“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.” (Philippians 3:2-3 ESV)
So, who are these “dogs” we are to be watching out for? A dog is considered to be someone despicable, who is a spiritual predator who feeds off others. It is often used as a term describing a false teacher. It is describing the impure, the wicked, i.e., those who are outside of genuine faith in Jesus Christ, particularly those who are workers of evil.
The dogs are the unclean, unholy, who are masters at smooth talk and flattery and who manipulate and deceive the naïve. They oppose the true gospel of salvation and they teach a false gospel of men, of the flesh, not of the Spirit. They also oppose the Lord’s servants and messengers who are teaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ and who are exposing the lies.
“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” (2 Peter 2:1-3 ESV)
“…They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray…
“These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved… What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” (2 Peter 2:13-22 ESV)
Now, in the context of Philippians 3, this is speaking of the Judaizers who were trying to convince the Gentile Christians that they needed to be circumcised and that they needed to follow some of the Old Covenant liturgical and ceremonial laws, as part of their salvation. But the broader context is that of all who are considered to be “dogs” (as described above) who are trying to lead the people of God to a false gospel of human origin which caters to human flesh, and which does not honor God as holy.
And the context that the Lord Jesus is wanting me to focus on this morning is more of the one from the 2 Peter passage of Scripture, for it goes into far more detail with regard to who these “dogs” are who we are to watch out for. And they are all who are as described above who have influence and positions of power and rule over other people who are subject to them, as well as they are anyone who lives in sin, in sensual indulgence, and who leads other people to sin against the Lord by their influence over them.
[Php 3:2,18-19; 2 Pet 2:1-3,12-22; Jude 1:4,8,10-13; Rev 22:15]
The Dogs
And they may be Judaizers or legalists who focus more on outward appearance than they do on the attitudes and behaviors of the heart, or they may be “cheap grace gospel” people who teach a gospel of salvation absent of self-denial, dying daily to sin, and following our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living. For they dilute and they alter the gospel message to make it more attractive and acceptable to the ungodly and to human flesh, so that people can be promised heaven based on a lie.
So, these are people who profess to be Christians, and/or who profess to be teachers of true Christianity, who are teaching the people lies, particularly lies that will lead them to continuing to walk in sin, and not in righteousness and holiness, and not in obedience to the Lord. For they are convinced that if they make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ that their sins no longer matter to God and that they can still be Christians and still have eternal life with God, regardless of how they live. And so they continue in their sins.
But they are without the Spirit of God living within them, for they believe that obedience to the Lord is not required for their salvation, and they are convinced that God will not judge them even if they are living in sexual immorality and in adultery and in any other addictive sins which might have them enslaved. But we cannot be born again believers in Jesus Christ and live in immorality of any kind, including in homosexuality, and in any other perversions of sex and of God’s design for us as male and female.
The Flesh
So, whatever is of the flesh will never win us “brownie points” with God, i.e. we don’t win the approval of God via our own human effort, and we cannot walk in the flesh and walk in the Spirit at the same time. We do one or the other, but we can’t do both. But faith in Jesus Christ = obedience to the Lord in holy living and us no longer making sin our practice. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess.
But we can do none of this in our human effort, but only by the grace of God via submission to Christ as Lord, and via surrender to the will of God, and via the forsaking of our sins and us walking in obedience to our Lord, as empowered by God. And this is what it means to be “the circumcision,” who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in our human flesh to gain us salvation and eternal life with God nor to rescue us from sinful addiction, which can only happen by God.
So you may go through all sorts of religious rituals and practices, and you may be a person who is a “good deed doer,” and you may put forth much human effort to control your own sinful passions and desires, only to keep failing over and over again, but none of that human effort will gain you salvation from sin, a relationship with Jesus Christ, and eternity with God. We can only live free from the control of sin and in walks of holiness and in obedience to the Lord if our lives are surrendered to the Lord Jesus.
Then, in the power of God we can live free from the control of sin over our lives, and we can walk in obedience to our Lord, and we can deny self, and die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands in holy living. And yet that doesn’t make us perfect. Every day we must say “No” to the flesh and “Yes” to God and to his will and purpose for our lives. And we must submit to the Lord and obey him and do what he says, in his power, and not resist him, and we will have the hope of eternal life in him.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Beautiful Lamb
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29
By Gary Miller
Beautiful Lamb of God, guiltless and pure as snow,
Gentle and merciful, beautiful Lamb of God.
Sent from the Father’s love,
Sent from the throne above,
Sent to redeem us with His blood.
Beautiful Lamb of God, guiltless and pure as snow,
Gentle and merciful, beautiful Lamb of God.
Behold the Lamb of God
Suff’ring great pain for us,
And by His wounds we all are healed.
Beautiful Lamb of God, guiltless and pure as snow,
Gentle and merciful, beautiful Lamb of God.
Like sheep we’ve gone astray,
Each turn to his own way,
But Jesus will take our sins away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo7wA3gZIgI
Caution: This link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment