Paul's Example Against the Judaizers - Part 1

Well, if you would take your Bible and turn to Philippians. Philippians chapter 3, most of you know that is where we are. Philippians chapter 3. We're going to be in verses 4 to 6, although we will not cover all of those verses. I'll let you know in just a minute what verses we will cover. Now, it has been two weeks since we've been in our study of Philippians. I think most of you know that last week we were busy resting on Wednesday night from our fall fellowship that went on Tuesday night. I made the joke, but I was being very serious. We moved Wednesday night church to Tuesday night and we weren't studying God's Word together.

We were doing outreach and evangelism. All those things that we did were still a part of the work of the church. But it's been two weeks since we've been here. So what we have before us here might not be as fresh on our minds as it should be. So before we get into verses 4 to 6, we need to remember what we have here in verses 1 to 3. We must remember what was happening in the church, the church there, Philippi, and what Paul was teaching them and why. Starting here in verse 1, Paul was addressing certain false teachers and certain false teaching.

He was calling the Philippian believers to pay attention, to look out for a group of false teachers who were called "Judaizers." And they were nothing more than Jewish legalists. Simply the Judaizers taught that the Gentiles who were coming to faith in Christ must submit to Jewish rules and laws before they could actually be saved. And they especially taught that the Gentiles must be circumcised in order to be truly saved. And their simple flaw was this. And this was their fatal flaw. They tried to mix lawkeeping with grace and grace alone. They tried to mix lawkeeping along with grace.

And the old English Baptist scholar John Gilles says, "The Judaizers or the Judaizing teachers were for imposing the works and ceremonies of the law upon the Gentiles as necessary for salvation." And if we study the book of Acts, we should do that from time to time because it is the early history of the church. Well, starting from chapter 10 and especially chapter 13, on into chapter 15, we can see where these false teachers came from. When the Apostle Peter first took the gospel to the Gentiles, and they believed in Christ, and they came to Christ without converting to Judaism, these Jewish legalists really had a fit.

They stood up in great protest. And when Paul did the very same thing, starting in Acts 13, that would have been when he started his missionary journeys. Well, the Jewish legalists did the same thing. They pitched a fit. They protested. And even when the decision was made by the church leaders or church fathers and what was commonly called the Jerusalem Council there in Acts 15, that the Gentiles did not have to convert to Judaism first before they were converted to Christ. The Jewish legalists were not satisfied in any way. As a matter of fact, they became even more resolute in what they believed.

Well, as a result, these Judaizers followed Paul as he traveled and ministered, and they tried to steal away those early converts to Christ. They tried to infiltrate those early churches. They would come behind Paul, and they would try to infiltrate the churches behind him, and sometimes they were successful. I think I have said this. When we finish our marriage study, we're going to start a study through the book of Galatians. Well, that's what the book of Galatians is all about. The Judaizers had infiltrated the church and even bewitched and carried away many believers into their false teaching.

Now, I have said this several times, but it does not appear that these false teachers were inside the Philippian church. It seems that they were outside the church, but there was a very, very real danger that this could get into the church. That is why Paul gave this warning. That's why he gives this teaching. And as a matter of fact, we're going to see, he doesn't just give the teaching. He doesn't just point out those false teachers and move on. He spends quite a bit of time here, and that is because this was a real serious threat. And notice what Paul does here in verses one to three.

First in verse two, he calls out those false teachers by calling them dogs and evildoers. And he says that in their circumcision, they do nothing but mutilate the flesh. And then second in verse three, he shows them that they're truly circumcised, those with circumcised hearts. They're truly circumcised, worshiped by the spirit, and they put no confidence in the flesh. Now, let's read verses one to three. Again, it's been a while. I want us to get this in our minds because it's all built together. It's all connected. And as I read the verses, I'll make a few comments.

Verse one, Paul says, "Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord." Now, why does he start off here with rejoice? Well, in all things we should rejoice, even when we face difficulties with false teaching and false teachers. He says to write the same things to you, "It is no trouble to me and it is safe for you." Another words Paul had taught this before. This is repeat. He says, "It's no problem for me to teach you again. You need this." Verse two, "Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh." And that's a description of the Judaizers.

