Philippians
Chuck MacKnee
Chapter 3
1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
This is another call, by Paul, for the Philippians to rejoice. In 2:18 he calls on them to joy (same Greek word as used here) and to rejoice with him. The rejoicing here is in the Lord, the One Whom Paul so carefully spoke of in the previous chapter (2:5-8); Lord is a title that implies authority and ownership, and is applied equally to God and Jesus Christ. Paul says that henceforth (finally), or from this time forward, you are to continually rejoice in the Lord.
It is not clear what Paul is referring to when he speaks of the same things. Some feel that he is harkening back to the earlier admonition to rejoice (2:18), and of which he will speak again (4:4). Whether it is this, or perhaps that he is telling them the same things that he told them when he was with them, he assures them of two things: 1) it is not troublesome (grievous) for him to do so, and 2) the repetition is for their spiritual benefit. Paul has no fear of reiterating truth to establish the point that he wants to make, therefore, I would be inclined to think that the repetition that he is drawing their attention to is much larger than simply the charge to rejoice in the Lord.
2. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
Before going further, we must clarify what is meant by dogs within this context. There are those who adamantly claim that this refers to the four-legged, furry creatures, often referred to as man’s best friend. They unwaveringly declare that God hates dogs, declaring it with sufficient emphasis so as to assume the authority of Scripture. However, if we consider God’s instructions to the children of Israel, light will be shed on this matter. “There shall be no whore [female temple prostitute] of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite [male temple prostitute] of the sons of Israel. Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore [harlot or prostitute], or the price of a dog [the wages of a male prostitute (the parallel between the whore and the sodomite being carried forward); this is a name given to a male prostitute1], into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God” (Deuteronomy 23:17-18).2 The abomination to the Lord is the pagan religious custom of male and female prostitution under the guise of spirituality, prostitution as a livelihood, and anything associated with these evil practices; therefore, this is not a warning against dogs (the animals) but against anything that stands in contradiction to His purpose for marriage.
Beware is repeated three times in our verse, each one is the same Greek word and means to see with the thought of discernment.3 Each is a command in the present tense; we are to be continually discerning of the three things itemized here.
We have established that the first area of warning is not against the four-legged creatures, which might either lick or bite us. The warning is to be on the alert against those who practice fornication (sexual sin) in the name of spirituality. Our initial response might be that this is not happening within Christian circles today. However, within Evangelicalism, the prevalent attitude is that we are not to judge what someone else is doing because we cannot see their heart – and it is with the heart that we believe unto eternal life. For example, Rick Warren accepted a two million dollar donation from Rupert Murdoch for his P.E.A.C.E. project, even though Murdoch makes most of his money from the pornography industry.4 To this we would apply Jesus’ words to the scribes and Pharisees: “Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Matthew 23:26). The Pharisees had the exact opposite problem from today’s Evangelicals – they thought that as long as their outward appearance was impeccable, then they were okay. Jesus tells them to clean the inside first so that the outside might be clean as well – He saw into their hearts and recognized the hypocrisy of their ways; the principle at work here is that the inside must be clean first, and once the inside has been cleansed, then the outside will be clean as a result. Within the Evangelical mind, it is important to retain a pretext of having cleansed the inside (they hold to the necessity of a prayer for salvation – however, claiming to be a Christian is all that is really required; we must not look for evidence of actual cleansing lest we be considered to be judgmental). Nevertheless, they are unwilling to expect a cleansed heart to result in a cleansed life (which is the principle that Jesus taught). Today’s Evangelical youth will dance with the world, indulge their appetite for the world’s music, alcohol, smoking, and fornication (shacking-up) – often without condemnation of any kind from the church leadership. When I found out that the youth from our local Evangelical Free Church (of which we were a part at the time) were attending the local school dances, I went to the see the youth pastor about this worldliness; he was shocked that I had a problem with it, and I later learned that the Board of the church was fully aware of his position on this matter before they hired him. Within the Evangelical community, worldliness and fornication may not yet be a generally accepted means to enhance spirituality (as may be the case within gross paganism), but it is certainly not frowned upon with the same fervor as it is in the Scriptures; in essence, today it is part of what is often considered tolerable. We must all be discerning of dogs – those who appear to be “spiritual” but who only seek to spiritually prostitute us, those who would draw us away from the truth with their high-sounding, yet subtly anti-Biblical, philosophies. “Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matthew 24:4); “Beware lest any man spoil you [lead you away from the truth] through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8).5
However, I would be remiss to leave this subject here. There is a growing element within the Evangelical community who are drawing Eastern mysticism, sexuality and spirituality together. Chuck MacKnee, an associate professor of psychology at Trinity Western University, is just one of many who profess Christianity while working to philosophically make sex a spiritual experience. He says: “… ultimately in sex we’re going to meet God,” and goes on to describe God as being “big and mysterious and way beyond us”;6 this stands in sharp contrast to 1 John 2:3. MacKnee, when questioned on the subject, would condemn neither homosexuality nor sex outside of marriage; when queried further about his employer’s stance that “requires students and faculty to restrict sex to heterosexual marriage,” his only comment was that these were “guidelines.”7 The astute observation of the Vancouver Sun was: “The Catholics and mainline Protestants who are today joining evangelicals such as MacKnee in teaching about spiritual sex are in some ways catching up with Eastern-influenced New Age spirituality.”8 In this one simple statement, a worldly observer has identified MacKnee as having entered into the tantric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism (in a “sanitized” manner), and also as being well situated within New Age spirituality; by contrast, the supposedly “Christian” leadership of Trinity Western can’t see the error that they are promoting! MacKnee is someone who is spoiling the hearts of many (his classes are always full) through his philosophy (which flows out of godless psychology), “after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” – yet he continues to propagate his error through Trinity, a highly-acclaimed, supposedly Christian university associated with the Evangelical Free Church. Paganism will always seek to infiltrate Christianity, which is why we are warned to stand against it. To the messenger of Pergamos, Jesus said: “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication” (Revelation 2:14); Balaam could not curse the children of Israel (as Balak desired), but evidently he counseled Balak on how to use fornication to get the Lord to judge Israel. MacKnee might not speak a curse upon God’s people, but he has learned how to cast a spiritual stumbling block before them. We must remain alert to error, for it is everywhere!
Beware of evil workers; we are to be discerning of those who might appear to be Christians but are not. “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22-23). These claim to have done marvelous things in the name of the Lord, yet they did not do them under the authority of the Lord; in other words, they were messengers of Satan sent forth to deceive those who would desire to follow the Lord. “[Absolutely] not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth [is doing] the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).9 The importance of obedience to God’s Word cannot be emphasized strongly enough; yet our propensity to pick and choose what we will obey knows no bounds. Ecumenism is man’s answer to God’s call to holiness – the philosophy is: God is love, and everyone who professes Christianity is considered to be sanctified by God’s love; thereby they think that they have eliminated the difficulty of knowing God’s Truth and adhering to it. The modern Ecumenists are evil workers, for they dilute the warnings of Scripture against men like themselves. Ecumenism holds unity to be of greater importance than obedience. We read of the first Ecumenical decision in Genesis: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Genesis 3:6). Adam chose to remain united with his wife in sin, rather than to obey the commandment of the Lord – Adam’s sin was the result of the first Ecumenical decision (unity before obedience), and today’s Ecumenism is no less a sin against the Lord. Even if it is as simple as participation in a local ministerial alongside of those who question the authority of the Scriptures, Satan loves Ecumenical thinking because it appears to be so good, so loving, and so gracious; this only makes it a more dangerous sin, which lures people away from the holiness of God. God will just as surely judge the Ecumenist as He did Adam. We must be discerning!
Beware of the concision. Concision means cutting into or mutilation,10 and speaks here of those who still held to the Jewish tradition of circumcision. In Jerusalem, Paul had faced the Jews who advocated faith in Christ along with keeping the traditions of the Mosaic Law (those numerous statutes, ordinances, and regulations that were done away with at the cross of Christ – Ephesians 2:15). “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1); “But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses” (Acts 15:5). In his letter to the Galatians, Paul dealt extensively with the error of these Judaizers and called their gospel message a perversion of the truth (Galatians 1:7). Although the Philippians were following the teachings of Paul with integrity, here he sounds a warning against the Judaizers. Once again, we are reminded that Satan will use (or, more accurately, abuse) the truth; however, he will ensure that it is always mixed with at least a small amount of error, perhaps not enough to be readily discernible to the unsuspecting, but sufficient to render the truth lifeless. Paul warned the Romans to avoid those who promoted teachings that were not in keeping with the Scriptures (it is their false teaching that causes division from the truth of God), for “by good words and fair speeches [they] deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17-18). The warning that is sounded in our verse (Philippians 3:2) against the concision, speaks against man’s propensity to add to what God has given us in His Word, or to “graciously” extract from His Word that which would cause a troubled spirit in the mind of a sinner.
1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
This is another call, by Paul, for the Philippians to rejoice. In 2:18 he calls on them to joy (same Greek word as used here) and to rejoice with him. The rejoicing here is in the Lord, the One Whom Paul so carefully spoke of in the previous chapter (2:5-8); Lord is a title that implies authority and ownership, and is applied equally to God and Jesus Christ. Paul says that henceforth (finally), or from this time forward, you are to continually rejoice in the Lord.
It is not clear what Paul is referring to when he speaks of the same things. Some feel that he is harkening back to the earlier admonition to rejoice (2:18), and of which he will speak again (4:4). Whether it is this, or perhaps that he is telling them the same things that he told them when he was with them, he assures them of two things: 1) it is not troublesome (grievous) for him to do so, and 2) the repetition is for their spiritual benefit. Paul has no fear of reiterating truth to establish the point that he wants to make, therefore, I would be inclined to think that the repetition that he is drawing their attention to is much larger than simply the charge to rejoice in the Lord.
2. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
Before going further, we must clarify what is meant by dogs within this context. There are those who adamantly claim that this refers to the four-legged, furry creatures, often referred to as man’s best friend. They unwaveringly declare that God hates dogs, declaring it with sufficient emphasis so as to assume the authority of Scripture. However, if we consider God’s instructions to the children of Israel, light will be shed on this matter. “There shall be no whore [female temple prostitute] of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite [male temple prostitute] of the sons of Israel. Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore [harlot or prostitute], or the price of a dog [the wages of a male prostitute (the parallel between the whore and the sodomite being carried forward); this is a name given to a male prostitute1], into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God” (Deuteronomy 23:17-18).2 The abomination to the Lord is the pagan religious custom of male and female prostitution under the guise of spirituality, prostitution as a livelihood, and anything associated with these evil practices; therefore, this is not a warning against dogs (the animals) but against anything that stands in contradiction to His purpose for marriage.
Beware is repeated three times in our verse, each one is the same Greek word and means to see with the thought of discernment.3 Each is a command in the present tense; we are to be continually discerning of the three things itemized here.
We have established that the first area of warning is not against the four-legged creatures, which might either lick or bite us. The warning is to be on the alert against those who practice fornication (sexual sin) in the name of spirituality. Our initial response might be that this is not happening within Christian circles today. However, within Evangelicalism, the prevalent attitude is that we are not to judge what someone else is doing because we cannot see their heart – and it is with the heart that we believe unto eternal life. For example, Rick Warren accepted a two million dollar donation from Rupert Murdoch for his P.E.A.C.E. project, even though Murdoch makes most of his money from the pornography industry.4 To this we would apply Jesus’ words to the scribes and Pharisees: “Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Matthew 23:26). The Pharisees had the exact opposite problem from today’s Evangelicals – they thought that as long as their outward appearance was impeccable, then they were okay. Jesus tells them to clean the inside first so that the outside might be clean as well – He saw into their hearts and recognized the hypocrisy of their ways; the principle at work here is that the inside must be clean first, and once the inside has been cleansed, then the outside will be clean as a result. Within the Evangelical mind, it is important to retain a pretext of having cleansed the inside (they hold to the necessity of a prayer for salvation – however, claiming to be a Christian is all that is really required; we must not look for evidence of actual cleansing lest we be considered to be judgmental). Nevertheless, they are unwilling to expect a cleansed heart to result in a cleansed life (which is the principle that Jesus taught). Today’s Evangelical youth will dance with the world, indulge their appetite for the world’s music, alcohol, smoking, and fornication (shacking-up) – often without condemnation of any kind from the church leadership. When I found out that the youth from our local Evangelical Free Church (of which we were a part at the time) were attending the local school dances, I went to the see the youth pastor about this worldliness; he was shocked that I had a problem with it, and I later learned that the Board of the church was fully aware of his position on this matter before they hired him. Within the Evangelical community, worldliness and fornication may not yet be a generally accepted means to enhance spirituality (as may be the case within gross paganism), but it is certainly not frowned upon with the same fervor as it is in the Scriptures; in essence, today it is part of what is often considered tolerable. We must all be discerning of dogs – those who appear to be “spiritual” but who only seek to spiritually prostitute us, those who would draw us away from the truth with their high-sounding, yet subtly anti-Biblical, philosophies. “Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matthew 24:4); “Beware lest any man spoil you [lead you away from the truth] through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8).5
However, I would be remiss to leave this subject here. There is a growing element within the Evangelical community who are drawing Eastern mysticism, sexuality and spirituality together. Chuck MacKnee, an associate professor of psychology at Trinity Western University, is just one of many who profess Christianity while working to philosophically make sex a spiritual experience. He says: “… ultimately in sex we’re going to meet God,” and goes on to describe God as being “big and mysterious and way beyond us”;6 this stands in sharp contrast to 1 John 2:3. MacKnee, when questioned on the subject, would condemn neither homosexuality nor sex outside of marriage; when queried further about his employer’s stance that “requires students and faculty to restrict sex to heterosexual marriage,” his only comment was that these were “guidelines.”7 The astute observation of the Vancouver Sun was: “The Catholics and mainline Protestants who are today joining evangelicals such as MacKnee in teaching about spiritual sex are in some ways catching up with Eastern-influenced New Age spirituality.”8 In this one simple statement, a worldly observer has identified MacKnee as having entered into the tantric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism (in a “sanitized” manner), and also as being well situated within New Age spirituality; by contrast, the supposedly “Christian” leadership of Trinity Western can’t see the error that they are promoting! MacKnee is someone who is spoiling the hearts of many (his classes are always full) through his philosophy (which flows out of godless psychology), “after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” – yet he continues to propagate his error through Trinity, a highly-acclaimed, supposedly Christian university associated with the Evangelical Free Church. Paganism will always seek to infiltrate Christianity, which is why we are warned to stand against it. To the messenger of Pergamos, Jesus said: “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication” (Revelation 2:14); Balaam could not curse the children of Israel (as Balak desired), but evidently he counseled Balak on how to use fornication to get the Lord to judge Israel. MacKnee might not speak a curse upon God’s people, but he has learned how to cast a spiritual stumbling block before them. We must remain alert to error, for it is everywhere!
Beware of evil workers; we are to be discerning of those who might appear to be Christians but are not. “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22-23). These claim to have done marvelous things in the name of the Lord, yet they did not do them under the authority of the Lord; in other words, they were messengers of Satan sent forth to deceive those who would desire to follow the Lord. “[Absolutely] not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth [is doing] the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).9 The importance of obedience to God’s Word cannot be emphasized strongly enough; yet our propensity to pick and choose what we will obey knows no bounds. Ecumenism is man’s answer to God’s call to holiness – the philosophy is: God is love, and everyone who professes Christianity is considered to be sanctified by God’s love; thereby they think that they have eliminated the difficulty of knowing God’s Truth and adhering to it. The modern Ecumenists are evil workers, for they dilute the warnings of Scripture against men like themselves. Ecumenism holds unity to be of greater importance than obedience. We read of the first Ecumenical decision in Genesis: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Genesis 3:6). Adam chose to remain united with his wife in sin, rather than to obey the commandment of the Lord – Adam’s sin was the result of the first Ecumenical decision (unity before obedience), and today’s Ecumenism is no less a sin against the Lord. Even if it is as simple as participation in a local ministerial alongside of those who question the authority of the Scriptures, Satan loves Ecumenical thinking because it appears to be so good, so loving, and so gracious; this only makes it a more dangerous sin, which lures people away from the holiness of God. God will just as surely judge the Ecumenist as He did Adam. We must be discerning!
Beware of the concision. Concision means cutting into or mutilation,10 and speaks here of those who still held to the Jewish tradition of circumcision. In Jerusalem, Paul had faced the Jews who advocated faith in Christ along with keeping the traditions of the Mosaic Law (those numerous statutes, ordinances, and regulations that were done away with at the cross of Christ – Ephesians 2:15). “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1); “But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses” (Acts 15:5). In his letter to the Galatians, Paul dealt extensively with the error of these Judaizers and called their gospel message a perversion of the truth (Galatians 1:7). Although the Philippians were following the teachings of Paul with integrity, here he sounds a warning against the Judaizers. Once again, we are reminded that Satan will use (or, more accurately, abuse) the truth; however, he will ensure that it is always mixed with at least a small amount of error, perhaps not enough to be readily discernible to the unsuspecting, but sufficient to render the truth lifeless. Paul warned the Romans to avoid those who promoted teachings that were not in keeping with the Scriptures (it is their false teaching that causes division from the truth of God), for “by good words and fair speeches [they] deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17-18). The warning that is sounded in our verse (Philippians 3:2) against the concision, speaks against man’s propensity to add to what God has given us in His Word, or to “graciously” extract from His Word that which would cause a troubled spirit in the mind of a sinner.
Gay - Feminist - Environmentalist
Bibles
There has always been a temptation to pick and choose what we will adhere to in God’s Word – over the last 150 years this has been dramatically increased through the introduction of numerous Bible translations. Through the acceptance of the principles of higher criticism, scholars (even so-called Bible scholars) have come to view the Scriptures as they would any other piece of ancient literature (God’s inspiration of the Bible has either been downplayed or denied), along with the concept that the oldest texts are the most accurate (the basis for this argument is that they are the closest to the original source). Viewing the Scriptures as any other piece of literature, opens the door to scholarly subjectivism, and denies God’s promise to preserve His Word (Psalm 119:89,160; Matthew 5:18). Out of this has flowed a profusion of translations and easy-reading texts that have departed from the Word that God promised to preserve; the additions, deletions and subjective re-wording of the text of Scripture have known no bounds. Today there are “Bibles” for homosexuals, feminists and environmentalists; they have become gender neutral, politically correct, and spiritually hollow. Yet Evangelicals choose to embrace the modern translations; for example, Rick Warren used 15 different translations and paraphrases of Scripture in his book The Purpose Driven Life – it becomes a matter of finding a perversion that supports your opinion. In this menagerie, the standard of the Word of God has been lost; the Bereans were commended for taking Paul’s teaching back to the Scriptures to determine if he was right (Acts 17:10-11). Today’s “Berean” must first discern which Bible contains the preserved text of God’s Word before he can carry out this important task. The King James Version stands out within the confusion of texts today – not necessarily because it is a superior translation, but because it is based upon superior texts of Scripture, free from the influence of the devil’s higher critics.
We are commanded to be continually discerning so that we might not be caught unaware by those who would draw us into a perverted spirituality, those whose work is after the manner of the wolf disguised as a sheep, and those who would add to, or subtract from, God’s Word. This is presented as a three-pronged warning, yet each is simply a variation of Satan’s ploy to draw the child of God away from the truth. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour [destroy] …” (1 Peter 5:8);11Satan is a destroyer, and he cares not how he plies his trade. We must be ever vigilant, ever discerning, lest we succumb to his wiles.
3. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Paul now begins to expand on his warning to beware of the concision, from the previous verse. Clearly, Paul does not want a repeat of the problem that he faced with the gatherings in Galatia; even though the Philippians were obedient to the Word of God, he wants to ensure that they understand and avoid the error of the Judaizers – perhaps something that he warned them against when he was with them; this could very well be part of what he is repeating for them, for their own spiritual benefit (v.1).
He begins his explanation with the phrase we are the circumcision. The we is not Paul as a member of the Jewish community, rather it is Paul as numbered among the Christians. “For he is our peace, who hath made both [the Jew and the Gentile] one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby …” (Ephesians 2:14-16). Through His finished work on the cross, Jesus has brought the Jew and the Gentile together into one Body – we are made one in Christ. To the Galatians, Paul declared: “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6). As he dealt with the error of the Judaizers in Galatia, he made it abundantly evident that it is faith in Christ alone that is necessary, and not the keeping of Jewish traditions; there is no saving grace in circumcision, nor any condemnation in uncircumcision.
“For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Romans 2:28-29). What is obvious is that the circumcision of which Paul is speaking (both to the Romans and to the Philippians) is a spiritual act, not a physical one. To the Colossians, Paul provides further clarification on this matter: “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ …” (Colossians 2:11); this means to continually reckon yourself to be dead unto sin as Paul declared to the Romans (Romans 6:6, 11). The spiritual application of this word (circumcision) should not have been unfamiliar to the Jews, for one of the promises that God gave to Israel through Moses was that if they would repent and turn to Him, He would then give them life: “And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live” (Deuteronomy 30:6). The spiritual application recognizes a turning away from sin and a turning to God in obedience to His commandments (Deuteronomy 30:8). How are Christians “the circumcision”? It is through faith in Christ as our Savior that we are able to continually reckon ourselves to be dead unto sin (we are cut-off from sin – therein is the spiritual circumcision) and alive unto God (Romans 6:11). It is through this saving faith that we are grafted into Christ (Romans 11:17; John 15:4), that the commandments of God are written upon our hearts (Hebrews 10:16), and that the Spirit of God indwells us in order to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). If we are alive unto God (being grafted into Him), then we will strive to live in obedience to the commandments in His Word (1 John 2:3-5), beginning with the Ten Commandments that He has written upon our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). God has provided us with all of the resources necessary to live for Him; however, we must have the will to permit His Spirit to guide us so that we might live out the righteousness of the Law of God that has been written upon our hearts (Romans 8:4).
Paul goes on to enumerate three characteristics of those who have embraced this spiritual circumcision: 1) they worship God in the spirit, 2) they rejoice in Christ Jesus, and 3) they place no confidence in the flesh.
Those who are reckoning themselves dead to sin (i.e., we who have placed our faith in Christ) will first of all worship God in the spirit. The Greek word latreuo (worship), used here, speaks of active service; its primary meaning is service for hire,12 which includes sacred service to God. It refers to a practical and continual service to God through the Spirit – in other words: obedience! Our obedience to God’s commands is our service to Him! John declared: “And hereby we do know [are knowing] that we know [have known] him, if we keep [are keeping] his commandments” (1 John 2:3).13 If we would do service to God, we must know Him, and if we know Him, then we must then obey Him. As we account ourselves dead to sin and alive unto God, the Spirit of God abiding within will be able to guide us in our understanding of His truth so that our walk will bring glory to His name. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1); the words service (as used here) and worship (as used in Philippians 3:3) come from a common Greek root. Our spiritual service for God (i.e., our obedience) is evidenced by living a life of sacrifice and holiness.
We will rejoice in Christ Jesus. The Greek word translated as rejoice (kauchaomai) is most often translated as glory (it is not the same Greek word that we looked at earlier); it means to boast or to glory in, therefore, our boast, or glory, will be in Christ Jesus. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast [kauchaomai]. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).14 The good works is nothing other than our obedience to what God has established for us (works of righteousness and holiness in keeping with the new man – Ephesians 4:24); however, this does not include empty ritualistic activities (Isaiah 1:10-17; Matthew 7:21-23). Our obedience to God’s commands does not enhance our justification before Him, but our faith in Christ demands that we obey the commands of the Lord, for it is for that purpose that we have been created in Christ Jesus. Our conformity to God’s ways is the evidence that we have a living faith in Him (James 2:18). We have no basis for glorying in ourselves; our salvation is entirely of God. Our glorying must be in Christ, for it is only through Him that we find ourselves regarded by God as being holy; it is only as we remain in Him that we are able to retain our holy standing before God (Hebrews 3:14). “Where is boasting [glorying (in ourselves)] then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without [apart from] the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:27-28).15 What we must understand is that even though we are not justified by keeping the Law or Commandments of God (not even the Ten Commandments), nevertheless, as we place our faith in Christ, the Spirit of God will seek to guide us to live out the righteousness of the Law (Romans 8:4). Inasmuch as we are justified before God by faith only (there is only one faith [Ephesians 4:4-6] which is effective from Adam to today), we have no basis for glorying, except in the One through Whom our justification is procured – Jesus Christ. From Adam to the cross, faith was exercised in the Promised One (the promise of a Deliverer was first made in the Garden of Eden – Genesis 3:15); since the cross, we place our faith in the Promised One Who came to fulfill the promised redemption of mankind. As those who have been purchased out of sin by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (and thereby made participants in the spiritual circumcision), we are to glory in Christ and walk in obedience to the commands of Scripture.
We will also place no confidence in the flesh. We have just seen that the foundation for our glorying is the Lord Jesus Christ, and that our justification before God comes only through what He has accomplished for us. Our salvation is entirely of God; we have no part in it whatsoever, therefore, it only follows that we will place absolutely no trust in ourselves. Although we must resolutely commit to faith in Jesus Christ (He commanded us to abide in Him – John 15:4; He admonished us to count the cost before we commit to following Him – Luke 14:26-27), He has also promised to abide in us, and has sent His Spirit, Who is prepared to abide with us forever (John 14:16). As we live in submission to the Spirit of God (placing no confidence in our own abilities) the righteousness of God will be lived out through us (Romans 8:4). We have been called to holiness of life (1 Peter 1:15) in obedience to what God has commanded us to do (1 John 2:4); this is a life entirely outside of anything that we could ever hope to accomplish through our own efforts. Paul recorded the end of our labors: “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Romans 7:19) – this is the flesh at work.
Paul reminds the Philippians that those who have reckoned the flesh to be crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6) are those who do service for (or, walk in obedience to) God, who glory in the Lord Jesus Christ, and who place absolutely no trust in their sinful flesh. It is our lot to make a commitment to follow the Lord (something that most Evangelicals have conveniently forgotten); this is an exercise of the will and comes at a cost, which we must be prepared to pay (Luke 14:26-33).
4. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
After stating that we place no trust in the flesh, Paul makes the statement that he might have had confidence in the flesh; if anyone thinks that they can trust in the flesh – he would have more reasons for such. The word confidence, as used in both verses (vs. 3 and 4), includes the idea of persuasion; this is not an empty, poorly placed dependency; rather it is a reliance or trust on something that gives the appearance of being trustworthy.16 Paul uses this to introduce a list of credentials that would put him at the top of the list of those who might be tempted to place their trust in the flesh – namely the Jews who were propagating the heresy of faith in Christ and the keeping of the Law of Moses (the traditions of the Jews given by God through Moses at Mt. Sinai; this would include the laws for daily living, the festivals and the rite of circumcision, the sacrificial system, the priestly order, but excludes the Ten Commandments).
