LESSON 19

Classroom Goals of this time together:
* here to see and meet and learn of Jesus; 
* to grow TOGETHER in our own personal lives/relationships with Jesus
* to grow in our daily day-to-day JOY IN Him
* to grow in our vision /understanding of Jesus as our SAVIOR and REDEEMER everyday in the midst of our lives in a pagan world

ROE: 
* all questions are encouraged all the time
* TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER THROUGHOUT OUR TIME TOGETHER, WHETHER WE AGREE OR NOT WE MUST LOVE EACH OTHER

SUMMARY:
1:1-11  Greetings and Gratitude
1:12-26  "Pauls Personal Circumstances: the Preaching of Christ"
1:27-2:30  "The Pattern of the Christian Life: The Humility of Christ"
1:27-2:4  The Exhortation to Humility
2:5-11  The Epitome of Humility 
2:12-18 The Exercise of Humility 
2:19-30  The Examples of Humility  Timothy and Epaphroditis

Now we start a NEW section that comprises the entire third chapter.
Let's call it :

3:1-21  "The Hope of the Christian Life: The Knowledge of Christ"

Before we go into a detailed study of this section, I want to examine it in overview. This chapter has in it a series of contrasts ALL dealing with conflicting HOPES; Paul contrasts in three parts what the HOPE of the Christian really is AS OPPOSED TO the false hope that the world proposes; 

[HAVE DIFFERENT ONES READ vs1-3, 4-14, AND 15-21]

Everyone wants to find SOMETHING that will give meaning and purpose and satisfaction to their life. This desire to have SOMETHING in which to place our HOPE is a legitimate one, AND a fundamental one as proved the world over by all the various religions, philosophies, beliefs and what ever other names you can give to such deep and abiding activities of humanity; Even the philosophers who proclaim the MEANINGLESSNESS of the universe in general and of life in particular I believe are COMPELLED to do so out of a NEED to UNDERSTAND their lives and give SOME sort of meaning to them, even if it's in a declaration of meaninglessness; 
HOWEVER, they are ALL characterized by ONE overriding principle: they are ALL the product of HUMAN EFFORT; ultimately, they ALL are BASED ON VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF PERSONAL WORKS; They are the ULTIMATE examples of that Smith-Barney Investment Group Advertisment: "...they UURHNED it..."; or more recently, the athletic shoe commercial: "...just DO it..."; 
Here in this chapter, Paul presents to the Philippians and to us a DIFFERENT IDEA: he presented one of the fundamental distinctions that makes real Christianity TOTALLY OPPOSITE and ABSOLUTELY DISTINCT FROM EVERTHING ELSE PROPOSED IN THIS WORLD; Paul showed that there are 2 and only 2 ways of "getting" whatever it is people are so eager to find:
-SELF EFFORT EARNING IT
-GOD'S EFFORT GIVING IT
IN EACH of the previous 3 parts that were read, Paul presented a FALSE HOPE always based on THE FLESH, on SOME KIND OR FORM OF PERSONAL EFFORTS; THEN he ALWAYS presented to the Philippian Christians ONLY JESUS AS THE SOLE WORTHY SOURCE OF HOPE FOR THEM (and US); 
In vs1-3 Paul contrasted the so-called Judaizers with their Psuedo-Christianity of Circumcision with the precious Life we have in Christ;
In vs 4-14 Paul contrasts GENUINE JUDAISM, a life truely lived BY the Law and FOR the Law and THROUGH the Law, with the exceedingly marvelous GIFTS found ONLY through KNOWING JESUS; 
Then in vs15-21 he contrasts a different sort of SELF effort; The first two examples showed where people had placed their hope in the flesh by it's DENIAL through various Laws; HERE Paul shows that there are those who place their hope in the flesh by its INDULGENCE through attempts to satisfy all possible desires; Paul contrasts THIS with the LIFE we can live through JESUS WHILE we have our HOPE ONLY in WHAT HE WILL DO; 

In each case, Paul KNOWS that his precious Philippians are SUSCEPTIBLE to the appeal of these false hopes; that such can be SO APPEALING to us ALL, that in at least ONE of those approaches presented, EACH of us could find something "satisfying" TO DO; Something that could and will distract our attention away from the ONLY REAL and BEST hope we COULD EVER HAVE: JESUS, ALIVE AND LIVING IN AND THROUGH US every moment of every day; 


