Paul reminds the Philippian Christians to “watch out.” Our question for today is: Watch out for whom?
[This discussion can be read aloud in 8 min.]
Philippians: Shine Like Stars – DAY 67
Family Discussions for the New Year
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DAY 67/MONDAY
Philippians 3:2
Watch Out for Whom?
“Further, my brothers and sisters, 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. 2Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by His Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh…”
Philippians 3:1-3 (NIV)
*Click here to read in the NIrV, ESV, CSB, & NLT.
Building Biblical Literacy
- Comprehension asks, “What does it say?”
- Interpretation asks, “What does it mean?”
- Application asks, “How should it change me?”
*Jen Wilkin, Women of the Word, p.87 (2014)
In our DAY 63 discussion, we said we would go through these three stages of good literacy-building here at the beginning of Philippians 3.
DAY 63 was about Comprehension.
In our DAY 64 discussion, we began Interpretation.
Today, we continue Interpretation, as we did on DAY 65 & DAY 66, always aiming to correctly handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
On DAY 66, we saw that being reminded could prepare & protect the Philippian church, but we were left with these questions:
- Reminded… of what?
- Prepared… for what?
- Protected… from what?
Look for the answers with me now.
Harsh words!
“Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3For it is we who are the circumcision…”
Philippians 3:2,3 (NIV)
Paul wants to remind the Philippian Christians to watch out for people he identifies as
- dogs,
- evildoers, &
- mutilators of the flesh.
| WARNING: Parental Discretion is advised. In the following section, I give what I consider to be a mild definition of circumcision, but some parents may feel the topic is still too sensitive for younger children. |
Who are these people?
Verse 3 points to these people having strong opinions about circumcision.
Circumcision is a surgical procedure in which a small piece of flesh is removed from a certain part of the body of a boy or man.
We have to go back to Genesis to see where, when, and how circumcision became important to worshipers of God.
Genesis 17 & the Circumcision Covenant
In Genesis 17, God speaks to Abram/Abraham about making a covenant with him & his descendants.
“This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised…”
Genesis 17:10-11,12 (NIV)
Another important word for us to define before we proceed is covenant.
“A covenant formally binds two parties together in a relationship, on the basis of mutual personal commitment, with consequences for keeping or breaking the commitment.”
The ESV Study Bible, p.65 (2008; 2016 text ed.)
With that definition in mind, let’s read the first 14 verses of Genesis 17.
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before Me faithfully and be blameless. 2Then I will make My covenant between Me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.’
3Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4‘As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.’
9Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you must keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant’.”
Genesis 17:1-14 (NIV)
There was a time when circumcision was right for all male worshipers of God, starting with the above covenant God made with Abraham. When Jesus came to earth as a baby born to a virgin, Mary, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose from the grave three days later, a new covenant began, one that did not require circumcision.
Old Covenant, New Covenant
The Book of Hebrews has a lot to say about the Old vs. the New Covenant. Read the following section from Ch. 8 with me.
“But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which He is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
7For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8But God found fault with the people and said:
‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord,
‘when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
9It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to My covenant,
and I turned away from them,’
declares the Lord.
10‘This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time,’ declares the Lord.
‘I will put My laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be My people.
11No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.’13By calling this covenant new, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”
Hebrews 8:6-13 (NIV)
Hebrews 9:15 tells us a little more about Christ & the New Covenant.
“For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”
Hebrews 9:15 (NIV)
The Old Covenant didn’t work because the people still had a sin problem. Through the New Covenant of Christ, however, all who put their faith in Him & His work can be freed from sin & inherit eternal life!
Unfortunately, in the early Christian church, a group of Jews wanted to mix the Old Covenant requirements into the New Covenant, particularly by forcing Gentile Christians to be circumcised. This is the group Paul warns the Philippian believers about in Philippians 3:2.
“Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3For it is we who are the circumcision…”
Philippians 3:2,3 (NIV)
We’ll use our Bible interpretation skill of cross-referencing again in the next post to learn more about this problem-causing group and what else Paul has to say about them, continuing to look for answers to our DAY 66 questions:
- Reminded… of what?
- Prepared… for what?
- Protected… from what?
DAY 67/MONDAY Prayer
Father God,
Thank You for Your Word.
We praise You for the New Covenant by which we can be freed from sin and saved from eternal death by grace through faith in Jesus Christ the Lord!
Now Your laws are in our minds & in our hearts. You are our God; we are Your people. We know You! Thank You for making this possible. And thank You that through Christ our wickedness is forgiven, and our sins are remembered no more.
In Jesus’ precious name we pray,
Amen.
DAY 67: In Philippians 3, Paul reminds his brothers- & sisters-in-Christ to "watch out."