Boast in the Lord Alone

1. Rejoice in the Lord

Paul begins a new section in his letter. He deals with the same themes as before although from a different angle or perspective. Also, in chapter 3 he now presents himself as an example of how to live as kingdom citizens, have the mind of Christ, work out our salvation, and serve others in self-giving humility and self-sacrificing love. 

He repeats his call to rejoice. The Philippians faced opposition and false teachers. Paul tells them to rejoice in the Lord in spite of the circumstances. We should always rejoice because the Lord is the source, the basis, and the occasion of our joy. This joy is not dependent on our circumstances, experiences, or feelings. This joy is not happiness that comes and goes and depends on our feelings. We rejoice in the Lord because Jesus is Lord. He is always in control. He is always with us. He never changes. We experience the joy of the Lord in the midst of our sufferings, hurts, and disappointments. Therefore, we rejoice in the Lord always. 

There is safety for all believers in the joy of the Lord. It serves as a safeguard against the dangers and temptations of this world. It arms us against the attacks of our enemies. “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh 8:10). The things of this world pale in comparison to our Lord and the new life we have in him. Therefore, for His sake, we consider all worldly achievements, gains, and profits, everything, a loss so that we may gain Christ and the new, eternal life in Him. And so, we rejoice in the Lord always no matter what the circumstances. 

2. Beware!

Beware! Watch out! Look out! Most likely Paul warns them against the Jewish Christians and false teachers who taught that in addition to faith in Christ, circumcision and the fulfillment of the law are required to be saved, to be righteous. Paul is not name-calling here. He is ironic and sarcastic. 

Watch out for the dogs — The Jews called the Gentile outsiders dogs. Dogs were unclean. They insisted on ethnic purity for the people of God. Now, Paul calls them dogs because they are outsiders. They are not part of the circumcision, the true, covenant people of God.

Watch out for the evildoers — They required new believers to perform the good works of the law. Only then can they be part of God’s people. Instead, Paul calls them doers of evil.

Watch our for the mutilators of the flesh — They thought of themselves as the circumcision and required of new believers to become circumcised. Paul describes circumcision, which was their source of pride, their identity, as mutilation, saying that they are like the pagan cults who make ritual cuts on their bodies, like the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18:28. Thus, they are not part of God’s people at all. 

It is a sad and tragic fact that throughout church history this has been a perpetual problem. Legalism is an ongoing problem. Churches and Christians continue to fall into this trap of adding to the gospel. It’s shocking to see how denominations judged and condemned one another as heretics and unbelievers just because they did not follow the same doctrines or practiced the same ceremonies. They have all these extras — extra rules, extra requirements, extra qualifications that are added to faith in Jesus Christ. If you do A, B,C you are not a Christian. You have to do X, Y, Z to be a Jesus follower. If you wear that you are not a Christian. A Christian dresses like this. If you don’t meet the requirements you are either not a Christian, or you are considered as an inferior Christian.  You are judged and looked down upon. 

Beware! We must watch out and in humility check ourselves. What are we adding to faith in Christ for someone to become and be a follower of Jesus? Where are we like the dogs, the evildoers, and the mutilators of the flesh? Where and how are we making it difficult or preventing others to believe in and follow Jesus Christ?

3. Boast in the Lord Alone

In contrast, Paul says, we are the circumcision. We are the true people of God. Already in Deuteronomy God called upon his people, “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer” (Deut 10:16). The Old Testament prophets talked about the uncircumcised hearts of the people and called for spiritual circumcision. “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh—Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.  For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart (Jer 9:25-26). “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts …” (Jer 4:4). Stephen speaking to the Jewish leaders before his death said, “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!” (Acts 7:51). And in Romans (2:28-29) Paul said, “A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.”

Those who have faith are circumcised in the heart. True circumcision is that of the heart and is a matter of faith and grace from beginning to end. Paul gives three qualities of the true people of God, and all three are in direct contrast to the three groups he just mentioned. 

We who are the true circumcision worship by the Spirit of God — We are in Christ. We are “a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:17). We are part of a new order, God’s kingdom. We are citizens of heaven. We are members of the new covenant. “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor 3:6). The Holy Spirit lives in us. He makes us worshippers who worship in Spirit and in truth. We don’t need rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, altars, and temples. We worship God anywhere, anyplace, any time, all the time. Our lives are now a living sacrifice for God, worship of God.