3:1  "Finally..." Paul seems to have a habit of starting his endings LONG before he actually GETS there, and most commentators think this is another example; 
KJV "rejoice"; AMP better renders this as "delight yourself in...continue to rejoice..."
"Rejoice in the Lord" may signify they are to rejoice "because you are the Lord's" or "because of what He has done" OR since BOTH ARE true, it may be that this entire phrase was the early church version of the OT exclamation "Hallelujah" which LITERALLY means: Praise the Lord. 
KJV "...same things..."; WHAT WERE THEY? Some say he was refering to his encouragement to "rejoice"; others say he was alluding to his repeated warnings to avoid dissentions within their church; I believe the best explanation is that he was getting ready to address this new section concerning false and true hope; and it was probably an issue he had worried over them before, perhaps even with other letters; 
KJV "...not grievous"; also trans as "not IRKSOME", perhaps better trans as meaning "something I do not hesitate or shrink back from doing"; 

3:2  Here Paul presents what commentators have called "the Judaizers", men claiming to be Christians, and maybe even WERE, who were claiming to be presenting a TRUE Gospel of salvation BUT INSISTING that in order to be saved, you FIRST had to become a "Jewish" convert and get circumsized; otherwise, you could NEVER REALLY be able to FULLY please God; It was as a mark of your placing yourself under the LAW, promising to obey all it's requirements, as an ESSENTIAL part of that salvation; Jesus was ONLY the Saviour of Israel and so His kingdom could be entered ONLY thru the gate of Judaism; These are the ones who are mentioned in the 15th Chapter of Acts; They get further press in Gal 5:2ff, 2 Co 11:13, and are probably some of whom Paul refered to in 1:16 of this letter as well; 
CLEARLY Paul is greatly upset by this FALSE doctrine of salvation; CLEARLY, he was deeply concerned that his precious Philippians might fall for such; Paul CRIES OUT his warming three times: BEWARE! BEWARE! BEWARE! The Gr word used here is in the IMPERATIVE mood, and lit means: LOOK TO! LOOK OUT FOR!! 
Each time, he alls these men something pretty harsh; the first is "DOGS"; now-a-days, thats something we might here (and perhaps chuckle at) in a cheap "sword and sorcery" flick, or maybe some swashbuckler film; it doesn't carry much weight with us; BUT THEN, Dogs were regarded as the MOST despised, insolent and miserable of creatures, to BOTH the Greek AND the Jew, AND they were UNCLEAN under the Law and were used to denote what was UNholy and profane; 
But Paul doesn't stop there, he goes on to refer to them as "evil workers" which corresponds to 2 Co 11:13 "deceitful workers"; I mean, these guys were EVERYWHERE! Some have suggested that Paul is making an sarcastic use of the word "workers" since these guys insist that its HUMAN WORKS that have to get you saved; 
Then finally, he slams tham at the very heart of their hated doctrine; he refers to their preaching the necessity of circumcision for salvation NOT AS "circumcision" in the Gr, but RATHER uses a similar sounding Gr word refering to MUTILATION such as what Pagans did during their religious frenzied rituals that was forbidden in Leviticus 21:5; Paul made a PUN; He uses a similar derision in Gal 5:12, where he says that since they make SUCH a big deal about cutting the flesh there, they just might as well "cut themselves OFF' using a word there that ALSO means "castration"; 
Some have thought Paul was warning against NON-Christian Jews instead of Judaizing Christians since BOTH clearly constituted charter members of the "Hanging's Too Good For Him" Fan Club of Paul's; BUT elsewhere in scripture Paul speaks respectfully of the Jewish rite as practiced BY the Jews (Rm 2:25, 3:1-2; 15:8; Col 5:11; and even latter on in this letter in Phil 3:5); So what upset him was the Judaizers insistence that Gentile Christians had to submit to this in order to make them "full Christians"; 
Paul REALLY had a problem with these guys; He used HARSH and derogitory terms, used for their shock value, I think; PAUL WANTED THE PHILIPPIANS TO KNOW THAT THIS WASN'T SOME LITTLE MINOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FRIENDS THAT WE COULD ALL LET-AND-LET-LIVE WITH; It was a fundamental blow at the very HEART of SALVATION; These men were in essence claiming that Jesus' DEATH ON THE CROSS WAS SOMEHOW INSUFFICIENT ALONE TO SAVE MEN FROM THEIR SINS, THAT SOMETHING ELSE WAS REQUIRED; 
AND JUDAIZERS STILL ARE AROUND TODAY!! They don't insist on circumcision, but they have OTHER "ADDITIONAL" requirements for men to satisfy before they can recieve salvation; YOU have MET them: some claim that you HAVE to be baptised, or you're not saved; others claim that you can "fall from grace" and lose whatever salvation you had if you "sin" badly enough; some insist that only through adherence to a whole list of requirements can you have any assurance of salvation; 

