Philippians 3:4,5To: Philippians Main MenuTo: Grace Notes Home Page Philippians 3:4Though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so.In this section of Philippians Paul gives a stirring personal testimony. He uses the perpendicular personal pronoun "I" 15 times. His testimony is also given in Acts 9, 22, 26; I Corinthians 9, II Corinthians 11; and Romans 7. He is trying to make it clear that this is truth he not only learned but he lived. He has gone down the road of legalism like no one else. Paul turns to an autobiography to prove that he does not operate in the flesh. He lists a litany of accomplishments where he could have placed his confidence. For years that is exactly were he did put his confidence. Now that he has come to Christ, he views his religious career in legalism as a pile of dung! He threw his scrap book on the manure pile! The accomplishments of legalism smells like garbage, or even worse--like dung. THOUGH I ALSO MIGHT HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH To counteract the thought that maybe, just maybe, there is something in the flesh we can trust, Paul gives himself as an example. Before he became a Christian he made great strides in legalism. If there ever was a legalist, he was one. In the Christian life we are often tempted to live within our own thin spiritual resources. We lean on our prayer life as such, not on God. We take courage by our activities, not in God. We rely on the mechanics of our spiritual life, rather than upon God. We renounce sin and make strong commitments of discipline and live in our own strength. Anything and everything but God! We try ecstatics, asceticism, tabooism, self discipline, all to no avail. Paul tried all these. He might have placed confidence in them, but he gave the flesh a vote of no confidence. IF ANYONE ELSE THINKS HE MAY HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH, I MORE SO Paul, above all, had pursued that approach to life. If anyone thinks that they are impressing God on the basis of their religious record, they will not outpace Paul. He had an outstanding religious career. PRINCIPLE: Religion, legalism and self effort will all fail us. We can only trust mutually exclusively in the provisions of Christ to live the Christian life. APPLICATION: It is very difficult for us to accept that God will not accept the works of the flesh. We revert into self competence at the slightest bump in the road. The most subtle form of legalism appears in our spiritual life. We think that if we pray more, witness to a great number of people or mechanically live the Spirit filled life, we will succeed spiritually. Obviously, we cannot have a dynamic spiritual life without these means. But if we confuse means with end calamity can come to our Christian life. Morality is not the same as spirituality. Morality is man oriented. Spirituality is God oriented. How would you describe your Christian life? Is it religion, legalism oriented? Or, is it dependent upon the provisions of God? Philippians 3:5Circumcises the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee.In verse 4 Paul made the point that when it comes to confidence in the flesh, he had an outstanding religious career. In this verse he delineates and documents his successes. CIRCUMCISED THE EIGHTH DAY Verses 5 and 6 catalog seven items he once thought were his assets. He believed that these things would impress God. When he met the Savior he found they were liabilities. Here the sets the ledger straight. On one side of the ledger he documents the seven so called assets he thought would recommend him to God. On the other side is Jesus Christ. He traded all his assets for Jesus Christ. This is a radical about face. An outstanding religionist turned Christian. It is probably more difficult for religionists to become Christians than irreligious people. Belief in their legalism is too big a mountain for them to scale. Some think that because they have never murdered anyone or stole anything, big anyway, that must impress God somehow. Item number one is "circumcised the eighth day." His first asset of religion was when he was eight days old. Right off at the beginning of his life he was conferred with religion. The eighth day was the day stipulated by the Old Testament law for a young boy to be circumcised. Circumcision was the external sign of the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 17) which shows attachment to God in covenant relationship. He was circumcised within the prescriptions of the Old Testament. Both John the Baptist and Jesus were circumcised the eighth day (Luke 1:59; 2:21) just as the law demanded. Many people feel that if they just follow the rules of the Bible they will stand tall in God's sight. The rite of religion is a mechanism. Mechanisms do not influence God. Confirmation, christening, baptism, the Lord's supper in themselves do not impress God. It is the personal relationship with God that means something. Many people to whom Paul wrote were Jewish converts. They were circumcised late in life. They were not circumcised on the eight day. Paul, in contrast to them, was circumcised on the prescribed day. Technically, Paul was more religious than they were. PRINCIPLE: Religious rites do not impress God, in fact, religion itself does not make an impression on God. Only a vital relationship to God through Jesus Christ gets the attention of God. Approbation with God comes only through Jesus Christ. APPLICATION: Pride believes we impress