Philippians 3:2-3 ESV
“Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”
So, what does he mean by “dogs”? They are not literal dogs, but they are false teachers or false prophets and apostles who are trying to lead the people of God in the wrong direction. And we have many of those in the gatherings of the church and/or in what is called “church” in America today. Therefore, they are not God’s messengers, but they are messengers of Satan often disguised as servants of righteousness.
Now, in context, this is apparently addressing the issue of Judaizers who were trying to convince Christians that they had to be circumcised (men only, I believe) and that they had to follow some Jewish customs and some of the Old Covenant liturgical and ceremonial laws and dietary restrictions. But that is not something that Christians in America are generally being faced with today, although it still exists, but we still have false teachers who are trying to lead God’s people astray in many different ways.
So, the Lord wants me to mention some of the ways in which Satan speaks through his messengers to genuine Christians today to try to sway them from following the Lord and his ways:
• Satan tries to get us to doubt God, to doubt God’s word and his voice to us, and to doubt our relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Satan likes to try to make us feel weak and helpless and to convince us of such in order to get us to not obey the Lord.
• Satan likes to try to make us question our dependency on Jesus Christ and to even suggest we are listening to him instead of to Christ.
• Satan will try to show us that belief in Jesus Christ and in the true gospel, which removes idolatry from people’s lives, is “legalistic” and that he can provide a church and faith that is “fun” and free from the guilt of sin.
• Satan will try to get us to compromise our beliefs and convictions by trying to shame us into a compromise. He will try to convince us to bring ourselves back under the slavery of sin and of men, when Jesus Christ came to set us free.
• Satan will try to convince us that he hears from God and his followers will even pretend to be believers in Christ.
• Satan tries to tell us not to put our trust in the Lord Jesus but to put our trust in man. He preys on our weaknesses and tries to convince us that we are helpless and that we need him.
• Satan tells us not to trust in the words of the Lord but to trust in the words of man instead, and to let men give us the counsel and direction we need and to let man be our gods.
• Satan tries to convince us not to believe in the promises of God nor to believe the Lord’s servants when they tell us those same promises of God (But all of God’s promises do have conditions to them).
When Satan throws his fiery darts at us, and he will use human beings as his instruments of his deceptive messages, we must know the truth so that we can put on the full armor of God. Satan’s messengers are charmers, sweet talkers, liars, manipulators, wicked, abusive, sexually immoral, dividers of the people, plotters of evil, always doing their evil deeds in secret so that no one can see what they are doing. But God sees.
They prey on those who are emotionally weak and who doubt themselves, so we must remain strong and we must put on the truth to counteract their lies. They will try to convince us that we are weak and powerless, but we are not. We are children of the King. They will try to pull us away from doing the will of God and from sharing the gospel and will try to convince us we are crazy and/or that we are hearing from Satan.
Know this! - They said the same things about Jesus. They said he was crazy and they accused him of being of Satan, but he refuted that lie by telling them that Satan does not drive out Satan or else his kingdom will fall. Satan is not going to be giving out the truth of the gospel and calling people to repent of their sins and to turn to faith in Jesus Christ unless it is with a twist. He will try to make you believe you can go to heaven and still live in your sin because of God’s grace. And that lie is going to send many to hell.
Judged by God according to our works: [Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Philippians 2:14-16 ESV
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”
Our Lord wants his children to no longer walk in sin but now to walk (in conduct, in practice) in righteousness and holiness and in obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant). For this is why he died on that cross, that we might die to sin and live to his righteousness in his power and strength. For he died to deliver us from our slavery to sin so that we might now be slaves of God and of his righteousness and no longer walk in sin. For if sin is what we obey, it will end in death, not life (see Romans 6:1-23).
And he wants us to shine as lights for him and for his gospel in this crooked world in which we live, and even among those who call themselves “Christians” but who are still living in sin and for the flesh and according to the ways of the world and not according to God. For so many people professing faith in Jesus Christ today are listening to and believing Satan’s lies, and they are following those lies and his false teachers, and so they are following man over God, in many cases.
And many of them have rejected the truth of the gospel as something that is old-fashioned or antiquated, or as though it is legalistic to even mention repentance and submission and obedience in the context of our faith in Jesus Christ. So we need to be people of God who are listening to God and not to Satan, who are speaking the truth of the Scriptures, and not the lies, and who are bold and fearless in sharing that truth without fear of what other humans are going to do to us or say about us or to us.
So, we need to keep telling them that faith in Jesus Christ is not just lip service. Faith in Jesus Christ means death to sin and living to God and to his righteousness. It means we obey our Lord and not our flesh, and not sin. It means to daily deny self and die to sin and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands (New Covenant), to go where he sends us, and to do and to say what he wants us to do and to say (not what is anti-biblical).
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; 1 Co 15:58; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
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