In verse 1 Paul says, “Let me repeat myself.” And then in verse 2 he adds, “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.” As I said in our last lesson, by “dogs” he isn’t talking about the expense and problems of family pets. He is speaking of immoral and impure sinners who poison the people around them. There shouldn’t be any confusion about “evil workers” – they are people who are outwardly wicked. And by “concision” Paul refers primarily Jews, and Judaisers, who demand physical circumcision. Then to clarify the last clause, he adds, “For WE are the circumcision” – WE are the TRUE circumcision. We “worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” When it comes to salvation, we have absolutely no confidence in the flesh.
When Paul made that last statement, it was as if he was poking a stick in the ground. Without really intending to do so, he broke through into an aquifer of practical theology. Like Moses, he struck a rock and out poured a raging river of fresh water. Or like Jed Clampett, he was out shooting food, and up through the ground come a bubbling crude – oil, that is. Paul touched a nerve in his own soul which led to a few painful, but important thoughts, on the Gospel and the Christian life.
Getting side-tracked for a moment, it might make for an interesting examination of ourselves: What subjects, casually mentioned in passing, get you all excited? Is it some conspiracy? Does a mention of Donald Trump or Joel Biden create an instant tirade. Is it the mention of some football team? Maybe it is something good like your grandchildren. Maybe it is your businesses or your current medical situation. Like touching that deeply buried sliver, “pow” your mind instantly returns to your finger. Paul says, “Confidence in the flesh, confidence in the flesh, Let me tell you about confidence in the flesh.”
There is a problem which every preacher exposes from time to time. Far too often we use ourselves as illustrations. It is probably better than using our wives, but still…. Sometimes Paul sounds just a bit egotistical, talking about HIS experiences and HIS delights. But in his case there isn’t the slightest bit of pride in his testimony. In fact, it is just the opposite. He talks about sin in himself – it makes a good point of reference; a place to begin. And the Apostle had more right to begin there than anyone else – being led by the Spirit to do so. But there are times when even you and I can use ourselves as examples – good or bad. Paul had a well-designed and planned-out life, when he was struck by God on the Road to Damascus. There was a spiritual revolution which turned his life upside down. The things he loved, he discovered at that time, were poisoning him. The things which he had hated to that point in his life were the most important things in the universe. Even though many have come close, no one has been more radically converted than Paul. Perhaps not as dramatically, like him we need to see the need to forsake our self-confidence. If we want a Christianity as fervent as Paul’s, we need to be reminded of what our true treasures are.
Consider some of the kinds of TREASURES that are WORTHLESS.
When Paul speaks about “flesh,” he is referring to things which are quite different from the nature of God. The “flesh” is the antithesis of the “spirit.” The flesh refers to “self” – body, affections, emotions, thoughts and self-will. I won’t say that the flesh is worthless before God, but it is certainly secondary to something else. And there is nothing fleshly in which we can boast before the Lord. “The world, the flesh, and the devil” are the Christian’s three greatest enemies.
Paul says, “I am a Jew, circumcised on the eighth day.” This was a privilege confined only to those of PURE Jewish blood. Jewish proselytes might have been circumcised in later life, but only one of the “stock of Israel” would be circumcised on the eighth day of his life.
I can visualize Paul’s family, living so many miles from their homeland – and from the temple. He grew up in the city of Tarsus, in what is now Turkey. Because of that, his family may have been even more meticulous than home-bound Jews to preserve every shred of their fleshly religion, because of the competition from the culture that surrounded them. I have noticed that English and Canadian citizens, tend to be more “anglo” while in other countries than they are back home. It was certainly true of my family once we moved to the United States. My dad started joining every Canadian and British organization that was available to him. And its probably true of some Americans when they live overseas. Paul was an “Hebrew of the Hebrews,” probably hinting at his intense chauvinism. But also refers to fact that on both sides of his family there been a careful attention to racial purity. And Paul may have spoken a purer form of the Hebrew language than his Judean cousins. He was a member of the tribe of Benjamin and was named after that tribe’s most famous ancestor. “BUT – what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.”
After implying that his racial heritage was merely fleshly baggage, he moved on to his religious character. He had been raised as a Pharisee, the straitest or strictest of the various sects of the Jews. His group were the champions of the law. It was from their branch of Judaism that the lawyers and the scribes of the law came. They had divided and subdivided the law until it was 20-times more complicated than it been intended. Or maybe I should say it became 20-times more diluted and useless than God intended.
Growing out of that Pharisaism was Paul’s zeal for persecuting the true people of God. For a time he was “breathing out threatenings and slaughter” against the followers of Christ – Christians. And then as touching the righteousness of the law, he proclaimed himself blameless. When it came to the minute subdivisions of the originally perfect law of God, Paul dotted all his “I”s and crossed all his “T”s. He tithed on whatever mint, anize and cummin that came into his hands – probably salt and pepper as well. He baptized his arms before every meal, and never ate a warm meal on the Sabbath. He was the quintessence of Judaism – the perfect example of a child of Abraham. Among his peers he was peerless. He was praised and promoted for his religious professionalism. He felt that every item he listed was another piece of armor protecting him against all his opponents. But – even though these things were religious and in some cases not even bad, they were all of the flesh. “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” when I met Him on the day He saved me.