5. 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;
Paul lists here all of the things to which a Jew would appeal in order to affirm their high standing within the Jewish community. He was born into a family where it was important to follow the Mosaic traditions; he came from solidly Jewish roots and knew his heritage. However, not only was he of solid Jewish stock, but concerning his religious commitment, he was a member of the strictest sect of the Jews. The Pharisees were those who were set apart from the average Jew (which is the meaning of the word Pharisee17), and they considered themselves to be the authority for interpreting the Scriptures and defining the daily regiments for the rest of their people.18 Paul had been schooled in the strictest of Jewish traditions – if anyone could claim any confidence before God because of their pedigree and training, it would have been Paul.
6. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
For the Pharisees, the ekklesia (the called-out ones being built by Christ) was a problem. Jews who were joining this group were no longer keeping the Jewish traditions as generations of Pharisees had determined that they should be kept. Such disregard for the righteousness of the Pharisees incensed Paul so that he went about destroying these gatherings: “As for Saul, he made havock of [to ravage or devastate] the church, entering into every house, and haling [dragging] men and women committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3).19 As a Pharisee, he was zealous to protect their interests; probably of all of the Pharisees of his day, he was the most zealous, for we do not read of anyone else entering into such a program of persecution in an effort to stop the new faith from spreading.
As a Pharisee, Paul says that he kept the Law of Moses with precision; among the Pharisees, he would have been considered a stickler for detail. If there was any righteousness to be obtained through keeping the Law, it would have been his.
7. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Here is the culmination of Paul’s boasting. All of the things that he has just delineated, which would have firmly established his importance in the eyes of the Jews and secured his advantage within the Jewish community, those things that would have assisted him in his advancement within the school of the Pharisees, all of this he accounts, or considers, as loss for Christ. The word counted is in the perfect tense, which means that Paul, at one time in the past, considered all of his Jewish advantages to be of no value – it was a one-time decision under which he continued to live. Everything that placed him among the elite within the Jewish community he has turned away from, or forsaken, for Christ. All of this fits with his warning: beware of the concision (v.2). The Judaizers sought to draw Christians into keeping the Mosaic traditions (Acts 15:5); Paul says that he has set all of that aside for Christ. He is a living illustration of what Jesus’ fulfillment of the Mosaic Law really means; what cannot be missed is that Paul saw the importance of making this truth very, very clear to the Philippians. Incredibly, as we look at Paul’s writings, this theme dominates his letter to the Christians in the region of Galatia, it receives a complete explanation in his letter to the Ephesians, we see it here in Philippians, and it shows up in his epistle to the Colossians, as well. Clearly, the lure to all things Jewish was very strong during the early years of the Apostles; the Jews desperately tried to cling to their traditions, and impose them upon those with a Gentile background (Acts 15:1).
However, today we are not altogether immune to this very same temptation, for there are groups of Christians who are doing this very thing. There is a broad movement within Evangelicalism to return to those patterns of life from yesteryear, and among these are those who, while professing faith in Christ, desire to learn about and celebrate all of the Jewish traditions. It is one thing to learn about the Jewish festivals and practices, and quite another to seek to make them a part of daily living. They look at the Jewish roots of Christianity and consider this journey back into the customs of Judaism to be a very spiritually-positive part of their faith in Christ. By contrast, Paul, who had full knowledge of all of these Mosaic traditions, and had practiced them for many years, calls them a disadvantage.20 The push in Paul’s day was to meld these traditions into faith alone in Christ alone – something that he bluntly called a perversion of the Gospel (Galatians 1:6-7). What seems evident is that those who seek to undo what Paul so clearly states was ended at the cross (Galatians 3:19; Ephesians 2:15) have not carefully read his letter to the Galatian Christians – if they had, they might be less enthusiastic about adding these Jewish traditions to their faith in Christ.21
Here are the words of the Spirit of God, through Paul, to the Ephesians, on this matter: “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both [the Jew and the Gentile (v.11)] one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished [to render useless by replacement (the Mosaic Law replaced by the New Covenant)] in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances [the Mosaic Law]; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby …” (Ephesians 2:13-16).22 Paul refers here to the middle wall of partition – the separating factor of the Law of Moses; he is writing to a group of believers who would have been made up of both Jews and Gentiles, and he notes that Jesus’ work on the cross has made one out of these two. A small digression will make it clear as to why he does this.
It is often our thought that the Mosaic Laws were for the people of Israel only, but that is not correct. They may well have been delivered to the children of Israel through Moses at Mt Sinai, but their application was to be much broader. God expressed His desire that Israel would be “unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:6a); His yearning was that they would be an example to the nations around them, and a means (priests) to bring the lost peoples to Himself. Israel may have received the Mosaic laws and statutes, the priesthood and the sacrificial system from God, but the reality is that these were made for all people. “One ordinance [statute] shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD. One law and one manner [ordinance] shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you” (Numbers 15:15-16).23 Israel might well have been the Lord’s chosen people, but they were not to be His only people – He chose them to be a conduit of His grace and mercy to those around them (and the family through whom the promised Messiah would come). Therefore, when Paul applies the Mosaic ordinances to Jew and Gentile alike (by using the term us), he is doing so with the full support of Scripture and God’s original desire for the people of Israel.
The Mosaic Law, with all of its statutes, ordinances, and finely-detailed instructions concerning the priesthood and the sacrificial requirements, served a dual purpose: 1) to very emphatically underscore the holiness of God, and 2) to demonstrate, beyond a shadow of doubt, the sinfulness of man. To the Galatians Paul declared: “… the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). The thrust of this is that the Mosaic Law was like unto a tutor given for the express purpose of pointing the way to Christ (the Anointed One, the Promised One, the Messiah) and, subsequently, justification by faith through Him. The work of the priests, and all of the requirements of the sacrificial system, provided salvation for no one (Galatians 2:16); it was faith in the promised One that brought salvation (the sacrifices were an illustration of the salvation that was to come) – salvation has always been by faith alone (Hebrews 11 makes this abundantly obvious), and the sole purpose of the Mosaic Law was to open the eyes of faith in the one who saw God’s holiness, his own sinfulness, and his need for God’s saving work on his behalf. This applied not only to the Jew, but also to the Gentile, for man has always been under the Law of God. Adam, in his sinless state, lived under the Law of God (Genesis 2:16-17), and it was his failure to be obedient to that Law that plunged all of mankind into sin. Paul reminds the Ephesians that the Mosaic ordinances were a barrier, a middle wall of partition that served to separate the Jew from the Gentile, but more than that, it proved to be a means of condemnation for everyone – the Jew included! No one was justified by the Mosaic Law (their justification came through faith in the promises of God); Paul calls it the enmity, the hostility that was broken by Christ through His death and resurrection.24 They confirmed that there was nothing that we could do to gain any merit in the sight of God; in effect, they left no doubt that we are all sinners before God and, therefore, destined for destruction (Galatians 2:16). Inasmuch as we are all sinners by birth, both the Law of God and the Mosaic Law are a source of condemnation to us – unless we have been born anew by the Spirit of God and have placed our faith in the gracious salvation wrought through Jesus Christ, the promised Deliverer (Romans 8:1-4). Every descendent of Adam stands condemned before God, yet every descendent of Adam can (and always could), by faith, avail themselves of the provision that God has always had available for their salvation from sin.
Returning to Ephesians 2:15, we see that Christ took the condemning ordinances of the Law of Moses to the cross, fulfilled them, ended them and brought new unity through His shed blood. The cross of Christ not only signaled the end of the Mosaic traditions, but also sealed the defeat of Satan as promised so long ago in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15). The Mosaic Laws, which served to set Israel apart from all other peoples, were ended – this included the laws that closely regulated the Jews’ daily living, the many festivals (some of which included days that were to be kept like unto the seventh-day Sabbath), the priesthood, and the sacrificial system with its multitude of regulations. We must be careful to recognize that the Law of God is NOT included in this, and that includes the seventh-day Sabbath (which is the Fourth Commandment). The Mosaic Law foreshadowed the coming of the Messiah Who brought the the promised salvation with Him (Hebrews 10:1) – of Christ, Who came to fulfill everything within these carefully prescribed activities.
It is because he understands that all of these Jewish traditions were fulfilled in Christ that Paul considers them loss for Christ. It is in Christ that he now holds everything that these traditions foreshadowed; what was a seasonal activity within the Jewish calendar is now a constant reality for him in Christ. For the Jew, the Passover lamb was slain every year on the fourteenth of Nisan (which, through faith, spoke of his spiritual salvation); for the Christian (whether Jew or Gentile) Christ is our Passover Lamb, Who died once for our sins (which we appropriate by faith) – clearly there is no need to perpetuate the Passover, for Christ died in fulfillment of it. All of these traditions that Paul had as a Jew and that spoke to him of the Redeemer Whom God promised to mankind, he now sets aside for Christ – Who is the completion of these traditions. Today, those who so enthusiastically delve into the Jewish traditions, and add them to their faith in Christ, have failed miserably to understand what Paul has so carefully delineated to the Philippians (and to the Galatians, Ephesians and Colossians). Christ fulfilled all of these traditions and removed them; what Christ died to put an end to, we must not seek to resurrect and perpetuate! Paul thoroughly condemned the teachings of the Judaizers to the Galatians (comparing the acceptance of their doctrine to a return to paganism – Galatians 4:9), yet their heresy continues to live to this very day. What Paul counted as loss, these people consider their gain; what a contradiction of the Word of God!
8. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
This flows out of the summary statement that Paul has just made, and he now provides a greater emphasis, adding more details to what he has just said. The phrase yea doubtless is literally but even more.25 In the previous verse, Paul declared his Jewish advantage to be loss for Christ; now he states that what he considers loss for Christ goes well beyond his impeccable and enviable heritage as a Jew. He says, “I am regarding all things as being loss because of the surpassing knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”26 Paul received the Gospel of God through special revelation (Galatians 1:12, 15-17; 2 Corinthians 12:1-4); he would have held a much clearer understanding of Who Christ is than most. Regarding Paul, the Apostle Peter wrote: “... and account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest [literally, to twist or torture; figuratively, to pervert], as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:15-16)27– thereby acknowledging that those who are spiritually ignorant and unstable are twisting Paul’s words (as they do the rest of Scripture) to their own destruction. Peter, whom Paul had to challenge for his failure to be consistent in his fellowship with the Gentile Christians (Galatians 2:11-12), openly admits that some of Paul’s writings are difficult to understand, even while he is careful to include them within the Scriptures as part of God’s Word to us.
Paul goes on to declare: on account of Whom [Christ] I have forfeited all things;28 this is a living illustration of Jesus’ words: “… whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). Probably the greatest sacrifice that Paul made was to turn from his own people; everywhere he went he spoke to the Jews, but everywhere he went they were the source of his troubles. Shortly after his conversion we read: “… the Jews took counsel to kill him” (Acts 9:23); on his journey with Barnabas, it was the Jews who “raised persecution” against them (Acts 13:50), and years later it was the Jews of Jerusalem who sealed Paul’s arrest by the Romans and forced him to appeal to Caesar (Acts 22:27; 25:2-3). However, despite this persecution, he so longed for his people to understand the Gospel of God that he would have even exchanged places with them spiritually: “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:3). As much as he longed for the salvation of his fellow Jews, Paul knew that God had sent him to proclaim the Gospel to those outside of the family of Israel (Romans 11:13). Nevertheless, he considers all that he has given up for the Lord as garbage, or refuse, by comparison – that which is of no value but to be thrown out.
Now comes a difficult statement: Paul has forfeited all so that he might win, or gain, Christ.29 To the Corinthians Paul said: “But I keep under [strictly control] my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway [disqualified or fail to meet the test]” (1 Corinthians 9:27).30 This is the Apostle Paul working out his salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), recognizing that he, like everyone who has placed his faith in Christ, bears in himself the propensity to apostatize. This is not works in order to obtain salvation; this is works of obedience for the purpose of retaining fellowship with, and abiding in, the Lord of salvation (“If ye love me, keep my commandments” [John 14:15]) – this is the cost of enduring (abiding with courage31) unto the end (Matthew 24:13). There is no place for pride within the heart of the Christian; in this life, we will never come to the place where we can relax our guard because we have it made – coasting spiritually will only lead downward into apostasy. Someone asked Jesus if those being saved were few, to which He replied: “Strive [a present tense command to expend energy, to make every effort – the opposite of coasting] to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek [to look for] to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24).32 The strait gate is the means of gaining access to the narrow way of our Christian walk (namely, salvation); many today are seeking to find salvation, but they are looking for it in all of the wrong places. The salvation that has been prepared by God is very narrowly defined (Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” [John 14:6]) and it is a gift (Ephesians 2:8); we can only accept the proffered gift by faith; we can do nothing to earn it. The continual striving, of which Jesus speaks, refers to man’s need to continually and diligently seek for the narrow gate of salvation; because few will find it, there are obviously many obstructions barring the way – probably the chief of which is man’s unwillingness to see himself as a sinner. Today the mantra is “look within yourself” and build upon the good that you find there (i.e., you are not a sinner, you are a good person). The Islamic faith says that you are a sinner only by what you do; it is not who you are (thereby denying that, through Adam, everyone is born a sinner). Every religion of the world provides a means for man to gain his own salvation; the Christian faith is alone in declaring that you can do nothing to inherit eternal life – you must accept what God has done for you. However, even professing Christians today are missing the narrow gate because they place their faith in the church, or the pastor, or the priest, or the liturgy – but not in Christ as the only Way.
Matthew writes: “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). Matthew and Luke describe the gate in exactly the same terms – it is narrow, but Matthew adds Jesus’ words concerning the journey that opens up after the gate, namely, “restricted is the road that leads to life.”33 Paul is expressing to the Philippians that he has left all of his Jewish advantage behind so that he will ultimately be received by Christ; the narrow gate and the restricted path did not permit him to hold onto his Jewish heritage. The writer of Hebrews declared: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1b-2). The word looking means to turn the eyes away from other things and fix them on something, to give attention to one thing to the exclusion of all else.34 Paul has turned his eyes away from all that made him a Jew of some renown, and he has fixed his gaze upon his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Are we trying to walk the restricted road to life cumbered with the cares of this world and the accumulation of wealth? If we are, we are doomed to failure (Matthew 13:22)! We must determine to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [literally – standing well around35] us” (Hebrews 12:1), lest we fail along the narrow road to eternal life. Paul’s purpose in turning away from everything that might seem to be to his advantage is so that he will win Christ – his focus is on the eternal and not on the earthly.36
9. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
This carries right on from the previous verse. Paul has just looked at the casting off that he has done so that he might gain Christ for all of eternity, now he outlines the hope that is his as he considers his Jewish heritage (his advantage) as loss in this present life.
Found (like the word win in the previous verse), is part of a purpose statement, and although it is in the subjunctive mood, it is another reason why Paul has turned away from his earthly advantages; it is so that I, Paul, will be found in Him.37 This is Paul’s expressed desire, to be found abiding in Christ; herein is the essence of the Christian life and of living according to the leading of the Spirit of God (John 15:4; Romans 8:4). Interestingly, win (from the previous verse) is in the active voice, this was something for which Paul was working (working out his salvation – Philippians 2:12); however, found is in the passive voice – this is how he desires God to find him. He now goes on to elaborate on what this means.
Paul begins with a negative statement – namely, he will not have his own righteousness. His desire is to be found in Christ, but it won’t be through a righteousness that will come from keeping the Law in his own strength. The Pharisees considered themselves to be righteous, and they held this opinion on the basis of their strict adherence to their interpretation of the Law of Moses. Prior to his conversion, Paul was part of this sect that religiously kept their traditions. However, Jesus said: “…except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case [in Greek this is a very strong negative: the combination of the two negatives (ou and me) along with a subjunctive/aorist verb (enter)] enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).38 The scribes and Pharisees filled the position of Moses to the people – they were the interpreters of the Law, therefore Jesus acknowledged that they “sit in Moses’ seat” (Matthew 23:2). For that reason, Jesus counseled His disciples to give heed to their teaching, but warned them not to follow their example – “All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not” (Matthew 23:3). To the Galatians, Paul plainly stated: “…by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Galatians 2:16); however, the Pharisees, of whom Paul was once a part, viewed themselves as being justified through their works. The Psalmist David understood man’s position before a holy God, for he said: “… in thy sight shall no man living be justified” (Psalm 143:2b). Man, on his own, stands condemned before God; we have no righteousness within us – we are inherently sinful. Isaiah knew this truth: “But we are all as an unclean [literally, now we are like the (absolutely) unclean] thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade [droop] as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken [carried] us away” (Isaiah 64:6).39 However, we often need to be reminded of this, for we, like the Pharisees, are prone to pride and to think more highly of ourselves than we ought.
Paul flatly declares that he will not have a righteousness that comes from keeping the Law of Moses – that Pharisaical righteousness received Jesus’ condemnation because it cannot survive God’s scrutiny. Therefore, since we have no hope of righteousness within ourselves, it follows that there must be another Source. Paul now elaborates on the only Source of righteousness Who will stand the test: (literally) but through the faith of Christ from the righteousness of God on the basis of the faith.40 God provides us with His righteousness through Christ by faith. “But now the righteousness of God without [apart from] the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets [both the Law of Moses and the OT prophets looked for the day of Messiah’s redemption]; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto [into] all and upon [on] all them that believe [are believing (having been persuaded) – present tense]: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God …” (Romans 3:21-23).41 There is only one way for me to receive the righteousness of God, and that is through being convinced of the truth of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection for my sin; this is the basis for faith in Christ, through which comes the righteousness from God. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus [this is the fundamental criteria for what follows], who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us [this is the righteousness which Paul is speaking of in Philippians], who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4). If we remain in Christ, then we will be clothed with His righteousness – however, we must be careful to continue in Him, lest we fall from grace and lose all that being in Christ brings. This was the warning that Paul sounded to the Galatians: “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law [really, think that you are justified by the Law, since this is impossible – Galatians 2:16]; ye are fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4). The Galatians were being tempted to add the necessity of keeping the Law of Moses to faith in Christ in order to be saved (the error of the Judaizers – Acts 15:1, 5); Paul makes it very clear that if they do so, then Christ is of no effect for them – they are fallen from the grace; they have become apostate! Herein is the significant reason why we must endure (to abide with perseverance) in Him (Matthew 24:13).
Paul’s desire is that he may be found in Christ, clothed with the righteousness of God, which comes through obedience to the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God (Romans 8:4). “If ye love me, keep [attend to carefully] my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another [of the same kind42] Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth …” (John 14:15-17)43; “… when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth …” (John 16:13). If we refuse to accept the truth, then we are guilty of grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:20), and stand in jeopardy of eternal ruin (2 Thessalonians 2:10). Through Christ’s provision of salvation, we put on the righteousness of God (Ephesians 4:24), but we must take heed lest we lose out through unbelief (Hebrews 3:12-14).
10. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Paul now presents three things that he will come to know, all of which flow directly out of the previous verse where he desires to be found in Christ and clothed with His righteousness. The first phrase is literally, to come to know Him.44 The word know, used here, is the Greek ginosko, which means to come to understand or to ascertain.45 It is through a close relationship with the Lord (being found in Him) that we will begin to know Him. The use of the word may, in our English translation, would make this thought appear to be uncertain – there is no such uncertainty in the Greek. If we are found to be in Christ and clothed with His righteousness, then we will come to know Him.
We are commanded to be continually discerning so that we might not be caught unaware by those who would draw us into a perverted spirituality, those whose work is after the manner of the wolf disguised as a sheep, and those who would add to, or subtract from, God’s Word. This is presented as a three-pronged warning, yet each is simply a variation of Satan’s ploy to draw the child of God away from the truth. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour [destroy] …” (1 Peter 5:8);11Satan is a destroyer, and he cares not how he plies his trade. We must be ever vigilant, ever discerning, lest we succumb to his wiles.
3. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Paul now begins to expand on his warning to beware of the concision, from the previous verse. Clearly, Paul does not want a repeat of the problem that he faced with the gatherings in Galatia; even though the Philippians were obedient to the Word of God, he wants to ensure that they understand and avoid the error of the Judaizers – perhaps something that he warned them against when he was with them; this could very well be part of what he is repeating for them, for their own spiritual benefit (v.1).
He begins his explanation with the phrase we are the circumcision. The we is not Paul as a member of the Jewish community, rather it is Paul as numbered among the Christians. “For he is our peace, who hath made both [the Jew and the Gentile] one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby …” (Ephesians 2:14-16). Through His finished work on the cross, Jesus has brought the Jew and the Gentile together into one Body – we are made one in Christ. To the Galatians, Paul declared: “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6). As he dealt with the error of the Judaizers in Galatia, he made it abundantly evident that it is faith in Christ alone that is necessary, and not the keeping of Jewish traditions; there is no saving grace in circumcision, nor any condemnation in uncircumcision.
“For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Romans 2:28-29). What is obvious is that the circumcision of which Paul is speaking (both to the Romans and to the Philippians) is a spiritual act, not a physical one. To the Colossians, Paul provides further clarification on this matter: “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ …” (Colossians 2:11); this means to continually reckon yourself to be dead unto sin as Paul declared to the Romans (Romans 6:6, 11). The spiritual application of this word (circumcision) should not have been unfamiliar to the Jews, for one of the promises that God gave to Israel through Moses was that if they would repent and turn to Him, He would then give them life: “And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live” (Deuteronomy 30:6). The spiritual application recognizes a turning away from sin and a turning to God in obedience to His commandments (Deuteronomy 30:8). How are Christians “the circumcision”? It is through faith in Christ as our Savior that we are able to continually reckon ourselves to be dead unto sin (we are cut-off from sin – therein is the spiritual circumcision) and alive unto God (Romans 6:11). It is through this saving faith that we are grafted into Christ (Romans 11:17; John 15:4), that the commandments of God are written upon our hearts (Hebrews 10:16), and that the Spirit of God indwells us in order to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). If we are alive unto God (being grafted into Him), then we will strive to live in obedience to the commandments in His Word (1 John 2:3-5), beginning with the Ten Commandments that He has written upon our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). God has provided us with all of the resources necessary to live for Him; however, we must have the will to permit His Spirit to guide us so that we might live out the righteousness of the Law of God that has been written upon our hearts (Romans 8:4).
Paul goes on to enumerate three characteristics of those who have embraced this spiritual circumcision: 1) they worship God in the spirit, 2) they rejoice in Christ Jesus, and 3) they place no confidence in the flesh.
Those who are reckoning themselves dead to sin (i.e., we who have placed our faith in Christ) will first of all worship God in the spirit. The Greek word latreuo (worship), used here, speaks of active service; its primary meaning is service for hire,12 which includes sacred service to God. It refers to a practical and continual service to God through the Spirit – in other words: obedience! Our obedience to God’s commands is our service to Him! John declared: “And hereby we do know [are knowing] that we know [have known] him, if we keep [are keeping] his commandments” (1 John 2:3).13 If we would do service to God, we must know Him, and if we know Him, then we must then obey Him. As we account ourselves dead to sin and alive unto God, the Spirit of God abiding within will be able to guide us in our understanding of His truth so that our walk will bring glory to His name. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1); the words service (as used here) and worship (as used in Philippians 3:3) come from a common Greek root. Our spiritual service for God (i.e., our obedience) is evidenced by living a life of sacrifice and holiness.
We will rejoice in Christ Jesus. The Greek word translated as rejoice (kauchaomai) is most often translated as glory (it is not the same Greek word that we looked at earlier); it means to boast or to glory in, therefore, our boast, or glory, will be in Christ Jesus. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast [kauchaomai]. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).14 The good works is nothing other than our obedience to what God has established for us (works of righteousness and holiness in keeping with the new man – Ephesians 4:24); however, this does not include empty ritualistic activities (Isaiah 1:10-17; Matthew 7:21-23). Our obedience to God’s commands does not enhance our justification before Him, but our faith in Christ demands that we obey the commands of the Lord, for it is for that purpose that we have been created in Christ Jesus. Our conformity to God’s ways is the evidence that we have a living faith in Him (James 2:18). We have no basis for glorying in ourselves; our salvation is entirely of God. Our glorying must be in Christ, for it is only through Him that we find ourselves regarded by God as being holy; it is only as we remain in Him that we are able to retain our holy standing before God (Hebrews 3:14). “Where is boasting [glorying (in ourselves)] then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without [apart from] the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:27-28).15 What we must understand is that even though we are not justified by keeping the Law or Commandments of God (not even the Ten Commandments), nevertheless, as we place our faith in Christ, the Spirit of God will seek to guide us to live out the righteousness of the Law (Romans 8:4). Inasmuch as we are justified before God by faith only (there is only one faith [Ephesians 4:4-6] which is effective from Adam to today), we have no basis for glorying, except in the One through Whom our justification is procured – Jesus Christ. From Adam to the cross, faith was exercised in the Promised One (the promise of a Deliverer was first made in the Garden of Eden – Genesis 3:15); since the cross, we place our faith in the Promised One Who came to fulfill the promised redemption of mankind. As those who have been purchased out of sin by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (and thereby made participants in the spiritual circumcision), we are to glory in Christ and walk in obedience to the commands of Scripture.
We will also place no confidence in the flesh. We have just seen that the foundation for our glorying is the Lord Jesus Christ, and that our justification before God comes only through what He has accomplished for us. Our salvation is entirely of God; we have no part in it whatsoever, therefore, it only follows that we will place absolutely no trust in ourselves. Although we must resolutely commit to faith in Jesus Christ (He commanded us to abide in Him – John 15:4; He admonished us to count the cost before we commit to following Him – Luke 14:26-27), He has also promised to abide in us, and has sent His Spirit, Who is prepared to abide with us forever (John 14:16). As we live in submission to the Spirit of God (placing no confidence in our own abilities) the righteousness of God will be lived out through us (Romans 8:4). We have been called to holiness of life (1 Peter 1:15) in obedience to what God has commanded us to do (1 John 2:4); this is a life entirely outside of anything that we could ever hope to accomplish through our own efforts. Paul recorded the end of our labors: “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Romans 7:19) – this is the flesh at work.
Paul reminds the Philippians that those who have reckoned the flesh to be crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6) are those who do service for (or, walk in obedience to) God, who glory in the Lord Jesus Christ, and who place absolutely no trust in their sinful flesh. It is our lot to make a commitment to follow the Lord (something that most Evangelicals have conveniently forgotten); this is an exercise of the will and comes at a cost, which we must be prepared to pay (Luke 14:26-33).
4. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
After stating that we place no trust in the flesh, Paul makes the statement that he might have had confidence in the flesh; if anyone thinks that they can trust in the flesh – he would have more reasons for such. The word confidence, as used in both verses (vs. 3 and 4), includes the idea of persuasion; this is not an empty, poorly placed dependency; rather it is a reliance or trust on something that gives the appearance of being trustworthy.16 Paul uses this to introduce a list of credentials that would put him at the top of the list of those who might be tempted to place their trust in the flesh – namely the Jews who were propagating the heresy of faith in Christ and the keeping of the Law of Moses (the traditions of the Jews given by God through Moses at Mt. Sinai; this would include the laws for daily living, the festivals and the rite of circumcision, the sacrificial system, the priestly order, but excludes the Ten Commandments).
