3:1 Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a safeguard. 2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh!
Wow. No wonder some people give up on reading the Bible. You are reading along happily, and up comes a paragraph like this one! It has seemed as if Paul is wrapping up his letter, affirming Epaphroditus, the one who would carry it home to Philippi (2:25-30). He makes leaving noises like “finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.” Then, all of a sudden, he launches into this warning that seems so bizarre to us in the 21 century. Dogs? Evil workers? Mutilators of the flesh?
It is a reference to an ongoing struggle in the New Testament church. Should Gentile believers be required to observe Jewish traditions such as circumcision? Paul argues strongly against it and has apparently lost all patience with those who try to require it, calling them “mutilators of the flesh.” He warns the Philippians to beware of these “evil workers” who will try to convince them that they must be circumcised in order to be Christians. He wants them to know that they need nothing else besides faith in Christ, as he himself has discovered. He goes on to say that he is the most Jewish of all Christians, and that none of it mattered, except knowing Christ:
3For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh— 4even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.
Paul’s life story can be pieced together from many different references in the New Testament (e.g. Acts 7:54—8:1; 9; 13—28; Galatians 1:11— 2:21).
They all verify his claim here that he was an exceptionally well qualified and prominent Jewish leader prior to his conversion to Christianity. He had fulfilled every requirement of Jewish law, and yet none of it had provided what he was looking for. In his experience, it had not been helpful and had even become hurtful. Faith in Christ alone had made him right with God, therefore, faith in Christ alone is all that is necessary for anyone.
In his book on Philippians, Earl Palmer asks a provocative question:
Can you think of any requirements which are not part of the gospel of grace but which we as American Christians often impose on prospective believers or new converts? (134) (Earl Palmer, Integrity in a World of Pretense, IVP, 1992. Reprinted as Integrity, A Commentary on the Book of Philippians, Regent Publishing (2000) ISBN: 1573831816. )
What do you think?
What list might you make that mirrors vs. 4-6, listing the things you are tempted to trust rather than Christ?
What is God’s word of grace and truth to you in this text?
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