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— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for 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; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order 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 comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained (Phil. 3:2-16).

In the last post, we looked at the contrast between true and false believers, specifically with Paul’s emphasis of putting no confidence in the flesh. In this post, we are going to continue thinking about that, using Paul’s example of his own life. We’ll look at the question, “What does it mean to put no confidence in the flesh, and what should the believer instead be doing?”

Having it All

After contrasting the false and true believers, Paul then turns to his own life in a bit of an autobiographical moment. He lists his own qualifications to show why even they don’t matter in the light of eternity. To the people of that day (and especially among the Jews), they would be impressive:

• circumcised on the eighth day, 
• of the people of Israel, 
• of the tribe of Benjamin, 
• a Hebrew of Hebrews; 
• as to the law, a Pharisee;
• as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; 
• as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

That’s a pretty impressive list. Paul came from the right family, the right tribe, kept the law, was sure he was doing God’s work with zeal, and was sure he stood blameless before the law. He could have also added that he had studied under the great Gamaliel, grandson of one of the great teachers of the law, Hillel. He definitely had all the right credentials. Yet, look what he says about this:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order 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 comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith–that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead (vv. 7-11).

Did you catch that? He counted all those qualifications as rubbish. Why? Because they simply do not compare to the worth of knowing Christ. And if you read it carefully, you’ll see that his last statements (“know the power of His resurrection . . . attain the resurrection of the dead”) depend on the former statements (“count all as loss for the sake of knowing Him”). The idea is that one can only know Christ and the power of His resurrection to the extent that he lets go of the idea of attaining righteousness by human effort. One cannot do both. We might rightly summarize his teaching here as, I had it all, but I did not have Christ. And now that I have Christ, nothing else compares.

Before continuing, we should pause here and ask the question, “Are those ‘credentials’ bad in themselves?” The answer is, of course not. Paul was not condemning those things. He was only saying that they were neither the goal in life nor the measure of one’s righteousness or usefulness to God. It’s clear from biblical history that God gifted and fashioned Paul in many ways to reach a large group of people–both Jews and Gentiles. But those things (family background, expertise in the law, formal training) were just tools in the hand of the Lord.

Pressing Toward the Goal

Notice what Paul’s concern is here. He’s counted all for the sake of “knowing Christ.” He wants to be found in Christ. He wants to be found having the righteousness of Christ, not a righteousness based on the law–another great contrast. Before Christ, it would have been tempting for Paul to think, “I’ve arrived.” After all, he reported that he kept the law blamelessly. That is a common attitude for those who seek a righteousness based on the law.

Yet, though he has the righteousness of Christ, he realizes that he has not arrived. He plainly says, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect . . . “ So, he hasn’t gotten there. What does he resolve to do? “I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” The phrase press on in the Greek (diōkō) means “to pursue; persecute.” He now takes that same zeal that he used in persecuting the church and turns it to press toward knowing Christ and being found in Him. Likewise, the phrase make it my own in the Greek (katalambanō) means “to grasp; lay hold of.” With these words, Paul communicates his earnest desire to have the full knowledge of Christ. He realizes that he won’t get there until eternity, but that does not stop him from striving through Christ. Because Christ has “laid hold of” Paul (the same word that Paul uses to describe his pursuit of Christ), Paul will seek to lay hold of Christ.

How does Paul plan to accomplish this goal? By having this mindset, which he puts into an analogy of a footrace: “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Picture a runner so fixated on the finish line that nothing else around him catches his attention, and you have an idea of the picture Paul paints. Notice the first thing that Paul says here: forgetting what lies behind. This obviously doesn’t mean he’s forgotten or obliterated the past. After all, he just listed his own history. What he means is that he refuses to live in the past, let it absorb his attention, or allow it to hinder him from reaching the goal.

Not only does Paul forget what is behind, but he presses forward toward the goal of the heavenly calling of Christ. He fixes his whole being–eyes, mind, heart, body–on that goal. He will settle for nothing less than the prize that awaits him at the finish line. It brings to mind the parables that Jesus told of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price:

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it (Matt. 13:44-46).