5. 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;
Paul lists here all of the things to which a Jew would appeal in order to affirm their high standing within the Jewish community. He was born into a family where it was important to follow the Mosaic traditions; he came from solidly Jewish roots and knew his heritage. However, not only was he of solid Jewish stock, but concerning his religious commitment, he was a member of the strictest sect of the Jews. The Pharisees were those who were set apart from the average Jew (which is the meaning of the word Pharisee17), and they considered themselves to be the authority for interpreting the Scriptures and defining the daily regiments for the rest of their people.18 Paul had been schooled in the strictest of Jewish traditions – if anyone could claim any confidence before God because of their pedigree and training, it would have been Paul.
6. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
For the Pharisees, the ekklesia (the called-out ones being built by Christ) was a problem. Jews who were joining this group were no longer keeping the Jewish traditions as generations of Pharisees had determined that they should be kept. Such disregard for the righteousness of the Pharisees incensed Paul so that he went about destroying these gatherings: “As for Saul, he made havock of [to ravage or devastate] the church, entering into every house, and haling [dragging] men and women committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3).19 As a Pharisee, he was zealous to protect their interests; probably of all of the Pharisees of his day, he was the most zealous, for we do not read of anyone else entering into such a program of persecution in an effort to stop the new faith from spreading.
As a Pharisee, Paul says that he kept the Law of Moses with precision; among the Pharisees, he would have been considered a stickler for detail. If there was any righteousness to be obtained through keeping the Law, it would have been his.
7. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Here is the culmination of Paul’s boasting. All of the things that he has just delineated, which would have firmly established his importance in the eyes of the Jews and secured his advantage within the Jewish community, those things that would have assisted him in his advancement within the school of the Pharisees, all of this he accounts, or considers, as loss for Christ. The word counted is in the perfect tense, which means that Paul, at one time in the past, considered all of his Jewish advantages to be of no value – it was a one-time decision under which he continued to live. Everything that placed him among the elite within the Jewish community he has turned away from, or forsaken, for Christ. All of this fits with his warning: beware of the concision (v.2). The Judaizers sought to draw Christians into keeping the Mosaic traditions (Acts 15:5); Paul says that he has set all of that aside for Christ. He is a living illustration of what Jesus’ fulfillment of the Mosaic Law really means; what cannot be missed is that Paul saw the importance of making this truth very, very clear to the Philippians. Incredibly, as we look at Paul’s writings, this theme dominates his letter to the Christians in the region of Galatia, it receives a complete explanation in his letter to the Ephesians, we see it here in Philippians, and it shows up in his epistle to the Colossians, as well. Clearly, the lure to all things Jewish was very strong during the early years of the Apostles; the Jews desperately tried to cling to their traditions, and impose them upon those with a Gentile background (Acts 15:1).
However, today we are not altogether immune to this very same temptation, for there are groups of Christians who are doing this very thing. There is a broad movement within Evangelicalism to return to those patterns of life from yesteryear, and among these are those who, while professing faith in Christ, desire to learn about and celebrate all of the Jewish traditions. It is one thing to learn about the Jewish festivals and practices, and quite another to seek to make them a part of daily living. They look at the Jewish roots of Christianity and consider this journey back into the customs of Judaism to be a very spiritually-positive part of their faith in Christ. By contrast, Paul, who had full knowledge of all of these Mosaic traditions, and had practiced them for many years, calls them a disadvantage.20 The push in Paul’s day was to meld these traditions into faith alone in Christ alone – something that he bluntly called a perversion of the Gospel (Galatians 1:6-7). What seems evident is that those who seek to undo what Paul so clearly states was ended at the cross (Galatians 3:19; Ephesians 2:15) have not carefully read his letter to the Galatian Christians – if they had, they might be less enthusiastic about adding these Jewish traditions to their faith in Christ.21
Here are the words of the Spirit of God, through Paul, to the Ephesians, on this matter: “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both [the Jew and the Gentile (v.11)] one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished [to render useless by replacement (the Mosaic Law replaced by the New Covenant)] in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances [the Mosaic Law]; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby …” (Ephesians 2:13-16).22 Paul refers here to the middle wall of partition – the separating factor of the Law of Moses; he is writing to a group of believers who would have been made up of both Jews and Gentiles, and he notes that Jesus’ work on the cross has made one out of these two. A small digression will make it clear as to why he does this.
It is often our thought that the Mosaic Laws were for the people of Israel only, but that is not correct. They may well have been delivered to the children of Israel through Moses at Mt Sinai, but their application was to be much broader. God expressed His desire that Israel would be “unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:6a); His yearning was that they would be an example to the nations around them, and a means (priests) to bring the lost peoples to Himself. Israel may have received the Mosaic laws and statutes, the priesthood and the sacrificial system from God, but the reality is that these were made for all people. “One ordinance [statute] shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD. One law and one manner [ordinance] shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you” (Numbers 15:15-16).23 Israel might well have been the Lord’s chosen people, but they were not to be His only people – He chose them to be a conduit of His grace and mercy to those around them (and the family through whom the promised Messiah would come). Therefore, when Paul applies the Mosaic ordinances to Jew and Gentile alike (by using the term us), he is doing so with the full support of Scripture and God’s original desire for the people of Israel.
The Mosaic Law, with all of its statutes, ordinances, and finely-detailed instructions concerning the priesthood and the sacrificial requirements, served a dual purpose: 1) to very emphatically underscore the holiness of God, and 2) to demonstrate, beyond a shadow of doubt, the sinfulness of man. To the Galatians Paul declared: “… the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). The thrust of this is that the Mosaic Law was like unto a tutor given for the express purpose of pointing the way to Christ (the Anointed One, the Promised One, the Messiah) and, subsequently, justification by faith through Him. The work of the priests, and all of the requirements of the sacrificial system, provided salvation for no one (Galatians 2:16); it was faith in the promised One that brought salvation (the sacrifices were an illustration of the salvation that was to come) – salvation has always been by faith alone (Hebrews 11 makes this abundantly obvious), and the sole purpose of the Mosaic Law was to open the eyes of faith in the one who saw God’s holiness, his own sinfulness, and his need for God’s saving work on his behalf. This applied not only to the Jew, but also to the Gentile, for man has always been under the Law of God. Adam, in his sinless state, lived under the Law of God (Genesis 2:16-17), and it was his failure to be obedient to that Law that plunged all of mankind into sin. Paul reminds the Ephesians that the Mosaic ordinances were a barrier, a middle wall of partition that served to separate the Jew from the Gentile, but more than that, it proved to be a means of condemnation for everyone – the Jew included! No one was justified by the Mosaic Law (their justification came through faith in the promises of God); Paul calls it the enmity, the hostility that was broken by Christ through His death and resurrection.24 They confirmed that there was nothing that we could do to gain any merit in the sight of God; in effect, they left no doubt that we are all sinners before God and, therefore, destined for destruction (Galatians 2:16). Inasmuch as we are all sinners by birth, both the Law of God and the Mosaic Law are a source of condemnation to us – unless we have been born anew by the Spirit of God and have placed our faith in the gracious salvation wrought through Jesus Christ, the promised Deliverer (Romans 8:1-4). Every descendent of Adam stands condemned before God, yet every descendent of Adam can (and always could), by faith, avail themselves of the provision that God has always had available for their salvation from sin.
Returning to Ephesians 2:15, we see that Christ took the condemning ordinances of the Law of Moses to the cross, fulfilled them, ended them and brought new unity through His shed blood. The cross of Christ not only signaled the end of the Mosaic traditions, but also sealed the defeat of Satan as promised so long ago in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15). The Mosaic Laws, which served to set Israel apart from all other peoples, were ended – this included the laws that closely regulated the Jews’ daily living, the many festivals (some of which included days that were to be kept like unto the seventh-day Sabbath), the priesthood, and the sacrificial system with its multitude of regulations. We must be careful to recognize that the Law of God is NOT included in this, and that includes the seventh-day Sabbath (which is the Fourth Commandment). The Mosaic Law foreshadowed the coming of the Messiah Who brought the the promised salvation with Him (Hebrews 10:1) – of Christ, Who came to fulfill everything within these carefully prescribed activities.
It is because he understands that all of these Jewish traditions were fulfilled in Christ that Paul considers them loss for Christ. It is in Christ that he now holds everything that these traditions foreshadowed; what was a seasonal activity within the Jewish calendar is now a constant reality for him in Christ. For the Jew, the Passover lamb was slain every year on the fourteenth of Nisan (which, through faith, spoke of his spiritual salvation); for the Christian (whether Jew or Gentile) Christ is our Passover Lamb, Who died once for our sins (which we appropriate by faith) – clearly there is no need to perpetuate the Passover, for Christ died in fulfillment of it. All of these traditions that Paul had as a Jew and that spoke to him of the Redeemer Whom God promised to mankind, he now sets aside for Christ – Who is the completion of these traditions. Today, those who so enthusiastically delve into the Jewish traditions, and add them to their faith in Christ, have failed miserably to understand what Paul has so carefully delineated to the Philippians (and to the Galatians, Ephesians and Colossians). Christ fulfilled all of these traditions and removed them; what Christ died to put an end to, we must not seek to resurrect and perpetuate! Paul thoroughly condemned the teachings of the Judaizers to the Galatians (comparing the acceptance of their doctrine to a return to paganism – Galatians 4:9), yet their heresy continues to live to this very day. What Paul counted as loss, these people consider their gain; what a contradiction of the Word of God!
8. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
This flows out of the summary statement that Paul has just made, and he now provides a greater emphasis, adding more details to what he has just said. The phrase yea doubtless is literally but even more.25 In the previous verse, Paul declared his Jewish advantage to be loss for Christ; now he states that what he considers loss for Christ goes well beyond his impeccable and enviable heritage as a Jew. He says, “I am regarding all things as being loss because of the surpassing knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”26 Paul received the Gospel of God through special revelation (Galatians 1:12, 15-17; 2 Corinthians 12:1-4); he would have held a much clearer understanding of Who Christ is than most. Regarding Paul, the Apostle Peter wrote: “... and account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest [literally, to twist or torture; figuratively, to pervert], as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:15-16)27– thereby acknowledging that those who are spiritually ignorant and unstable are twisting Paul’s words (as they do the rest of Scripture) to their own destruction. Peter, whom Paul had to challenge for his failure to be consistent in his fellowship with the Gentile Christians (Galatians 2:11-12), openly admits that some of Paul’s writings are difficult to understand, even while he is careful to include them within the Scriptures as part of God’s Word to us.
Paul goes on to declare: on account of Whom [Christ] I have forfeited all things;28 this is a living illustration of Jesus’ words: “… whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). Probably the greatest sacrifice that Paul made was to turn from his own people; everywhere he went he spoke to the Jews, but everywhere he went they were the source of his troubles. Shortly after his conversion we read: “… the Jews took counsel to kill him” (Acts 9:23); on his journey with Barnabas, it was the Jews who “raised persecution” against them (Acts 13:50), and years later it was the Jews of Jerusalem who sealed Paul’s arrest by the Romans and forced him to appeal to Caesar (Acts 22:27; 25:2-3). However, despite this persecution, he so longed for his people to understand the Gospel of God that he would have even exchanged places with them spiritually: “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:3). As much as he longed for the salvation of his fellow Jews, Paul knew that God had sent him to proclaim the Gospel to those outside of the family of Israel (Romans 11:13). Nevertheless, he considers all that he has given up for the Lord as garbage, or refuse, by comparison – that which is of no value but to be thrown out.
Now comes a difficult statement: Paul has forfeited all so that he might win, or gain, Christ.29 To the Corinthians Paul said: “But I keep under [strictly control] my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway [disqualified or fail to meet the test]” (1 Corinthians 9:27).30 This is the Apostle Paul working out his salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), recognizing that he, like everyone who has placed his faith in Christ, bears in himself the propensity to apostatize. This is not works in order to obtain salvation; this is works of obedience for the purpose of retaining fellowship with, and abiding in, the Lord of salvation (“If ye love me, keep my commandments” [John 14:15]) – this is the cost of enduring (abiding with courage31) unto the end (Matthew 24:13). There is no place for pride within the heart of the Christian; in this life, we will never come to the place where we can relax our guard because we have it made – coasting spiritually will only lead downward into apostasy. Someone asked Jesus if those being saved were few, to which He replied: “Strive [a present tense command to expend energy, to make every effort – the opposite of coasting] to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek [to look for] to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24).32 The strait gate is the means of gaining access to the narrow way of our Christian walk (namely, salvation); many today are seeking to find salvation, but they are looking for it in all of the wrong places. The salvation that has been prepared by God is very narrowly defined (Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” [John 14:6]) and it is a gift (Ephesians 2:8); we can only accept the proffered gift by faith; we can do nothing to earn it. The continual striving, of which Jesus speaks, refers to man’s need to continually and diligently seek for the narrow gate of salvation; because few will find it, there are obviously many obstructions barring the way – probably the chief of which is man’s unwillingness to see himself as a sinner. Today the mantra is “look within yourself” and build upon the good that you find there (i.e., you are not a sinner, you are a good person). The Islamic faith says that you are a sinner only by what you do; it is not who you are (thereby denying that, through Adam, everyone is born a sinner). Every religion of the world provides a means for man to gain his own salvation; the Christian faith is alone in declaring that you can do nothing to inherit eternal life – you must accept what God has done for you. However, even professing Christians today are missing the narrow gate because they place their faith in the church, or the pastor, or the priest, or the liturgy – but not in Christ as the only Way.
Matthew writes: “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). Matthew and Luke describe the gate in exactly the same terms – it is narrow, but Matthew adds Jesus’ words concerning the journey that opens up after the gate, namely, “restricted is the road that leads to life.”33 Paul is expressing to the Philippians that he has left all of his Jewish advantage behind so that he will ultimately be received by Christ; the narrow gate and the restricted path did not permit him to hold onto his Jewish heritage. The writer of Hebrews declared: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1b-2). The word looking means to turn the eyes away from other things and fix them on something, to give attention to one thing to the exclusion of all else.34 Paul has turned his eyes away from all that made him a Jew of some renown, and he has fixed his gaze upon his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Are we trying to walk the restricted road to life cumbered with the cares of this world and the accumulation of wealth? If we are, we are doomed to failure (Matthew 13:22)! We must determine to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [literally – standing well around35] us” (Hebrews 12:1), lest we fail along the narrow road to eternal life. Paul’s purpose in turning away from everything that might seem to be to his advantage is so that he will win Christ – his focus is on the eternal and not on the earthly.36
9. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
This carries right on from the previous verse. Paul has just looked at the casting off that he has done so that he might gain Christ for all of eternity, now he outlines the hope that is his as he considers his Jewish heritage (his advantage) as loss in this present life.
Found (like the word win in the previous verse), is part of a purpose statement, and although it is in the subjunctive mood, it is another reason why Paul has turned away from his earthly advantages; it is so that I, Paul, will be found in Him.37 This is Paul’s expressed desire, to be found abiding in Christ; herein is the essence of the Christian life and of living according to the leading of the Spirit of God (John 15:4; Romans 8:4). Interestingly, win (from the previous verse) is in the active voice, this was something for which Paul was working (working out his salvation – Philippians 2:12); however, found is in the passive voice – this is how he desires God to find him. He now goes on to elaborate on what this means.
Paul begins with a negative statement – namely, he will not have his own righteousness. His desire is to be found in Christ, but it won’t be through a righteousness that will come from keeping the Law in his own strength. The Pharisees considered themselves to be righteous, and they held this opinion on the basis of their strict adherence to their interpretation of the Law of Moses. Prior to his conversion, Paul was part of this sect that religiously kept their traditions. However, Jesus said: “…except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case [in Greek this is a very strong negative: the combination of the two negatives (ou and me) along with a subjunctive/aorist verb (enter)] enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).38 The scribes and Pharisees filled the position of Moses to the people – they were the interpreters of the Law, therefore Jesus acknowledged that they “sit in Moses’ seat” (Matthew 23:2). For that reason, Jesus counseled His disciples to give heed to their teaching, but warned them not to follow their example – “All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not” (Matthew 23:3). To the Galatians, Paul plainly stated: “…by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Galatians 2:16); however, the Pharisees, of whom Paul was once a part, viewed themselves as being justified through their works. The Psalmist David understood man’s position before a holy God, for he said: “… in thy sight shall no man living be justified” (Psalm 143:2b). Man, on his own, stands condemned before God; we have no righteousness within us – we are inherently sinful. Isaiah knew this truth: “But we are all as an unclean [literally, now we are like the (absolutely) unclean] thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade [droop] as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken [carried] us away” (Isaiah 64:6).39 However, we often need to be reminded of this, for we, like the Pharisees, are prone to pride and to think more highly of ourselves than we ought.
Paul flatly declares that he will not have a righteousness that comes from keeping the Law of Moses – that Pharisaical righteousness received Jesus’ condemnation because it cannot survive God’s scrutiny. Therefore, since we have no hope of righteousness within ourselves, it follows that there must be another Source. Paul now elaborates on the only Source of righteousness Who will stand the test: (literally) but through the faith of Christ from the righteousness of God on the basis of the faith.40 God provides us with His righteousness through Christ by faith. “But now the righteousness of God without [apart from] the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets [both the Law of Moses and the OT prophets looked for the day of Messiah’s redemption]; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto [into] all and upon [on] all them that believe [are believing (having been persuaded) – present tense]: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God …” (Romans 3:21-23).41 There is only one way for me to receive the righteousness of God, and that is through being convinced of the truth of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection for my sin; this is the basis for faith in Christ, through which comes the righteousness from God. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus [this is the fundamental criteria for what follows], who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us [this is the righteousness which Paul is speaking of in Philippians], who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4). If we remain in Christ, then we will be clothed with His righteousness – however, we must be careful to continue in Him, lest we fall from grace and lose all that being in Christ brings. This was the warning that Paul sounded to the Galatians: “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law [really, think that you are justified by the Law, since this is impossible – Galatians 2:16]; ye are fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4). The Galatians were being tempted to add the necessity of keeping the Law of Moses to faith in Christ in order to be saved (the error of the Judaizers – Acts 15:1, 5); Paul makes it very clear that if they do so, then Christ is of no effect for them – they are fallen from the grace; they have become apostate! Herein is the significant reason why we must endure (to abide with perseverance) in Him (Matthew 24:13).
Paul’s desire is that he may be found in Christ, clothed with the righteousness of God, which comes through obedience to the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God (Romans 8:4). “If ye love me, keep [attend to carefully] my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another [of the same kind42] Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth …” (John 14:15-17)43; “… when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth …” (John 16:13). If we refuse to accept the truth, then we are guilty of grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:20), and stand in jeopardy of eternal ruin (2 Thessalonians 2:10). Through Christ’s provision of salvation, we put on the righteousness of God (Ephesians 4:24), but we must take heed lest we lose out through unbelief (Hebrews 3:12-14).
10. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Paul now presents three things that he will come to know, all of which flow directly out of the previous verse where he desires to be found in Christ and clothed with His righteousness. The first phrase is literally, to come to know Him.44 The word know, used here, is the Greek ginosko, which means to come to understand or to ascertain.45 It is through a close relationship with the Lord (being found in Him) that we will begin to know Him. The use of the word may, in our English translation, would make this thought appear to be uncertain – there is no such uncertainty in the Greek. If we are found to be in Christ and clothed with His righteousness, then we will come to know Him.
Flag of Vatican City
Once more we see the absolute importance of being found in Christ; Jesus commanded: “Abide [or remain (meno)] in me, and I in you …” (John 15:4).46 John clarified this for us: “And he that keepeth [to attend to carefully – present tense, active voice – it is something that we are to be continually doing] his [God’s] commandments dwelleth [to remain or abide (meno) – something that we are to always be doing] in him, and he in him” (1 John 3:24a).47 There is an unmistakable correlation between obedience to the commands of God, and remaining in Christ. If we consider that when we come to Christ in faith, God writes His Laws upon our hearts and gives us His Spirit to enable us to live in obedience to His commands (Jeremiah 31:31-33; Romans 8:4), then there is no need to wonder that obedience and abiding in Christ are inextricably linked. We must remind ourselves: “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep [attend to carefully] his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4).48 The profound truth of these words runs contrary to the Ecumenical mind; you cannot fly the white and yellow flag of Ecumenism49 and, at the same time, be obedient to the Word of God! In this metaphorical, Ecumenical flag, the white represents their profound willingness to surrender at every turn, and yellow reveals their fear of standing on the truths of Scripture; interestingly, the flag of Vatican City (arguably the world headquarters for modern Ecumenism, since the Roman Catholic Church is unabashedly a huge promoter of Ecumenical thinking) bears these very colors (however, in their interpretation, the gold represents spiritual power, and the white, worldly power50). Evangelicalism has lost sight of this significant truth: Ecumenism and obedience to God are mutually exclusive! Within the Evangelical movement, the concept of Biblical separation is no longer believed, taught, or even remotely practiced. What is Biblical separation? It is the Biblical mandate that keeps obedience to God and Ecumenism apart.
The principle upon which Biblical separation is built is the holiness of God. Twice in Scripture we read of heavenly beings proclaiming the God’s holiness: “And the four beasts [living beings] had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8; cp. Isaiah 6:2-3).51 “The holiness of God is that attribute which governs the exercise of all His other attributes … It is extremely important to recognize the preeminence of God’s holiness.”52 Moses declared of God: “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment [just]: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he” (Deuteronomy 32:4).53 God’s holiness, by definition and for our example, excludes even a tinge of iniquity or compromise with evil. Therefore, when we speak of God’s love for mankind, we must understand that this love is flowing out of His holiness. Evangelicals today have placed a heavy emphasis upon the love of God, but they have failed to view that love being compatible with His holiness; rather, they desire to see His love being expressed in tolerance for one another (the root of Ecumenism). God’s love expressed through His holiness will not permit me to sidle up to those who teach or practice error; however, love expressed outside of God’s holiness will easily become tolerant and accepting of teachings that are contrary to Scripture.
A quick review of recent history proves this reality beyond question. When Harold Ockenga unveiled what he termed the “New Evangelicalism” in 1948, he did so through a “ringing call for a repudiation [rejection] of separatism and the summons to social involvement.”54 The fundamental change with New Evangelicalism versus the Evangelicalism of the day, was a shift in its strategy from “one of separation to one of infiltration.”55 As one of the founders of Fuller Seminary, Ockenga made this decision, not on the basis of Scripture, but from a pragmatic response to a looming loss of influence within a larger constituency. He recognized that taking this new position would isolate the school from those on the right who held to Biblical separation, but he harbored a greater fear that to fail to take this position would result in a “conflict with the left that might cut the seminary off from wider influences.”56 Pragmatism swayed Ockenga to neglect the Word of God: “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you…” (2 Corinthians 6:16-17). New Evangelicalism’s newly formulated tolerance for the teachings of liberal theologians has resulted in the wholesale commitment of Evangelicals to Ecumenism in less than sixty years. The popularity of men like Rick Warren has thrived on the concept of infiltration; he, like Ockenga before him, views those who hold to Biblical separation as the enemy. “Warren predicts that fundamentalism, of all varieties, will be ‘one of the big enemies of the 21st century’”57 – and he careful to affirm that he meant Christian fundamentalists as well. Clearly, pragmatism has become the driving force among Evangelicals today; the Word of God has been relegated to the back seat, if not tossed out altogether.
If Evangelicals have turned away from Biblical separation to their own detriment, then what does it mean to hold to foundational doctrine? We’ve already established that God’s holiness forms the basis for Biblical separation, and, flowing out of this, we can see that God’s call to holiness is for our spiritual purity. Recognizing that we are all sinners by birth (Psalm 51:5), God calls us into faith in Christ for the express purpose of establishing His righteousness in us (Romans 3:21-23; 8:1-4). As those who have been born-again by the Spirit of God and called by God with a holy calling (2 Timothy 1:9), it is incumbent on us to live in obedience to God’s Word, and this includes the unpopular doctrine of Biblical separation. There are three primary areas where we see the Scriptures deal with the matter of separation, and we will briefly look into each of these.
First is the area of separation from the world; this is the least controversial of the three, and one on which some Evangelicals will agree, although often with some qualifications. This is a significant theme throughout Scripture and one that cannot be easily ignored. Before Israel entered the land promised to them by God, He warned them: “When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee …” (Deuteronomy 12:29-30a). God desired Israel to be a holy nation before all of the peoples of the world (Exodus 19:6), even as He desires us to be a holy people (1 Peter 2:9). James does not mince his words on this matter: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). Separation from the world is identified with God’s acceptance of us – “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you …” (2 Corinthians 6:17). This principle is very clear in Scripture, and so most Evangelicals will accept this level of separation (although they may like to have some discussion as to what the world might really be).
Then we are to separate ourselves from those who are apostate, those who have believed but no longer hold to the truth of Scripture. To Timothy, Paul wrote: “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent [without self-control], fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady [reckless], highminded [literally, to wrap in smoke or mist; to be stupid from a sense of one’s own importance58], lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:2-5).59 Notice that these men will have “a form of godliness”; these are not those who profess atheism, but rather those who hold to a form of Christianity! By holding Ecumenical Evangelicalism (today there is really no other) up to the light of Scripture, you will see these traits become evident – not that all Evangelicals will display all of these characteristics, but a panoramic view of the Evangelical landscape will reveal all of them. Paul’s capping admonition is: turn away from such as these, avoid them, and do not mix with them.
The principle upon which Biblical separation is built is the holiness of God. Twice in Scripture we read of heavenly beings proclaiming the God’s holiness: “And the four beasts [living beings] had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8; cp. Isaiah 6:2-3).51 “The holiness of God is that attribute which governs the exercise of all His other attributes … It is extremely important to recognize the preeminence of God’s holiness.”52 Moses declared of God: “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment [just]: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he” (Deuteronomy 32:4).53 God’s holiness, by definition and for our example, excludes even a tinge of iniquity or compromise with evil. Therefore, when we speak of God’s love for mankind, we must understand that this love is flowing out of His holiness. Evangelicals today have placed a heavy emphasis upon the love of God, but they have failed to view that love being compatible with His holiness; rather, they desire to see His love being expressed in tolerance for one another (the root of Ecumenism). God’s love expressed through His holiness will not permit me to sidle up to those who teach or practice error; however, love expressed outside of God’s holiness will easily become tolerant and accepting of teachings that are contrary to Scripture.
A quick review of recent history proves this reality beyond question. When Harold Ockenga unveiled what he termed the “New Evangelicalism” in 1948, he did so through a “ringing call for a repudiation [rejection] of separatism and the summons to social involvement.”54 The fundamental change with New Evangelicalism versus the Evangelicalism of the day, was a shift in its strategy from “one of separation to one of infiltration.”55 As one of the founders of Fuller Seminary, Ockenga made this decision, not on the basis of Scripture, but from a pragmatic response to a looming loss of influence within a larger constituency. He recognized that taking this new position would isolate the school from those on the right who held to Biblical separation, but he harbored a greater fear that to fail to take this position would result in a “conflict with the left that might cut the seminary off from wider influences.”56 Pragmatism swayed Ockenga to neglect the Word of God: “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you…” (2 Corinthians 6:16-17). New Evangelicalism’s newly formulated tolerance for the teachings of liberal theologians has resulted in the wholesale commitment of Evangelicals to Ecumenism in less than sixty years. The popularity of men like Rick Warren has thrived on the concept of infiltration; he, like Ockenga before him, views those who hold to Biblical separation as the enemy. “Warren predicts that fundamentalism, of all varieties, will be ‘one of the big enemies of the 21st century’”57 – and he careful to affirm that he meant Christian fundamentalists as well. Clearly, pragmatism has become the driving force among Evangelicals today; the Word of God has been relegated to the back seat, if not tossed out altogether.
