer us. But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.
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And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, Cry aloud, for he is a god.
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Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.
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And so they cried aloud, and they cut themselves. And this is the word that is translated as mutilate.
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They cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.
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And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation.
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But there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention.
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Is it possible that this is what Paul has in mind when he is using this word? And we know that the
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New Testament authors, they actually use Septuagint for the most part, the Greek translation of the
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Old Testament. Is it possible this is what he has in mind when he turns the table and calls the
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Judaizers, those who put confidence in rituals, religious rituals, and he thinks,
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It is just as foolish as the priests of Baal cutting themselves and the gushing of blood, but no one answered.
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No one heard. No one paid attention. It is a counterfeit version of Christianity that puts confidence in religious ritual.
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So the false teachers, in other words, were mutilating people through their emphasis on circumcision.
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They wrongly thought that the ritual of removing a male foreskin somehow gained them favor with God.
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But as Paul argues in Romans 4, even Abraham, to whom God first gave the right of circumcision, was not made right with God because of circumcision, but was made right with God through faith.
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So in summary, these men and the counterfeit Christianity that Paul is painting for us here, these men that they were spreading, the counterfeit
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Christianity that they were spreading was based on confidence in self, confidence in your own abilities, your own belonging, your works, and your rituals.
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That's a very good warning for us today, isn't it? It is such a big part of our nature to put confidence in our own self.
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Beware of confidence in your belonging. Look out for confidence in your works. Look out for confidence in religious rituals.
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You see, none of those things in and of themselves that Judaizers were committed to, they were not wrong.
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There was nothing wrong with circumcision. There was nothing wrong with observing Old Testament laws. What was wrong is placing confidence for those things for one's right standing before God.
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So beware of thinking highly of yourself because of the family you come from.
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I mean, how easy it is for us to have a false sense of security because of our sense of belonging.
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The family I come from, the church I grew up in, and put confidence in our own belonging.
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How beware we have to be of taking pride in our own works. How often, how easy it is for us to take pride in how different we are from those people, from those outside of here, and forget that we are who we are only by the grace of God.
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How easy it is for us to fall into that same mistake of putting confidence in our performance, in our works.
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Beware of thinking that your religious ritual makes you Christian, that your baptism, your communion, or attending church makes you a
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Christian. It does not. None of the rituals, non -works, non -belonging makes anyone a person that has the right standing before God.
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Beware of a version of Christianity that places confidence for one's right standing before God in self.
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Counterfeit Christianity puts confidence in self. And placing confidence in yourself for your salvation is like trying to jump over Grand Canyon on your own strength.
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Or is it like trying to swim across the Atlantic on your own strength. Or is it like trying to plan your own birth, which
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Lord Jesus Christ refers to when he speaks to Nicodemus, when he speaks, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.
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There is a painter, John Sargent, American painter. He painted a beautiful picture of roses.
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Consider one of his most beautiful works. But he would not sell it.
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He was offered huge money for that. He would never sell it. And once asked why, he explained,
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I put it in my workshop. And every time I lose motivation for painting,
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I look at my own work, and I think to myself, I painted that.
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I painted that. And I regain confidence and motivation. You see, when it comes to our salvation, there is nothing in our life that comes from ourselves, from our own performance, that we can look with pride and say,
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I did that. I did that. It's going to keep me safe.
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After the warning comes the reassurance. After the warning comes the reassurance that is supposed to fuel their joy in the
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Lord. You see, everything, including the warning that comes before the counterfeit Christianity, that there is nothing, no confidence we can place in self, no confidence we can place in belonging, in ritual or in our works, is a bad news for us, because there is nothing you can do to be saved.
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But it is also a great news, isn't it? It is good news, because if we are honest with ourselves, we know that we are sinners.
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We fall short of the glory of God. We continually are enslaved to our own sins.
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We cannot overcome them. So it is a good news for us that salvation is the work of God's grace on our behalf, for us, that the one who knew no sin,
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God made sin for us, so that in him we may become the righteousness of God. It is a bad news on one side, but it is wonderful on the other side, because no matter how despaired you might be at the thought of your own sinfulness, it is probably the work of the
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Holy Spirit that is bringing you to the conviction of your own sin, and there is a great joy and a great relief in the fact that there is no amount of sin that can nullify the grace of God.
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It is a great joy. There is no sinner too great for the grace of God. As Richard Sibbes used to say, there is more grace than there is sin.
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Or I'm a great saviour. I'm a great sinner, but I have a great saviour.
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Well, so Paul goes to reassuring or fueling their joy. So in verse 3 we see the reassurance.
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Paul begins by saying, because we are the circumcision, for we are the circumcision.