And remember, the Jews were good at calling the Gentiles dogs. It was a derogatory term. Paul turns it around and he says, "No, they really are the dogs." And he says, "What they do is evil and they mutilate." Their circumcision was a mutilation of the flesh. Verse three, "For we are the circumcision." What is he saying? We have a circumcision of the heart, a spiritual circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus. We put no confidence in the flesh. Now, now that we have what was happening with these verses, fresh in our minds, we can see what Paul does next. From verses four to six, Paul does two basic things.

He gives an argument against the Judaizers and their teaching. And in this argument against them, he gives himself as a great example. It's a great example. So let's read verses one, two, and three again real quickly. And then we'll get into verses four to six, where we find Paul's argument in his example. See if you can see it. "Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord to write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. 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 of Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless." Now starting in verse four, we can see that Paul makes a shift. Although this is altogether, he makes a shift in his teaching. Paul becomes extremely autobiographical.

He describes his Jewish heritage and he quickly tells of his religious achievements in Judaism. He describes his self-efforts and he says that if anyone could have attained salvation or a right standing with God through religious works, he says it could have been him. Could have been him. Paul boldly states that though I myself have no reason for confidence in the flesh, also, if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. Now what's he doing here? The Judaizers had great confidence that in their works, they could gain a right standing before God.

And Paul's basically saying, I have more confidence than if that was possible. I have more confidence than I could have done it. And notice what he was doing here. He was pointing out that these Judaizers were putting confidence in their flesh or their achievements. He was then saying that he had reasons for placing his confidence in the flesh as well. I've said this already, but he had even more reasons for confidence in the flesh. He had even more reasons because of his self-efforts. But we must make sure that we understand that Paul was not being prideful in any way. It can seem that he's being braggadocious, but he wasn't.

He was not trying to elevate himself above the Judaizers. He wasn't trying to one-up these false teachers. He was simply declaring that if anyone, if anyone could boast or had a reason to boast in their flesh and achievements, it was him. And in doing this, he was highlighting the futility of the Judaizers' teaching and position. And in verses 5 to 6, Paul continues to be autobiographical. He simply gives his own testimony concerning all of these things. Now, before we get into Paul's testimony and example, we need to see something about the language that Paul uses here.

Language scholars tell us that in verses 7 and 8, he uses, Paul uses certain words and terminology. The English standard and the New American use the word gain and loss. We can see it there, gain and loss. Scholars tell us that in the original, this is business language or accounting language. Gain speaks of profits or profits in the profits column in the spreadsheet. Loss speaks of profits loss or losses in the loss column in the spreadsheet. You understand? And what Paul was doing was this. He was speaking of salvation as a business transaction.

In using himself as an example, he was and he is saying that he spent his entire life working to earn salvation or to put in the gain column in the spreadsheet of salvation all his works. But when Christ revealed himself to him on the road to Damascus, for the very first time, Paul saw that all of those gains that he had put in the gain column in the spreadsheet of salvation, they were actually losses in the loss column in the spreadsheet of salvation. And ultimately, Paul gave all of those things up. He gave all those supposed gains up for the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith and faith alone, not works.

Now, this is how we will divide these verses. We've already gotten into verse 4, obviously. From verses 5 to 6, we will look at religious credits that do not save. And we will look at these in two verses in two ways. First, those things that Paul inherited, those things that Paul inherited. And second, those things that Paul achieved. This will be a part one and a part two, because we will cover really the first main truth tonight and the second main truth next week. So, number one, out of verse 5, Paul's religious inheritance. Here we see Paul's religious inheritance. Here Paul launches into four things that pertain to what he inherited.

These are things that he did not have any control over, except the last one. These are things that he could not have attained on his own. These are things that pertain to where he was born, who he was born, and what he inherited. First, he was circumcised on the 8th day. We see that in the beginning of verse 8, excuse me, the beginning of verse 5. He was circumcised on the 8th day. Now, Paul begins with circumcision for a particular reason, because this was the number one issue for the Judaizers. Circumcision was at the top of their list of things that had to be done by the Gentiles.