If Evangelicals have turned away from Biblical separation to their own detriment, then what does it mean to hold to foundational doctrine? We’ve already established that God’s holiness forms the basis for Biblical separation, and, flowing out of this, we can see that God’s call to holiness is for our spiritual purity. Recognizing that we are all sinners by birth (Psalm 51:5), God calls us into faith in Christ for the express purpose of establishing His righteousness in us (Romans 3:21-23; 8:1-4). As those who have been born-again by the Spirit of God and called by God with a holy calling (2 Timothy 1:9), it is incumbent on us to live in obedience to God’s Word, and this includes the unpopular doctrine of Biblical separation. There are three primary areas where we see the Scriptures deal with the matter of separation, and we will briefly look into each of these.
First is the area of separation from the world; this is the least controversial of the three, and one on which some Evangelicals will agree, although often with some qualifications. This is a significant theme throughout Scripture and one that cannot be easily ignored. Before Israel entered the land promised to them by God, He warned them: “When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee …” (Deuteronomy 12:29-30a). God desired Israel to be a holy nation before all of the peoples of the world (Exodus 19:6), even as He desires us to be a holy people (1 Peter 2:9). James does not mince his words on this matter: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). Separation from the world is identified with God’s acceptance of us – “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you …” (2 Corinthians 6:17). This principle is very clear in Scripture, and so most Evangelicals will accept this level of separation (although they may like to have some discussion as to what the world might really be).
Then we are to separate ourselves from those who are apostate, those who have believed but no longer hold to the truth of Scripture. To Timothy, Paul wrote: “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent [without self-control], fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady [reckless], highminded [literally, to wrap in smoke or mist; to be stupid from a sense of one’s own importance58], lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:2-5).59 Notice that these men will have “a form of godliness”; these are not those who profess atheism, but rather those who hold to a form of Christianity! By holding Ecumenical Evangelicalism (today there is really no other) up to the light of Scripture, you will see these traits become evident – not that all Evangelicals will display all of these characteristics, but a panoramic view of the Evangelical landscape will reveal all of them. Paul’s capping admonition is: turn away from such as these, avoid them, and do not mix with them.
Billy Graham speaking at MBI Founder's Week, 1986
This can be a difficult thing, and something that modern Evangelicals refuse to practice. When Harold Ockenga took his New Evangelical stance back in the late 1940s, he did so with a declared refusal to separate from those who professed Christianity but held a skewed view of the Scriptures. Today, Evangelicals have adopted all of what Ockenga proposed and more; his Evangelicalism is no longer “New,” but common. The platform of New Evangelicalism became the springboard for rampant Ecumenism. Even in Ockenga’s day Ecumenism was not a new concept but it was primarily limited to those viewed as being spiritually liberal. The Federal Council of Churches (which was formed in 1908) brought the mainline Protestant denominations together into Ecumenical cooperation.60 What Ockenga’s leadership provided, was a bridge over which Evangelicals could travel in order to join with those who were more gracious and accepting than their former separatist brethren; within a few decades, the barriers had been removed, the bridge was no longer necessary, and most of those who once held fundamentalist positions had succumbed to the lure of Ecumenical brotherhood – the pure view of the Word of God had been relinquished in favor of fellowship with a broader so-called Christian community. One example is Moody Bible Institute, which at the turn of the twentieth century was known “for its conservative fundamentalism and opposition to liberal theology and the social gospel.”61 However, less than forty years after Harold Ockenga made his proclamation of New Evangelicalism, Moody had forsaken its fundamentalist moorings and embraced Billy Graham, the public face of this new, Ecumenical Evangelicalism. It is interesting to note that many of the Bible schools in North America were founded by fundamentalists as a means of training men against the errors of modernism (even Fuller Seminary was established with this ideal, but, with Ockenga at the helm, it never accomplished this goal). However, as virtually all of these schools, which were formerly fundamentalist in their Biblical position, began falling into the heresy of Ecumenism, it was a very short time before thousands of young men and women were being turned out with the New Evangelical perspective. As many of these men became the spiritual leaders of churches, it is easily seen how quickly the doctrines of New Evangelicalism flooded across the Christian landscape, encouraged by Billy Graham’s crusades and the publication of Christianity Today.
Despite the virtual landslide into Ecumenism and compromise with the liberal theologians, God still says: “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16; Leviticus 11:44). It is only as we neglect the Word of God that we can embrace modern Evangelicalism, which has become synonymous with Ecumenism. Something as seemingly innocent as a local-community ministerial association is an expression of the Ecumenical mind, and we must avoid it. John wrote: “And hereby we do know that we know him [God], if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). It is impossible to mix the compromise of Ecumenical thinking with obedience to God’s commands – the two simply will not mix. If we embrace the brotherhood of Ecumenism, then we have already failed to keep God’s commands; if we, through faith in Christ and the aid of the Spirit of God, determine to walk according to what God desires, then we will immediately fall out-of-step with the Ecumenical crowd. We must avoid those who have fallen from the faith as expressed in the Scriptures – spiritually, we have nothing in common; we must not sit under their teaching, whether through preaching, literature, radio or television.
As we have seen, this second area of separation is not without its difficulties within the minds of most who would call themselves Christian. Separation from those who merely hold a form of godliness is not a popular stance to take. However, there is another area where the Scriptures call on us to exercise separation – we are to separate from those brethren who would practice or propagate error. These would be brethren who, like the Galatians, are in the process of being removed from God (apostatizing); “I marvel that ye are so soon removed [present tense transpose – one thing in place of another] from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another [a different] gospel …” (Galatians 1:6).62
To the Corinthians, Paul wrote: “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators … But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. … Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13). Notice that this is a “brother” who is carrying on in this way; this is not the world, nor is it someone who is apostate. These errors might appear to be so obvious, but perhaps they are actually more subtle than we might think. Within Evangelicalism, someone who might be covetous or an idolater could be superficially viewed as being blessed by the Lord in material things. Living together before marriage or having a child out of wedlock no longer holds the stigma that it once did, and so fornication is marginalized through a perceived commitment to marry or a youthful slip; however, what about the mindset that led to this? John says that if someone claims to know God but doesn’t do what He says, then he is a liar and His truth is not there (1 John 2:4). We are not to abide such a person within our fellowship.
Paul wrote to Timothy: “If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness … from such withdraw thyself” (1 Timothy 6:3-5). To the Corinthians, Paul wrote of a life that is not lived according to the commands of Scripture; here, Paul speaks of those who teach things that are not Biblically sound, yet they would not necessarily be numbered among the apostates. This is not advocating abandoning someone the first time that you hear something that might be construed as error; rather, if someone is unwilling to change their teaching based upon an explanation of the appropriate Scriptures, then you must withdraw yourself from them. Keep in mind that the purpose of Biblical separation is spiritual purity. When you sit under someone’s teaching, you bear the responsibility to weigh what you hear against the Scriptures. If what you hear and what you read in Scripture are not the same, then you must point out where you see the departure from the Word of God. Should their response be: “I cannot accept that” (or some other equally profound response) and they cannot justify their position based upon Scripture, then you must withdraw from their instruction.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul sliced this situation even a little thinner: “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark [keep a watchful eye on] them which cause divisions and offences contrary to [alongside of] the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid [turn away from] them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly [desires]; and by good words [plausible speech] and fair speeches [flattery] deceive [deceive completely] the hearts of the simple [the naïve or innocent]” (Romans 16:17-18).63 First of all, notice that the divisions are caused by the one who propounds a teaching that is not completely in line with the Word of God. Those who adhere to the truths of Scripture are often accused of causing division; this clear word from God tells us that that is not the case. Secondly, it is noteworthy that our English word contrary does not pick up the correct meaning of the Greek word para. We might speak of Bible Schools as being para-church organizations (which is very telling if you ponder that thought), by which it is generally meant that the school functions independently of any church; not that the school is against the church (as the word contrary would lead us to believe), but that it is alongside of it. Therefore, this admonition is not addressing those who teach a doctrine that is in clear opposition to Scripture, but one that is alongside of Biblical truth – perhaps very close to it, but not quite correct. We are to avoid, or turn away, from such as these.
As we have seen, this second area of separation is not without its difficulties within the minds of most who would call themselves Christian. Separation from those who merely hold a form of godliness is not a popular stance to take. However, there is another area where the Scriptures call on us to exercise separation – we are to separate from those brethren who would practice or propagate error. These would be brethren who, like the Galatians, are in the process of being removed from God (apostatizing); “I marvel that ye are so soon removed [present tense transpose – one thing in place of another] from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another [a different] gospel …” (Galatians 1:6).62
To the Corinthians, Paul wrote: “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators … But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. … Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13). Notice that this is a “brother” who is carrying on in this way; this is not the world, nor is it someone who is apostate. These errors might appear to be so obvious, but perhaps they are actually more subtle than we might think. Within Evangelicalism, someone who might be covetous or an idolater could be superficially viewed as being blessed by the Lord in material things. Living together before marriage or having a child out of wedlock no longer holds the stigma that it once did, and so fornication is marginalized through a perceived commitment to marry or a youthful slip; however, what about the mindset that led to this? John says that if someone claims to know God but doesn’t do what He says, then he is a liar and His truth is not there (1 John 2:4). We are not to abide such a person within our fellowship.
Paul wrote to Timothy: “If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness … from such withdraw thyself” (1 Timothy 6:3-5). To the Corinthians, Paul wrote of a life that is not lived according to the commands of Scripture; here, Paul speaks of those who teach things that are not Biblically sound, yet they would not necessarily be numbered among the apostates. This is not advocating abandoning someone the first time that you hear something that might be construed as error; rather, if someone is unwilling to change their teaching based upon an explanation of the appropriate Scriptures, then you must withdraw yourself from them. Keep in mind that the purpose of Biblical separation is spiritual purity. When you sit under someone’s teaching, you bear the responsibility to weigh what you hear against the Scriptures. If what you hear and what you read in Scripture are not the same, then you must point out where you see the departure from the Word of God. Should their response be: “I cannot accept that” (or some other equally profound response) and they cannot justify their position based upon Scripture, then you must withdraw from their instruction.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul sliced this situation even a little thinner: “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark [keep a watchful eye on] them which cause divisions and offences contrary to [alongside of] the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid [turn away from] them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly [desires]; and by good words [plausible speech] and fair speeches [flattery] deceive [deceive completely] the hearts of the simple [the naïve or innocent]” (Romans 16:17-18).63 First of all, notice that the divisions are caused by the one who propounds a teaching that is not completely in line with the Word of God. Those who adhere to the truths of Scripture are often accused of causing division; this clear word from God tells us that that is not the case. Secondly, it is noteworthy that our English word contrary does not pick up the correct meaning of the Greek word para. We might speak of Bible Schools as being para-church organizations (which is very telling if you ponder that thought), by which it is generally meant that the school functions independently of any church; not that the school is against the church (as the word contrary would lead us to believe), but that it is alongside of it. Therefore, this admonition is not addressing those who teach a doctrine that is in clear opposition to Scripture, but one that is alongside of Biblical truth – perhaps very close to it, but not quite correct. We are to avoid, or turn away, from such as these.
The question that might come from all of this is: “Will we be able to fellowship with anyone?” The answer is: “Yes” – but what we must unearth with this answer is one of the fundamental problems with the “church” today (as we know it). Every church has its constitution, creed, or statement of faith that provides it with its standard for conduct and operations. Some years ago now, the Prairie Tabernacle (the church originally associated with, and operated under, the Prairie Bible Institute) had a constitutional policy that they would not perform the marriage of anyone who was divorced; in other words, their constitution was based on the premise that remarriage after divorce was contrary to Scripture (as Romans 7:2-3 would indicate). When they were faced with a request to marry someone who had been divorced, and the leadership favored the remarriage, they were reminded that this was contrary to Scripture, and that it was also forbidden by their constitution. The solution was very simple: they changed their constitution (neglecting the Scriptural basis for this restriction), and carried on to marry many more divorced people. All of this to illustrate one of the fundamental problems with churches – they use a man-made document to govern their activities, rather than permitting the Scriptures, with the aid of the Spirit of God, to be their Guide. Constitutions, creeds and statements of faith will all bear the marks of those who work to compile them; i.e., they are a subjective interpretation and application of the Scriptures, and, therefore, do not hold the same authority. When a church runs into a difficulty with their governing document, they simply focus on redrafting it in order to permit their desired course of action. The Word of God might be acclaimed as being the final authority for faith and practice, nevertheless, typically the church will not get beyond its own constitution, creed or statement of faith (whatever they want to call it) in resolving problems that come its way – this is, in reality, making the interpretive document the final authority for faith and practice, and not the Scriptures.
If we determine to hold to Biblical separation, very obviously our fellowship will be limited. However, if we consider that God’s desire is for us to live in holiness, then it should be obvious that our fellowship needs to be limited to those who likewise adhere to the Scriptures alone. Through the guidance of the Spirit, we will be able to enjoy the unity that is found in Christ, in His Word, and in the ekklesia that He is building; therein is the reality of coming to know Christ – faith in Him lived out through obedience to His Word. “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). Biblical separation is one aspect of working out our salvation, as it pertains to the area of spiritual purity (Philippians 2:12).
If we determine to hold to Biblical separation, very obviously our fellowship will be limited. However, if we consider that God’s desire is for us to live in holiness, then it should be obvious that our fellowship needs to be limited to those who likewise adhere to the Scriptures alone. Through the guidance of the Spirit, we will be able to enjoy the unity that is found in Christ, in His Word, and in the ekklesia that He is building; therein is the reality of coming to know Christ – faith in Him lived out through obedience to His Word. “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). Biblical separation is one aspect of working out our salvation, as it pertains to the area of spiritual purity (Philippians 2:12).
The second thing that Paul will certainly come to know, when he is found in Christ, is the power of his resurrection. “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared [appointed] to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead …” (Romans 1:3-4).64 Christ’s resurrection was the capstone event that confirmed that He was God. When Jesus first cleansed the temple of the profanity of merchandise, the Jews queried Him as to the authority that He had to do this; Jesus’ response was: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up … When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said” (John 2:19-22). Early in His ministry, Jesus identified His coming resurrection as the foundation for His work. To Martha, on the death of Lazarus, Jesus declared Himself to be the resurrection and the life (John 11:25); He is the One Who brings life to the dead and causes them to live – physically for Lazarus, but spiritually for us. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead forms the foundation of the Gospel of God: “… if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain [empty, devoid of truth], and your faith is also vain [same Greek word]” (1 Corinthians 15:14).65 The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ not only identified Him as being the Son of God, but it is also the key to our faith in Him as our Savior. It is little wonder that the devil has ensured that Jesus’ resurrection should be clouded by many false teachings and practices.
The first lie, concerning Jesus’ resurrection, originated with the chief priests and elders of the Jews – the religious leaders of Israel. When they heard that Jesus was no longer in the tomb, despite sealing it and posting a guard (Matthew 27:66), they bribed the guards, “saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept” (Matthew 28:13). A guard who fell asleep at his post was severely punished, often resulting in his death; the guard posted by the religious Jews would have been comprised of four to sixteen soldiers who were now paid well enough for them to say that they had all fallen asleep,66 and, despite being asleep, they had seen the disciples steal Jesus’ body out of the tomb and didn’t stop them. The result of this far-fetched lie was that it became “commonly reported among the Jews” that the body of Jesus had been stolen out of the tomb by His disciples and, therefore, the resurrection never happened (Matthew 28:15). However, it is obvious, after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, that this lie was very ineffective, and Satan was forced to come up with new and varied ways of discrediting what Jesus had done for mankind.
When Jesus spoke of His death, burial and resurrection, He said: “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). Today we have the highly acclaimed Evangelical, Hank Hanegraaff, stating: “The fact of the matter is he was dead for only two nights and one full day.”67 By saying this, Hanegraaff places Jesus’ words into question on this matter, but the larger implications are much more devastating. If Jesus, Who is the Creator of time, didn’t get it right concerning this simple matter, He must have undoubtedly made errors in other areas as well – thereby openly casting doubt on the Scriptures. By continually adding to, and taking away from, God’s preserved Word, Evangelicals have virtually destroyed the authority of the Bible (which is a contradiction of terms, since being Evangelical means to hold to the authority of the Scriptures68). Hanegraaff literally twists Jesus’ own words to make them say something other than what He said, and as a result, he stands in jeopardy of God’s judgment for his actions: “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove [judge] thee, and thou be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:6);69 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). Satan has cast such doubt upon the three days and three nights leading up to Jesus’ resurrection, that it is commonly held by professing Christians (Evangelical and Fundamental alike) that Jesus died on Friday and rose again on Sunday. This might fit well with the schedule manufactured by the Roman Catholics, but it does not fit with Jesus’ words.70 Although not denying the resurrection, this casts a shadow of doubt over the Word of God – the interjection of: “Yea, hath God said?” (Genesis 3:1).
One of the charges that Joshua gave to the children of Israel was: “... come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of [the Hebrew word used means to remember or recall71] the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day” (Joshua 23:7-8). The Israelites were to completely forget the names of the gods of the peoples whom they destroyed at God’s command. Incredibly, Satan has used the Roman Catholic Church to identify the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ by the name of a pagan deity – Easter! Today the word rolls off the tongues of Christians with great reverence and piety; meanwhile, harbored under this pagan name is a distorted ruin of the culminating act of God in accomplishing the redemption of mankind. What could be more nauseating to God than to hear those who profess to believe in Him use the name of a pagan deity in reference to the sacrifice of His only Son on the cross and His power demonstrated in Christ’s resurrection from the dead?
The resurrection of Christ – that culminating proof of His deity – has been the target of Satan from the day that it happened; if he can raise doubts in our minds concerning this critical element of God’s redemptive plan for us, he will then have placed us under the shadow of his destructive ways. Our salvation through Christ is dependent upon His resurrection: “if Christ be not raised … ye are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17) – it could not be clearer than that! If we are found to be in Christ (Philippians 3:9), then we will come to know the power of His resurrection; it is through this mighty resurrection power that we can walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). Is it any wonder that Satan has focused his efforts so particularly on this event? We must be careful to hearken to the command to reckon ourselves “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11), and we must also be vigilant to examine all things in the light of Scripture, lest we become guilty of learning the way of the heathen (Jeremiah 10:2).
If we are found to be in Christ (Philippians 3:9) then we will know the fellowship of his sufferings. The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia, which means association, communion or joint participation.72 His sufferings speak to the many afflictions that Christ endured throughout His time on earth, including the cross. If we are found to be in Christ, then we will experience troubles and sufferings. Peter’s perspective was: “… rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers [verb form of koinonia] of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:13).73 What seems evident from both Paul and Peter is that being joined together with Christ in His sufferings is to be expected; this is not to be viewed as an aberration, but the norm.
To Timothy Paul wrote: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12); everyone desiring to live a godly life in Christ (i.e., in obedience to His commands) will be persecuted (a definite form of affliction). Jesus said: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b); and Paul wrote: “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18). Evangelicals have neglected Jesus’ assurance that we will have tribulation, and have embraced living peaceably, as being of primary importance; Ecumenism is the fruit of compromise in an effort to remove all conflict with everyone – as you lower your expectation of what it means to be a Christian (through the neglect of God’s Word), your fellowship will broaden. The crux of the matter is this: will we have a limited message or a limited fellowship?74 Paul’s declaration was: “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27); through his ministry, people came to know what God expected of them – he did not pare his message down in an effort to increase his audience. To the Romans, Paul says that we should not go out of our way to find trouble, because (as he notes to Timothy) if we will live in a godly manner, trouble will find us. The reconciliation of these two seemingly conflicting statements (you will have tribulation, and live peaceably with all men) is that our first priority must be to never compromise the Word of God, even as we make every effort to be at peace with those about us; peace must never come at the cost of obedience to the commands of God. “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God” (1 Peter 2:20).
Paul now adds a phrase of further explanation to the sufferings that we are to expect: being made conformable unto his death. This speaks of our identification with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:3-6). Many will accept that Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8), and that is a marvelous truth that speaks to God’s mercy and grace being extended to mankind. However, if we desire to be found in Christ, and, thereby, come to know Him, we must identify with His death. “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him …. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:8, 11). When Jesus died, He died for my sins; therefore, when I come to Christ in faith, believing that He has made to be the atonement for my sins, then I must no longer live under the rule of sin but in the life that He imparts through His indwelling Holy Spirit. As we identify with Christ in His death, we will recognize that our sin nature, which we all bear about with us, is what died with Christ on the cross – it is our responsibility to continually reckon our sin nature as being dead (this is the present-tense command of Romans 6:11). To the Ephesians, Paul wrote: “… put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). To put off the former way of life is to reckon our sin nature to be dead in Christ (this is something that we are to do); the new man, whom we are to put on, is accounting ourselves as being alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Savior. This is not a once-for-all-time act; we are to continually reckon ourselves as being dead unto sin, and we are to be constantly renewed in the spirit of our minds (this is something that we must permit the Spirit of God to work in us). “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1); no condemnation comes with a condition: we must be living according to the Spirit of God. We cannot live for the world (which is enmity against God – James 4:4) and still presume to claim the liberty of this promise; the essence is this: we must walk in obedience to what God has given to us in the Scriptures – regardless of the consequences. We must not be “fair-weather Christians” – those who willingly obey God’s commands only when it is favorable to do so. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12); this warning is addressed to brethren, and we must continually take heed lest our hearts deceive us!
There is a purpose to identifying with Christ in His death, and it is that we might also live in Him. When Evangelicals adopt the position that we must not judge the lives of those who profess to be Christians, for God sees their hearts, they are denying the necessity of dying with Christ so that we might also live in Him. They might well believe that Jesus died, but too often they refuse to die with Him. If we are in Christ, then there must be a change in how we live; after all, the new man is created by God “in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). This is not the hypocritical façade of righteousness practiced by the Pharisees, but a genuine righteousness that flows out of being in Christ and walking according to the Spirit of God (Romans 8:4). “For if ye live [are living] after the flesh, ye shall die [are dying]: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [continually putting to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13).75 The Christian life is a battle: the devil is always ready to destroy us (1 Peter 5:8), our sin nature is ever with us and must be continually reckoned as dead (Romans 6:11); compromisers, professing to be Christians, will be everywhere tempting us to release our tight grip on the truths of God’s Word (Acts 20:30). How do we protect ourselves from becoming victims in the battle? – through continual obedience to God’s commandments! “… he that keepeth [to continually attend carefully to] his [God’s] commandments dwelleth in him, and he [God] in him” (1 John 3:24a);76 Jesus commanded us to abide in Him (John 15:4) – if we would abide in Him, then we must live in obedience to His commands, which will, of necessity, bring a change in how we live.
11. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
This verse is somewhat obscure and difficult to understand. However, we must recognize, first of all, that Paul cannot be speaking of the physical resurrection of the dead, which is a surety for all of mankind (John 5:29).
The word attain means to arrive at or to reach a goal.77 Paul has just spoken of coming to know the power of Christ’s resurrection and being made conformable unto His death. His desire is to arrive at a place in his walk with the Lord where he will continually live in His resurrection power. Paul declared to the Romans: “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead [resurrection power], and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God” (Romans 6:13); yet a little later he confessed: “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Romans 7:19). This is the battle of every Christian who desires to walk according to God’s Word; Paul’s desire, expressed here, is that he might enter that place where he is always walking in the resurrection power of Christ. The key is to permit the Spirit of God to lead us (Romans 8:1, 14).
12. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Paul begins by confirming that he has not now attained, or taken possession, nor is he now perfect. This can only relate back to his previous statement that he desires to arrive at a place of living in the resurrection power of Christ; yet he openly admits that he has not come to that place where he continually abides in this power. Yes, we are to put on the new man (Ephesians 4:24), but the old man carries on, challenging our walk with the Lord; the old man might well be crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6), but we are called upon to continually reckon him to be dead (Romans 6:11). Paul readily acknowledges that he has not yet attained that level of victory (evidenced by Romans 7). On the other hand, the devil has made it his job to look for those who are vulnerable so that he might destroy them (1 Peter 5:8).
We must not miss that Paul is speaking of our present, earthly, daily living, and not our standing before God. When we come to faith in Christ, what we must not overlook is that we are in Christ. When God looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Christ (we are sinners clothed with the righteousness of Christ), for it is in Him that we find cleansing before God; not that we are presently perfect in this life, but God sees where we will be when this mortal will put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53). “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2) – therein is the hope of every true believer, and the state to which Paul aspires. When we “shall be like Him,” then our old man will have fallen away and we will fully abide in the new man, created by God in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:24). Earlier, Paul expressed this longing of his heart: “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better …” (Philippians 1:23).
But I follow after is a rather anemic translation of the Greek at this point – the follow after sounding rather passive and lethargic. The Greek word dioko (dee-o’-ko) means to press forward, to hasten, or run,78 which calls to mind an urgency and the expenditure of energy to achieve something. This word is in the present tense and active voice, which means that Paul is continually expending energy in order to press forward in his spiritual growth in the Lord; he is not content to, some day, stand before God in the righteousness of Christ, but longs to experience growth in that righteousness while still in the flesh. He wrote of this same longing to the Romans: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4).
Among Evangelicals, there is no such spiritual urgency. There is a general lethargy when it comes to personal, Biblical spirituality; there is very little interest to live according to the dictates of God’s Word – even many older Evangelicals are generally apathetic about Biblical principles. There may well be an enthusiasm for a spirituality based on a more inclusive and Ecumenically-oriented philosophy, but to be Biblically enthusiastic, one is considered to be overly zealous and far too narrow. Therefore, we might find Evangelicals who have a spiritual enthusiasm for the feel-good philosophy of Joel Osteen, the do-good philosophy of Rick Warren, or the we’re-all-good philosophy of Billy Graham and Chuck Colson; but none of these philosophies will stand the test of Scripture. Such enthusiasm will never focus on my spiritual wellbeing before God; rather, it will speak to my emotions, to my need to be involved in a movement to make a difference, or my loyalty to a man who is held in high regard. Today’s average professing Christian has been conditioned to be passive – you do the best that you can everyday based on what you have learned from your “pastor,” whom you listen to once a week (perhaps two or three times, if you’re really spiritual). The Scriptures were not written for “pastors” – they were written for our instruction (Romans 15:4). The present-day scenario in churches is contrary to what God intended and, I believe, much has been contrived by Satan for the spiritual demise of professing Christians.
There is one significant area where modern churches are in violation of the Scriptures to the spiritual detriment of their people – that is their clergy-laity structure. Paul wrote against holding certain men in higher regard than what is Biblical, and condemned the Corinthians for causing divisions by elevating men (1 Corinthians 3:4-7). Peter wrote of the elders (the spiritual watchdogs of the assembly) as being “among” the flock (1 Peter 5:2). However, most importantly, Jesus said: “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28). Within the ekkelsia (the called-out ones) of Christ, there is to be no hierarchy of authority; we are all equally joined to the Head (i.e., Christ – Ephesians 4:15), and have all been gifted by the Spirit of God for the mutual edification of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:11). Jesus said to His disciples: “You [plural] ‘abide in Me’”; but then He goes on to say: “I am the vine, ye are the branches [plural]: He [singular] that abideth in me, and I in him [singular], the same bringeth forth much fruit …” (John 15:5). When it comes to spiritual fruitfulness, Jesus draws the responsibility down to the individual (in keeping with the analogy of every part of the Body having a connection to the Head [Ephesians 4:15-16]). However, Jesus goes on to apply the individual responsibility even further: “If a man [singular] abide not in me, he [singular] is cast forth as a branch [singular], and is withered [singular]; and men [more properly they – see Matthew 13:37-40] gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are [this is singular – it (the branch) is] burned” (John 15:6).79 We are individually accountable to God (Romans 14:12); we cannot hide behind what we learn from a pastor who might well be misdirected in his understanding of the Scriptures. We must individually measure what we hear and read according to the Scriptures – if it agrees, then we may learn from it; if it does not agree, then we must set it aside.
The reality for today’s average pew-warming Christian (whether Evangelical or Fundamental Baptist – it matters little) is that they follow their pastor, or denomination, but do not take the time to examine that to which they adhere according to the Word of God. When a Fundamental Baptist pastor says, “I am a Baptist by conviction. I believe our faith and practice is absolutely inline with what the Word of God teaches,”80 it seems clear that his teaching begins with a huge presupposition – that Baptist traditions are Biblical. Any pastor with charisma will be able to lead the people as he sees fit and, being enamored by his personality, they will follow; the Scriptures will not be consulted – whatever the pastor says will be taken as truth. If he teaches Baptist theology, no one will question its validity, for the individual’s responsibility to check all things according to the Scriptures will not be taught. Others may have a strong loyalty to their denomination; if there is ever a question or dispute, the founding documents will be consulted in order to bring resolution – again, the Scriptures are left out of the picture. There is a general sense that the ordinary individual must not attempt to understand the Bible; such study must be left to those of higher learning. However, we must not forget that it was the religious elite (the scribes and Pharisees) who caused the Lord the greatest grief during His ministry, and ultimately sought for His death; of all of the Apostles called by the Lord, Paul was probably the only one who had substantial formal training – and he turned his back on all of it, because it did not fit with the Gospel message that he had received from the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:7). When we fear to question the teachings of anyone because of their superior education, we have failed in our responsibility as a follower of Christ, and opened ourselves to potential deception. We must be prepared to expend energy as we follow Christ; “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age [mature], even those who by reason of use [an established pattern] have their senses exercised [to exercise vigorously] to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14).81
There is a purpose to Paul’s pursuit – if perhaps he may apprehend because he has been apprehended by Christ Jesus;82 i.e., that he might become what Christ desires. Let’s take a moment to consider what Christ desires of us. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,” we being holy and without blame before Him, in love He has predetermined us unto adoption (Ephesians 1:3-5a; literal in italics).83 We are to “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24); God declared to Israel: “Be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 20:7). Evangelicals have zeroed in on the love of God as their primary objective, and they are zealously expressing a form of love through their Ecumenism. God is love (1 John 4:8), and God’s love will be expressed through us, but God’s greatest desire for His children is that we live in holiness before Him (1 Thessalonians 4:7). God’s holiness demands separation from anything that is tainted with error or evil; His holiness, lived out through us, likewise calls us to have no part with error – Ecumenism is a terrible thing in the sight of God’s holiness. We are called to express our love for God and our fellowman through holiness, not through tolerance and accommodation. We might not achieve “true holiness” while walking this earth with the corrupt “old man,” but we are called to run “the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2). We are called upon to reckon ourselves to be “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11); we are warned: “take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing [to fall away, become faithless – it is in the active voice, which means that the brethren are doing the falling away] from the living God … For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold [to hold fast, keep secure, keep firm possession of] the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end …” (Hebrews 3:12,14).84 This gives us a glimpse into what Paul desired to see actively present in his life; here are the elements of how we need to be spending our time as Christians so that we might grow in holiness of life now. Even a cursory review of Evangelicalism over the past 60 years will reveal the dramatic slide into apostasy that has taken place, suggesting that their Ecumenical “love” has only hastened the downward spiral. The Scriptures, which we have just considered, confirm that our focus must be on God’s desire for our holiness, and we must determine to know His Word so that we are able to adequately test everything that comes our way (1 John 4:1). Christ saved us so that we will be holy; we have received His Spirit to guide us into all truth (John 16:13) – His Word (John 17:17).
Consider Jesus’ words: “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love” (John 15:9). Today’s Evangelical would say, “See! We are to immerse ourselves in love”; they would use this as justification for their Ecumenical ways. Truly, Jesus said that we are to continue in His love – but how do we do that? What the Evangelical needs to do is to continue reading, for Jesus goes on to say: “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10). How do we continue in the love of God? – we will abide in His love by obedience to His commandments. Evangelicals view a desire to walk in obedience to the Word of God as being legalistic, or, at the very least, narrow-minded. However, once again, Jesus set the example for us; therefore, they are accusing Jesus of being legalistic. What we must never lose sight of is that, as we become partakers of the New Covenant in Christ, God writes His Law (the permanent Ten Commandments) upon our hearts and minds (Hebrews 8:10 as quoted from Jeremiah 31:33). Why would God do this if obedience to them was optional? Evangelicals have sought to stretch the grace of God to cover their worldliness (after all, they are much too spiritually with-it to be under any Law, for even God’s Word says: “… ye are not under the law, but under grace” [Romans 6:14]). “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2). It is important to recognize that the Christian life is a divine combination of God’s Law and His grace. A careful reading of Romans 8:1-4 shows that when we are in Christ, we are not under the condemnation of the Law (this is the expression of God’s grace), but at the same time, as we are led by the Spirit of God, we will live in obedience to His Law – the righteousness of the Law will be evident in us. The Apostle John understood and wrote of this truth, as well: “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar [see Revelation 21:8 for the destiny of liars], and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (1 John 2:3-5). Jesus, Paul and John all taught the significance of obedience to God’s commandments in order to abide in His love; however, this fundamental truth seems to have disappeared from the Evangelical mind. Paul’s present desire was that he might be holy even as he was called unto a life of holiness in Christ; it is very clear from his teachings that he understood this to mean obedience to the commands of God.
13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Paul begins by reiterating what he has just stated. In the previous verse we had: not as though I had already attained – the word not is the absolute form, and attained is the Greek word lambano, which means to take or to receive.85 Now he says: I count not myself to have apprehended. Once again, not (ou) in the Greek makes the count (in the indicative mood) a negative: I am not counting.86 The Greek word translated as apprehended is katalambano, which means to lay hold of or to seize.87 This is an emphasized reiteration of what Paul has just stated; since it is preceded by the word brethren, it would seem that he is seeking to ensure that he has their attention, and then he emphasizes his point. His point is this: he absolutely does not consider himself to have laid hold of holiness of life (that for which Christ has laid hold of us); in other words, he does not claim to live a perfect life. It is noteworthy that he uses the perfect tense for apprehended (katalambano), which speaks of a past completed action with ongoing results.88 This tells us that, when we place our faith in Christ for salvation, we do not step into perfect holiness of life; God views us as being holy because we are in Christ, but that does not equate with living a perfect life here on earth (Romans 7 tells of the warfare being waged within us). We are charged to reckon ourselves “to be dead indeed unto sin,” and we are not to yield our members as “instruments of unrighteousness unto sin” (Romans 6:11, 13). If, upon faith in Christ, we stepped into holiness of living, then such admonitions would not be necessary. Theologically, this is often referred to as “standing” and “state” – our standing before God is one of holiness in Christ; our present state in this life is one of learning to account ourselves free from sin through the death of Christ and alive unto God through His resurrection (all done by the power of the Spirit of God Who abides within us through faith in Christ).
This next part of the verse is somewhat difficult to sort out. Paul says one thing and then goes on to list what appears to be two things that he does. However, Jesus said: “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back [contemplating what has been left behind], is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62)89; these are two actions (hand to the plow and looking back) that come together to bring Jesus’ condemnation. In the same way, Paul writes of two actions, which come together as one – not unto condemnation, but rather unto our benefit.
The first of these is forgetting those things which are behind. Forgetting is in the present tense, which would indicate that there must be a continual forgetting of what is behind. This would include living in the past – either reliving bygone victories as a means of compensating for present failures, or wallowing under the defeats and stumbles of the past, thereby paralyzing any present growth. The adage is that the older we get, the more we like to reminisce about the “good old days,” and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. As a matter of fact, there are numerous occasions within Scripture where we are called upon to remember. The fourth Commandment, written by God upon tables of stone, declares: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8); this is a command that we are to remember. However, when the children of Israel remembered the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic that they freely ate in Egypt, and showed disdain for the manna that the Lord was providing for them in the wilderness, the Lord judged them with a plague (Numbers 11:5, 33). The Lord called on Israel to remember that He had brought them out of slavery, and so they need not fear what lay ahead (Deuteronomy 7:18); numerous times He called them to remember that they were slaves in Egypt and that they now needed to follow His commands (Deuteronomy 16:12; 24:18, 22). The Psalmist declared: “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land” (Psalm 143:5-6). The Lord has created us with the capacity to remember, and there are some things that we must remember for our own spiritual good – some things that we must never forget.
If we consider the context in which Paul makes this statement (forgetting those things which are behind), we must recognize that for him this meant leaving his Jewish heritage and traditions behind. Paul sought to focus his life on knowing Christ Jesus, and anything that did not support this was set aside and forgotten. Anything and everything that would hinder us from following the Lord Jesus Christ with a whole heart must be left behind. We read: “… thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5); Jesus said: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37), and elsewhere He said: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Jesus underscored the importance of making Him the highest priority of our lives – in our agape (love as an act of the will) and in our obedience to His Word. The writer of Hebrews declared: “… let us lay aside [put off] every weight [encumberance], and the sin which doth so easily beset [literally, cleverly placing itself around90] us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking [to turn the eyes away from other things and fix them on one thing] unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith (12:1-2).91 We are to free ourselves from anything that might hinder our pursuit of the Lord Jesus Christ; “… put off [same Greek word as used in Hebrews 12:1, and something that we are to do – active voice] concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed [something that is done for us – passive voice] in the spirit of your mind” (Ephesians 4:22-23). When we placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of our souls, of necessity our focus shifted from earthly pursuits to heavenly concerns – as we daily account ourselves dead to sin and alive unto God, our earthly ambitions are forgotten in our whole-hearted venture of abiding in Christ through the working of the Spirit of God. We all have those things that we must resolutely and deliberately leave behind.
However, forgetting those things which are behind is only half of the one compound action of which Paul speaks. He goes on to say that he is reaching forth unto those things which are before. Like the forgetting, the reaching forth is also a present tense verb (in the Greek) and means to stretch out to,92 or to strain forward to.93 This is not passively reaching for something; this speaks of expending energy as I strain to reach for something that might be at the outer limits of my grasp. Paul has written of his desire to be found in Christ (Philippians 3:9), and to know Him (v. 10) – and this is the reason that he relinquished anything, and everything, that might, from a worldly perspective, be considered to his advantage. He has let go of his Jewish credentials so that he might apply all of his energy to pursuing what lies ahead – namely, a deepening understanding of the Lord. He draws these two actions together (forgetting and reaching) into one, thereby emphasizing the necessity of the two working simultaneously. If we simply forget what is behind, then we might well be adrift in life; if we reach forward in anticipation, but have not let go of the past, we will then frustrate our spiritual progress.
Paul writes so forcefully about this matter because he has learned the necessity of forgetting, through personal experience. We know that he was extremely burdened for his fellow Jews, for we read: “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh …” (Romans 9:3). It was this great burden to reach his Jewish kinsmen that saw Paul dip into their traditions to seek to build a bridge of communication with them. The last time that Paul went to Jerusalem, we read: “And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry” (Acts 21:17-19). The previous time that Paul had been in Jerusalem, there was some disagreement regarding the Law of Moses (the numerous statutes and ordinances that had become the lifestyle of the Jews); “… there arose certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them [the Gentiles] and to command them to keep the law of Moses” (Acts 15:5). The prevailing opinion of the Jews of Jerusalem was that the Law of Moses was to be kept by everyone, but the concession that came out of that meeting was that the Gentiles would not be required to keep the Jewish traditions. When Paul arrived in Jerusalem many years later, we see that the traditions of the Jews still held great influence; after hearing Paul’s report of what the Lord had done among the Gentiles, we read:
And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord [now notice the change in mood], and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads [Numbers 6:1-8, 13-18]: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law (Acts 21:20-24).
Can you believe it? When the chief of the Christians in Jerusalem heard Paul’s report, they glorified the Lord, and then immediately informed Paul that there were thousands of Jews who believed and kept the Law of Moses and, furthermore, they had been told that he taught the Jews that they did not have to keep the Law of Moses. These leaders then persuaded Paul to join four Jews who had taken a vow according to their traditions, and that he might, thereby, make himself appear to keep the traditions of Moses. The Lord saw to it that Paul never fulfilled this Jewish practice – “when the seven days [of the vow] were almost ended, the Jews … laid hands on him …” (Acts 21:27) – and so Paul began his journey to Rome as a prisoner.
I believe that it was through his experiences in Jerusalem that Paul wrote with such determination concerning the necessity of forgetting those things which are behind. He preached Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23) and taught the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) – neither of which included anything about keeping the Jewish traditions. The Jews of Jerusalem caused no end of grief through their unwillingness to accept the message of faith alone in Christ alone. As Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia, Ephesus, Colossae and Philippi during his time of imprisonment in Rome, each letter included a very clear declaration that the Jewish traditions had been fulfilled and ended in Christ. To the Galatians he boldly declared that adding the necessity of Jewish traditions to faith in Christ is a destruction of the Gospel as it was delivered to them (1:6-7), and even went so far as to say that if they added the requirement of keeping the Law of Moses to their faith in Christ, then they had returned to their former paganism (4:9) – that is strong language! Here Paul says that we must forget what is behind; whatever does not enhance our walk with the Lord must be forsaken – including the Jewish traditions that were set in place by God, for a season (Galatians 3:19 – “until the seed should come to whom the promise was made”). When the Jewish leadership of the ekklesia in Jerusalem conceded that the Gentiles should not be required to keep the Jewish traditions, it would seem that Paul accepted their compromise (Acts 15:22). However, having been imprisoned largely because the Jewish professing-Christians of Jerusalem were still zealous for their traditions, Paul came out very strongly opposed to holding onto the past.
The first lie, concerning Jesus’ resurrection, originated with the chief priests and elders of the Jews – the religious leaders of Israel. When they heard that Jesus was no longer in the tomb, despite sealing it and posting a guard (Matthew 27:66), they bribed the guards, “saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept” (Matthew 28:13). A guard who fell asleep at his post was severely punished, often resulting in his death; the guard posted by the religious Jews would have been comprised of four to sixteen soldiers who were now paid well enough for them to say that they had all fallen asleep,66 and, despite being asleep, they had seen the disciples steal Jesus’ body out of the tomb and didn’t stop them. The result of this far-fetched lie was that it became “commonly reported among the Jews” that the body of Jesus had been stolen out of the tomb by His disciples and, therefore, the resurrection never happened (Matthew 28:15). However, it is obvious, after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, that this lie was very ineffective, and Satan was forced to come up with new and varied ways of discrediting what Jesus had done for mankind.
When Jesus spoke of His death, burial and resurrection, He said: “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). Today we have the highly acclaimed Evangelical, Hank Hanegraaff, stating: “The fact of the matter is he was dead for only two nights and one full day.”67 By saying this, Hanegraaff places Jesus’ words into question on this matter, but the larger implications are much more devastating. If Jesus, Who is the Creator of time, didn’t get it right concerning this simple matter, He must have undoubtedly made errors in other areas as well – thereby openly casting doubt on the Scriptures. By continually adding to, and taking away from, God’s preserved Word, Evangelicals have virtually destroyed the authority of the Bible (which is a contradiction of terms, since being Evangelical means to hold to the authority of the Scriptures68). Hanegraaff literally twists Jesus’ own words to make them say something other than what He said, and as a result, he stands in jeopardy of God’s judgment for his actions: “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove [judge] thee, and thou be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:6);69 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). Satan has cast such doubt upon the three days and three nights leading up to Jesus’ resurrection, that it is commonly held by professing Christians (Evangelical and Fundamental alike) that Jesus died on Friday and rose again on Sunday. This might fit well with the schedule manufactured by the Roman Catholics, but it does not fit with Jesus’ words.70 Although not denying the resurrection, this casts a shadow of doubt over the Word of God – the interjection of: “Yea, hath God said?” (Genesis 3:1).
One of the charges that Joshua gave to the children of Israel was: “... come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of [the Hebrew word used means to remember or recall71] the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day” (Joshua 23:7-8). The Israelites were to completely forget the names of the gods of the peoples whom they destroyed at God’s command. Incredibly, Satan has used the Roman Catholic Church to identify the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ by the name of a pagan deity – Easter! Today the word rolls off the tongues of Christians with great reverence and piety; meanwhile, harbored under this pagan name is a distorted ruin of the culminating act of God in accomplishing the redemption of mankind. What could be more nauseating to God than to hear those who profess to believe in Him use the name of a pagan deity in reference to the sacrifice of His only Son on the cross and His power demonstrated in Christ’s resurrection from the dead?
The resurrection of Christ – that culminating proof of His deity – has been the target of Satan from the day that it happened; if he can raise doubts in our minds concerning this critical element of God’s redemptive plan for us, he will then have placed us under the shadow of his destructive ways. Our salvation through Christ is dependent upon His resurrection: “if Christ be not raised … ye are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17) – it could not be clearer than that! If we are found to be in Christ (Philippians 3:9), then we will come to know the power of His resurrection; it is through this mighty resurrection power that we can walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). Is it any wonder that Satan has focused his efforts so particularly on this event? We must be careful to hearken to the command to reckon ourselves “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11), and we must also be vigilant to examine all things in the light of Scripture, lest we become guilty of learning the way of the heathen (Jeremiah 10:2).
If we are found to be in Christ (Philippians 3:9) then we will know the fellowship of his sufferings. The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia, which means association, communion or joint participation.72 His sufferings speak to the many afflictions that Christ endured throughout His time on earth, including the cross. If we are found to be in Christ, then we will experience troubles and sufferings. Peter’s perspective was: “… rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers [verb form of koinonia] of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:13).73 What seems evident from both Paul and Peter is that being joined together with Christ in His sufferings is to be expected; this is not to be viewed as an aberration, but the norm.
To Timothy Paul wrote: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12); everyone desiring to live a godly life in Christ (i.e., in obedience to His commands) will be persecuted (a definite form of affliction). Jesus said: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b); and Paul wrote: “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18). Evangelicals have neglected Jesus’ assurance that we will have tribulation, and have embraced living peaceably, as being of primary importance; Ecumenism is the fruit of compromise in an effort to remove all conflict with everyone – as you lower your expectation of what it means to be a Christian (through the neglect of God’s Word), your fellowship will broaden. The crux of the matter is this: will we have a limited message or a limited fellowship?74 Paul’s declaration was: “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27); through his ministry, people came to know what God expected of them – he did not pare his message down in an effort to increase his audience. To the Romans, Paul says that we should not go out of our way to find trouble, because (as he notes to Timothy) if we will live in a godly manner, trouble will find us. The reconciliation of these two seemingly conflicting statements (you will have tribulation, and live peaceably with all men) is that our first priority must be to never compromise the Word of God, even as we make every effort to be at peace with those about us; peace must never come at the cost of obedience to the commands of God. “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God” (1 Peter 2:20).
Paul now adds a phrase of further explanation to the sufferings that we are to expect: being made conformable unto his death. This speaks of our identification with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6:3-6). Many will accept that Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8), and that is a marvelous truth that speaks to God’s mercy and grace being extended to mankind. However, if we desire to be found in Christ, and, thereby, come to know Him, we must identify with His death. “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him …. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:8, 11). When Jesus died, He died for my sins; therefore, when I come to Christ in faith, believing that He has made to be the atonement for my sins, then I must no longer live under the rule of sin but in the life that He imparts through His indwelling Holy Spirit. As we identify with Christ in His death, we will recognize that our sin nature, which we all bear about with us, is what died with Christ on the cross – it is our responsibility to continually reckon our sin nature as being dead (this is the present-tense command of Romans 6:11). To the Ephesians, Paul wrote: “… put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). To put off the former way of life is to reckon our sin nature to be dead in Christ (this is something that we are to do); the new man, whom we are to put on, is accounting ourselves as being alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Savior. This is not a once-for-all-time act; we are to continually reckon ourselves as being dead unto sin, and we are to be constantly renewed in the spirit of our minds (this is something that we must permit the Spirit of God to work in us). “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1); no condemnation comes with a condition: we must be living according to the Spirit of God. We cannot live for the world (which is enmity against God – James 4:4) and still presume to claim the liberty of this promise; the essence is this: we must walk in obedience to what God has given to us in the Scriptures – regardless of the consequences. We must not be “fair-weather Christians” – those who willingly obey God’s commands only when it is favorable to do so. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12); this warning is addressed to brethren, and we must continually take heed lest our hearts deceive us!
There is a purpose to identifying with Christ in His death, and it is that we might also live in Him. When Evangelicals adopt the position that we must not judge the lives of those who profess to be Christians, for God sees their hearts, they are denying the necessity of dying with Christ so that we might also live in Him. They might well believe that Jesus died, but too often they refuse to die with Him. If we are in Christ, then there must be a change in how we live; after all, the new man is created by God “in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). This is not the hypocritical façade of righteousness practiced by the Pharisees, but a genuine righteousness that flows out of being in Christ and walking according to the Spirit of God (Romans 8:4). “For if ye live [are living] after the flesh, ye shall die [are dying]: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [continually putting to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13).75 The Christian life is a battle: the devil is always ready to destroy us (1 Peter 5:8), our sin nature is ever with us and must be continually reckoned as dead (Romans 6:11); compromisers, professing to be Christians, will be everywhere tempting us to release our tight grip on the truths of God’s Word (Acts 20:30). How do we protect ourselves from becoming victims in the battle? – through continual obedience to God’s commandments! “… he that keepeth [to continually attend carefully to] his [God’s] commandments dwelleth in him, and he [God] in him” (1 John 3:24a);76 Jesus commanded us to abide in Him (John 15:4) – if we would abide in Him, then we must live in obedience to His commands, which will, of necessity, bring a change in how we live.
11. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
This verse is somewhat obscure and difficult to understand. However, we must recognize, first of all, that Paul cannot be speaking of the physical resurrection of the dead, which is a surety for all of mankind (John 5:29).
The word attain means to arrive at or to reach a goal.77 Paul has just spoken of coming to know the power of Christ’s resurrection and being made conformable unto His death. His desire is to arrive at a place in his walk with the Lord where he will continually live in His resurrection power. Paul declared to the Romans: “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead [resurrection power], and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God” (Romans 6:13); yet a little later he confessed: “For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Romans 7:19). This is the battle of every Christian who desires to walk according to God’s Word; Paul’s desire, expressed here, is that he might enter that place where he is always walking in the resurrection power of Christ. The key is to permit the Spirit of God to lead us (Romans 8:1, 14).
12. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Paul begins by confirming that he has not now attained, or taken possession, nor is he now perfect. This can only relate back to his previous statement that he desires to arrive at a place of living in the resurrection power of Christ; yet he openly admits that he has not come to that place where he continually abides in this power. Yes, we are to put on the new man (Ephesians 4:24), but the old man carries on, challenging our walk with the Lord; the old man might well be crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6), but we are called upon to continually reckon him to be dead (Romans 6:11). Paul readily acknowledges that he has not yet attained that level of victory (evidenced by Romans 7). On the other hand, the devil has made it his job to look for those who are vulnerable so that he might destroy them (1 Peter 5:8).
We must not miss that Paul is speaking of our present, earthly, daily living, and not our standing before God. When we come to faith in Christ, what we must not overlook is that we are in Christ. When God looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Christ (we are sinners clothed with the righteousness of Christ), for it is in Him that we find cleansing before God; not that we are presently perfect in this life, but God sees where we will be when this mortal will put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53). “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2) – therein is the hope of every true believer, and the state to which Paul aspires. When we “shall be like Him,” then our old man will have fallen away and we will fully abide in the new man, created by God in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:24). Earlier, Paul expressed this longing of his heart: “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better …” (Philippians 1:23).
But I follow after is a rather anemic translation of the Greek at this point – the follow after sounding rather passive and lethargic. The Greek word dioko (dee-o’-ko) means to press forward, to hasten, or run,78 which calls to mind an urgency and the expenditure of energy to achieve something. This word is in the present tense and active voice, which means that Paul is continually expending energy in order to press forward in his spiritual growth in the Lord; he is not content to, some day, stand before God in the righteousness of Christ, but longs to experience growth in that righteousness while still in the flesh. He wrote of this same longing to the Romans: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4).
Among Evangelicals, there is no such spiritual urgency. There is a general lethargy when it comes to personal, Biblical spirituality; there is very little interest to live according to the dictates of God’s Word – even many older Evangelicals are generally apathetic about Biblical principles. There may well be an enthusiasm for a spirituality based on a more inclusive and Ecumenically-oriented philosophy, but to be Biblically enthusiastic, one is considered to be overly zealous and far too narrow. Therefore, we might find Evangelicals who have a spiritual enthusiasm for the feel-good philosophy of Joel Osteen, the do-good philosophy of Rick Warren, or the we’re-all-good philosophy of Billy Graham and Chuck Colson; but none of these philosophies will stand the test of Scripture. Such enthusiasm will never focus on my spiritual wellbeing before God; rather, it will speak to my emotions, to my need to be involved in a movement to make a difference, or my loyalty to a man who is held in high regard. Today’s average professing Christian has been conditioned to be passive – you do the best that you can everyday based on what you have learned from your “pastor,” whom you listen to once a week (perhaps two or three times, if you’re really spiritual). The Scriptures were not written for “pastors” – they were written for our instruction (Romans 15:4). The present-day scenario in churches is contrary to what God intended and, I believe, much has been contrived by Satan for the spiritual demise of professing Christians.
