Worship, Rejoice with No Flesh Confidence Philippians 3:3

Paul the apostle began to give warnings and instructions to the church members in Philippi in chapter three of his letter. He told them to “rejoice in the Lord”, and he warned them to “beware of dogs, evil workers and the concision”. In verse three of three of the same chapter Paul gives them the reasons why they should listen to his instructions. He wrote:

For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit,

and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

The verse begins, “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit,...” Since Paul was concerned with the Philippians conceding to those who would force or highly persuade them to be circumcised, “the concision”, he told the Philippian church members they “are the circumcision” which means “Christians separated from the unclean multitude and truly consecrated to God”. The fact that they received Jesus Christ into their lives made them “circumcised” in the spirit - “which worship God in the spirit”. The Philippians were Gentile believers whom the Judaizers were attempting to influence to be circumcised in the flesh, however, there was no need for this action as they were already circumcised in the spirit.

The verse goes on to say, “and rejoice in Christ Jesus,...” Because they were circumcised in the spirit and worship God in the same, there was cause to “rejoice in Christ Jesus”. Jesus provided access to salvation, separation and circumcision in the spirit by His sacrifice on the cross. Therein lies the cause to “glory” in Him for His wonderful substitution for us.

Finally the verse says, “and have no confidence in the flesh.” Because the Philippian church members were “circumcised in the spirit” and worshiped God in the spirit, they would “rejoice in Christ Jesus” and “have no confidence in the flesh” which means they would not trust in the flesh to help them in their relationship with God. The fleshly and outwardly idea would be presented by those who were attempting to convince them, however, since they were already circumcised within, no fleshly outward action would improve upon their spiritual state.

As we think about Paul's words, we may not be able to relate to them as much as the Jews or Philippians did. Circumcision was given to Abraham by God in the book of Genesis chapter seventeen, and it was a symbol of the covenant between God and Him. This symbol carried on for many generations, and if someone was not circumcised, they were considered not to be in a relationship with the Jews or God. Circumcision was a symbol of the cutting away of the flesh, and when Jesus died upon the cross, He defeated the influence of the flesh, and now access to God is made through Him. We have cause to rejoice in what Jesus did, and outward symbols such as circumcision have been fulfilled through Him. We should “rejoice in Christ Jesus”, and we should “have no confidence in the flesh”, and as we ponder the depths of what this means we indeed will give all “glory” to God.

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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