We can see that when we look at Acts chapter 15 verse 1, and in the book of Galatians, specifically chapter 6 verses 12 to 13. And that is also why he talks about circumcision in verses 2 to 3, those that we've covered already. And Paul starts with circumcision, so as to say that he was circumcised himself, and his was not just any circumcision, according to the Scripture, in perfect obedience to the Old Testament Scripture, he was circumcised on the 8th day after his birth. And we see that given in Genesis 17 1 to 12 and Leviticus 12 verse 3. And scholars tell us that this was in contrast to many of the Judaizers, who were not like Paul.

Although some of the Judaizers were actually Jews by birth, many were Gentile proselytes to Judaism. So they could not say that they were circumcised on the 8th day, according to the Scripture. Now, what was Paul's point here? Actually, he was making two points. And one I had touched on. First, circumcision was at the top of the list of the Judaizers. That was at the top of their list. And Paul was declaring that he had indeed been circumcised. And not only had he been circumcised, but he had been circumcised on the 8th day, according to the Old Testament Scriptures.

In other words, he was saying the Judaizers make a big deal about circumcision. Well, I've been circumcised, and my circumcision was perfect in every way. And then second, circumcision was at the top of the list in Judaism. Of all of the Jewish rituals found in the Old Testament, it was at the top of the list. Because through circumcision, Jewish men were brought into the covenant people of God. But as we will see, Paul comes to the place where he takes the merit badge of circumcision on the 8th day.

And he comes to the place where instead of putting it at the top of the list in the gain column of the spreadsheet of salvation, he puts it at the top of the list in the loss column in the spreadsheet of salvation. Now, what does that have to do with us? What's the lesson for us today? We cannot look to any religious ritual that is bestowed upon us for our salvation. We cannot look to any religious ritual that is bestowed upon anyone or someone as somehow making us right with God in any way. And remember, remember, we are not talking about any religious achievement or work that we may do.

We are talking about that which we inherit, that which is bestowed upon us. Now, I might be opening a can of worms here, but there are some today who practice infant baptism. Our Catholic friends practice infant baptism. Our Presbyterian friends practice infant baptism. Our Methodist friends practice infant baptism. Now, Catholics and Catholicism see it as salvific in some way. Our Presbyterian friends do not see infant baptism as salvific, but they see it as somehow bringing children partially into the covenant or a part of the covenant family, kind of like they're almost right with God. I was baptized or christened as a Methodist.

I'm not sure what it meant, but it didn't do any good. Now, I will say this about infant baptism. I'm not throwing stones at anyone. I will look at Catholics because they think that somehow it is salvific. If you do study of the scripture, the scripture and the scripture alone, when you leave out church tradition, you will not find infant baptism anywhere. You just cannot find it. Our Presbyterian friends take church tradition and they read it back into the text. They read it into the scripture. They somehow link circumcision of the Old Testament to infant baptism. They just read tradition back in.

But if you study scripture and scripture alone, you don't find it there. As a matter of fact, when I have discussions about this with our Presbyterian friends, that's what I do. I just challenge them, study scripture, scripture, scripture alone. I go back to what Luther said during the Protestant Reformation. He said, scripture, scripture, scripture for me, scripture alone. It's sad. He kind of went back on those words and he went back into some false teaching about infant baptism. Now, why do I bring that up? Why do I spend the time there?

That is one thing that we can see in our church culture and world that is bestowed upon people that somehow something is going to make them right with God or even halfway right with God. Nothing bestowed upon us. No religious ritual or act can do that. Now I've been picking on a few others. Let me pick on the Baptists. Every now and then someone asked me, do you not believe in baby dedication? I'm not against baby dedication. But oh, I saw for years as I served in other Baptist churches, where moms and dads would come up and line up front, and they would go through a baby dedication. And I really got grieved, disgusted.