There is one significant area where modern churches are in violation of the Scriptures to the spiritual detriment of their people – that is their clergy-laity structure. Paul wrote against holding certain men in higher regard than what is Biblical, and condemned the Corinthians for causing divisions by elevating men (1 Corinthians 3:4-7). Peter wrote of the elders (the spiritual watchdogs of the assembly) as being “among” the flock (1 Peter 5:2). However, most importantly, Jesus said: “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28). Within the ekkelsia (the called-out ones) of Christ, there is to be no hierarchy of authority; we are all equally joined to the Head (i.e., Christ – Ephesians 4:15), and have all been gifted by the Spirit of God for the mutual edification of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:11). Jesus said to His disciples: “You [plural] ‘abide in Me’”; but then He goes on to say: “I am the vine, ye are the branches [plural]: He [singular] that abideth in me, and I in him [singular], the same bringeth forth much fruit …” (John 15:5). When it comes to spiritual fruitfulness, Jesus draws the responsibility down to the individual (in keeping with the analogy of every part of the Body having a connection to the Head [Ephesians 4:15-16]). However, Jesus goes on to apply the individual responsibility even further: “If a man [singular] abide not in me, he [singular] is cast forth as a branch [singular], and is withered [singular]; and men [more properly they – see Matthew 13:37-40] gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are [this is singular – it (the branch) is] burned” (John 15:6).79 We are individually accountable to God (Romans 14:12); we cannot hide behind what we learn from a pastor who might well be misdirected in his understanding of the Scriptures. We must individually measure what we hear and read according to the Scriptures – if it agrees, then we may learn from it; if it does not agree, then we must set it aside.
The reality for today’s average pew-warming Christian (whether Evangelical or Fundamental Baptist – it matters little) is that they follow their pastor, or denomination, but do not take the time to examine that to which they adhere according to the Word of God. When a Fundamental Baptist pastor says, “I am a Baptist by conviction. I believe our faith and practice is absolutely inline with what the Word of God teaches,”80 it seems clear that his teaching begins with a huge presupposition – that Baptist traditions are Biblical. Any pastor with charisma will be able to lead the people as he sees fit and, being enamored by his personality, they will follow; the Scriptures will not be consulted – whatever the pastor says will be taken as truth. If he teaches Baptist theology, no one will question its validity, for the individual’s responsibility to check all things according to the Scriptures will not be taught. Others may have a strong loyalty to their denomination; if there is ever a question or dispute, the founding documents will be consulted in order to bring resolution – again, the Scriptures are left out of the picture. There is a general sense that the ordinary individual must not attempt to understand the Bible; such study must be left to those of higher learning. However, we must not forget that it was the religious elite (the scribes and Pharisees) who caused the Lord the greatest grief during His ministry, and ultimately sought for His death; of all of the Apostles called by the Lord, Paul was probably the only one who had substantial formal training – and he turned his back on all of it, because it did not fit with the Gospel message that he had received from the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:7). When we fear to question the teachings of anyone because of their superior education, we have failed in our responsibility as a follower of Christ, and opened ourselves to potential deception. We must be prepared to expend energy as we follow Christ; “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age [mature], even those who by reason of use [an established pattern] have their senses exercised [to exercise vigorously] to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14).81
There is a purpose to Paul’s pursuit – if perhaps he may apprehend because he has been apprehended by Christ Jesus;82 i.e., that he might become what Christ desires. Let’s take a moment to consider what Christ desires of us. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,” we being holy and without blame before Him, in love He has predetermined us unto adoption (Ephesians 1:3-5a; literal in italics).83 We are to “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24); God declared to Israel: “Be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 20:7). Evangelicals have zeroed in on the love of God as their primary objective, and they are zealously expressing a form of love through their Ecumenism. God is love (1 John 4:8), and God’s love will be expressed through us, but God’s greatest desire for His children is that we live in holiness before Him (1 Thessalonians 4:7). God’s holiness demands separation from anything that is tainted with error or evil; His holiness, lived out through us, likewise calls us to have no part with error – Ecumenism is a terrible thing in the sight of God’s holiness. We are called to express our love for God and our fellowman through holiness, not through tolerance and accommodation. We might not achieve “true holiness” while walking this earth with the corrupt “old man,” but we are called to run “the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2). We are called upon to reckon ourselves to be “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11); we are warned: “take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing [to fall away, become faithless – it is in the active voice, which means that the brethren are doing the falling away] from the living God … For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold [to hold fast, keep secure, keep firm possession of] the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end …” (Hebrews 3:12,14).84 This gives us a glimpse into what Paul desired to see actively present in his life; here are the elements of how we need to be spending our time as Christians so that we might grow in holiness of life now. Even a cursory review of Evangelicalism over the past 60 years will reveal the dramatic slide into apostasy that has taken place, suggesting that their Ecumenical “love” has only hastened the downward spiral. The Scriptures, which we have just considered, confirm that our focus must be on God’s desire for our holiness, and we must determine to know His Word so that we are able to adequately test everything that comes our way (1 John 4:1). Christ saved us so that we will be holy; we have received His Spirit to guide us into all truth (John 16:13) – His Word (John 17:17).
Consider Jesus’ words: “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love” (John 15:9). Today’s Evangelical would say, “See! We are to immerse ourselves in love”; they would use this as justification for their Ecumenical ways. Truly, Jesus said that we are to continue in His love – but how do we do that? What the Evangelical needs to do is to continue reading, for Jesus goes on to say: “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10). How do we continue in the love of God? – we will abide in His love by obedience to His commandments. Evangelicals view a desire to walk in obedience to the Word of God as being legalistic, or, at the very least, narrow-minded. However, once again, Jesus set the example for us; therefore, they are accusing Jesus of being legalistic. What we must never lose sight of is that, as we become partakers of the New Covenant in Christ, God writes His Law (the permanent Ten Commandments) upon our hearts and minds (Hebrews 8:10 as quoted from Jeremiah 31:33). Why would God do this if obedience to them was optional? Evangelicals have sought to stretch the grace of God to cover their worldliness (after all, they are much too spiritually with-it to be under any Law, for even God’s Word says: “… ye are not under the law, but under grace” [Romans 6:14]). “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2). It is important to recognize that the Christian life is a divine combination of God’s Law and His grace. A careful reading of Romans 8:1-4 shows that when we are in Christ, we are not under the condemnation of the Law (this is the expression of God’s grace), but at the same time, as we are led by the Spirit of God, we will live in obedience to His Law – the righteousness of the Law will be evident in us. The Apostle John understood and wrote of this truth, as well: “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar [see Revelation 21:8 for the destiny of liars], and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (1 John 2:3-5). Jesus, Paul and John all taught the significance of obedience to God’s commandments in order to abide in His love; however, this fundamental truth seems to have disappeared from the Evangelical mind. Paul’s present desire was that he might be holy even as he was called unto a life of holiness in Christ; it is very clear from his teachings that he understood this to mean obedience to the commands of God.
13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Paul begins by reiterating what he has just stated. In the previous verse we had: not as though I had already attained – the word not is the absolute form, and attained is the Greek word lambano, which means to take or to receive.85 Now he says: I count not myself to have apprehended. Once again, not (ou) in the Greek makes the count (in the indicative mood) a negative: I am not counting.86 The Greek word translated as apprehended is katalambano, which means to lay hold of or to seize.87 This is an emphasized reiteration of what Paul has just stated; since it is preceded by the word brethren, it would seem that he is seeking to ensure that he has their attention, and then he emphasizes his point. His point is this: he absolutely does not consider himself to have laid hold of holiness of life (that for which Christ has laid hold of us); in other words, he does not claim to live a perfect life. It is noteworthy that he uses the perfect tense for apprehended (katalambano), which speaks of a past completed action with ongoing results.88 This tells us that, when we place our faith in Christ for salvation, we do not step into perfect holiness of life; God views us as being holy because we are in Christ, but that does not equate with living a perfect life here on earth (Romans 7 tells of the warfare being waged within us). We are charged to reckon ourselves “to be dead indeed unto sin,” and we are not to yield our members as “instruments of unrighteousness unto sin” (Romans 6:11, 13). If, upon faith in Christ, we stepped into holiness of living, then such admonitions would not be necessary. Theologically, this is often referred to as “standing” and “state” – our standing before God is one of holiness in Christ; our present state in this life is one of learning to account ourselves free from sin through the death of Christ and alive unto God through His resurrection (all done by the power of the Spirit of God Who abides within us through faith in Christ).
This next part of the verse is somewhat difficult to sort out. Paul says one thing and then goes on to list what appears to be two things that he does. However, Jesus said: “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back [contemplating what has been left behind], is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62)89; these are two actions (hand to the plow and looking back) that come together to bring Jesus’ condemnation. In the same way, Paul writes of two actions, which come together as one – not unto condemnation, but rather unto our benefit.
The first of these is forgetting those things which are behind. Forgetting is in the present tense, which would indicate that there must be a continual forgetting of what is behind. This would include living in the past – either reliving bygone victories as a means of compensating for present failures, or wallowing under the defeats and stumbles of the past, thereby paralyzing any present growth. The adage is that the older we get, the more we like to reminisce about the “good old days,” and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. As a matter of fact, there are numerous occasions within Scripture where we are called upon to remember. The fourth Commandment, written by God upon tables of stone, declares: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8); this is a command that we are to remember. However, when the children of Israel remembered the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic that they freely ate in Egypt, and showed disdain for the manna that the Lord was providing for them in the wilderness, the Lord judged them with a plague (Numbers 11:5, 33). The Lord called on Israel to remember that He had brought them out of slavery, and so they need not fear what lay ahead (Deuteronomy 7:18); numerous times He called them to remember that they were slaves in Egypt and that they now needed to follow His commands (Deuteronomy 16:12; 24:18, 22). The Psalmist declared: “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land” (Psalm 143:5-6). The Lord has created us with the capacity to remember, and there are some things that we must remember for our own spiritual good – some things that we must never forget.
If we consider the context in which Paul makes this statement (forgetting those things which are behind), we must recognize that for him this meant leaving his Jewish heritage and traditions behind. Paul sought to focus his life on knowing Christ Jesus, and anything that did not support this was set aside and forgotten. Anything and everything that would hinder us from following the Lord Jesus Christ with a whole heart must be left behind. We read: “… thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5); Jesus said: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37), and elsewhere He said: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Jesus underscored the importance of making Him the highest priority of our lives – in our agape (love as an act of the will) and in our obedience to His Word. The writer of Hebrews declared: “… let us lay aside [put off] every weight [encumberance], and the sin which doth so easily beset [literally, cleverly placing itself around90] us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking [to turn the eyes away from other things and fix them on one thing] unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith (12:1-2).91 We are to free ourselves from anything that might hinder our pursuit of the Lord Jesus Christ; “… put off [same Greek word as used in Hebrews 12:1, and something that we are to do – active voice] concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed [something that is done for us – passive voice] in the spirit of your mind” (Ephesians 4:22-23). When we placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of our souls, of necessity our focus shifted from earthly pursuits to heavenly concerns – as we daily account ourselves dead to sin and alive unto God, our earthly ambitions are forgotten in our whole-hearted venture of abiding in Christ through the working of the Spirit of God. We all have those things that we must resolutely and deliberately leave behind.
However, forgetting those things which are behind is only half of the one compound action of which Paul speaks. He goes on to say that he is reaching forth unto those things which are before. Like the forgetting, the reaching forth is also a present tense verb (in the Greek) and means to stretch out to,92 or to strain forward to.93 This is not passively reaching for something; this speaks of expending energy as I strain to reach for something that might be at the outer limits of my grasp. Paul has written of his desire to be found in Christ (Philippians 3:9), and to know Him (v. 10) – and this is the reason that he relinquished anything, and everything, that might, from a worldly perspective, be considered to his advantage. He has let go of his Jewish credentials so that he might apply all of his energy to pursuing what lies ahead – namely, a deepening understanding of the Lord. He draws these two actions together (forgetting and reaching) into one, thereby emphasizing the necessity of the two working simultaneously. If we simply forget what is behind, then we might well be adrift in life; if we reach forward in anticipation, but have not let go of the past, we will then frustrate our spiritual progress.
Paul writes so forcefully about this matter because he has learned the necessity of forgetting, through personal experience. We know that he was extremely burdened for his fellow Jews, for we read: “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh …” (Romans 9:3). It was this great burden to reach his Jewish kinsmen that saw Paul dip into their traditions to seek to build a bridge of communication with them. The last time that Paul went to Jerusalem, we read: “And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry” (Acts 21:17-19). The previous time that Paul had been in Jerusalem, there was some disagreement regarding the Law of Moses (the numerous statutes and ordinances that had become the lifestyle of the Jews); “… there arose certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them [the Gentiles] and to command them to keep the law of Moses” (Acts 15:5). The prevailing opinion of the Jews of Jerusalem was that the Law of Moses was to be kept by everyone, but the concession that came out of that meeting was that the Gentiles would not be required to keep the Jewish traditions. When Paul arrived in Jerusalem many years later, we see that the traditions of the Jews still held great influence; after hearing Paul’s report of what the Lord had done among the Gentiles, we read:
And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord [now notice the change in mood], and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads [Numbers 6:1-8, 13-18]: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law (Acts 21:20-24).
Can you believe it? When the chief of the Christians in Jerusalem heard Paul’s report, they glorified the Lord, and then immediately informed Paul that there were thousands of Jews who believed and kept the Law of Moses and, furthermore, they had been told that he taught the Jews that they did not have to keep the Law of Moses. These leaders then persuaded Paul to join four Jews who had taken a vow according to their traditions, and that he might, thereby, make himself appear to keep the traditions of Moses. The Lord saw to it that Paul never fulfilled this Jewish practice – “when the seven days [of the vow] were almost ended, the Jews … laid hands on him …” (Acts 21:27) – and so Paul began his journey to Rome as a prisoner.
I believe that it was through his experiences in Jerusalem that Paul wrote with such determination concerning the necessity of forgetting those things which are behind. He preached Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23) and taught the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) – neither of which included anything about keeping the Jewish traditions. The Jews of Jerusalem caused no end of grief through their unwillingness to accept the message of faith alone in Christ alone. As Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia, Ephesus, Colossae and Philippi during his time of imprisonment in Rome, each letter included a very clear declaration that the Jewish traditions had been fulfilled and ended in Christ. To the Galatians he boldly declared that adding the necessity of Jewish traditions to faith in Christ is a destruction of the Gospel as it was delivered to them (1:6-7), and even went so far as to say that if they added the requirement of keeping the Law of Moses to their faith in Christ, then they had returned to their former paganism (4:9) – that is strong language! Here Paul says that we must forget what is behind; whatever does not enhance our walk with the Lord must be forsaken – including the Jewish traditions that were set in place by God, for a season (Galatians 3:19 – “until the seed should come to whom the promise was made”). When the Jewish leadership of the ekklesia in Jerusalem conceded that the Gentiles should not be required to keep the Jewish traditions, it would seem that Paul accepted their compromise (Acts 15:22). However, having been imprisoned largely because the Jewish professing-Christians of Jerusalem were still zealous for their traditions, Paul came out very strongly opposed to holding onto the past.
Before my wife and I left Mt. Olive Evangelical Free Church, I was given the opportunity to challenge the leadership regarding their attitude toward what is commonly referred to as syncretism (the melding of two or more belief systems). It is amazing to see Evangelicals bend over backwards to accommodate, and their willingness to compromise for the sake of including more within their fold. For their conference in 2000, the Missions Committee of Mt. Olive decided to bring Dean Shingoose in, a native Pentecostal pastor from Calgary who was working among his own people. They were to demonstrate “native worship in dance, song and drums,”94 and show how they had incorporated the use of sweetgrass and the eagle’s feather into their Christianity. I spoke with Mt. Olive’s senior pastor about what seemed to be a significant departure from the truth of the Bible, and he acknowledged that he had some reservations about it as well, but indicated that he didn’t know much about Indian culture. I took that as my cue to look into what all of these elements meant within their own culture; the more I studied, the more I was convinced that such syncretism was a significant error of judgment. In the meantime, the Chairman of the Missions Committee heard that I was unhappy with their program, and presented me with a couple of articles, which he hoped would sway me into accepting what Dean Shingoose and company were doing (actually, the articles worked the other way and further convinced me that this was a serious error). I prepared a brief paper on my findings in light of Scripture, and presented a copy to the pastor, the Chairman of the Board, and the Chairman of the Missions Committee. Shortly thereafter I was called to meet with these men, and I came, Bible in hand, prepared to expand on what I had presented. The meeting was actually quite brief; for two reasons, the pastor was now prepared to go ahead with the program as it was: 1) Dean Shingoose had been a Christian for some 20 years, and 2) he accepted the judgment of the Chairman of the Missions Committee in this matter. What was entirely missing was any Biblical support for their decision to proceed. If I had understood then what I know now, I would have followed Paul’s example and called what they were doing heresy, and accused them of perverting the Gospel of Christ. The Jewish Christians wanted to hold onto their traditions that had been ordained by God for a time, yet Paul calls that a perversion of the Gospel (Galatians 1:7); what would he call dragging pagan traditions into Christianity? We must let go of those things that will only serve to hinder our progress with the Lord, even while we reach forward to that which He has prepared for us; two actions that must work together for our good. If we are reluctant to let go of those things that we once held dear (particularly traditions held by many other Christians, even though they have no Biblical basis), we will then, at the very least, become spiritually stagnant and become prime targets for the enemy of our souls; of greater concern is that our reaching forward will be hindered by what we are holding onto. We must both let go and strain forward.
14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
We have just read how Paul desires to forget and stretch forth – the two working as one to bolster his walk with the Lord; now he provides clarification as to that for which he is reaching. The Greek word translated as press is a present tense verb and means to make haste and to press forward;95 there is an urgency attached to this word, which builds upon the reaching forth from the previous verse. This is the same Greek word translated as follow after in verse 12, a rather anemic translation for such an intensive word. We have a reiteration of Paul’s purpose to pursue the Lord; there is an expenditure of energy, but that energy must be spent in Biblically-focused activities. Activity alone is not a sign of spirituality, much less a Biblical orientation. The old adage is that idle hands are the devil’s workshop; what this misses is that the devil loves to keep people busy – so busy that they have no time to think about anything eternal. There are many today who are pressing toward financial prosperity, who are striving for positions of greater influence, who must have that bigger home, that flashier car, or the latest electronic gadget – there might well be an urgency to their all-consuming drive for more of what they deem to be important, but none of it fits with God’s desire for us.
Paul reveals that he is pursuing the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. “... God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began ...” (2 Timothy 1:8-9). God’s high calling on our lives is to holiness; we’ve already seen that Christ laid hold of us so that we might live in holiness before Him (Philippians 3:12). Our goal (mark) is to live a holy life; “... put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24); “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Paul’s example is that, having cast off all of those things that might well have been accounted to him for profit, his focus for living is to walk in righteousness and true holiness before God. Paul wrote of this to the Romans: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:16-18). Righteousness will be achieved through obedience to what God has given to us in His Word, which, in turn, requires that we must know the Scriptures. “Study [give diligence] to shew thyself approved [acceptable] unto God ...” (2 Timothy 2:15).96 Failure in this area is a significant contributor to Evangelicals becoming entangled in deception; ignorance of the Word of God has permitted Satan more than a toehold in the lives of many – how can we stand fast (2 Thessalonians 2:15) if we do not know on what we are to stand?
God’s Word is the Truth (John 17:17). Unless we cultivate a love for the Truth, we will be susceptible to being deceived. “... they received not the love [agape] of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie ...” (2 Thessalonians 2:10b-11a).97 It is an act of the will that we have a love for the truth, a love that God will give us, but which we must accept (receive). If we have a love for His truth, then we will desire to spend time studying that Truth so that we can also obey that Truth. It is commonly reported that those who work with counterfeit money do not spend their time studying fake bills – they focus on getting to know what the genuine article looks like. In the same way, we must have such a love for God’s Word that we will study it to the extent that we are able to recognize error when we see it. The great delusion of the Ecumenical movement is that it feigns the love of God, even while showing contempt for His Word; if we love the Truth, we will see the fallacy of the Ecumenical delusion.
Paul uses words here that come from the area of sports, specifically a race. The concept is that he will intensely pursue the mark, the goal or the finish line, so that he will gain the prize. We have been called unto holiness, which is the mark that we must continue to pursue to the end of the race. However, our calling in Christ is more than a life of holiness now, it is also that we will one day be part of His kingdom and appear in His glory. Paul reminds the Thessalonians that his exhortation to them was for a purpose: “That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12). Our walk, or how we live our lives, is to be in holiness, for we are to “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Holiness of life is to characterize how we live, as we press toward the ultimate goal of being with Christ; this is the hope that tempers our present day struggle to live as we should. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3). John, too, understood the necessity of relating the future hope to the present reality; because of the promised hope that we have in Christ, we must live in purity now. The Greek words translated as purifieth and pure have their root in the Greek word for holy.98
Jesus described the way as narrow, or compressed (Matthew 7:14), and He told us clearly what this meant: “I am the way, the truth, and the life ...” (John 14:6). Paul has just told us that he has laid his Jewish heritage aside (Philippians 3:8) so that he might know Christ (v.10); he is forgetting those things that are past (what he has deliberately set aside so that he might pursue Christ unhindered) in order to focus on Christ (the only Way) and what He has prepared for him. Ecumenical thinking has done much to blur the clarity of Christ’s narrow-way to life – compromise and tolerance of error mark the lives of those who are caught in its snare. Then, too, the organized church has often seemed to be that way to life by assuming a greater role in the life of the Christian than it should; faithful attendance and participation in the church programs will often be sufficient to qualify one as being a good Christian. This is an inheritance from the Roman Catholic Church, which openly declares that they are the only means to eternal salvation; although they will state that salvation is only through Christ, they have made their organization to be the only dispenser of the grace that is necessary for salvation (namely through keeping their sacraments).99 By contrast, Paul calls for a holy life now (free from anything that would hamper our spiritual development), with the promise of glory to come. Even as Paul turned away from his Jewish heritage to embrace Christ, so we must be prepared to forsake church traditions for a life of obedience to the Word of God100 – forgetting what is behind and reaching forward, pressing toward the goal of our holy calling in Christ.
15. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Inasmuch as we are to count all things as loss in our pursuit of Christ and His holiness, Paul now provides a summary of what he has just thoroughly expounded. This is something in which Paul includes himself – he uses the word us. A literal translation of the first phrase goes like this: therefore, as many as are mature, this should be our understanding.101 The thrust is that if we are mature in our faith, then we will think like Paul in what he has just laid out. The word minded (thinking) bears the subjunctive mood, which means that this may or may not take place, but the indication is that it should. As we have looked at Paul’s life up to the time of this letter (and his imprisonment in Rome), we realize that he has probably learned this open-handedness with God at great personal cost. Everywhere that he went, he sought to reach his own people, the Jews; yet it was his own people who ultimately made him a prisoner of Rome. From this perspective, Paul wrote of the necessity of holding Christ alone, of the need for us to release whatever we might think to be to our advantage, and to stretch forward to that to which He has called us – namely, holiness of life. If we cling to anything but Christ alone, it will either hinder us in our walk with the Lord, or it will draw us into apostasy.
In the last part of this verse, Paul says that if anyone thinks differently (the necessity of forgetting what is behind and reaching toward what is ahead), God will reveal this to him. There is a confidence in Paul that what he has just declared is what God desires for each of us. I believe that he learned this concept through his imprisonment, probably a very difficult lesson to learn, but one that he sees as essential for the Christian life. If this is not how we are living, but we sincerely desire God’s best in our lives, then Paul is certain that God will open our understanding in this matter. In other words, we all have those things that we must relinquish so that our stretching forward to holiness of life in the Spirit of God and our pressing toward the goal that we have in Christ, will be unhindered.
16. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
The word nevertheless, as it is used here, draws the previous discussion to a close and summarizes the key concept of that discussion.102 Paul has very meticulously laid out his case for wholeheartedly committing to holiness of life, to which we have been called by God, and he now confidently states that we (both Paul and the Philippians) have been convinced of the validity of this calling. In the previous verse, he says that those who are spiritually mature will have this understanding of the Christian life, and so he carries that thought forward here.
Walk comes from the Greek word stoicheo (stoy-kheh’-o), a very specific word which is only used five times in the NT. We have come to understand that the word walk often refers to how we are living our life; however, here it speaks of a much more controlled and orderly walk – more like a military march.103 What comes, through the use of this word, is conformity to a standard; this is not a stop-to-smell-the-roses, meandering stroll through the park, but rather a disciplined, carefully guarded march under the guidance of a higher plan. That higher plan is God’s desire for our unencumbered holiness – letting go and forgetting what is behind and pressing forward for the holiness of life to which we have been saved (Ephesians 4:24). Paul says that since this understanding has been attained, we must also see to it that we walk accordingly – it is not enough to understand this truth; it must find continual expression in our daily living (walk is in the present tense), and we must be continually thinking this way as well (mind is also present tense).104
Once again, we are faced with the reality that mental assent and heart commitment are two very different things. There are many Evangelicals who openly profess to be Christians, yet their lives do not reflect a commitment to the holiness of God and an attitude of forgetfulness to those things that might seem to be to their advantage. Jesus said: “... whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he [absolutely] cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).105 Evangelical Christianity carries no such price tag today, yet it is so clear from Jesus’ teachings that we are to count the cost of following Him, lest we begin and fall away (Matthew 13:20-22). Apostasy is the sin from which there is no recovery (the unpardonable sin, if you will). “For if after they [those who have been saved] have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge [a precise and correct knowledge] of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known [to know thoroughly and accurately] the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (2 Peter 2:20-21).106 To truly know the Lord and then to turn away from Him, is worse than never having known Him at all – how can this be? This is definitely not the position of modern Evangelicals! “For if we sin wilfully [willingly, of one’s own accord – as opposed to stumbling or being deceived] after that we have received the knowledge [precise and correct knowledge] of the truth, there remaineth [absolutely] no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot [to treat with rudeness and insult; to spurn] the Son of God, and hath counted [considered] the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified [made holy], an unholy thing, and hath done despite [insult] unto the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:26-29).107 What is very clear is that there is only one Sacrifice for sins, and if, after we have placed our faith in the sacrificed Lamb of God, we then turn away from Him, we have then lost our only hope for life, and His one-time sacrifice is no longer available to us. The sin of apostasy cannot be undone.
14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
We have just read how Paul desires to forget and stretch forth – the two working as one to bolster his walk with the Lord; now he provides clarification as to that for which he is reaching. The Greek word translated as press is a present tense verb and means to make haste and to press forward;95 there is an urgency attached to this word, which builds upon the reaching forth from the previous verse. This is the same Greek word translated as follow after in verse 12, a rather anemic translation for such an intensive word. We have a reiteration of Paul’s purpose to pursue the Lord; there is an expenditure of energy, but that energy must be spent in Biblically-focused activities. Activity alone is not a sign of spirituality, much less a Biblical orientation. The old adage is that idle hands are the devil’s workshop; what this misses is that the devil loves to keep people busy – so busy that they have no time to think about anything eternal. There are many today who are pressing toward financial prosperity, who are striving for positions of greater influence, who must have that bigger home, that flashier car, or the latest electronic gadget – there might well be an urgency to their all-consuming drive for more of what they deem to be important, but none of it fits with God’s desire for us.
Paul reveals that he is pursuing the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. “... God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began ...” (2 Timothy 1:8-9). God’s high calling on our lives is to holiness; we’ve already seen that Christ laid hold of us so that we might live in holiness before Him (Philippians 3:12). Our goal (mark) is to live a holy life; “... put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24); “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Paul’s example is that, having cast off all of those things that might well have been accounted to him for profit, his focus for living is to walk in righteousness and true holiness before God. Paul wrote of this to the Romans: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:16-18). Righteousness will be achieved through obedience to what God has given to us in His Word, which, in turn, requires that we must know the Scriptures. “Study [give diligence] to shew thyself approved [acceptable] unto God ...” (2 Timothy 2:15).96 Failure in this area is a significant contributor to Evangelicals becoming entangled in deception; ignorance of the Word of God has permitted Satan more than a toehold in the lives of many – how can we stand fast (2 Thessalonians 2:15) if we do not know on what we are to stand?
God’s Word is the Truth (John 17:17). Unless we cultivate a love for the Truth, we will be susceptible to being deceived. “... they received not the love [agape] of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie ...” (2 Thessalonians 2:10b-11a).97 It is an act of the will that we have a love for the truth, a love that God will give us, but which we must accept (receive). If we have a love for His truth, then we will desire to spend time studying that Truth so that we can also obey that Truth. It is commonly reported that those who work with counterfeit money do not spend their time studying fake bills – they focus on getting to know what the genuine article looks like. In the same way, we must have such a love for God’s Word that we will study it to the extent that we are able to recognize error when we see it. The great delusion of the Ecumenical movement is that it feigns the love of God, even while showing contempt for His Word; if we love the Truth, we will see the fallacy of the Ecumenical delusion.
Paul uses words here that come from the area of sports, specifically a race. The concept is that he will intensely pursue the mark, the goal or the finish line, so that he will gain the prize. We have been called unto holiness, which is the mark that we must continue to pursue to the end of the race. However, our calling in Christ is more than a life of holiness now, it is also that we will one day be part of His kingdom and appear in His glory. Paul reminds the Thessalonians that his exhortation to them was for a purpose: “That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12). Our walk, or how we live our lives, is to be in holiness, for we are to “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Holiness of life is to characterize how we live, as we press toward the ultimate goal of being with Christ; this is the hope that tempers our present day struggle to live as we should. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3). John, too, understood the necessity of relating the future hope to the present reality; because of the promised hope that we have in Christ, we must live in purity now. The Greek words translated as purifieth and pure have their root in the Greek word for holy.98
Jesus described the way as narrow, or compressed (Matthew 7:14), and He told us clearly what this meant: “I am the way, the truth, and the life ...” (John 14:6). Paul has just told us that he has laid his Jewish heritage aside (Philippians 3:8) so that he might know Christ (v.10); he is forgetting those things that are past (what he has deliberately set aside so that he might pursue Christ unhindered) in order to focus on Christ (the only Way) and what He has prepared for him. Ecumenical thinking has done much to blur the clarity of Christ’s narrow-way to life – compromise and tolerance of error mark the lives of those who are caught in its snare. Then, too, the organized church has often seemed to be that way to life by assuming a greater role in the life of the Christian than it should; faithful attendance and participation in the church programs will often be sufficient to qualify one as being a good Christian. This is an inheritance from the Roman Catholic Church, which openly declares that they are the only means to eternal salvation; although they will state that salvation is only through Christ, they have made their organization to be the only dispenser of the grace that is necessary for salvation (namely through keeping their sacraments).99 By contrast, Paul calls for a holy life now (free from anything that would hamper our spiritual development), with the promise of glory to come. Even as Paul turned away from his Jewish heritage to embrace Christ, so we must be prepared to forsake church traditions for a life of obedience to the Word of God100 – forgetting what is behind and reaching forward, pressing toward the goal of our holy calling in Christ.
15. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Inasmuch as we are to count all things as loss in our pursuit of Christ and His holiness, Paul now provides a summary of what he has just thoroughly expounded. This is something in which Paul includes himself – he uses the word us. A literal translation of the first phrase goes like this: therefore, as many as are mature, this should be our understanding.101 The thrust is that if we are mature in our faith, then we will think like Paul in what he has just laid out. The word minded (thinking) bears the subjunctive mood, which means that this may or may not take place, but the indication is that it should. As we have looked at Paul’s life up to the time of this letter (and his imprisonment in Rome), we realize that he has probably learned this open-handedness with God at great personal cost. Everywhere that he went, he sought to reach his own people, the Jews; yet it was his own people who ultimately made him a prisoner of Rome. From this perspective, Paul wrote of the necessity of holding Christ alone, of the need for us to release whatever we might think to be to our advantage, and to stretch forward to that to which He has called us – namely, holiness of life. If we cling to anything but Christ alone, it will either hinder us in our walk with the Lord, or it will draw us into apostasy.
In the last part of this verse, Paul says that if anyone thinks differently (the necessity of forgetting what is behind and reaching toward what is ahead), God will reveal this to him. There is a confidence in Paul that what he has just declared is what God desires for each of us. I believe that he learned this concept through his imprisonment, probably a very difficult lesson to learn, but one that he sees as essential for the Christian life. If this is not how we are living, but we sincerely desire God’s best in our lives, then Paul is certain that God will open our understanding in this matter. In other words, we all have those things that we must relinquish so that our stretching forward to holiness of life in the Spirit of God and our pressing toward the goal that we have in Christ, will be unhindered.
16. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
The word nevertheless, as it is used here, draws the previous discussion to a close and summarizes the key concept of that discussion.102 Paul has very meticulously laid out his case for wholeheartedly committing to holiness of life, to which we have been called by God, and he now confidently states that we (both Paul and the Philippians) have been convinced of the validity of this calling. In the previous verse, he says that those who are spiritually mature will have this understanding of the Christian life, and so he carries that thought forward here.
Walk comes from the Greek word stoicheo (stoy-kheh’-o), a very specific word which is only used five times in the NT. We have come to understand that the word walk often refers to how we are living our life; however, here it speaks of a much more controlled and orderly walk – more like a military march.103 What comes, through the use of this word, is conformity to a standard; this is not a stop-to-smell-the-roses, meandering stroll through the park, but rather a disciplined, carefully guarded march under the guidance of a higher plan. That higher plan is God’s desire for our unencumbered holiness – letting go and forgetting what is behind and pressing forward for the holiness of life to which we have been saved (Ephesians 4:24). Paul says that since this understanding has been attained, we must also see to it that we walk accordingly – it is not enough to understand this truth; it must find continual expression in our daily living (walk is in the present tense), and we must be continually thinking this way as well (mind is also present tense).104
Once again, we are faced with the reality that mental assent and heart commitment are two very different things. There are many Evangelicals who openly profess to be Christians, yet their lives do not reflect a commitment to the holiness of God and an attitude of forgetfulness to those things that might seem to be to their advantage. Jesus said: “... whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he [absolutely] cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).105 Evangelical Christianity carries no such price tag today, yet it is so clear from Jesus’ teachings that we are to count the cost of following Him, lest we begin and fall away (Matthew 13:20-22). Apostasy is the sin from which there is no recovery (the unpardonable sin, if you will). “For if after they [those who have been saved] have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge [a precise and correct knowledge] of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known [to know thoroughly and accurately] the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (2 Peter 2:20-21).106 To truly know the Lord and then to turn away from Him, is worse than never having known Him at all – how can this be? This is definitely not the position of modern Evangelicals! “For if we sin wilfully [willingly, of one’s own accord – as opposed to stumbling or being deceived] after that we have received the knowledge [precise and correct knowledge] of the truth, there remaineth [absolutely] no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot [to treat with rudeness and insult; to spurn] the Son of God, and hath counted [considered] the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified [made holy], an unholy thing, and hath done despite [insult] unto the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:26-29).107 What is very clear is that there is only one Sacrifice for sins, and if, after we have placed our faith in the sacrificed Lamb of God, we then turn away from Him, we have then lost our only hope for life, and His one-time sacrifice is no longer available to us. The sin of apostasy cannot be undone.
However, we must ensure that we define apostasy carefully and consistently; one definition is: “a total desertion of or departure from one's religion ....”108 John MacArthur, considered to be a conservative Evangelical, has defined it as “abandonment, a separation, a defection – the abdication of truth altogether,” and he relates the term to the Greek word for divorce (apoluo).109 However, he no sooner makes this acceptable explanation of the reality of apostasy than he goes on to ask this question: “Can a genuine Christian fall away from the faith and become an apostate?”110 His response is that the Scriptures are quite clear that the answer to this question is “No.” He contends that there are many people who are apostate, “who profess faith in Christ and identify themselves as disciples but who never genuinely embrace the truth”111 – which really means that they were never born again. A review of the definitions of apostasy will reveal MacArthur’s error – “a total desertion of or departure from one’s religion,” “abandonment, a separation, a defection” (even his own definition runs contrary to his following comments). If I, as a Canadian citizen, profess with great sincerity that I am an American, that does not make it true; therefore, I would not expect anyone to consider me to be a run-away American because I live in Canada. I am not an American, I have never been an American, and so it would make no sense to call me an “apostate” American. Likewise, someone who is spiritually lost but vehemently professes to be a Christian, is, very simply, not what he professes – even if he has been deluded into thinking that he is a Christian and has convinced others as well. If such a person turns away from following Christianity (to whatever extent that he participated in Christian things since he never held faith in Christ), he has then not apostatized but simply revealed his true allegiance. Apostasy, by definition, demands a departure from the faith, which is why I believe that most of those who are called apostate today are nothing more than pagans – they might have professed Christianity but they have never held faith in Christ.
In an effort to support his flawed position, MacArthur refers to two passages of Scripture. The first is 1 John 2:19 – “They went out from us, but they were [absolutely] not of [from] us; for if they had been of [from] us, they would no doubt [might – a small Greek word is included in the text, which introduces the element of uncertainty] have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were [absolutely] not all of [from] us.”112 By looking at this verse carefully, we see that it does not support MacArthur’s position at all. From the context, we learn that they refers to those whom the Apostle John has just called antichrists (v. 18). Externally, they might have appeared to be part of our fellowship (they were religious), but in truth they were never a part of God’s family – in other words, they are not apostate, but they are pagan, for they have never been born again. MacArthur might like to call them apostate, but that does not even fit with his own definition of the term. The second passage that he uses is John 10:28-29 – “And I give [am giving (present tense)] unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish [perish is in the subjunctive mood, and with the Greek negatives ou and me, this becomes an emphatically strong negative; however, we must note the context clearly identifies those whom Jesus calls My sheep as being those who are knowing and following Him], neither shall any man pluck [to snatch with force] them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand”.113 As much as it lies within the grace of God, He has done everything to ensure that we (who have placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and are living faithfully with Him) will abide in Him forever – what He has not removed is our will to choose. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from [deserting, falling away from] the living God” (Hebrews 3:12); this is a word of warning addressed to brethren, those who just earlier were called holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling (v. 1). This sounds very much like a warning against apostasy; it is the brethren who are able to do the departing. Apostasy is a very real danger, but you can only fall away from that of which you have been a part. Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians is that they should continually walk in an orderly manner, according to his instruction to forsake the old and reach out for the new. The focus of such a life will be a restraint against apostasy.
17. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
Followers together comes from one Greek word (summimetes), and it means fellow-imitators.114 The definition of a follower has undergone some changes over the past 400 years (since the translation of the KJV); Webster’s 1828 edition shows the thought of imitator as the second definition, whereas a modern dictionary has it as the fourth.115 Today we think of a follower as someone who is supportive of a person or cause, and so we might come away with the idea that Paul was seeking to amass a following. However, he wrote against this to the Corinthians, for they were bringing division by claiming to hold allegiance to Paul, or to Apollos or to Cephas or to Christ (1 Corinthians 1:12). The word received by the Corinthians was: “Therefore let no man glory in men” (1 Corinthians 3:21a). There is a natural tendency to hold those in high regard with whom we can identify; today we have the numerous gurus of India with the crowds of people who hang on their every word, Billy Graham has amassed a tremendous number of loyal supporters, and Rick Warren is busily working to increase his popularity, with the hope of accomplishing his world-wide goals. These men all have followings – people who are enamored with who they are, the message that they bring, and/or the work to which they aspire. This is very different from imitating someone, which is what Paul is advocating. You can follow someone (you might highly acclaim their message and what they are doing) without it ever making a difference in your own life. Paul is saying: “Think how I am thinking” (the last phrase of the previous verse), and through this will come a new focus for living.
The context for Paul’s comment is the acceptance of the dual concept of leaving behind and reaching forward. His living example was to relinquish his Jewish heritage and forget it, and to reach forward to holiness of living by being found in Christ (Philippians 3:9, 13). He says that if we are spiritually mature, then we will have his mindset (forgetting and reaching), and be prepared to circumspectly live accordingly (v. 15-16). Through the painful trials of life, Paul had learned the necessity of letting go of everything that might hinder him in his walk with Christ (no matter how beneficial it might appear to be); his sole purpose in life was to be all that he could be in Christ – his calling was to holiness (2 Timothy 1:9), and that was his consuming desire. It is this to which he enjoins the Philippians (and us) to imitate him – in other words, he is calling them to join with others who were already following the principle that he has just expounded.116 Paul has no desire for a following, but a tremendous longing that we learn to have the life-focus that he had: Christ!
Paul goes on to say that they are to notice carefully (mark) those who live (walk) according to the principles established (so), even as they have Paul and Timothy as a pattern (ensample). The Greek word for walk, as used here, is not the same as the one used in verse 16 – this word (peripateo) speaks of a general manner of living.117 Ensample comes from the Greek word tupos, and means the mark of a stroke or blow, a print; the word most often translated as example is hupodeigma (hoop-od’-igue-mah), which means a representation, figure, or copy.118 The former would be used to describe the mark left by the application of a seal in sealing wax; the impression left is exactly that of the seal. The latter word is a more general term and does not carry the same precision as the former. The word that Paul uses here (tupos) finds support in his use of the word stoicheo, translated as walk, in verse 16. What must not be overlooked is that he is strongly emphasizing the necessity of striving for holiness of life in the Lord, even while forgetting what we have left behind in order to enter this orderly walk with Christ. Jesus said: “... strait [narrow] is the gate, and narrow [compressed] is the way, which leadeth unto life ...” (Matthew 7:14).119 It should be evident that the restricted way to life in Christ demands an orderly walk (stoicheo); it is the broad way that leads to destruction that permits a more casual approach to life. However, the Evangelical of today does not exhibit a restrained walk with the Lord, and denounces anyone who endeavors to live in such a way as being legalistic. Yet if we carefully ponder the Biblical call to separation, then we will recognize that such a calling fits well with the narrow gate and the compressed way that we, as those who are in Christ, must carefully walk.
Evangelicals today not only like to emphasize God’s love, but will speak glowingly of His grace – and, in truth, it is only through God’s grace that we can be assured of our salvation in Christ. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). However, when you observe the careless living of the average Evangelical, you can only wonder: “Does God’s grace extend that far?” It would seem that the Spirit of God anticipated such a question, for Paul wrote: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2). God’s grace will cover any sin that we might have committed prior to conversion (while we are still alive unto sin), but once we have placed our faith in the salvation provided through Christ, we are now dead to sin, and our focus must shift to living according to the leading of the Spirit of God (namely, obedience to God’s commands, including the foundational Ten Commandments, which have now been written upon our hearts – Hebrews 8:10). For example, Ecumenism, which has thoroughly permeated Evangelicalism, is absolutely contrary to God’s Word, and so we are to be dead to that sin – we are to have no part in it. What we need to realize is that God’s grace will not stretch to cover willful sin: “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge [a precise and correct knowledge] of the truth, there remaineth [is left absolutely] no more sacrifice for sins ...” (Hebrews 10:26).120 In Christ, we are dead to sin; therefore, we can no longer live a life of continual sin (1 John 3:8). We will still commit sinful acts, but it will be through failure, and not a willful determination; “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). If we recognize the sin of Ecumenism, yet remain unwilling to separate from it, then we are in jeopardy of falling from the grace of God – of becoming apostate! God’s grace cannot be stretched to cover willful disobedience – it never has. “But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously [with a high hand, in rebellion against God], whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth [blasphemes] the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off [killed] from among his people” (Numbers 15:30).121 To know what the Lord desires, or has commanded, and to refuse to be obedient, is blasphemy against the Lord.
Paul’s call is for the Philippians (and us) to think as he thinks – to set aside what might appear to be to our advantage, and strive to live in a manner that is in keeping with our holy calling in Christ. There is a precision demanded by such a life; it is a disciplined walk (as we saw in v. 16) and so we are to imitate the pattern of thinking that Paul has so carefully laid out. The Spirit of God has been given to us in order to guide us into all truth (John 16:13), which is a very narrowly defined path for living. Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6); He is that restricted pathway to God. As the eternal Logos, Jesus stated unequivocally: “If ye love me, keep [attend carefully to] my commandments” (John 14:15), and: “If ye keep [same Greek word] my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10).122 Once more, we come back to the necessity of obedience to God’s Word; if we refuse to live in accordance with God’s requirements for us, we are not permitting His Spirit to be our Guide, and we stand in peril of blaspheming the name of the Lord and falling from His grace. The Psalmist declared: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105); but we also read, “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life” (Proverbs 6:23). Jesus said: “He that is not with me is against me ...”; there is no buffer zone between obedience to the Lord and disobedience, no fence to straddle between the world and Christ. If we would walk in the light of the Word of God, then we must do what it says – we must let go of all that might appear to be good, and strive single-mindedly for the higher calling of holiness in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14), and, thereby, join the company of imitators of Paul.
18. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Paul now draws a contrast to what he has so carefully expounded and set as the example for us to imitate. He has just called on the Philippians (and us) to carefully note those who are living after the pattern that he has just shown; the connotation is that they will not be common, or else they would not be noteworthy. He speaks now of many who will be living in a different manner (walk), something that he has mentioned to the Philippians before – he is referring to those who are the enemies of the Gospel.
You will recall that, when Paul and Silas first came to Philippi, there was a young girl who followed them proclaiming: “These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). Although the words that she spoke were true, we are told that she had the spirit of divination (the Greek word is puthon – a serpent or dragon in Greek mythology123); i.e., she had an evil spirit living within her, which was used to bring wealth to her masters. When Paul cast the demon out of her, those for whom she worked lost their “golden goose.” Likewise, it is noteworthy that there were also demons whom Jesus faced who recognized Him for Who He was and openly proclaimed that truth (Matthew 8:29; Mark 1:24). However, despite declaring the truth concerning Who Jesus is, they remained demons bent on doing the bidding of Satan; they remained the enemies of Christ.
However, Paul is not speaking here of demons or of the overtly demon-possessed; rather, he is referring to those who walk through life around us, and some of whom might well wave the banner of Christianity. The Greek word translated as weeping speaks of any loud expression of grief,124 as opposed to crying silently. It would only be fitting for Paul to lament loudly over those who were flying the banner of Christ, yet not in a manner glorifying to Him. Earlier, Paul referred to those who were preaching Christ out of an effort to make life more difficult for him (1:15-16); although they preached Christ, it is evident that this did not come from a heart that was in tune with the Gospel of God – the message was true, but the motives were wrong. Even though they proclaimed the Gospel message, Paul undoubtedly recognized the spirit of antichrist in them, which would eventually overtake any truth that they presented. It is important that we do not take everything at face value. John challenges us to “believe not [don’t be persuaded by] every spirit [not an angel or demon, but the essence of man], but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). This would suggest that the false prophets will masquerade as godly people, but, in their hearts, they will either deny God or His Word (the result is the same); therefore, we must use Biblical discernment in order to recognize the error. It is such as these who will one day face Christ and say: “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” (Matthew 7:22), and the Lord will respond: “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23). They might proclaim to be followers of Christ, but they have never known Him.
Ecumenism is a movement whose focus is unity, not merely tolerance, and finds its expression through different denominations working together as one. For example, the Three Hills Ministerial Association (which includes Evangelical, Charismatic, Anglican, United, and Catholic Churches) “encourages cooperation and coordination of church activities in the area”;125 its contacts are listed as John Schaufele (Victory Church) and Norm Koop (Evangelical Free Church). Such an association demands a casual approach to Biblical doctrine and a willingness to ignore the truths of Scripture for the sake of unity. Although the profession of many who are involved in such programs may sound Biblical, their actions will reveal to those who are discerning that the Word of God is not their highest priority. Ecumenism, by its very nature, is a violation of God’s call for us to separate from evil (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1) and from error (Romans 16:17-18). Who is Ecumenical? Is it only the leadership? “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary [the Greek word is para and it means alongside of – their doctrine is not sharply contradictory to Scripture, it is only somewhat different] to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17).126 Everyone who attends and/or supports a group represented by the ministerial association is Ecumenical, otherwise they would separate from the error, as God requires; whether they are guilty through ignorance, apathy or enthusiasm, it matters little – we are to be discerning at all times, and so there is no excuse for anyone. If we desire to live Biblically, then we must never seek spiritual blessing from anyone who is guilty of Ecumenical involvement, whether through active participation or tolerance.
19. Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
Paul now goes on to identify four things that will attach themselves to these who, although they might appear to be Christians, are, in reality, the enemies of Christ.
The first is that their end is destruction (apoleia [ap-o’-li-a]); the final state of this person will be utter ruin, to which Vine adds this thought: “The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being.”127 Peter used this same Greek word to describe those for whom we must be on the alert: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable [apoleia] heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift [quick] destruction [apoleia]” (2 Peter 2:1).128 We might wonder about this last phrase, swift destruction. As we look about us today, we see the strong influence of the late Billy Graham and Robert Schuller, along with Rick Warren, Joel Osteen and countless others of like mind who continue to wield great influence within the Evangelical community, yet each has propagated heresy (expounded damnable heresies) for many years – the question is: where is their swift destruction? If these men at one time held a proper understanding of the truth of God, then their swift destruction is that they no longer have any hope: “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth [absolutely] no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain [only – a Greek word used to heighten and emphasize129] fearful [terrible] looking for [expectation] of judgment [condemnation] and fiery indignation ...” (Hebrews 10:26-27).130 For those who have been saved, and then turn away from the Lord and His Word (become apostate), their future is immediately secured – they are marked for utter ruin! Their judgment is immediate, even if it will not be carried out for some time; they may well continue to prosper in this life, but their eternal destiny has been irrevocably sealed. All men, without the Lord, are marked for destruction; however, those who have not known the way of truth may still have the opportunity to repent, believe and find salvation in Christ – there is still hope for them. Of those who might give the appearance of being Christians but who are really the enemies of Christ, Paul says that their end is destruction.
We then have the identification of the god of these enemies of Christ: “whose God is their belly.” As these have turned away from the Lord, perhaps one of the most obvious things would be that the Lord is no longer their God: you cannot depart from the God of the Bible (whether through disavowing Him entirely, or simply by giving no heed to His Word) and still hold Him as your God. This is not to say that you might not still profess Him to be your God, which is very evident in the lives of men like Billy Graham, Robert Schuller, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, et.al. – they all readily professed to have a relationship with God, yet their lives and teachings show their disdain for His Word. The Greek word translated as belly is used equally of the stomach and of the womb, but metaphorically (as used here) it speaks of the desires or appetites of an individual.131 To those who corrupted God’s glory (Romans 1:23), twisted His truth (Romans 1:25), and did not consider it worthwhile to hold God in true knowledge132 (Romans 1:28), we read that God “gave them up” to their own devices (Romans 1:24, 26, 28). Rejection by God is a serious matter, for He will relinquish you to that on which you have set your mind. Judah felt the sting of God’s rejection (Jeremiah 11:6-11), and it has been recorded for our learning. This is significant in light of what is happening within Evangelicalism today. Although most Evangelicals might not yet accept an idol as being a depiction of the god whom they serve, they have excelled at skewing the truth of God’s Word to their own advantage. The whole departure into Ecumenism comes only through an abandonment of the truth of the Scriptures; as they skew the message of the Word of God, they distort the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, for He IS the Word of God (Revelation 19:13). Here we have the answer as to why those who study the Word of God for a living can still hold to aberrant teachings; a classic example is Billy Graham who spent most of his life preaching from the Bible, yet he believed that some will be in heaven even though they have never heard of Jesus Christ (contrary to John 14:6 and Acts 4:12). The fact of the matter is that, because he refused to obey the commands of God, God gave him over to his own theological desires, and the truth was hidden from him; the passions of such men have become their god, and so spiritual blindness has become their lot: “seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive” (Matthew 13:14). To the Pharisees and the Evangelicals Jesus says: “If ye were blind, ye should have no sin [you would see your need and repent]: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth” (John 9:41); there is no salvation in self-righteousness.
The glory of these enemies of the cross is in their shame. In Romans one, Paul spoke of those who knew God but departed to do their own thing (1:21-22), and so God gave them up to follow their corrupt hearts and do those things which ought not to be done (the meaning of the word convenient in Romans 1:28).133 Of these we read: “Who knowing the judgment [or righteousness] of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in [applaud] them that do them” (Romans 1:32)134; they know that God is righteous and just, and to depart from His commandments is death, yet they continue to do those things that are contrary to God’s commands, and rejoice in those who join them. The most prolific example of this has to be Ecumenism. Evangelicals might well recognize that disobedience to God’s commands is death, yet, in their spiritual blindness, they continue to embrace the workers of iniquity, taking great pride and joy in their broad fellowship, and showing contempt for anyone who would seek to separate from such error. What should be a matter of disgrace for them has become that which brings them cause for much rejoicing; they glory in their shame.
The fourth thing that attaches itself to these enemies of the cross, is that they mind earthly things. In other words, they are preoccupied with the here and now; their focus is earthly, rather than heavenly. Jesus said: “... whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26); what Jesus says that we must forsake, these enemies of the cross embrace. We are to be looking unto Jesus (Hebrews 12:2); the Greek word translated as looking means to give “attention to one thing to the exclusion of all else.”135 Jesus is to be our focus; we are to strive toward the holy calling that we have in Him, relinquishing everything that might hinder us in this pursuit. Those who are described here, no matter how spiritual their speech might sound, will not have this holy calling in view. Rick Warren is in pursuit of peace on earth, and he will join with anyone, whether he is Catholic, Muslim, or Buddhist, in order to accomplish this earthly task. Such men seek to hasten Christ’s return by establishing His kingdom on earth; instead, they are hastening Christ’s return by spreading heresy far and wide through their careless departure from God’s truth. Instead of building His kingdom, they are sowing the seeds of apostasy and spiritual ruin.
The enemies of the cross of Christ face confirmed destruction, they are overcome with their self-directed passions, they rejoice in that which is disgraceful, and they are obsessed with this life. This stands in stark contrast to what Paul has just outlined for the Philippians: relinquish all the seeming benefits of life and single-mindedly seek to be found in Christ, striving to reach unto the holy calling that we have in Him.