3:3  And NOW we come to the "contrast"; here Paul tells them what they REALLY have IN CHRIST; "Circumcision" was ultimately a metaphor for "PURITY", it was GOD'S method for SETTING APART TO HIMSELF A SPECIAL GROUP; Having been saved ONLY through the death and resurrection of JESUS, Paul is showing that for US, OUR purity is ONLY THROUGH ACCEPTING WHAT JESUS DID; And for US, THAT MAKES US PURE, hence "circumcized"; 
In contrast to the 3 warnings, Paul NOW offers 3 declarations of WHAT WE HAVE IN OUR Life in Christ; The first is that we can (KJV) "worship God in the spirit"; this is BETTER trans "worship BY the Spirit OF God"; Paul is trying to emphasize to these precious Christians teetering on the brink of FALSE LEAGISTIC EXTERNAL FORMS OF WORSHIP, that what God REALLY wants from us AND WHAT HE THEREFORE OFFERS TO US IS A SPIRITUAL WORSHIP; Whatever the outward forms and ceremonies that may or may NOT be used, NOTHING can detract from those powerful and exceeding precious calls to worship Him "in spirit and in truth" and NOT with a heart FULL of PRIDE in OUR WORKS AND EFFORTS, but rather with "a broken and contrite heart" (Ps 51:17); 
Only the Spirit of God can MAKE such occur in our hearts and in our lives; AND IT IS JUST SUCH A WORSHIP THAT CALLS US TO OUR KNEES IN RECOGNITION OF OUR ABSOLUTE AND COMPLETE DEPENDENCE UPON HIM; Hence, we DO worship BY the Spirit of God; and NOT by something WE somehow conjur up and MAKE happen by our own human effort; 
The SECOND declaration is that we can (KJV) "rejoice in Christ Jesus"; The term trans as "rejoice" is better rendered as "EXULT" or "GLORY" or even "BOAST"; Paul LOVES this word and uses it ALOT (some 35 times) in his writings; intersetingly enough, he uses it both as a POSITIVE AND A NEGATIVE; it can EITHER refer to a overwhelming self-centered pride OR it can refer to a joyful submission to GOD's grace as shown in the cross; This "GLORYING" or "BOASTING" is IN JESUS, BASED ON WHAT HE DID FOR US; NOT ON WHAT WE DID FOR HIM!! 
The THIRD declaration refers to the ABSOLUTE INADEQUACY  of HUMAN effort AND OUR RECOGNITION OF THAT FACT: (KJV) "NO confidence in the flesh"; The tendency is SO strong to try to MAKE ourselves somehow "acceptable" to God BASED ON OUR OWN EFFORTS and BY OUR OWN SET OF RULES; Here God is saying, "DON'T KID YOUSELVES!!" and perhaps even for some this could be seen as His saying: "QUIT TORMENTING YOURSELVES!"; we don't HAVE to do this ANYMORE; we can be FREED form the horrible tyranny of SELF-ACHIEVED salvation, so fragile and faint a whisp that at any moment a slip on our part might tear it all apart, and cast our lives in to utter and INESCAPABLE ruin; 
It all comes back to the issue of HOPE; IN WHAT ARE WE PLACING OUR HOPE FOR PLEASING GOD, FOR SOMEHOW "MAKING" OURSELVES "RIGHT" BEFORE GOD AND MAN?? Are you working and just somehow "hoping" that it'll all turn out "OK"; are you striving with a desparate frustration at your own constant failures and inadequacies?? 
THEN HERE IS A MESSAGE OF HOPE FOR YOU!! JESUS, JESUS, JESUS!! HE ALONE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOUR NEEDS, AND ONLY HE IS NEEDED TO MEET YOUR NEEDS; HEREIN IS TRUE HOPE, not as men would hope, struggling against the fears of their own inabilities, who's hope is faint and unsure at best; NO!! OUR hope rests on what HE did for US!