Ramesh C. Reddy
Editor in Chief
Hi everyone :)
May the Lord Jesus bless you and may you know the excitement of being reformed by the Lord! Amen!
Quiet Times (Psalm 128:1-2 and Philippians 3:1-11)
“Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.” (Psalm 128:1-2, NIV)
“Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh-- though I myself have reasons for such confidence.” (Philippians 3:1-4)
I decided to make a list of what Paul was asking the Philippians to do:
1. Rejoice in the Lord!
2. Watch out for those dogs.
3. Watch out for those men who do evil.
4. Watch out for those mutilators of the flesh.
I found it so awesome that Paul is able to talk about rejoicing in the Lord amidst what he is going through and does not mind to keep reminding them of the same things for their spiritual well being . This shows me Paul’s relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ evidenced by his own actions. What is more exciting is that he wants the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord and turn to the Lord no matter what is happening.
Even as he writes to them to rejoice in the Lord, he exhorts them with 3 interesting “Watch Outs”
I asked myself why Paul would say to watch out for those dogs:
In the context of the passage, he is definitely not talking about domestic animals. Yet, he uses dogs in his language. What came to my mind is the sign “Beware of the dog/s” that people have near their houses
Why would they have that sign?
It is because the dogs can attack people if they see them. Once they attack, they can severely injure the victim. It is possible that the victim can die too because of the attack of the dog. The victim can be severely mutilated too because of the attack.
When I thought about Paul’s warning in that context, it occurred to me that Paul is warning the Philippians of those people who would attack them with all kinds of heretical and dangerous theology that is not even Scriptural. If they put themselves in that position, it is very well possible that they could be severely injured spiritually to the point of spiritual death. Paul wants them to be very cautious if he is going to use a metaphor like that. Attacking a person spiritually can be evil if it is done in a manipulative and heretical way.
Paul addresses the fact that there are those men that do evil. I believe the evil lies in the theology that they try to get across to the people. Paul wants them to be aware of that to the point that he mentions there are those that are mutilators of the flesh.
I thought to myself what does Paul mean by mutilators of the flesh?
What came to my mind is circumcision. It appears Paul is telling the Philippians to beware of those who are putting an emphasis on physical circumcision to be right with God. I thought about that because in the next verses Paul writes to the Philippians:
“For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh-- though I myself have reasons for such confidence.” (Philippians 3:3-4)
Paul is letting the Philippians know that they are the true circumcision, not because they have a physical circumcision but because of a Spiritual circumcision in their lives. He gives them evidence to know how they are the circumcision regardless of what others were proclaiming by stating 3 important points:
What came to my mind is that it does not matter whether someone is physically circumcised to be right with God but spiritually circumcised. Paul wanted the Philippians to beware of those who were putting all the emphasis on law over grace. Paul does not want the emphasis to be on what human beings can do to save themselves.
Some try to save themselves by worshiping God but I feel Paul is saying that will not be enough to save them too if the worship is not by the Spirit of God. It won’t matter how many times people worship if there worship is not done with the Spirit of God residing in them. For that to happen, Paul reminds them that it is those who glory in Christ.
What came to my mind is those who live for Christ and have their excitement in Christ. It is those who put their emphasis on Jesus to help them in their walk of life and not being confident of what they accomplish in the flesh.
To make his point, Paul uses himself as an example:
“If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put 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; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.” (Philippians 3:5-6)
He lets the Philippians know that he had all these things going in his favor but none of them were enough to save him:
Why was none of that enough for Paul?
Because everything above had to do with what Paul did and who he was in his flesh. He knew that was not going to save him. Yet, it is in this direction that Paul feels that there are those people that will try to lead the Philippians astray. He wants them to be careful and points them to Christ over their flesh. This is evidenced by the next verses I learned about:
”But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, 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 is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:7-11)
The answer is Jesus Christ for Paul:
I saw important implications for my own life. As I studied these verses what came to my mind is it does not matter if I worship daily, if I am part of a Christian family, if I know the Bible from front to back, and how much zeal I have to put other people’s beliefs down, etc if I do not KNOW JESUS CHRIST personally.
