“Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.” (Philippians 3:2-3 NASB1995)
“The dogs” is in reference to false prophets and teachers
who teach lies, and not the truth. In context they were in reference to the
Judaizers who were trying to convince Gentile Christians that they had to be
circumcised, as was required of God’s people under the Old Covenant. But when
Jesus Christ died on that cross, he did away with all the Old Covenant
liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, circumcision, dietary, and
Sabbath laws. What remained were God’s moral laws. We must still die to sin and
obey God.
So, what is circumcision? It is a literal cutting away of human
flesh. And what is the true circumcision? It is a spiritual cutting away of the
sinful flesh via the believer in Jesus Christ dying with Christ to sin and
being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live
as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. By faith
in Jesus Christ we are crucified with Christ in death to sin so that we might
now live for God in obedience to his commands in holy living, and for his
purposes and glory.
“The dogs” may still be the modern day Judaizers who are
trying to convince Christians that they need to be more like Jews, and that
they need to follow some of the Old Covenant Jewish customs to enhance their
faith. But they are all who teach lies in the name of God, in the name of
Christ, and in the name of the gospel of our salvation, and who willfully lead
God’s people, or those professing to be God’s people, to follow the lies and
not the truth. For they teach a doctrine of salvation which is of human flesh,
and not of God.
And some of them have been and still are people of renown
who are regarded as servants of the Lord and teachers of truth by many people.
What they taught, or what they are presently teaching sounds good, and it seems
biblical, because they quote Scriptures, but they often take Scriptures out of
context, and they twist them to say what they do not say if taught in the
appropriate context. For many of them are teaching the teachings of man and not
the teachings of Christ, because it tickles itching ears.
So, what does it look like to worship in the Spirit of God
and to glory in Christ Jesus and to put no confidence in the flesh? It means
that we are following the teachings of Christ and of his New Testament apostles
in what they taught as the gospel of our salvation, and what they taught is
required of us now by God for us to have salvation from sin and eternal life
with God. And they all taught that we must deny self, die to sin, and follow
Jesus in walks of obedience to his commands, for this is what it means to
believe.
Basically, to believe in Christ Jesus as Lord of our lives
it means surrender of our lives to God, submission to him as Lord (Owner-Master
of our lives), and death to our old ways of living so that we can now walk in
holiness and in righteousness in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. It
means we no longer are the masters of our own lives, choosing our own course,
but we are now following the course that God has for our lives in doing his
will, going wherever he sends us, and saying whatever he gives us to say.
But if you are still listening to “The dogs,” who are
telling you that God requires nothing of you other than a profession of faith
in Jesus Christ, and that God is going to welcome you into his heaven when you
die, based on lip service only, stop believing the lies and believe the truth.
For by faith in Christ we must now die to sin and obey God with our lives. For if
sin is still what we practice, and not obedience to God, we will not inherit
eternal life with God when we leave this earth, but hell will be our eternal
destiny.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22;
Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews
12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
My Sheep
Based off John 10:1-30 NIV
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
My sheep hear me.
They know me.
They listen to my
voice and obey.
I call them and lead
them.
They know my voice,
so they follow me.
They will never
follow strangers.
They will run away
from them.
The voice of a
stranger they know not;
They do not follow
him.
So, I tell you the
truth that
I am the gate, so
you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find
forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever
enters
Not by the gate;
other way,
He is the thief and
a robber.
Listen not, the
sheep to him.
Oh, I am the Good
Shepherd,
Who laid his own
life down for the sheep.
I know them. They
know me.
They will live with
me eternally.
The thief only comes
to steal and
Kill and to destroy
the church.
I have come to give
you life that
You may have it to
the full…
They know my voice,
so they follow me.
Beware of Evil Workers
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