When I saw so many that stood up, repeated words, and you never saw them again, telling lies, big lies. I just rejected all that. I'm not against it. We may do it one day. I know churches who do baby dedication, but you have to go through a class of about six or eight weeks on parenting. And what I'm trying to show you is this. Even Baptists can do things like that. And somehow they think it's going to help their children, maybe be a little closer to God. Nothing we give them or bestow upon them or nothing we inherit can make us right with God. Then second, Paul was of the people of Israel. We see that right there in verse five. That's next.

The King James says the stock of Israel. Now that's not a gun stock. No, that's of the people of Israel. The fact that Paul says that he was born of the nation of Israel, might not seem like much to us, but some say that this emphasizes the thought that some or many of the Judaizers were in fact, Gentile converts to Judaism. So what Paul was saying was this. He was not a proselyte to Judaism. And he certainly was not a descendant of Ishmael, who was Abraham's other son. And he certainly wasn't Isaac's other son. That would be Esau.

He was saying that he was born a member of God's chosen people and a true physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now what's Paul's point here? He was emphasizing the fact that he was a true Jew. He was certainly, truly a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and was a true Jew by blood and birth. He was not a proselyte or even partly Jewish. He was in fact circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel. But as we will see, Paul comes to the place where he takes the merit badge of being born of the people of Israel or born a true physical descendant of Abraham.

He takes those things and instead of putting that second in the gain column of the spreadsheet of salvation, he puts that next in the lost column of the spreadsheet of salvation. Now what does that mean for us? We are not born a Christian. We cannot be somehow born into the family of God. We are not somehow born right with God. Isn't it amazing how the Bible can just say what the Bible says in so many other places? It's kind of like it all goes together. The apostle John tells us this very same thing in John chapter 1 verses 12 to 13. John says, "But to all who did receive him," that's receiving Christ savingly.

"Who believed in his name," that's believing in Christ savingly. He gave the right to become children of God. Oh, that's nice. Isn't that nice? "But to all who did receive Christ," who believed in Christ, he gave the right to become children of God. Notice verse 13, "who were born not of blood," that's heredity. That would be heredity or bloodline, nor of the will of the flesh. That would be something that we can do in our own efforts, nor of the will of man. That would be something that someone could do for us. What does he say? "Those who become the children of God," the last three words of verse 12, they're born of God.

And how many today, even in the church, they think that somehow they were right with God because they are born of the right family. They think that they're a Christian because of their family tree. You know, you'll hear people say stuff like this, "Well, you know, I've always been a Christian." That's not found in this scripture. To say that you've always been a Christian would mean that you've always, you were born a Christian somehow, that you're a parisial Christian, and you could be born a Christian. Well, you don't find that in the scripture. And then third, Paul says he was of the tribe of Benjamin.

You see that right there in verse five as well. Now, when we read and we study and try to understand what Paul is saying here, we can come across several reasons why Paul would say that he was born of this particular tribe. First of all, those of the tribe of Benjamin, we need to understand where the nation's highest of the aristocracy and the Jewish people, they were seen as the elite. And there are several specifics as to why they were who they were. Benjamin, who the tribe was descended from, he was the younger of the two sons born to Jacob's wife, his favorite wife, Rachel.

Israel's first king Saul, he was a member of the tribe of Benjamin. As a matter of fact, Paul was named after King Saul. When the promised land was divided and given to the different tribes, the capital city of Jerusalem, that would have been the holy city of God, it was included in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. Also, the men of the tribe of Benjamin were noted warriors. According to Judges five in Hosea five, they had the place of honor in the battle lines of Israel. According to Judges 20 verse 16, the tribe of Benjamin produced 700 elite men who were left-handed and they could sling a stone and hit a human hair and not miss.

That's pretty good accuracy. Also, according to First Chronicles eight, the tribe of Benjamin produced mighty men of war who were great archers. Now there are other things I could say about the tribe. You could also see some negative things about the tribe. But what was Paul's point here? This was all about elevating and proving that he was indeed born of the people of Israel. True Israelites could prove their heritage. They could prove their family lineage. So for Paul to be able to say and prove that he was indeed of the tribe of Benjamin, he was elevating the fact that he truly was of the people of Israel. I guess I could say it like this.