God via something we do. It seeks to circumvent Jesus Christ. Trust is placed in a human mode of operation, not in divine provision. Do you believe your religion or spirituality impresses God? Do you rest on what you have done as over against what Jesus Christ has done for you to gain the approbation of God? We have before us an autobiography of an intensely religious man. Paul was a capable, confident man. He was confident in his education, family, skills and job. Religion gave him a veneer, a religious image. Paul depended upon his religion, character and morality. He thought religion would commend him to God. OF THE STOCK OF ISRAEL This is the second in Paul's lists of accomplishments. He came from good stock. To come from good stock is not in itself bad. A family where noble ideals are steeped into children is of great account. It is good to come from a fine family stock, a family that prays together, reads the Word together and reaches out to others. But it is another issue to rest on our family roots to impress God. Some people feel they are right with God just because they are Canadians or Americans. Others sense an acceptance with God because they came from a good religious background. But good roots do not gain God's approbation. OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN Benjamin is one of the twelve tribes of Israel. When the tribes split Benjamin stayed with Judah in the south. The temple was located in Judah. The only tribe that was loyal was little Benjamin, the smallest of all the tribes. "I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin" (Romans 11:1). Paul was proud of his heritage. This is pride of family. But it is another notion to think that this amasses brownie points with God. Family connection will not gain God's approval. The thesis runs something like this: "If I amass enough points with God, then God will be under obligation to accept me into heaven." A HEBREW OF THE HEBREWS The forth area he was convinced commended him to God was his ancestry. Paul had no Gentile blood in him at all. Both his father and mother were both full blooded Jews. He came from a long line of pure Hebrew stock. "Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites, so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I" (II Cor. 11:22). When it came to his background, he had all the credentials in the world. In itself, there is nothing wrong with ancestry. We should be proud of our family tree. In other words, this is not to insinuate that we might find someone in our family tree hanging by their tail but we might find someone hanging by their neck!!! However, God sidesteps ancestry, environment and heredity on the principle of pure unadulterated grace. That is the only way to find acceptance with God. PRINCIPLE: Human credentials cannot give us God's approval. We gain God's approval only by grace. APPLICATION: Do you think that God accepts you by your background? Do you truly throw yourself on the grace of God for his acceptance? We have examined four accomplishments Paul imagined at one time commend him to God. Now we turn to his fifth boast before God. CONCERNING THE LAW, A PHARISEE There were two wings of religious leaders in Judaism: the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. That is why they were "sad, you see!!!" The descendants of the Sadducees are the liberal religionist of our day. The Pharisees were sticklers for religion. Their religion was orthodox but rigidly so. No group transcended their self-righteousness. They were the ultimate legalists. They had a rule for everything. These two groups were rivals for dominance in Judaism. Paul knew this. He even used this understanding of their rivalry to rescue his own hide as he stood in court: "But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, `Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!'" (Acts 23:6). Paul took advantage of a long standing debate between these two groups. A raging debate ensued Paul's statement: "And when he said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection--and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both" (Acts 23:7,8). Paul came out of orthodoxy. He came from a conservative theological background. He knew legalism to the core. He understood its fallacies and weaknesses. The phrase "concerning the law" means according to the norms and standards of law. When it came to the laws of Judaism, Paul kept them religiously. He was confident in his religious regulations. He was confident in his race (Israel), family tree (Benjamin), his patriotism (Hebrew of Hebrews). Now he is confident in his religion. Religion is a false basis of confidence because it rests upon the accomplishment of man. A Pharisee went to the synagogue three times a day. He prayed seven times a day. Christianity rests upon the accomplishments of Christ. No one is ever right with God by logging a great amount of time in religion. Religion attacks the grace principle as they did Paul. PRINCIPLE: Confidence in religion displaces dependence upon God's grace. APPLICATION: Are you working hard to gain God's acceptance? It is a futile exercise. The only person who can gain God's acceptance is Jesus Christ. We are positionally acceptable to God in Christ (Ephesians 1-3). We already have God's acceptance. We can rest in that. ---------- Copyright © 1995, Dr. Grant Richison. All rights reserved. There is no charge for Grace Notes Materials. 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