After exhorting and
encouraging the Philippian church members to “rejoice in the
Lord”, Paul the apostle begins a series of warnings to them. In
chapter three and verse two of the letter addressed to Philippians he
told them of what to beware. We read:
Beware of dogs, beware
of evil workers, beware of the concision.
The verse begins, “Beware
of dogs,...” The first area of
warning was to “beware”
which means “to see, discern, of the bodily eye, to perceive
by the senses, to feel, to discover by use, or to know by experience”
“of dogs”. “Dogs” was a metaphor for “a man
of impure mind or an impudent man”. Not everyone who roamed the
streets of Philippi were of pure and noble minds. Like the rabid and
vicious dogs that roamed the streets in those days, these evil minded
people would go about with impure motives and attempt to take
advantage or deceive. The church members at Philippi were to “beware”
of them.
The verse goes on to say, “beware of evil workers,...” The
second group of whom Paul gives warning to “beware” are
the “evil workers”. These were people who were “of a
bad nature, not such as it ought to be, base, wrong, wicked,
troublesome, injurious, pernicious, destructive, or baneful”.
Although there may have been a desire for all to be righteous in
their behavior and attitudes, not everyone was, and the Philippians
were to “beware” of those who perpetrated these wicked
works.
The
verse continues, “beware of the concision...” The
final group of which the Philippians were to “beware”
was those “of the concision”.
“Concision” is “to
cut up or mutilation”. The idea here was to “beware”
of those who were promoting “circumcision” as a subsequent act to
receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Judaizers were promoting
the Jewish practice of “circumcision” among those who were
becoming Christians, and Paul considered this group of people
“mutilators” who were not aware of or disavowed what he taught
the Romans in the second chapter and twenty-ninth verse in the letter
to them:
The
church members of Philippi were to “beware” of those who
promoted “concision”.
As
we ponder Paul's three areas of warning to the Philippian church,
perhaps we have thought of those who go about with impure and
impudent minds. Maybe we thought of “evil workers” who
seem to prey upon those around them and enjoy wicked and troublesome
behavior. It might be that those who promote “traditional religion”
that includes or excludes participants based upon certain acts that
go beyond belief and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. In any of
these cases, the main point we should remember is that we are to
“beware” as
Christians. There are “dogs”
in this world, and there are “evil workers”
and those who promote ideas like “concision”
as well. Our prayer must be to ask the Lord to help us to be as He
would have us be in the world, and help us to “beware”
of those who would come against His way.
Next
time we
see Paul give the Philippians warnings,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