In our day, we could say, "I'm an American." But we could take it one step further and say, "No, I'm a Mississippian. I'm a resident of Mississippi and an American." You see the emphasis. Now this was in stark contrast to the Jews of Paul's day. Scholars and historians tell us that so many Jews in Paul's day could no longer prove what tribe they belong to. And that was because of so much intermarriage, which was contrary to the scripture. The Old Testament scripture between Jews and Gentiles throughout the generations. So those distinctions could not be made any longer. But again, Paul was... He was placing...

Paul was placing his merit badge of being born of the people of Israel and the fact that he could prove that he was truly a descendant of Abraham. He is taking those things and instead of putting that in the gain column of the spreadsheet of salvation, he is putting that next in the lost column of the spreadsheet of salvation. Now, how does this apply to us? Again, it goes along the same line I have been going in. We cannot be born right with God. We cannot be born right with God because of our family or because anything that is bestowed upon us. And then forth, he says he was a Hebrew of Hebrews. We see that next in verse five.

Now, here we see one thing that Paul did inherit, but here we see something that he held on to, he maintained, and he even excelled in. Now, what is this? His family tradition. His family's Jewish tradition or his family's Jewish heritage, which was passed down to him, but he also maintained that and he even excelled in these things beyond his family before and even beyond his peers. I'll give you an example. Some in the South really hold on to and maintain and even try to excel in their family's southern heritage or those southern traditions. Have you ever seen that?

They might point to the fact that their family's been in the South for so long. They might point to the fact that maybe they had descendants who fought in the Civil War. They will point to that southern heritage and they try to hold on to that and they try to maintain that and they try to even excel in those things. That's similar. Now, when we see this in Paul, we have to understand that Paul had to work doubly hard here. He had to be a lot more vigilant here. That is because he was born outside of Israel. He was born in Tarsus, which was a city in Asia Minor. But Paul was not like any man.

But Paul was not like the Jews who lived outside of Israel. He retained his native language according to Acts 21, verse 40. He held on to the Orthodox traditions and customs that were handed down to him. He did not become a Hellenized Jew or one who had assimilated into Roman culture. And Roman culture was nothing more than repackaged Greek culture. But Paul left Tarsus and he went to Jerusalem and he studied under one of the most influential, most notable Jewish rabbis, Gomeliah. We see that in Acts 22, verse 3 and Acts 26, verse 4.

So Paul was so true in his Jewish religious and cultural heritage that he could say in Acts 26, 4, "My manner of life from my youth spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem is known by all the Jews." So he excelled here in such a way that everyone knew it. But what was Paul's point here? He was elevating the fact that he was a Hebrew of Hebrews. The Amplified says, "Hebrew of Hebrews and Exemplarage Hebrew." He was elevating the fact that if any Jewish man had maintained and excelled in the Jewish religion and culture, it was him.

But again, Paul was placing his merit badge of his religious and cultural tradition and traditions. And instead of putting that in the game column of the spreadsheet of salvation, he was putting that next in the loss column of the spreadsheet of salvation. And for us, we must see that there are some who hold on to this merit badge as a part of their so-called salvation. Some hold on to their Christian tradition and Christian traditions that they have received from their family and a tradition that they've even excelled in. They believe that this somehow earns them a right standing before God.

They'll say something like this, "Yes, I'm a Christian. My parents were." They'll say something like this, "Yes, I'm a Christian. I'm a member of this church. My parents were. My grandparents were." They'll say something like this, "Oh, I serve here in the church. My forefathers were prominent in establishing this church." You might hear a young man say something like this, "Oh, yes, I'm a deacon. My father was a deacon and my grandfather was a deacon." They might say, "Yeah, my mother taught Sunday school. She was a director of VBS, and I do those same things that she did." You see? Now, is there anything wrong with those things? No.

