Happy and You Know It 7 | Losing My Religion

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, though I also might have confidence in the flesh... circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence 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 conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

What have you really lost in light of what you've gained in Christ?

An Unimpressive Sacrifice

It was one of those almost surreal situations where you sense you're expected to feel bad, but you don't. A young man had been talking to me for probably thirty minutes — I don't think I said ten words — going on and on about all the really big things he had to give up and sacrifice to become a follower of Jesus and go to Bible college. At nineteen or twenty those things seemed enormous to him.

I could tell there was a part of him that expected me to be impressed by his sacrifice. More than that, there seemed to be an expectation that God should be impressed by all he had given up to follow the Lord. As he talked, I kept thinking about the passage we're looking at today, Philippians chapter 3.

A 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, "Finally, my brethren." That could be the start of a very long conclusion or the end of a long introduction, but I think it's really just a transition. Paul is moving on to another important section.

And the word he transitions to is rejoice. Paul uses that word eight times in this small letter, which is why many people have called Philippians "the letter of joy." He speaks of joy, contentment, peace, and all the things that build up to happiness. That's the life Jesus spoke of in John 10: "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." And in John 15, "that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." We want fullness of joy in Christ — to be happy and know it.

Rejoicing in Impossible Circumstances

Here Paul commands rejoicing; the word is in the imperative. Notice the contexts where he has already used it. In Philippians 1:18, Paul speaks of people preaching the gospel out of selfish ambition, even trying to make his ministry more difficult and destroy his life's work. What would your response be? Mine would probably be negative. But Paul says, "Whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice."

Then in Philippians 2:16-18 he uses it three times — "I may rejoice... I am glad and rejoice with you all... you also be glad and rejoice with me." Remember, Paul wrote this from a prison in Rome, facing trial for crimes he did not commit 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 his situation? If you're anything like me, it would be more like complaint and dispute. Yet Paul says rejoice.

Sometimes Joy Must Be Commanded

That's our first point: sometimes it is necessary to command joy. Paul does it again in Philippians 4:4 — "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" Honestly, to command someone in difficult circumstances to be glad seems almost as futile as commanding a soldier running into combat, "Don't be afraid." But Paul doesn't simply say "rejoice." He says, "Rejoice in the Lord."

While it is true that not every situation we face 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. When the diagnosis is terminal, there's no joy in that circumstance. When the boss says you won't have a job next week, there's no joy in that moment. But there is the reality of joy in the Lord. That's why Paul says, in the New Living Translation, "I never get tired of telling you these things... I do it to safeguard your faith." Pressing situations can come against our faith until we find ourselves questioning what we believe.

Set Your Mind on Things Above

Turn to Colossians 3, written by the same author in the same circumstance: "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."

Setting your mind on the things of this earth is discouraging. But set it on things above, and you begin to understand that when Christ returns, we shall return with Him in glory. Every orthodox Christian for two thousand years has believed that the same Jesus who died, rose, and ascended will return — and His people will come with Him in glory. If that's not joy-producing in the midst of any circumstance, I don't know what is. As Paul wrote elsewhere, "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Jesus told His troubled disciples the same thing in John 14: "Let not your heart be troubled... In My Father's house are many mansions... I will come again and receive you to Myself."

Beware of Joy Killers

Verse 2: "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation." That's our second point: beware of joy killers. All three phrases point to the same group.

"Beware of dogs" is not a sign on a fence. Jesus uses the image in Matthew 7:6 — "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine." And in Matthew 7:15 — "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves." Paul says the same in Acts 20:29-31, warning the Ephesian elders, "After my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock... Therefore watch." The word translated "beware" there is the same word used here in Philippians 3.

"Beware of evil workers" — these false teachers were engaged in the work of destroying the righteous works of the saints through false teaching, typically seducing those who were immature and not well grounded. That's why, in Ephesians 4:11-14, the leaders of the church are to equip the saints so that we are "no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine."

The Mutilation

"Beware of the mutilation" identifies exactly who these dogs are. It's a sharp, sarcastic word for Jewish false teachers who came from "the circumcision." When God established His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17, the sign was circumcision. Thousands of years later, the people of Paul's day boasted in their position as Abraham's descendants and showed it in their circumcision.

As the gospel spread to Gentiles, a group of false-teaching Jewish individuals would follow Paul's ministry, and after he left would come in and say, "We know you believe in Jesus, but now you also need to be circumcised, or you're not really saved." Paul had to write the entire letter to the Galatians to address this. Paul himself was Jewish, but because these men boasted that they were more righteous than other Christians by a religious act done to them, he calls them "the mutilation" — pun intended.

A joy killer, then, is anyone or anything that brings you under the burden of a religious righteousness: you're not righteous until you're baptized in this way, take communion in this way, or have membership in this body. This has happened in churches since the church began. We constantly establish "us and them" positions and a sense of superiority based on traditions. Even in a church like ours, which I call traditionally non-traditional, we grab hold of traditions without realizing it. When we change something, the comment cards come in — "Pastor, that's not the way we do it." We slip into thinking our way is the righteous way. Paul says, beware.

We Are the Circumcision

The Philippian church was almost entirely Gentile — Acts 16 records there was no synagogue in Philippi. Yet Paul tells them, "Stand strong in the grace of Christ, and don't let anyone seduce you into a religious relationship with God based on external membership or process."

Verse 3: "For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Three marks of those who are truly right before God.

To worship God in spirit: in John 4, a Samaritan woman asked Jesus who was worshiping the right way — Jews in Jerusalem or Samaritans on the mountain. We all want to know who's doing it right. Jesus answered that the day was coming when "the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth." The word here speaks of devotional service, not just singing songs — like Romans 12, "present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God."

To rejoice in Christ Jesus: we find our joy not in religious efforts or rituals but in the finished work of Jesus and our right standing before God based on what He did on the cross. 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 to have no confidence in the flesh: not less confidence — zero confidence. We have no boast that we have done anything to make ourselves right before a holy God. As Isaiah said, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. It's Jesus plus nothing. Yet, then and now, people come saying, "I know you've got that Jesus thing — that's good, keep it — but you also need this membership, this baptism, this Eucharist, or you're not really right."

Paul's Credentials Counted as Loss

Verse 4: "Though I also might have confidence in the flesh." If anyone wanted a contest of the flesh, Paul could win it. He lists his credentials: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a Pharisee of the strictest sect, zealous to the point of persecuting the church, and concerning the righteousness in the law, blameless. If you examined the life of Saul of Tarsus, you'd find nothing out of order with the law.

That brings us to our fourth point: religion can be seductive. Ninety-eight percent of the world's 7.3 billion people are religious. Religion is attractive because we love standards by which to measure ourselves. Paul boasted in three things: his forefathers, his foreskin, and his flesh. "I've got it going on, and if anyone thinks they can do better, I'm more so."

But verse 7: "What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord... and count them as 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, the righteousness which is from God by faith." On the road to Damascus, Paul met the risen Christ, and everything he esteemed became meaningless in light of Him.

Don't misunderstand — prayer, service, giving, and devotion are not bad things. But they don't make you righteous. They are the things righteous people do, because they have already been made righteous by what Jesus did, and so they serve out of reverence, worship, and joy.

Losing My Religion

So there I was in that conversation, and when the young man finally stopped talking, I said: "You apparently gave up a lot to follow Jesus — 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 everything we thought was so great is nothing in light of Him.

That's 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've done for Him." For many years evangelical Christians have said, "I don't have religion; I have a relationship." That means I have a right standing before God not because of anything I've done, but because of what Jesus has done — He has made me a child of God. I have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, in spite of what I've done.

So we come now to communion — the bread that reminds us of His body broken for us, and the cup that reminds us of His blood shed for us. Partaking of the bread and the cup does not make us right with God. We are right with God because of what Jesus did in giving His body and His blood, and we take these to remember Him.

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, in Jesus' name. Amen.