Like the men in the parables, Paul says he has found a treasure of such value that nothing on earth can compare to it, and thus he has forsaken all–even the privileges that he has had as a well-known member of the Jewish nation–to obtain it. Then he gives an urgent plea to the believers: “Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.” A mark of the mature believer is that he likewise will focus his energies on pursuing Christ and His kingdom, rather than the things of this world.

The questions that Phil. 3:2-16 call us to ask of ourselves are these:

• Are we part of the true circumcision, or is our “faith” in works and deeds only?
• Are we pressing toward the goal of knowing Christ, or are we allowing worldly things to hinder us?
• Have we been captured by Christ to the extent that nothing in this world matters but knowing, loving, and serving Him?

In the chaos of today’s world, these are the questions that need our answers. Let us therefore follow the example of Paul–as he followed the example of Christ.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:1-2).

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[a] and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for 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; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law,[b] blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order 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 comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained (Phil. 3:2-16). 

Beginning with this post, we’re going to take some time to look at Paul’s teachings in this passage. Parts of this passage are well-known, particularly vv. 10-14. However, in order to understand and appreciate those verses, we should first look at what leads up to that. 

Mutilators of the Flesh

Paul begins this section of the letter with a strong warning: The Philippian believers are to “watch out for” a certain group of people (Greek blepete, “to see or behold”). Though he uses three different phrases to describe them, they all refer to the same group of people. He calls them:

• dogs – wild, vicious animals, used to describe people of moral impurity
• workers of evil – those who practice evil (often under the guise of good).
• mutilators of the flesh – those who insist on cutting the body as a religious duty.

Paul then zeroes in on the last phrase, by using a contrast. He says, “But we [meaning true believers] are the circumcision” (emphasis added). What does this mean? Circumcision was commanded of all males under the law, as a sign of the covenant between God and Israel. If a foreigner wanted to become part of God’s people (Israel), all the males in the household were required to be circumcised, and the household would then be obligated to keep the law.

By the time of Jesus and Paul, observance of the law had become a purely outward observance. One measured his or her righteousness by the degree that he or she kept the law, including circumcision, saying the right prayers, and avoiding moral and ritual defilement. Some of these folks had infiltrated the church by Paul’s time. Their motto was, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:2, which is why the translators of the NLT render verse 2 as “those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved”). Paul objected strongly to anyone adding anything to the gospel of faith. What he is saying in essence is, “Their ‘circumcision’ has no value, it’s just a mutilation of the flesh.”

The True Circumcision

He contrasts that with what he calls the “true circumcision.” In Romans 3:28-29, he tells us that the true believer is one who has been circumcised in the heart. For this person, God’s Spirit has performed heart surgery, and has given him a new heart according to the New Covenant. Now, his outward obedience comes from a changed heart, not merely a religious duty.

As he used three phrases to describe the people that believers are to beware of, now Paul gives us three things that characterize a true believer. 

The true believer worships by the Spirit of God. The true believer’s worship is not merely outward, being controlled by religious duty or rules. His worship comes from the very presence of God’s Spirit within him. Jesus told the Samaritan woman much the same thing, when He said, 

The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24).

The true believer glories in Christ Jesus, not himself or his own works. The word translated “glory” literally means “to boast” (Greek kauchaomai). Even Paul, as he writes in just a few verses, could have reason to boast himself, he disclaims any right to do so. Instead, he resolves “to know nothing. . . except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). 

The true believer puts no confidence in the flesh. As Paul has just said, the true believer, the one who is circumcised in the heart, will boast only in Christ Jesus and what He has done. It’s common in the world for people to boast of their (or others’) credentials and accomplishments–even in the church. One is often called “Dr.” before “pastor,” as though the title gives him more credibility. The true believer recognizes that human effort does not earn the favor of God.

These are the enduring marks of the true believer. We should ask ourselves, “Are we only glorying in our religious duty, marking off our checklist, or are we the real deal?” In the next post, we will take a closer look at this, by listening to what Paul has to say about his own credentials.