All these things may make people look pious and religious but it will not save them apart from knowing Jesus Christ, gaining Jesus Christ, being found in Jesus Christ, and most of all having a righteousness that does not come from the law but through faith in Jesus Christ that comes from God.
God is endorsing Jesus Christ for our Salvation. This is the only way we can be saved!
I saw Paul emphasizing reformation to the Philippians. However, people thought about being saved then through circumcision, the law, etc was not going to save them now. Doing things in the flesh was not going to save them and they needed to reform their beliefs and understand that Salvation comes through grace by faith in Jesus Christ and not by their own works.
I ask you now dear friends, what is reformation to you?
Dear friends, as I looked at these verses the past two days I was really excited because of everything I was learning. It is especially exciting to know that even though Paul was in prison, he was still emphasizing Salvation through faith in Christ Jesus to the Philippians over the theology of works that could be attacked upon them.
Friend, my Salvation in Christ is based upon the gift of grace I have received from Jesus. It is a free gift offered to me by Jesus Christ so I can be set free from the power of sin and death. All I have to do is receive Jesus into my life and make Him the Lord of my life.
“For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.” (Romans 6:23)
When I acknowledge Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior letting Him know what a sinner I have been, confess and repent of my sins to the Lord and turn to Him for His cleansing blood to cleanse me of all my unrighteousness, I have received the free gift of Salvation through faith that Jesus Christ offers.
I am saved to the bone not because of any works I have done but because of what Jesus Christ already did on the cross. It is Christ Alone that saves me and nothing I have done or do can save me apart from Christ.
That does not mean that I go on living my life in a hedonistic way because once I come to Christ and receive His forgiveness, He sends His Holy Spirit to reside in me. As I yield to Christ, He will work in me and through me. Now the good works that come out of me will be seen as good from the Lord because I am not doing it in my own flesh but the Spirit of God working in me and through me. It is grace that saves me and the works reveal to others that I am saved. The works are a fruit of my Salvation rather than working to attain Salvation.
This does not mean I will never sin if I yield to my own flesh.
For the Word says, "Live by the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh."
I hope your concept of being saved is not based on how many times you go to worship the Lord, how many times you pray, how many times you read the Bible, how many times you take Communion, and if your family is a Christian, etc.
None of that can save us and reform us to be what Christ wants us to be if Jesus Alone is not the reason for our Salvation. None of what we do can give me brownie points apart from Jesus Christ being my Ace!
Studying this passage made me think of the 5 A's of the Reformation:
May we all reform our own thinking on how to be saved by remembering that Scripture alone, Grace alone, Christ alone, Faith alone, and all done to the Glory to God alone WILL save us!
Realize Everyday, For Our Redemption Multiple Alone’s Truly Impart Omnipotent Nurture! (R.E.F.O.R.M.A.T.I.O.N)
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, I want to thank you for dying for my sins and coming back to life to save me as you love me so much. Your love is what has imparted to us your free gift of grace to be saved. Lord Jesus, you alone can save us and not anything we do or others do for us will save us. So Lord help us to always seek you and know apart from your grace alone that comes through faith alone in you is the only way we can be saved according to your Scripture alone to the Glory of God, your Heavenly Father. No matter what we do whether it is worshipping you, praying to you, reading your Word, taking communion, etc let it be because we love you and are excited to fellowship with you and remember what you have done for us. May they not be for the sole reason of being saved because we cannot save ourselves by anything we do but only by your grace! So we thank you for your grace to help us win the race for you are our ultimate Ace! Jesus, as we give our life to you, we ask you to fill us with your Holy Spirit and guide us so that the good works we do will be the fruit of our relationship with you. They will know we are yours by our fruit. Help us Lord. Thank you for your cleansing blood that cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Thank you for saving us as we turn to you for you give us a promise in Scripture alone saying, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” I claim this promise from Acts 4:12. Help us to live for you and serve you Lord. Thank you for hearing us and answering our prayers. Thank you for all that I have learned from your Word. Help me to put it to practice. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
Love in Christ,
Ramesh
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