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We who worship, we who glory, we who put no confidence. We are the circumcision.
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There is nothing that we're lacking. This is what Paul is trying to say. There is nothing that we are lacking.
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We, those who come to Christ, you, the Philippians, and us with you, there is nothing that we're lacking to be the people of God.
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We are the people of God. We are the circumcision. Paul is referring to the same truth he spoke about in Colossians chapter 2, verses 10 and 11, where Paul says,
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In Him, in Christ, you have been made complete. And He is the head over all the rule and authority.
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And in Him, in Christ, you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in the renewal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.
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It is the circumcision of the heart that Paul is speaking about. It is the circumcision of the heart that even the
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Old Testament spoke about. In Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 16, in Leviticus chapter 26, verse 41, in Jeremiah chapter 4, verse 4, in Jeremiah 9, verse 25, in Ezekiel chapter 44.
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It is the circumcision, it is the transforming of one's heart. Physical circumcision identifies people ethnically with the people of Israel, with the nation of God.
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But spiritual circumcision is what identifies people with the people of God spiritually. So Paul says, we are the true circumcision.
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He is saying, we are the people of God. Who is it that in Paul's mind is the people of God?
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Next three phrases describe who the people of God are in Paul's mind. Who are the true
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Christians? So the first point that he makes, we are the true circumcision, those who worship by the
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Spirit of God. Really what he's saying here is that true men of God, true men and women of God, a true believer, the real thing, the true
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Christianity, is the one that realizes that worship comes by divine enablement.
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We who worship by the Spirit of God. The term worship, the term service, really echoes the
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Old Testament language of the temple service in the Old Testament. In the
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Septuagint, again in the Greek translation, it denotes the service rendered to God by Israel as His people.
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Here what Paul is doing, he identifies the Gentile believers as servants and worshippers of God, not by mere outward observance of rituals, but by inward work of the
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Spirit in them. What he's saying, the true worship, the true men and women of God, they worship by the
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Spirit of God. It's a worship that's internal, not merely external. Jesus said in the
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Gospel of John 4, verse 24, God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.
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True worship, in other words, is an inner sense of awe. It is an awakening of one's heart to see and love the things of God.
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It is the inner sense of gratitude. It is the inner sense of love for God that stems from an understanding of who
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God is and who we are in His presence. The false teachers were making worship a matter of outward ritual.
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But Paul is saying that true Christianity is marked by inner worship prompted by the indwelling
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Holy Spirit. It is awakened by the Spirit of God, so He takes the credit.
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It is worshipped by divine enablement. It is serviced by divine enablement.
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It is the Spirit of God that works submission in the heart of a believer so that he may bow before God, caught up in love and praise, giving all glory to Him for His great salvation, loving holy things which
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He once hated and hating evil things which He once loved. It is this worship and service to God by divine enablement.
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It is a worship that is that the whole life is marked by. It is worship that permeates through one's whole life, not only when he's in the temple or when he's in church, but it's worship, it's an attitude of worship that comes from the heart, whether it's at work, whether it's at home, whether it's with the family, whether it's on the freeway, whether it's in a traffic jam, whether it's in sickness, in health.
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It is service, worship, inner, by divine enablement. And the one who realizes that he worships and serves
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God, awakened and enabled by the Spirit of God, is the true man of God. That my service and my worship are only possible because of the work of the
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Spirit of God in me. So he takes all the credit. There's no room for confidence in self.
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And then secondly, we are the true circumcision who glory in Christ.
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In other words, what Paul is saying, those who glory, not only in divine enablement by the
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Spirit of God, but glory in divine person. These men, they gloried in themselves, in their works, in their observance of law, of the law, but through Christianity, glories in Christ.
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First Corinthians chapter one, verses 28 through 31, Paul writes, no human being might boast in the presence of God and because of him you are in Christ Jesus, Christ Jesus who became for us, to us, a wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the
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Lord. So true Christianity is marked by one's glorying in divine person, in Christ.
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We who glory in Christ are the true circumcision. Authentic Christianity underscores and understands one's spiritual bankruptcy.
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It understands one's spiritual inability and one's sinfulness. There is nothing that I can bring to my salvation except for my sin.
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Everything that is brought to my salvation is by Christ, is in Christ. He is my justification,
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He is my sanctification, He is my redemption, He is my wisdom, so that those who boast, may they boast in the
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Lord. That is the mark of authentic Christianity. It is marked by service and worship, by divine enablement.
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It is marked by glorying and boasting in divine person, that is Christ, Lord Jesus, our
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Savior. True Christian confesses, I am great sinner, but Christ is my great
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Savior. As the hymn says, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
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I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
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I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. This is the mark, this is the characteristic of true
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Christianity. This is the characteristic of the true gospel, where everything is found in the person and work of Christ.
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And then lastly, Paul characterizes the true circumcision, the true Christianity, by those who put no confidence in the flesh, at the end of verse 3.
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We are the circumcision who put no confidence in the flesh. In other words, what
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Paul is saying, those who put no confidence in human merit. Those who put no confidence, those who put confidence in divine enablement, those who put confidence in divine person, and those who put confidence in divine merit.
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Not human merit, but divine merit. Counterfeit Christianity builds a person's self -esteem, saying you are great, you are worthy, you are somebody.
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True Christianity humbles us, humbles all pride and confidence in self.
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As Jeremiah writes in Jeremiah 17, verse 5, and 7 and 8,
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And it will not be anxious in a year of drought, nor cease to yield fruit.
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And Paul is going to talk about the divine merit farther in chapter 3, where he's going to say, if anyone can put confidence in self, it is me.
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I mean, try to match up to me. And he goes through the list, reasons why he could place confidence in the flesh.
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And he's going to say, but all of those things have become rubbish for me. As I think about the surpassing knowledge of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. And then he's going to talk about, because I want to be found in him, not having righteousness of my own.
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In between the lines, what Paul is saying, because I do not have righteousness of my own. When it comes to standing before God, there is nothing
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I can really brag about. So when I'm before God, when I'm standing before God, I want to be found in Christ.
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Having righteousness that comes from faith in God. True Christianity puts confidence in divine merit, in divine enablement, divine person, and divine merit.
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You see, people died because of ignoring serious warnings. People died on the
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Titanic, because they prided themselves and they disregarded the warnings.
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People died in hurricanes, such as Hurricane Camille in Mississippi, 1969.
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Very interesting story. How warnings came, but people, they were having fun.
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They kept going to the beaches and spending time at the pools. They totally disrespected the warnings.
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And people have died. People die, and they will face judgment, for it is destined for men to die once, and face judgment.
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And they will end up in hell for eternity, because they would rather believe Christianity made in their own image than the one that comes from the revelation of God's truth in Scripture, revealed in the
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Gospel, Gospel of Jesus Christ. So friend, heed the warning.
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If you are here today, and for any reason, if you've been placing confidence in self, whether it's your belonging, whether it's your works, whether it's your religious rituals, heed the warning.
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Heed the warning. That is a counterfeit Christianity. And there is no right standing before God that comes on the basis of one's confidence in self.
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And no matter whether you miss the train by 5 minutes, 20 minutes, 1 minute, 3 seconds, the result is the same.
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You missed the train. Therefore, you cannot rely on your works for your salvation and confidence in self.
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One sin is enough to damn you for eternity in hell. In contrast to God's perfect holiness.
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If there is anything in you that you put confidence in for your right standing before God, do not be fooled.
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There is nothing in us that can save us. But dear brother and sister, if your confidence is in Christ, if your confidence is the divine enablement of the
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Spirit of God awakening your heart, if your confidence is in the divine person of Christ Jesus our
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Lord and Savior, if your confidence is in divine merit, be assured that having
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Christ, you have everything. There is nothing lacking for your salvation or for your life.
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Be assured that you are truly a man of God, a woman of God. Be assured of your identity and your status before God as it's grounded in the divine enablement, divine person and divine merit.
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And thus, because it is placed in the divine qualities, it is sure, it is secure.
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And let your joy be fueled by this reassurance as you continue to walk in Christ and live for Christ.
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And may your joy be safeguarded as you stay away from the false Christianity, from the counterfeit that puts confidence in the flesh.
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Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the beauty of the gospel.
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We thank you for your son, Jesus Christ, for his work, for his perfect life, for his perfect death, a sacrifice for our sins, atonement for our sins and for his resurrection.
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We thank you for that and we realize that our hope is built on nothing else but Jesus' blood and righteousness.
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And we rejoice in that. So Father, as we think about these truths, that our salvation, our security, our eternal security, our standing before you is fully placed in the divine qualities, in your merit, in the divine person of Jesus Christ and the enablement by the
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Holy Spirit. Father, fuel our joy as we continue to walk with you. May we be the people that rejoice in the
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Lord truly, that we seek after the Lord and just seek after the things that would continue to fuel our joy even more.
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Father, stir up our hearts and minds to seek, continue to seek the truth and be sanctified and be the light and testimony of the gospel to those around us.
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We thank you for the beautiful work of salvation that we do not deserve and yet you've done it for those that you've loved before the foundation of the world.
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What a treasure, what a gift. We thank you, we praise you. In the name of our