No Confidence in the Flesh
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Pressing on Toward the Goal
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
My Understanding: Paul began this section of his letter by first of all calling upon the believers to rejoice in the Lord. And, then he followed that statement by telling them that he was writing something to them that he had written previously, but it was a safeguard to them that he should write it and remind them of this again. Paul addressed several areas of concern and/or areas where he wanted to offer words of encouragement and counsel:
Watch Out!
He told them to watch out for those “dogs,” those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. He was referring obviously to the circumcision group who were insisting that Christians must also be circumcised and follow certain Jewish customs, laws or religious rites in order to be saved. Paul often disputed this false theology on the basis of God’s grace as our only means of salvation. These Judaizers often aggressively opposed the gospel of grace. The term “dog” was a derogatory term often used of the Jews in reference to Gentiles, and it was a term of reproach. Paul used it in reference to false teachers. The picture was one of a pack of wild dogs devouring their victims, and of its destructive results.
Paul also concluded this section of his letter with a solemn warning against false teachers, which could also include now those teachers of a libertine approach to Christianity, which is the opposite of legalism. So many today, especially, in order to steer away from legalism have gone the opposite direction and have, in their teaching, given a license to continue to live in sin and yet have a ticket into heaven. They teach a false grace which says that God requires nothing of us and that he does it all. Whereas it is true that we are not saved by our own human efforts but by God’s grace, yet it is through faith, a gift from God, that we appropriate to our lives what Jesus Christ did for us in dying on a cross for our sins. When we understand the Biblical meaning of the word “faith,” we come to learn that faith is synonymous with repentance and with obedience to Christ’s commands, and that they are inseparable. Yet, even the ability to repent and obey are gifts from God and are the working of the Holy Spirit within our hearts as we cooperate with that working.
Paul describes these false teachers as those who are self-centered, who follow their own selfish and sinful appetites and desires, and over concern for others, and who have their minds set on the things of this life, instead of having their minds set on Christ, with eternity’s values in view. I see them as another type of mutilators in that they inflict serious injury upon the body of Christ by removing or destroying parts of it, i.e. they remove the need for repentance and obedience in salvation and they destroy the true working of God’s grace in people’s hearts and lives, thus giving them a false hope of heaven based upon a false theology, which leaves them in their sin. A true understanding of God’s grace and the faith he gives us is neither on the side of legalism (adding to salvation) nor is it on the side of libertinism (taking away from salvation), but it follows Christ’s teachings and the teachings of the New Testament concerning salvation as taking off the old flesh nature, being changed in the attitude of our minds, and putting on the very nature of Christ, in his likeness.
True Circumcision
We read in Romans and in Colossians that the true circumcision is not the circumcision done by human hands, but it is circumcision of the heart, done by the Spirit of God, not by the written code (see Rom. 2:29). A person who is circumcised of the heart has his praise from God, not from men, as was the case with physical circumcision as a requirement for salvation. As well, when we are circumcised of the Spirit, our sinful nature is put off and cast aside, our sins are buried with Christ, and we are raised with Christ through our faith in him, in the power of God, to new lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord (see Col. 2:11-15). So, our worship of God is done in spirit, not through rites and rituals or following a set of man-made rules and regulations. We glory in Christ Jesus, i.e. all our praise, admiration, adoration and honor belong to God and to God alone. Our desire is for him only. And, we no longer have our confidence or reliance upon the flesh of man or our own sinful flesh natures.
Whatever was to our profit in and of our own selves, we now consider loss for the sake of Christ. In other words, we don’t glory in our own social status, financial status, religious affiliation, religious rituals and rites we perform, our own achievements, talents, intelligence, knowledge, education level, etc. Instead, we give our praise, honor and glory to God for all that he has done. This is what it means to forsake our sinful natures, to have them buried with Christ, and to be raised to new life in Christ, and in the power of God. The things and the pleasures this world has to offer us are not worth holding on to in order that we may know Christ Jesus in all his fullness within us and living out through us. To know Christ is so much more than just knowing about him, having intellectual knowledge, or having made a decision to accept him into our lives as Lord and Savior. We come to know Christ through our daily lives when we take up our cross and follow him wherever he leads us. This involves daily repenting of any known sin and daily choosing to follow Christ. And, this also involves sharing in the fellowship of his sufferings – persecution, abandonment, rejection, misunderstandings, mockings, beatings and death for the sake of the gospel.
Reality Check
Yet, we must realize that we are still in fleshly bodies and we will not be made perfectly perfect until we are in our glorified bodies with Christ in eternity. Yet, we press on to live and walk in this kind of faith and obedience to Christ Jesus and in getting to know him experientially in our daily lives for the purpose of taking hold of the things for which Jesus Christ took hold of us. In other words, he died so that we could go free from the ultimate penalty of sin, but also from the control of sin over our daily lives. He also died so that we could be resurrected to new lives, free from the control of the old sinful nature and free to walk humbly in obedience to Christ. This is why he died, and so we press on in Christ’s working within our hearts and lives to live for that which he died, i.e. to be free from the control of sin and to be free to live for Christ Jesus in true righteousness and holiness.
The way in which we press on toward living for Christ is that we forget what is behind and we strain toward what is ahead. In other words, we no longer glory in the things we once gloried in and we no longer follow the ways of this world and the desires of our flesh. We forgive ourselves for the things we have done in the past, we forgive those who have sinned against us, and we accept God’s forgiveness for all our past sins. We close that door to our pasts never to open it again. And, we move forward in God’s grace and his strength and power within us to accomplish what he has planned for our lives in all holiness and purity. We live up to what we know. So many times we are not lacking in knowledge, but we are lacking in application of that knowledge to our daily lives. James described this as seeing our reflection in the mirror and then walking away and forgetting what we look like. He was speaking on the subject of being doers of the word and not hearers only. If we want to follow Christ, we need to do what we already know to do and then he will teach us more.
Lord, Move Me / An Original Work / October 16, 2011
Be my desire, my heart set on fire,
Lord, move me to worship You only, I pray.
Fill with Your Spirit, my heart overflow.
Lord, may I long for You; Your word to know.
Teach me to walk with You, Lord, in Your power,
And may I serve You, Lord, right now in this hour.
Lord, how I want to obey You forever.
Help me to hear You, Lord, so I will not stray.
Teach me to love You; adore You always.
Envelope me, Lord, with Your grace today.
Meet me in my need, and show me Your mercy.
Forgive me for all things, as I humbly pray.
Counsel me, lead me, direct me, and guide me,
So I follow You, Lord, where’er You lead now.
I love to hear You speak Your words to me.
I am so grateful that You set me free.
Wash me, and cleanse me, and make me like You, Lord,
And I will live with You for eternity.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Audio, song lyrics and sheet music at:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/lord-move-me
Song on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K-0kezkuEg
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