We who are the true circumcision boast in Christ Jesus — When we worship by the Spirit we boast in Jesus Christ the Lord alone. He saves us. He lives in us. He is the source of all satisfaction. He is our joy. He is our obsession. We become one-track-minded. We live for Him. We do everything in His Name and for His glory. Jesus Christ is our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, Lord, and coming King. Therefore, his Name, his praise are always on our lips. We boast in Him alone.

Therefore, we who are of the true circumcision do not put our confidence in the flesh — When we boast in Christ, our confidence cannot be in anything that is outside of Christ. Our confidence cannot be in ourselves, in our own abilities or achievements. Our confidence cannot be in our money or material things. Our confidence cannot be in our national identity, race, ethnic group, or tribe. Our confidence cannot be in human leaders or governments. All of these are broken and sinful, and they all pass away, come to an end. Only Christ is Lord of all. He is eternal and his kingdom will not pass away. Our worldly identities will pass away, but our citizenship in heaven is forever.  

And now Paul comes with a surprising statement. If anyone has any reason to boast in, to put their confidence in the flesh, in worldly things and human achievements, then he, Paul, has such and even more. Card playing illustration—He throws down the gauntlet and says, “Top this if you can.” He presents seven things he can boast of — four are inherited privileges and three are personal accomplishments.

He was circumcised on the eighth day. He was a Jew, an insider, from birth. He was not a convert from paganism to Judaism. He was of the race of Israel. Racially he was a pure-blooded Israelite. Only Jews called themselves children of Israel. Paul was a total insider. He was of the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin was the only son born in the promised land (Gen 35:16-18). The tribe of Benjamin remained faithful to Judah and the house of David when Israel divided (1 Kings 12:21). They went into exile with the tribe of Judah and returned from exile with them (Nehemiah 11:7–9, 31–36). Israel’s first king, King Saul, was from the tribe of Benjamin, and Paul has the same name. Thus, Paul has an ancestry and heritage that he can be very proud of. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews. Although he was born outside the Holy Land, his parents and he were Hebrews. He spoke Aramaic when many of the Diaspora Jews knew only Greek. He prayed and read the Scriptures in Hebrew. So, Paul had outstanding credentials from birth. But Paul didn’t rest on and rely on his ancestry or name. He also worked hard and achieved much.

Regarding the law, he was a Pharisee — He went to Jerusalem and studied under the famous Rabbi Gamaliel. He became a Pharisee, one of the most respected groups in Israel. As for zeal, he was a persecutor of the church. He became famous for his persecution and even received letters from the leaders to persecute the church in Damascus. From a Jewish perspective, this was a huge achievement and I am sure he was highly esteemed by the Jews for his actions. As to righteousness, he was blameless under the law. That means, that he lived an exemplary life according to the rules and interpretations of the law by the Pharisees. 

What an amazing resume. No one could counter his heritage and ancestry. He was totally an insider. No one could excel his performance and achievements. His reasons for boasting in the flesh put him in a class of his own. And yet, Paul denounces and rejects all of these for the sake of Christ as we will see next week. They are nothing. He considers them a loss, garbage, so that he may gain Christ, be found in Him, know Him, and become like Him.

The question for us today — In what or who are you boasting? In what or who are you putting your confidence? Are we boasting in the Lord alone? Or are there other things, outside of Christ, that we are boasting in, putting our confidence in? Are we putting our confidence in our national identity, our race, our money, our careers? We may boast in our ancestry and religious heritage. We may boast in our wealth, our status, our education, our families, our emotional stability, and our health. We may boast in our academic, political, or business successes, in our denomination, our local church. Beware and watch out, when we do that, they gradually take over our lives. They become our idols and push Jesus as our Lord out of our lives. 

Our only boast, our only confidence, our only hope must be in Jesus Christ our Lord. He is our joy. Therefore, we rejoice in the Lord always. And when we rejoice in Him alone, boast in Him alone, all these otherworldly things and human achievements become nothing in comparison to him. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and when we rejoice in Him, He keeps us safe and helps us to live the kingdom life for his glory.