Philippians 3:1

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh... But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord... that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

The greatest enemy of joy in Christ is not suffering — it is religion.

A Young Man's Sacrifice

He had been talking for probably thirty minutes, and I don't think I said ten words the whole time. He kept going on and on about all the big things he had to give up, all the things he had to sacrifice to become a follower of Jesus and go to Bible college. At nineteen or twenty years old, all those things seemed really big to him. But as I listened, I kept thinking, "Okay, and?"

I could tell there was a part of him that almost expected I would be impressed. And not only that — there seemed to be an expectation that God should be impressed by all he had given up. As he spoke, I kept thinking about the passage we're going to look at today, Philippians chapter three.

The Letter of Joy

This section is one of the reasons I can say with certainty that Philippians is my favorite book in the New Testament, if not in all of Scripture. Paul begins with "finally, my brethren," which is either the start of a very long conclusion or — more accurately — a transition. He's moving on to another section of what he's been saying.

And what he transitions to is very important: "rejoice." That word has already been used several times — eight times total in this small letter. That's why many people have called Philippians the letter of joy. Paul talks about rejoicing, joy, contentment, and peace, all the things that build up to joy and happiness. We want to live the life Jesus spoke of: "The thief has come to steal, to kill and to destroy, but I have come that you might have life, and that you may have it more abundantly." We want to experience fullness of joy in Christ.

Joy Under Pressure

Here Paul commands rejoicing. The word "rejoice" is in the imperative in the Greek — he's commanding it. And the contexts in which he uses it are striking.

He used it first in Philippians 1:18. There, people had come into the church preaching the gospel out of selfish ambition and greed, even working to make Paul's ministry more difficult and destroy what God had done through him. What would your response be to people actively trying to destroy your life's work? Mine would probably be negative. But Paul says, "Whether in pretense or truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice."

He uses it again three times in Philippians 2:16-18: "I may rejoice... I am glad and rejoice with you all... you also be glad and rejoice with me." When Paul wrote this, he was in prison in Rome, facing trial for crimes he hadn't committed, and ultimately facing execution. In the midst of that he says, "If I am being poured out as a drink offering, I rejoice, and you should rejoice too." How would you respond in that situation? If you're anything like me, it would be more like complaint and dispute. But Paul says, rejoice.

Sometimes It Is Necessary to Command Joy

That brings us to our first point: sometimes it is necessary to command joy. Paul does it two more times in this letter. In Philippians 4:4 he writes, again in the imperative, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice."

Honestly, to command someone in difficult circumstances to be glad is almost like commanding a soldier running into combat not to be afraid. It seems futile. If it were simply "Be glad in the worst circumstance of your life," you'd say that's the worst advice you've ever heard. But Paul doesn't stop at "rejoice." He says, "rejoice in the Lord."

While it's true that not every situation we experience is joy-producing, it is also true that we will never face a situation in which we cannot rejoice in the Lord. It has to do with where your joy is seated. There's no joy in a terminal diagnosis. There's no joy in news that you'll lose your job. But there is always the reality of joy in the Lord — which causes us to step back from the circumstance and refocus.

Safeguarding Your Faith

That's why Paul says at the end of verse one, "I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith." From years of counseling people through pressing situations, I know that circumstances can come against our faith in such a way that we find ourselves questioning whether we believe. Paul says, "I'm telling you this to safeguard your faith. Find your joy in the eternal circumstances of heaven, not the present circumstances of life."

Turn to Colossians 3, same author, same circumstance — written from prison in Rome. "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."

Whatever earthly situation you face, set your mind on things above. Setting your mind on the things of this earth is rather discouraging. But when you set your mind on things above, you begin to understand that when Christ returns, we shall return with Him in glory. As Paul writes elsewhere, "The sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." Jesus told His disciples on the night He was betrayed, "Let not your heart be troubled... I go to prepare a place for you... I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

Beware of Joy Killers

Verse two: "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation." Our second point: beware of joy killers. These three terms all point to the same group of people.

When Paul says "beware of dogs," he isn't reading a sign on a fence. Some insight comes from Jesus' teaching in Matthew 7: "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine." And in verse 15: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves."

Paul taught the same thing. In Acts 20, saying farewell to the Ephesian elders, he warns, "After my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch." That word "watch" is the same Greek word translated "beware" in Philippians 3. For three years Paul warned them night and day with tears.

Evil Workers and the Mutilation

"Beware of evil workers." These false teachers were engaged in the work of destroying, through false teaching, the righteous works of the saints. Typically they seduce those who are not well grounded, those immature in the Scriptures. That's why, in Ephesians 4, Paul says the work of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers is to equip the saints, "that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting."

