Philippians 3:1-11
Lesson Focus
Paul calls us to put our confidence in Jesus’ faithfulness toward the creation he loves and longs to save.
Lesson Outcomes
Through this lesson, participants will:
Understand that righteousness comes through faith in Christ alone, not through external religious markers or personal achievements.
Identify ways in which contemporary Christianity might add extra requirements to salvation, mirroring the issues Paul addressed.
Examine their own lives to recognize any external markers they rely on for validation instead of resting in God’s grace.
Catching Up on the Story
In the last passage, Philippians 1:12-30, Paul encourages his readers to live together in a manner worthy of the gospel. We noted that Paul’s admonishment to live well together was directed at more than just our relationships with fellow Christians but extended to our relationship with the world around us. Christians in North America need a good deal of practice living with Christians from other theological traditions. We often denigrate other churches and their positions on certain issues as if they were peddling a false gospel. Unfortunately, this “if they aren’t for us, they’re against us” mentality destroys Christian witnesses and keeps us from fully participating in God’s mission in the world. If Paul wasn’t concerned about those who preached the gospel with less than pure motives, then neither should we concern ourselves with them. We should rejoice because the gospel is proclaimed. At the same time, the church has been known to take an adversarial posture with the world and culture around it, often seeking to force others to live according to our understanding of what it means to be holy.
We’ve intentionally skipped over Philippians 2 with Paul’s Christ hymn. At the risk of disrupting the flow of Paul’s argument, we proceed with chapter three. Do not fear; however, we’ll circle back around to chapter 2 on Easter Sunday.
No Trouble, Watch Out!
The final portion of chapter two outlines Paul’s intention to send his friends Timothy and Epaphroditus to the Philippians. Both men have been a welcome help to Paul in times of trouble, and Paul believes they will be the same for the Philippians. It is with joy that Paul sends his friends Timothy and Epaphroditus and encourages the Philippians to receive them with joy.
Chapter three begins in earnest with the second half of verse 1, “It’s no trouble for me to repeat the same things to you…” Some scholars believe Paul recognizes the repetitive nature of the letter’s content, particularly regarding joy. Others believe the phrase serves as an apology where Paul concedes that his content is not new to his friends (Craddock, 53). Either interpretation may be correct. There is a good chance that Paul refers to content or letters that have not been preserved. When reading the epistles, it’s always good to remember that we’re reading someone else’s mail and that we may not be privy to the communication that serves as the foundation of the current correspondence.
What we cannot lose sight of, however, is that everything that Paul says and writes is directed toward keeping the Philippians “on track.” It’s with that Paul exclaims three warnings against those who threaten the church. The Philippians are to “watch out” for “dogs,” “people who do evil things,” and those who “insist on circumcision.” Let’s unpack each of those warnings, which must be held together as a singular warning.
First, Paul warns the Philippians to watch out for “the dogs.” Calling someone or a group a “dog” generally isn’t considered polite, even in today’s society. Calling someone a dog in Jewish circles was categorizing them as unclean and often as a Gentile. The Jews understood dogs to be prowlers and scavengers who would eat anything (Craddock, 56). While we should probably avoid calling others “dogs,” Paul’s point is clear. There are those who wish to lead believers astray under the auspices of faithful living. Second, Paul admonishes the Philippians to be weary of “those who do evil things.” At this point, we might begin to think along the lines of modern evangelical Christians who see evildoers around every corner, believing that anyone not associated with our brand of Christianity is out to seduce our children with secular humanism. While Paul is warning against external threats, he’s not doing so in the same way we might today. The third warning brings clarity to the first two.
Paul calls us to watch out for those who “insist on circumcision, which is really mutilation.” The main thrust behind all three warnings is a call to be weary of those whose gospel is Jesus plus anything else (circumcision, dietary laws, “rituals performed on the body,” and the like). Paul is no stranger to facing off against those who would add anything necessary for salvation other than Christ. One commentator put it this way, “However, for some in the church to preach that Christ plus angels equals salvation (Col. 2:8–23) or Christ plus Moses equals salvation (Rom. 10:4–13) or Christ plus circumcision equals salvation (Gal. 2:1–5) or Christ plus anything else, stirred Paul to battle and he never yielded. The issue was the adequacy of the grace of God to make righteous those who trust in that grace” (Craddock, 56).
The issue here isn’t outsiders or pagans; it’s those who would rely on their own merit for salvation. In other words, Paul was concerned about those who insist that Gentile believers fully embrace the cultic and purity practices of the Jewish faith, including circumcision.
‘Paul’s rhetoric sends a fiery blast against his opponents. In Jewish and Greek literature, dogs were seen as scavengers, exhibiting behavior unfit for human society. Proverbs 26:11 uses a dog returning to its vomit as an image of the fool who returns to foolish behaviors. Even more, in the Jewish context, dogs ate anything; they did not distinguish between clean and unclean. Paul’s contention drips with irony — those who would make Gentiles “clean” through circumcision are themselves unclean like dogs. Moreover, they are “evildoers.” This phrase is found nowhere else in Paul, but similar language is used in 2 Corinthians 11:13 in describing the “deceitful workers” who were “masquerading as apostles of Christ.”’ (Cohick, 167).
Ultimately, Paul argues against groups who maintain that Jesus wanted Gentile converts to be pure, clean, circumcised, eating kosher food, and properly resting on the Sabbath. In a way, Paul isn’t arguing just against his opponents; he’s “combating the view that holy, righteous living can happen outside faith in Christ” (Cohick, 167). The only way to truly know Christ is through faith. The only way to live holy lives is not through the Torah but through the power of Christ through the Holy Spirit.
We are the Circumcision
It might come as a surprise that Paul now says, “We are the circumcision.” For the Jews, “the circumcision” was a term of honor expressing Israel’s divine choosing and providence. To claim to be a part of “the circumcision” was to claim membership (really, kinship) with the people God chose to bless the world. By referring to himself and the Philippians in this manner, Paul redefines the phrase to mean those who serve and represent God and God’s mission in the world through the power of God’s Holy Spirit.
Paul and the Philippians no longer need to trust in physical markers like circumcision or strict adherence to dietary laws. Instead, Paul’s confidence rests securely in God’s faithfulness to creation through Jesus Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension.
If Paul’s confidence rests on Christ’s faithfulness, why does he outline his religious pedigree? A good Jew reading Paul’s accomplishments would have thought, “Paul is one of the most faithful, committed, and zealous Jews I have ever heard.” Indeed, that’s partly Paul’s point. If there is anyone who could boast about their faithfulness, it is Paul. In Paul’s words, “I am a Hebrew of Hebrews.”
In verse seven, Paul asserts that his religious pedigree is worthless. I don’t think Paul is speaking poorly about his heritage or people who still live and function within that worldview; he’s creating a value contrast between his old way of life and his new one. The CEB’s translation of verse 7 is interesting and clarifies Paul’s comments, “I wrote them off as a loss for the sake of Christ.” The old way of life now carries no significant value for Paul because it is incomplete and broken. Paul’s written off his former life like writes off the loss of a field destroyed by hail or a flock of chickens decimated by the bird flu.
What Paul has found, however, is of much more value than what he had. Paul has given up attempts to justify himself before God so that he might gain a righteousness not of his own doing but rooted in the faithfulness of Jesus. Being rooted in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ isn’t a pass to do whatever we like or to not do more than we need to just to get by. Instead, Paul finds unexplainable value in Jesus’ faith in him, a faith that will help Paul look more and more like Jesus in his life and death. In other words, Paul understands that the faithfulness of Jesus enables him to grow in holiness through the power of the Spirit.
So What?
Paul warns the Philippians to watch out for the “dogs,” which is simply a call to rest in God’s faithfulness to us. While we must take an active role in our continued salvation and sanctification, we need not worry about external and outward markers of holiness that do not need God’s help.
But what does that mean for us today? It’s easy to read Paul’s words and think they apply only to a bygone religious argument between early Jewish and Gentile Christians. Yet the temptation to rely on external markers of righteousness is just as present in the modern church as it was in Philippi. We may not be debating circumcision, but we often create our own lists of qualifications—spoken or unspoken—that determine who we think is a “real” Christian.
We might not say it out loud, but we sometimes assume that a true Christian votes a certain way, holds certain theological positions, worships in a particular style, abstains from certain behaviors, or adheres to a particular moral code. We, like Paul’s opponents, can fall into the trap of measuring faithfulness by human standards rather than resting in the sufficiency of Christ.
Paul’s challenge is clear: if anyone had reason to boast in religious credentials, it was him. And yet, he calls all of it rubbish—worthless in comparison to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. This forces us to ask: What external markers might we boast about to prove that we are truly God’s people? If we were to construct a list similar to Paul’s in verses 5-6, what would it look like? Would we point to our denominational identity, our years of church attendance, our theological knowledge, our political alignment, or our moral purity?
These things are not inherently bad, but if they become the foundation of our confidence before God, we have missed the point. Paul is calling us to place our confidence in something far greater—Christ’s faithfulness. True righteousness does not come from our achievements but from resting in God’s grace and allowing the Spirit to transform us.
So, how do we live this out? We start by recognizing that our spiritual growth is not about proving ourselves but about responding to the work Christ has already done. This should lead us to humility rather than pride, gratitude rather than comparison, and a posture of trust rather than anxiety over whether we are doing enough.
Ultimately, Paul’s invitation is one of freedom—the freedom to stop striving for validation through external measures and instead embrace the joy of knowing Christ. The work of salvation and sanctification belongs to God; our role is to faithfully respond, allowing Christ’s Spirit to shape us into his likeness.
Discussion Questions
Read the text aloud. Then, read the text to yourself quietly. Read it slowly, as if you were very unfamiliar with the story.
Why does Paul refer to his past religious accomplishments as "rubbish"? What does this reveal about his perspective on faith?
What does Paul mean when he says, “We are the circumcision”? How does this redefine belonging to God’s people?
How does Paul’s warning against “dogs,” “evildoers,” and those who “insist on circumcision” apply to the church today?
What are some ways that Christians today might fall into a “Jesus plus something else” mentality?
Why do you think Paul lists his religious achievements before dismissing them as worthless?
How can we balance taking our faith seriously while also avoiding legalism?
In what ways do Christians sometimes use external markers (such as denominational affiliation, worship style, or political stance) to define faithfulness?
How does resting in God’s faithfulness, rather than our own efforts, change how we live out our faith?
What does it mean to “know Christ” as Paul describes in Philippians 3:10-11? How is this different from simply knowing about Christ?
Paul says he has given up everything for Christ. What might we need to “write off as loss” in order to fully embrace God’s grace?
Works Cited
Fred B. Craddock, Philippians, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta, GA: J. Knox Press, 1985).
Lynn H. Cohick, Philippians, The Story of God Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013).
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