The Beginning of Paul's Flesh Accomplishments Philippians 3:5

To demonstrate for the Philippians the failure of the flesh to accomplish a relationship with God, Paul the apostle uses himself as an example. In chapter three and verse four of Philippians Paul began to tell the church members if anyone could have obtained this relationship through the flesh it would have been him, and in verse five of the same chapter Paul begins to list the reasons why where he wrote:

Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

The verse begins, “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,...” Paul earlier wrote of “the concision” which was an effort by the Jewish Christians to have all gentiles circumcised in their flesh in order to be true Christians, so Paul begins his list with “Circumcised the eighth day”. Every Jewish boy was to be circumcised on the eighth day of his life, and Paul was no exception as he was circumcised on the eighth day and not at a later time. In addition Paul lists that he was “of the stock of Israel” which was the originating Nation through whom God would share His salvation with the world. Paul was a Jew, and he was of the “tribe of Benjamin” which although it was one of the smaller tribes, it was a powerful tribe which produced the first king of Israel – Saul.

The verse goes on to say, “an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;” Paul was known to be a “Hebrew of the Hebrews” which meant he was born of Hebrew parents and excelled all other contemporary Hebrews of his day, and when it came to the law he was “a Pharisee” which was the most strict sect of those who followed the law. Paul let it be known that he was the best of the best of the best in all the areas of his life.

As we go through Paul's list of fleshly accomplishments, we may want to take a quick look at our own. Are we of “pure Jewish blood”? Do we follow “legal preciseness and high status as such”? Are we as zealous for the law and the scriptures as he was? Perhaps as we think about these things we will be inspired more and more to realize that it was God's spirit that gave us opportunity for salvation, and it is His spirit that keeps us in a relationship with Him. The flesh is weak and cannot provide an adequate righteousness to be in a relationship with God. Rather than us reaching out to God through the flesh, let us understand that it was God's Spirit who reached out to us no matter how great the list of our accomplishments may be.

Next time we see Paul give the Philippians more words of wisdom about the flesh, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow...there is more...

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