Are there any modern Baptist parallels to these things? There are dozens. What about membership in a church which is one of the pillars and grounds of the truth? How about attendance in one of the Lord’s churches since the days before our birth? In a very fleshly manner we can become as judicial and forensic about our religion as any ten Pharisees. “If you don’t agree with me in these 29 points then you are not a Baptist, and probably not even saved.” I am, as touching the ordinances blameless. My baptism was performed by John the Baptist, in the Jordan river on the Day of Atonement. My pastor baptized me in a river – not a baptistry, or even a lake. The water was so cold when I was baptized I got pneumonia and nearly died. And if you didn’t come close to death when you are buried, then you probably didn’t really get baptized. These are the things that make me a better Christian than you, if indeed you are a Christian at all. Oh, is that so?
Notice Paul’s journey of discovery – he came to see the WORTHLESSNESS of such things.
But be careful not to take Paul’s words beyond their intention. Some of the things which had been gain to him, really were, in many ways, better than their opposites. It was far better to be a Pharisee than to be a Galatian barbarian or a Roman idolater – a Sadducee. It is better to be blameless in the sight of the law than to fill our bodies with venereal disease or dope. But these gains were actually losses and disadvantages in that they mislead Paul before the Lord saved him.
As a child, my family visited the Black Hills of South Dakota several times. When you live in Omaha, Nebraska, you have to drive to a different state to find a mountain or natural tree. I remember one South Dakota mountain which seemed to my childish mind to be covered with gold. Every rock, and every handful of dirt sparkled with color when the light hit it. But it was the color of pyrite, something which called “fools gold.” A thousand tons of that stuff is absolutely worthless. And so was all the childish gain that Paul had just been describing.
But what changed his opinion about this stuff? First, he says in verse 7 – “Christ” – “But what thing were gain to me, those I counted loss for CHRIST.” And then he enlarges on the point. All these previous blessings became nothing to me, “for the excellency of the KNOWLEDGE of Christ Jesus my Lord.” In its simplest form, what changed Paul’s opinion about these things which had been gain to him was his revolutionizing conversion. But THAT just started a journey which was still unfinished. “I am still learning about my Saviour, and the more I know, the more useless the things of flesh are being proven to be.”
It is important to understand that Paul’s growing knowledge of Christ was not something intellectual. Biblical knowledge can be as much a thing of the flesh as baptism or circumcision. Paul was talking about experiential knowledge – given through the ministry of the Spirit. His was slightly different than ours, but it came through church attendance and Bible study. It came through hearing the Bible taught and preached. It was purified by prayer and fasting. It was as much a gift of grace as salvation itself. But it came later, and it was something which Paul later yearned for. Like a glass filled with mud, the pure water of Spirit is given only when the mud of the flesh is dumped out. And as more of the pure is poured in, there is more of a desire to get rid of the mud. It is impossible to have either a complete emptying or a complete filling. But hopefully there will be a constantly growing possession of our souls by the Lord. Hopefully there will be a continual desire for less flesh and more of the Spirit. And where there is a heart filled with love to Christ, there is no sense of “loss” – only of “exceeding gain.” Why should we feel any pain casting away old rotten clothes, when we are given beautiful, new garments?
So Paul expresses a CONTINUOUS JOURNEY of DISCOVERY.
How many of us have had the kind of conversion that Paul has had? How many of us have heard the voice of God speaking out of Heaven? How many have been blinded by light from Heaven above the brightness of the noon-day sun? How many of us have been completely turned inside out by the power of the Holy Spirit?
Very few have even come close to the conversion experience of Paul. So, even though we have been convicted of our self-righteousness, and self in general… We don’t have the same history to look back on, reminding us of our former selves. And perhaps, as a result we have more of a tendency to return to the flesh than Paul might have had. It is very difficult to keep away from building our own blamelessness once again. We must constantly keep throwing down all our imaginations and high thoughts of ourselves.
Perhaps we can call our worst days of drug abuse, false religion, immorality, and greed – “dung.” But we have to learn to call ANYTHING fleshly and spirit-quenching “dung” as well. And how do we accomplish that? By striving for more of Christ in our hearts and lives. And by taking the pains to give earnest heed to the initial, revolutionary estimate that we had of ourselves in the hour in which we first believed and were converted to Christ. By listening when our brethren quietly tell us that they see some sin or fleshliness creeping into our life. It is a good exchange when we “count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.” It was not only a good thing, it was an exciting thing that set Paul’s heart pounding and increased his pulse.
But for us – does it even raise and eyebrow? As I say, it is a good exchange when we “count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.” Where in your list of spiritual and intellectual objectives is more knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord?