In Philippians 3 the apostle Paul turns from counting former gains as loss for the sake of Christ and the righteousness that comes through faith to the practical outworking of that truth. He urges the brethren to join in following his example and to carefully note those who walk according to the same pattern. The word “note” means to scope out and fix the eyes upon such lives. At the same time believers are to mark those who cause divisions and scandalize contrary to the doctrine they have learned and to separate from them.

Many walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction—complete ruin and a wasted life. Their god is their belly; they serve only what they can get out of the saints. Their glory is their shame, expressed in craftiness and deceitful handling of the Word of God. With smooth words and flattering speech they deceive the simple-hearted. Such teachers secretly introduce destructive heresies that deny the Lord who bought them, twist the Scriptures, and merchandise the people of God through covetousness. The fondness of money is a root of all things that lack character; those who determine to be rich fall into temptation, a snare, and many foolish and harmful desires that drown them in ruin. Godliness with contentment is great gain; having food and clothing, believers are to be content, for they brought nothing into the world and can carry nothing out.

Paul contrasts these earthly-minded lives with the true position of the church. Our citizenship is in the heavens, from which we eagerly await the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are sojourners and pilgrims on the earth, fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. We do not set our minds on the things that are seen, which are temporary, but on the things that are not seen, which are eternal. When Christ appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. He will transform our lowly body, the soulish body, into a spiritual body conformed to His glorious body. In that resurrection there is neither marriage nor the need for food; the life-source is no longer the soul but the spirit.

Therefore Paul exhorts the beloved to stand fast in the Lord, hold the traditions taught by the apostles, live out the freedom that is in Christ rather than return to law, and serve one another in love without imposing personal standards. The form of this world is passing away; believers are not to love the world or the things of the world. The primary debt remaining is to love one another of the same kind—fellow saints. Every day brings the return of Christ one day closer; readiness consists in living so that when He comes we are not ashamed.

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Pastor Luther Walker resumes the Sunday morning service in Philippians, turning to the more excellent way. In Philippians 2:19-24 Paul notes that no one shared the same soul-level emotional concern for the Philippians that he possessed. In chapter 3 he issues a clear warning: beware of dogs—those who return to their former sins after being helped; beware of evil workers; and beware of the mutilation—those who insist on physical circumcision and life under the Mosaic Law. True circumcision is of the Spirit. Believers render religious service to God in spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and place no confidence in the flesh.

Paul then demonstrates that fleshly credentials hold no lasting value. If anyone could boast in the flesh, it would be him: circumcised on the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee concerning the law, zealous to the point of persecuting the church, and blameless in the righteousness that is from the law. He had been trained under Gamaliel, the teacher of Israel, and held authority sufficient to consent to Stephen’s death. Yet every earthly advantage—position, training, status, and zeal—he now counts as loss for the surpassing excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. He regards them as rubbish so that he may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of his own derived from law, but the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.

Living by faith means taking God at His word without requiring visible miracles, audible voices, or emotional experiences. The Holy Spirit indwells and teaches the believer how to abide in Christ. The power of Christ’s resurrection is the inherent ability given to every believer: freedom from the mastery of the sin nature, victory over Satan, and the capacity to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). This same resurrection produces a living hope—an expectant anticipation of God’s fulfilled promise that can be applied in the present (1 Peter 1:3).

Fellowship with Christ’s sufferings involves sharing the passions of one who has crucified the flesh with its desires (Galatians 5:24). It includes the intense pressure that arises when the believer refuses the sin nature, resists Satan, and continues in righteousness even when that choice brings grief or opposition (1 Peter 4:1; 5:8-9; 2:19-21). Believers are also being conformed to His death: the old man who belonged to Adam has been crucified so that the body of sin is rendered idle and no longer rules (Romans 6:6); the world system has been crucified to the believer and the believer to the world (Galatians 6:14); and a carnal mind that seeks emotional experience rather than truth produces death, while a spiritually minded life produces life and peace (Romans 8:6).

Paul’s aim is to attain the resurrection from the dead in the sense of fully living out his identity in Christ now—not earning eternal life, which is already possessed by everyone who has the Son (1 John 5:11-12), but laying hold of that life through the proper struggle of the faith (1 Timothy 6:12), working out salvation with respect for the consequences of sowing and reaping (Philippians 2:12), and practicing the armor of God. Christian life is not presented as ease; it involves suffering for righteousness, yet that suffering is itself a gracious gift.

Paul does not claim to have already reached full maturity or his intended end. He presses on—pursues with the intensity of a persecutor—so that he may lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of him. He forgets what lies behind, including his former persecution of the church, and reaches forward to what lies ahead. He pursues according to the goal, on the basis of the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus—a prize he already possesses. The goal is Christ Himself and the consistent living out of identity in Him. Believers are to keep their eyes fixed on that mark, carefully scoping those who walk according to the same pattern, and refuse to be distracted by past failures or present fleshly credentials.

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As we continue in Philippians, Paul addresses conduct in the world from chapter 2:14-18—do all things without complaining, becoming blameless and harmless (unmixed motives) children of God, shining as lights in a crooked generation while holding fast the Word of Life for rejoicing in the day of Christ.

Working out our own salvation (Philippians 2:12) with fear and trembling means living out the salvation we already possess, not earning it. It involves deep respect for what God has done—He saved us from sin, so we should not return to it. We reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7-8); sowing to the flesh brings corruption, while sowing to the Spirit produces eternal life in our experience. God disciplines His children (1 Corinthians 11:30-32) with weakness, sickness, or even death to train them and prevent condemnation with the world. Perfect (mature) love casts out fear of judgment (1 John 4:18), but we maintain reverent respect.

Paul, facing possible death in Rome, stands somewhat alone but plans to send Timothy, who genuinely cares for the Philippians’ state like a son serving his father in the gospel. Everyone else seeks their own interests, not Christ’s. He also sends back Epaphroditus, their messenger and minister to Paul’s needs—his brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier—who nearly died in service. Such dedicated servants deserve honor.

In Philippians 3, Paul warns: beware of dogs (those who return to sin like a dog to vomit), evil workers (those lacking character who do wrong, often rooted in love of money), and the mutilation (those insisting on fleshly circumcision). True believers are the circumcision who serve God in spirit, rejoice in Christ, and have no confidence in the flesh. Paul lists his superior credentials—circumcised, tribe of Benjamin, Pharisee, zealous persecutor, blameless under the law—yet counts them all as loss and dung compared to knowing Christ. A more excellent way exists beyond the flesh.

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