"Beware of the mutilation." This sharp, sarcastic word identifies exactly who these people are: Jewish false teachers coming from the circumcision. When God called Abraham, the sign of the covenant was circumcision (Genesis 17). The people of Paul's day boasted in being descendants of Abraham, showing it in their circumcision. As the gospel reached the Gentiles, a group of false-teaching Jews followed Paul's ministry, and when he left they'd come in and say, "We know you believe Jesus is the Messiah, but now you also need to be circumcised — you're not really saved until you do this." Paul wrote the whole letter to the Galatians dealing with this. Because they boasted that they were more righteous than other Christians by this religious act done upon them, Paul calls them "the mutilation" — pun intended.

The Burden of Religious Righteousness

So what is a joy killer? Anyone or anything that would bring you under the burden of a religious righteousness — that you're not righteous until you're baptized in this church, until you partake of communion in this way, until you have membership in this body.

This has been happening ever since the church started. We constantly establish "us and them" positions and create superiority based on religious things and traditions. Even in a church like ours, which I call traditionally non-traditional, we grab hold of traditions and think this is the right way to do it. You don't realize you have it until you visit another church and think, "They're doing it wrong." Or we change something here and get a stack of comment cards saying, "Pastor, that's not the way we do it." It's so easy to fall into this, so Paul says, beware.

We Are the Circumcision

The church at Philippi was almost entirely Gentile — no synagogue, no Jews in the city when it was founded (Acts 16). Yet Paul tells these Gentile believers, "We are the circumcision." Why? Verse three gives three things: we "worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."

To worship God in spirit: In John 4, a Samaritan woman asks Jesus who worships in the right place — the Jews in Jerusalem or the Samaritans on Mount Gerizim. We're still asking that question: is it the Baptists, the Pentecostals, the Presbyterians who do it right? Jesus answered, "The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." The word "worship" here speaks of devotional service, not just singing songs. It doesn't have to happen at a specific temple in a prescribed way. It looks like Romans 12:1 — presenting your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

Jesus, the Source of Enduring Joy

We "rejoice in Christ Jesus." We find our joy not in religious efforts or rituals but in the finished work of Jesus — our right standing before God based on what He did on the cross, not on what we have done. That's our third point: Jesus is the source of expanding and enduring joy. You will never find joy that grows and lasts apart from Him.

And we "have no confidence in the flesh" — not less confidence, but absolutely zero. No trust, no boast that we have done anything to make ourselves right before a holy God. As Isaiah said 2,800 years ago, all our righteousness is as filthy rags. It's Jesus plus nothing. The false teachers said, "Keep that Jesus thing, but you also need circumcision, baptism in this way, the Eucharist in this fashion." Paul says no — we have no confidence in the flesh.

Paul's Credentials

Then Paul says in verse four, "Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If anyone thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so." You want a contest of the flesh? Let's have one. He lists his credentials: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin — an unspoiled line — a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee, the strictest religious sect; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness in the law, blameless. If you examined the life of Saul of Tarsus by the law, you'd find nothing out of order.

Our fourth point: religion can be very seductive. That's why 98% of the world is religious — out of 7.3 billion people, the vast majority are Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, or even pagan; we're back where we were 2,000 years ago. We love things we can measure ourselves by. Paul boasted in three things: his forefathers, his foreskin, and his flesh.

Counting It All as Loss

But look at verse seven: "What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ... that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings."

On the road to Damascus, Paul met the risen Christ, and everything he had esteemed and valued suddenly became meaningless. Now don't misunderstand — prayer, service, giving, and devotion are not bad things. But those don't make you righteous. They're things righteous people do, and they do them out of reverence and worship for what Jesus has done for them. People who are righteous are righteous because of what Jesus did.

Lose Your Religion

So there I was with that young man, and finally, when he stopped talking, I said, "You apparently gave up a lot to follow Jesus — your snowboarding career and all of that. But in light of what you've gained, what have you actually lost?"

We all need to come to that point where we recognize that all the things we thought were so great are nothing in light of Him. So our fifth point: to lay hold of joy in Christ, you must lose your religion. Religion says, "I have a right standing with God because of all the things I have done for Him." For years evangelical Christians have said, "I don't have a religion; I have a relationship." What does that mean? It means I have a right standing before God not because of what I've done, but because of what Jesus has done for me — in fact, in spite of what I've done — and He has made me a child of God.

Closing Prayer

Father, would You direct our time now as we worship You. Direct our minds and our hearts toward You as we remember Your body and Your blood shed for us. In Jesus' name, Amen.