But if you're counting on those things to make you somehow right with God, there is something wrong. Now, let's take a step back from verses four and five. Really, we haven't covered all of verse five. And let's see what Paul was doing here. He was examining his own life, and he was giving what he saw. Warren Wiersby says, and I'm quoting, "He," that's Paul, "becomes an auditor who opens the books to see what wealth he has, and he discovers that he is bankrupt." That would be bankrupt spiritually. But notice, as he writes these things to the Philippian believers, Paul does not have to discover that he is bankrupt.

God had already shown him that he was bankrupt. God had shown him those things at his salvation when he was converted to Christ there on the road to Damascus. And Paul gladly took all of his religious inheritance from that gain column of the spreadsheet of salvation, and he put all of those things in the lost column of the spreadsheet of salvation back there on the road to Damascus. Look at verse eight. Look ahead in your copy of God's Word. This is what Paul says of these things, all these things that we've discussed and the ones that we'll discuss next week.

"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 I count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ." All these things were lost in him. He counted them as rubbish or garbage. Now, before we move on to Paul's religious inheritance, move on from these things, we've got to ask, are we taking some kind of religious inheritance or tradition? Are we seeing those things as some kind of a merit badge that earns us salvation? You notice I've used that term merit badge quite a bit. We know what a merit badge is.

I think it comes from the Boy Scouts. Sad, the world's kind of destroyed the Boy Scouts. It's another subject for another day. Kind of let you in on the story about me and the Boy Scouts. Like many boys, I went to the Boy Scouts. I got involved with that for a little while, but it really didn't interest me. I don't know. I just enjoyed hunting and fishing and walking the woods with my grandfather more. I thought if I'm going to be a Boy Scout, I'd rather do it with a gun in my hand and a fishing pole in my hand. But you know, in the Scouts, you earn merit badges, right? Have projects, work hard. I think those things are good.

I've seen young men do that, do that right. I've also seen some of them do it wrong. I watched a fellow that I know earn just about all his merit badges in about two days so he could become an Eagle Scout. Somehow, I think he cheated the process. But we know what a merit badge is, right? It's a project. We work hard there. We earn it. But if we are seeing our religious inheritance as some kind of a merit badge that helps us in salvation, we must see otherwise. We must. John MacArthur calls these things, and I'm quoting, "Religious credits that do not impress God." Religious credits that do not impress God.

Now, let me give you my opinion here, and then we're going to close. Concerning religious pride and religious activities, these are some of the hardest things to get people to get past, to come to faith in Christ. Let me say that again. The hardest things for people to get over and past and around and die to can be religious pride that comes from religious heritage, religious accomplishments, religious things and works that have been bestowed upon them, all of these things. And this is what you hear. I've got to be a Christian. I've done these things. I've got to know God. I've got to... I've done these things.

I know I'm safe because I've done all this. My parents this. It's the same thing. Now, I said earlier that this would be a part one and a part two. Next week in our part two, we will divide the last part of verse five and verse six and we will look at Paul's religious achievements more. But as I close, I want to make sure that we understand what Paul was doing here. He was offering an argument up against the Judaizers and their teaching for the benefit of the Philippian believers. And at the heart of this argument up against the teaching of the Judaizers was Paul and his kind of boastful, but not boastful example.

He had lived a type of religious works based salvation and he had come up empty and he had done it better than all of them. So what better example could be given? Now, as I close, I want to ask and answer a question. Why should we take our time here? Why shouldn't we just cover these verses quickly? Faster. Move on through. We should take our time here because it is within men and men to trust in religion, religious heritage and religious works for some kind of a right standing with God. It just comes natural with sinful men. Paul could have easily called out these dogs in verse two.

He could have easily pointed out their error and explained true worship in verses two and three and moved on. But he understood just how important this was and is. To emphasize how men and man are saved. This was important to him. He was working hard and taking his time to emphasize to these Ephesians, to these Philippian believers that salvation is by grace through faith, not works. Now the title of the message. Paul's example against the Judaizers. I close by giving you what MacArthur's title is again. He calls this teaching giving up game. Paul gave up all his religious inheritance and accomplishments.

He gave up his life because salvation cost. It always does.