20. For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
As we have studied Scripture, we have come to expect that the word conversation speaks of our manner of living. In most cases, we would be correct; however, the Greek word used here is unique in the NT and refers to the place of our citizenship, or our homeland.136 Paul is asking the Philippians (and us) to imitate him by letting go of what is past (all of our earthly benefits) and straining forward to what awaits us in Christ Jesus, because our home is in heaven (this is the goal that we have as we press forward in Christ – Philippians 3:14). Heaven is the dwelling place of God; the model prayer that Jesus gave begins: “Our Father which art in heaven …” (Matthew 6:9). If we are in Christ, then we are seen as citizens of heaven, ready to abide in the presence of God. When the disciples returned from one of their mission trips for the Lord, they rejoiced that they had experienced power over evil spirits, but Jesus said: “... rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). As we come to abide in Christ, our names are entered into the book of citizenship in heaven. However, we must not become lax in knowing what Christ has done for us, for just as certainly as we read of our names being written in heaven, we also read of names being blotted out of the book. When Moses pled with God on behalf of sinful Israel, he begged for God to forgive the people and said that if He would not forgive them, then he desired to have his name removed from God’s book. However, God’s response was: “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot [to wipe] out of my book” (Exodus 32:33).137 To the messenger of the ekklesia at Sardis, Jesus said: “He that overcometh [to conquer – present tense], the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out [to obliterate, erase] his name out of the book of life ...” (Revelation 3:5).138 We are to rejoice that our names are written in heaven, but we must also “Take heed ... lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).
To the twelve, Jesus said that He was going away to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house, and that He would return to take them there (John 14:1-3). Peter wrote of this: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible [cannot be destroyed], and undefiled [without stain, unpolluted], and that fadeth not away [will not waste away], reserved [to keep, to attend to carefully – tereo (tay-reh’-o); perfect tense] in heaven for you, Who are kept [guarded] by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).139 If we would see this marvelous inheritance that God has prepared for us, then we must “keep (tereo – attend to carefully; present tense) his [God’s] commandments (1 John 2:3).140 Notice that we are to continually (tereo – keep, present tense) give the same attention to our obedience of God’s commandments as He has given (tereo – reserved, perfect tense) to our inheritance with Him. We are called to persevere (Hebrews 3:14); it is not sufficient to begin well – we must also complete that which we have begun with Christ.
The Lord was very explicit with Ezekiel concerning this: “But when the righteous turneth away [apostatizes] from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned [remembered]: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die” (Ezekiel 18:24).141 Evangelicals might well be unwilling to hear the “thus saith the Lord” of God’s Word, but it is there nonetheless. Ezekiel bore a message from the Lord for Israel, yet here are the Lord’s words to him: “... I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. And they, whether they will hear [obey], or whether they will forbear [to leave undone], (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them” (Ezekiel 2:4b-5).142 Nothing has changed: Israel ignored God’s message through the prophet, and Evangelicals ignore God’s message to us, the Bible; the results in both cases are the same – God’s displeasure. When God admonishes us to persevere in our obedience of His commandments, as given in His Word, we would do well to study the Scriptures so that we know what He desires of us. Our citizenship in heaven is not retained through praying a prayer once, but through donning the new man who is created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:24), through the careful protection of our Shepherd from any outside attack (John 10:27-28), through the intercession of the Lord and the Spirit to God the Father on our behalf (Romans 8:26, 34), and through a life lived in obedience to God (1 John 2:3-5). God has created us in Christ Jesus to live in a particular manner (Ephesians 2:10) that is in keeping with our heavenly citizenship.
When Jesus ascended to the Father, the angels declared: “... this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11b). Here, Paul says that we eagerly await (look for) the coming of the Lord Jesus from heaven.143 The return of the Lord is seen as the culmination of our salvation. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [living] and remain [surviving] shall be caught up [to seize] together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).144 Consider this passage for a moment. Unlike what is typically depicted within Evangelicalism, the coming of the Lord will not be a silent event where people simply vanish. There will be a shout, or a command, from heaven, the voice of the chief angel will be heard, and the trump, or trumpet, of God will be sounded – that is not silence!145 To the Corinthians Paul wrote: “In a moment [something too small to be cut, hence the smallest measure of time], in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible [not subject to decay], and we shall be changed [transformed]” (1 Corinthians 15:52).146 The Lord’s coming will be neither quiet nor instantaneous, it is our transformation that will take place in an indivisible amount of time; everyone on earth will know what is taking place, and they will mourn (Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7). This is the bodily resurrection of those who are in Christ; we will be raised incorruptible, no longer subject to aging and death. This can only refer to our bodies, for our souls are not subject to the ravages of this life. To the repentant thief on the cross Jesus said: “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Both Jesus and the thief died that day; Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb, and the thief would likewise have been buried. Along with the bodily resurrection of those who are in Christ, will come an eternity with Him – “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Now we are looking for the coming of our Savior in the clouds of the air; He will be coming from the place where our citizenship is held.
21. Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Jesus will come and transform (change) our body of humiliation (vile); the word vile has a much more deplorable meaning today than 400 years ago.
When God created the animals of the earth on the sixth day, we read that He “made the beast of the earth” (Genesis 1:25); when He contemplated making man, He said: “Let us make man in our image …” (Genesis 1:26). The two words made and make are different forms of the same word in Hebrew, and so there is a similarity between how the animals were created and how God created man. However, there is also a difference, and God provides us with a further explanation of how He created man. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7); in creating man, God formed him and breathed life into him. With all of the other living creatures, God simply spoke, and they were formed and had life; man was unique – the creation of both Adam and Eve came through the personal touch of the Creator. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). Mankind bears the image of God, even in our sinful state (James 3:9).
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly [through and through]; and I pray God your whole [sound in every part] spirit (pneuma) and soul (psuche) and body (soma) be preserved [singular] blameless unto [in] the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).147 What is obvious from this verse is that there are at least three parts to man – spirit, soul and body (pneuma, psuche, soma); however, that’s where such simplicity ends. The Greek words translated as spirit and soul are often used to refer to the whole person (in Hebrew as well), thus making it more difficult for us to distinguish between the two. The word heart is also used to refer to the inner workings of man, although typically leaning more to the seat of the will than to the emotions and passions. How these all function together is a mystery known only to God (Hebrews 4:12). However, we must not overlook the fact that our body is included in the listing of what will be completely sound, and what will be carefully attended to (preserved) when we are with the Lord Jesus. Jesus told His disciples: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). This clarifies that the body and the soul are separate; the body can be killed, the soul cannot. It also shows that the body and soul can be destroyed (ruined, not killed) together in hell; this is not annihilation, but a ruin that leaves the soul and body identifiable despite being destroyed.148 What becomes evident is that our bodies are not just for this life, but, if we die, they will be resurrected – for the righteous, when Jesus returns; for the unrighteous, to stand before God to be judged according to their works (Revelation 20:12-15).
Paul refers to a transformation of our body of humiliation. When God created Adam and Eve, they were pronounced good (Genesis 1:31), but sin entered the world and death by sin (Romans 5:12). “For the creature [or creation] was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:20-23). The consequences of sin fell upon all of creation; although man immediately died spiritually, he, along with all of the rest of creation, began to feel the ravages of aging, sickness and death (the physical consequences of sin). Paul speaks here of the redemption, or deliverance, of our body from this influence – that day when “this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53). That is the day when Jesus will transform (change) our humbled (vile) body into a glorious one, and we shall be like Him for we will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).
This marvelous transformation is possible based on Jesus being powerful to bring all things under His control. When Jesus met with His disciples just prior to His ascension, He stated: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18); God the Father gave Jesus Christ complete authority over everything in heaven and on earth. This is confirmation that the power of Satan has been broken by the Lord Jesus Christ, and His victory forms the basis for His command to teach everyone to do what God has commanded (Matthew 28:20). However, in the wisdom of God, Satan is permitted to tempt and to test those who profess to follow Christ so that they might be strengthened and come forth as gold (Job 23:10). “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised [trained or exercise self-control] thereby” (Hebrews 12:11).149 To those who will be trained by God’s discipline, His righteousness will be our reward; His discipline is involved with putting on the new man, who is created in “righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Paul testified that “... there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger [an angel] of Satan to buffet [afflict or cause difficulty] me, lest I should be exalted above measure” (2 Corinthians 12:7).150 If we step back and look at this from a broader perspective than our own situation in the midst of a trial, we can see that God is using Satan to strengthen and to mold us; however, we must be willing to be trained through this discipline. If we fight against God’s working in us, then we are in rebellion against what He desires to accomplish in us; Paul prayed three times to have the angel of Satan removed from his life, yet submitted to the discipline of the Lord, rather than insisting upon freedom from this trial. We must recognize that our chastening is controlled by God Who knows our frame (Psalm 103:14); His desire is for our sanctification, that we might live in holiness before Him today, and that we might be ready to meet the Lord Jesus Christ when He returns to transform us into His image.
In an effort to support his flawed position, MacArthur refers to two passages of Scripture. The first is 1 John 2:19 – “They went out from us, but they were [absolutely] not of [from] us; for if they had been of [from] us, they would no doubt [might – a small Greek word is included in the text, which introduces the element of uncertainty] have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were [absolutely] not all of [from] us.”112 By looking at this verse carefully, we see that it does not support MacArthur’s position at all. From the context, we learn that they refers to those whom the Apostle John has just called antichrists (v. 18). Externally, they might have appeared to be part of our fellowship (they were religious), but in truth they were never a part of God’s family – in other words, they are not apostate, but they are pagan, for they have never been born again. MacArthur might like to call them apostate, but that does not even fit with his own definition of the term. The second passage that he uses is John 10:28-29 – “And I give [am giving (present tense)] unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish [perish is in the subjunctive mood, and with the Greek negatives ou and me, this becomes an emphatically strong negative; however, we must note the context clearly identifies those whom Jesus calls My sheep as being those who are knowing and following Him], neither shall any man pluck [to snatch with force] them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand”.113 As much as it lies within the grace of God, He has done everything to ensure that we (who have placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and are living faithfully with Him) will abide in Him forever – what He has not removed is our will to choose. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from [deserting, falling away from] the living God” (Hebrews 3:12); this is a word of warning addressed to brethren, those who just earlier were called holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling (v. 1). This sounds very much like a warning against apostasy; it is the brethren who are able to do the departing. Apostasy is a very real danger, but you can only fall away from that of which you have been a part. Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians is that they should continually walk in an orderly manner, according to his instruction to forsake the old and reach out for the new. The focus of such a life will be a restraint against apostasy.
17. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
Followers together comes from one Greek word (summimetes), and it means fellow-imitators.114 The definition of a follower has undergone some changes over the past 400 years (since the translation of the KJV); Webster’s 1828 edition shows the thought of imitator as the second definition, whereas a modern dictionary has it as the fourth.115 Today we think of a follower as someone who is supportive of a person or cause, and so we might come away with the idea that Paul was seeking to amass a following. However, he wrote against this to the Corinthians, for they were bringing division by claiming to hold allegiance to Paul, or to Apollos or to Cephas or to Christ (1 Corinthians 1:12). The word received by the Corinthians was: “Therefore let no man glory in men” (1 Corinthians 3:21a). There is a natural tendency to hold those in high regard with whom we can identify; today we have the numerous gurus of India with the crowds of people who hang on their every word, Billy Graham has amassed a tremendous number of loyal supporters, and Rick Warren is busily working to increase his popularity, with the hope of accomplishing his world-wide goals. These men all have followings – people who are enamored with who they are, the message that they bring, and/or the work to which they aspire. This is very different from imitating someone, which is what Paul is advocating. You can follow someone (you might highly acclaim their message and what they are doing) without it ever making a difference in your own life. Paul is saying: “Think how I am thinking” (the last phrase of the previous verse), and through this will come a new focus for living.
The context for Paul’s comment is the acceptance of the dual concept of leaving behind and reaching forward. His living example was to relinquish his Jewish heritage and forget it, and to reach forward to holiness of living by being found in Christ (Philippians 3:9, 13). He says that if we are spiritually mature, then we will have his mindset (forgetting and reaching), and be prepared to circumspectly live accordingly (v. 15-16). Through the painful trials of life, Paul had learned the necessity of letting go of everything that might hinder him in his walk with Christ (no matter how beneficial it might appear to be); his sole purpose in life was to be all that he could be in Christ – his calling was to holiness (2 Timothy 1:9), and that was his consuming desire. It is this to which he enjoins the Philippians (and us) to imitate him – in other words, he is calling them to join with others who were already following the principle that he has just expounded.116 Paul has no desire for a following, but a tremendous longing that we learn to have the life-focus that he had: Christ!
Paul goes on to say that they are to notice carefully (mark) those who live (walk) according to the principles established (so), even as they have Paul and Timothy as a pattern (ensample). The Greek word for walk, as used here, is not the same as the one used in verse 16 – this word (peripateo) speaks of a general manner of living.117 Ensample comes from the Greek word tupos, and means the mark of a stroke or blow, a print; the word most often translated as example is hupodeigma (hoop-od’-igue-mah), which means a representation, figure, or copy.118 The former would be used to describe the mark left by the application of a seal in sealing wax; the impression left is exactly that of the seal. The latter word is a more general term and does not carry the same precision as the former. The word that Paul uses here (tupos) finds support in his use of the word stoicheo, translated as walk, in verse 16. What must not be overlooked is that he is strongly emphasizing the necessity of striving for holiness of life in the Lord, even while forgetting what we have left behind in order to enter this orderly walk with Christ. Jesus said: “... strait [narrow] is the gate, and narrow [compressed] is the way, which leadeth unto life ...” (Matthew 7:14).119 It should be evident that the restricted way to life in Christ demands an orderly walk (stoicheo); it is the broad way that leads to destruction that permits a more casual approach to life. However, the Evangelical of today does not exhibit a restrained walk with the Lord, and denounces anyone who endeavors to live in such a way as being legalistic. Yet if we carefully ponder the Biblical call to separation, then we will recognize that such a calling fits well with the narrow gate and the compressed way that we, as those who are in Christ, must carefully walk.
Evangelicals today not only like to emphasize God’s love, but will speak glowingly of His grace – and, in truth, it is only through God’s grace that we can be assured of our salvation in Christ. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). However, when you observe the careless living of the average Evangelical, you can only wonder: “Does God’s grace extend that far?” It would seem that the Spirit of God anticipated such a question, for Paul wrote: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2). God’s grace will cover any sin that we might have committed prior to conversion (while we are still alive unto sin), but once we have placed our faith in the salvation provided through Christ, we are now dead to sin, and our focus must shift to living according to the leading of the Spirit of God (namely, obedience to God’s commands, including the foundational Ten Commandments, which have now been written upon our hearts – Hebrews 8:10). For example, Ecumenism, which has thoroughly permeated Evangelicalism, is absolutely contrary to God’s Word, and so we are to be dead to that sin – we are to have no part in it. What we need to realize is that God’s grace will not stretch to cover willful sin: “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge [a precise and correct knowledge] of the truth, there remaineth [is left absolutely] no more sacrifice for sins ...” (Hebrews 10:26).120 In Christ, we are dead to sin; therefore, we can no longer live a life of continual sin (1 John 3:8). We will still commit sinful acts, but it will be through failure, and not a willful determination; “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). If we recognize the sin of Ecumenism, yet remain unwilling to separate from it, then we are in jeopardy of falling from the grace of God – of becoming apostate! God’s grace cannot be stretched to cover willful disobedience – it never has. “But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously [with a high hand, in rebellion against God], whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth [blasphemes] the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off [killed] from among his people” (Numbers 15:30).121 To know what the Lord desires, or has commanded, and to refuse to be obedient, is blasphemy against the Lord.
Paul’s call is for the Philippians (and us) to think as he thinks – to set aside what might appear to be to our advantage, and strive to live in a manner that is in keeping with our holy calling in Christ. There is a precision demanded by such a life; it is a disciplined walk (as we saw in v. 16) and so we are to imitate the pattern of thinking that Paul has so carefully laid out. The Spirit of God has been given to us in order to guide us into all truth (John 16:13), which is a very narrowly defined path for living. Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6); He is that restricted pathway to God. As the eternal Logos, Jesus stated unequivocally: “If ye love me, keep [attend carefully to] my commandments” (John 14:15), and: “If ye keep [same Greek word] my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10).122 Once more, we come back to the necessity of obedience to God’s Word; if we refuse to live in accordance with God’s requirements for us, we are not permitting His Spirit to be our Guide, and we stand in peril of blaspheming the name of the Lord and falling from His grace. The Psalmist declared: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105); but we also read, “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life” (Proverbs 6:23). Jesus said: “He that is not with me is against me ...”; there is no buffer zone between obedience to the Lord and disobedience, no fence to straddle between the world and Christ. If we would walk in the light of the Word of God, then we must do what it says – we must let go of all that might appear to be good, and strive single-mindedly for the higher calling of holiness in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14), and, thereby, join the company of imitators of Paul.
18. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Paul now draws a contrast to what he has so carefully expounded and set as the example for us to imitate. He has just called on the Philippians (and us) to carefully note those who are living after the pattern that he has just shown; the connotation is that they will not be common, or else they would not be noteworthy. He speaks now of many who will be living in a different manner (walk), something that he has mentioned to the Philippians before – he is referring to those who are the enemies of the Gospel.
You will recall that, when Paul and Silas first came to Philippi, there was a young girl who followed them proclaiming: “These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). Although the words that she spoke were true, we are told that she had the spirit of divination (the Greek word is puthon – a serpent or dragon in Greek mythology123); i.e., she had an evil spirit living within her, which was used to bring wealth to her masters. When Paul cast the demon out of her, those for whom she worked lost their “golden goose.” Likewise, it is noteworthy that there were also demons whom Jesus faced who recognized Him for Who He was and openly proclaimed that truth (Matthew 8:29; Mark 1:24). However, despite declaring the truth concerning Who Jesus is, they remained demons bent on doing the bidding of Satan; they remained the enemies of Christ.
However, Paul is not speaking here of demons or of the overtly demon-possessed; rather, he is referring to those who walk through life around us, and some of whom might well wave the banner of Christianity. The Greek word translated as weeping speaks of any loud expression of grief,124 as opposed to crying silently. It would only be fitting for Paul to lament loudly over those who were flying the banner of Christ, yet not in a manner glorifying to Him. Earlier, Paul referred to those who were preaching Christ out of an effort to make life more difficult for him (1:15-16); although they preached Christ, it is evident that this did not come from a heart that was in tune with the Gospel of God – the message was true, but the motives were wrong. Even though they proclaimed the Gospel message, Paul undoubtedly recognized the spirit of antichrist in them, which would eventually overtake any truth that they presented. It is important that we do not take everything at face value. John challenges us to “believe not [don’t be persuaded by] every spirit [not an angel or demon, but the essence of man], but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). This would suggest that the false prophets will masquerade as godly people, but, in their hearts, they will either deny God or His Word (the result is the same); therefore, we must use Biblical discernment in order to recognize the error. It is such as these who will one day face Christ and say: “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” (Matthew 7:22), and the Lord will respond: “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23). They might proclaim to be followers of Christ, but they have never known Him.
Ecumenism is a movement whose focus is unity, not merely tolerance, and finds its expression through different denominations working together as one. For example, the Three Hills Ministerial Association (which includes Evangelical, Charismatic, Anglican, United, and Catholic Churches) “encourages cooperation and coordination of church activities in the area”;125 its contacts are listed as John Schaufele (Victory Church) and Norm Koop (Evangelical Free Church). Such an association demands a casual approach to Biblical doctrine and a willingness to ignore the truths of Scripture for the sake of unity. Although the profession of many who are involved in such programs may sound Biblical, their actions will reveal to those who are discerning that the Word of God is not their highest priority. Ecumenism, by its very nature, is a violation of God’s call for us to separate from evil (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1) and from error (Romans 16:17-18). Who is Ecumenical? Is it only the leadership? “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary [the Greek word is para and it means alongside of – their doctrine is not sharply contradictory to Scripture, it is only somewhat different] to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17).126 Everyone who attends and/or supports a group represented by the ministerial association is Ecumenical, otherwise they would separate from the error, as God requires; whether they are guilty through ignorance, apathy or enthusiasm, it matters little – we are to be discerning at all times, and so there is no excuse for anyone. If we desire to live Biblically, then we must never seek spiritual blessing from anyone who is guilty of Ecumenical involvement, whether through active participation or tolerance.
19. Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
Paul now goes on to identify four things that will attach themselves to these who, although they might appear to be Christians, are, in reality, the enemies of Christ.
The first is that their end is destruction (apoleia [ap-o’-li-a]); the final state of this person will be utter ruin, to which Vine adds this thought: “The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being.”127 Peter used this same Greek word to describe those for whom we must be on the alert: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable [apoleia] heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift [quick] destruction [apoleia]” (2 Peter 2:1).128 We might wonder about this last phrase, swift destruction. As we look about us today, we see the strong influence of the late Billy Graham and Robert Schuller, along with Rick Warren, Joel Osteen and countless others of like mind who continue to wield great influence within the Evangelical community, yet each has propagated heresy (expounded damnable heresies) for many years – the question is: where is their swift destruction? If these men at one time held a proper understanding of the truth of God, then their swift destruction is that they no longer have any hope: “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth [absolutely] no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain [only – a Greek word used to heighten and emphasize129] fearful [terrible] looking for [expectation] of judgment [condemnation] and fiery indignation ...” (Hebrews 10:26-27).130 For those who have been saved, and then turn away from the Lord and His Word (become apostate), their future is immediately secured – they are marked for utter ruin! Their judgment is immediate, even if it will not be carried out for some time; they may well continue to prosper in this life, but their eternal destiny has been irrevocably sealed. All men, without the Lord, are marked for destruction; however, those who have not known the way of truth may still have the opportunity to repent, believe and find salvation in Christ – there is still hope for them. Of those who might give the appearance of being Christians but who are really the enemies of Christ, Paul says that their end is destruction.
We then have the identification of the god of these enemies of Christ: “whose God is their belly.” As these have turned away from the Lord, perhaps one of the most obvious things would be that the Lord is no longer their God: you cannot depart from the God of the Bible (whether through disavowing Him entirely, or simply by giving no heed to His Word) and still hold Him as your God. This is not to say that you might not still profess Him to be your God, which is very evident in the lives of men like Billy Graham, Robert Schuller, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, et.al. – they all readily professed to have a relationship with God, yet their lives and teachings show their disdain for His Word. The Greek word translated as belly is used equally of the stomach and of the womb, but metaphorically (as used here) it speaks of the desires or appetites of an individual.131 To those who corrupted God’s glory (Romans 1:23), twisted His truth (Romans 1:25), and did not consider it worthwhile to hold God in true knowledge132 (Romans 1:28), we read that God “gave them up” to their own devices (Romans 1:24, 26, 28). Rejection by God is a serious matter, for He will relinquish you to that on which you have set your mind. Judah felt the sting of God’s rejection (Jeremiah 11:6-11), and it has been recorded for our learning. This is significant in light of what is happening within Evangelicalism today. Although most Evangelicals might not yet accept an idol as being a depiction of the god whom they serve, they have excelled at skewing the truth of God’s Word to their own advantage. The whole departure into Ecumenism comes only through an abandonment of the truth of the Scriptures; as they skew the message of the Word of God, they distort the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, for He IS the Word of God (Revelation 19:13). Here we have the answer as to why those who study the Word of God for a living can still hold to aberrant teachings; a classic example is Billy Graham who spent most of his life preaching from the Bible, yet he believed that some will be in heaven even though they have never heard of Jesus Christ (contrary to John 14:6 and Acts 4:12). The fact of the matter is that, because he refused to obey the commands of God, God gave him over to his own theological desires, and the truth was hidden from him; the passions of such men have become their god, and so spiritual blindness has become their lot: “seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive” (Matthew 13:14). To the Pharisees and the Evangelicals Jesus says: “If ye were blind, ye should have no sin [you would see your need and repent]: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth” (John 9:41); there is no salvation in self-righteousness.
The glory of these enemies of the cross is in their shame. In Romans one, Paul spoke of those who knew God but departed to do their own thing (1:21-22), and so God gave them up to follow their corrupt hearts and do those things which ought not to be done (the meaning of the word convenient in Romans 1:28).133 Of these we read: “Who knowing the judgment [or righteousness] of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in [applaud] them that do them” (Romans 1:32)134; they know that God is righteous and just, and to depart from His commandments is death, yet they continue to do those things that are contrary to God’s commands, and rejoice in those who join them. The most prolific example of this has to be Ecumenism. Evangelicals might well recognize that disobedience to God’s commands is death, yet, in their spiritual blindness, they continue to embrace the workers of iniquity, taking great pride and joy in their broad fellowship, and showing contempt for anyone who would seek to separate from such error. What should be a matter of disgrace for them has become that which brings them cause for much rejoicing; they glory in their shame.
The fourth thing that attaches itself to these enemies of the cross, is that they mind earthly things. In other words, they are preoccupied with the here and now; their focus is earthly, rather than heavenly. Jesus said: “... whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26); what Jesus says that we must forsake, these enemies of the cross embrace. We are to be looking unto Jesus (Hebrews 12:2); the Greek word translated as looking means to give “attention to one thing to the exclusion of all else.”135 Jesus is to be our focus; we are to strive toward the holy calling that we have in Him, relinquishing everything that might hinder us in this pursuit. Those who are described here, no matter how spiritual their speech might sound, will not have this holy calling in view. Rick Warren is in pursuit of peace on earth, and he will join with anyone, whether he is Catholic, Muslim, or Buddhist, in order to accomplish this earthly task. Such men seek to hasten Christ’s return by establishing His kingdom on earth; instead, they are hastening Christ’s return by spreading heresy far and wide through their careless departure from God’s truth. Instead of building His kingdom, they are sowing the seeds of apostasy and spiritual ruin.
The enemies of the cross of Christ face confirmed destruction, they are overcome with their self-directed passions, they rejoice in that which is disgraceful, and they are obsessed with this life. This stands in stark contrast to what Paul has just outlined for the Philippians: relinquish all the seeming benefits of life and single-mindedly seek to be found in Christ, striving to reach unto the holy calling that we have in Him.
20. For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
As we have studied Scripture, we have come to expect that the word conversation speaks of our manner of living. In most cases, we would be correct; however, the Greek word used here is unique in the NT and refers to the place of our citizenship, or our homeland.136 Paul is asking the Philippians (and us) to imitate him by letting go of what is past (all of our earthly benefits) and straining forward to what awaits us in Christ Jesus, because our home is in heaven (this is the goal that we have as we press forward in Christ – Philippians 3:14). Heaven is the dwelling place of God; the model prayer that Jesus gave begins: “Our Father which art in heaven …” (Matthew 6:9). If we are in Christ, then we are seen as citizens of heaven, ready to abide in the presence of God. When the disciples returned from one of their mission trips for the Lord, they rejoiced that they had experienced power over evil spirits, but Jesus said: “... rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). As we come to abide in Christ, our names are entered into the book of citizenship in heaven. However, we must not become lax in knowing what Christ has done for us, for just as certainly as we read of our names being written in heaven, we also read of names being blotted out of the book. When Moses pled with God on behalf of sinful Israel, he begged for God to forgive the people and said that if He would not forgive them, then he desired to have his name removed from God’s book. However, God’s response was: “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot [to wipe] out of my book” (Exodus 32:33).137 To the messenger of the ekklesia at Sardis, Jesus said: “He that overcometh [to conquer – present tense], the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out [to obliterate, erase] his name out of the book of life ...” (Revelation 3:5).138 We are to rejoice that our names are written in heaven, but we must also “Take heed ... lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).
To the twelve, Jesus said that He was going away to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house, and that He would return to take them there (John 14:1-3). Peter wrote of this: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible [cannot be destroyed], and undefiled [without stain, unpolluted], and that fadeth not away [will not waste away], reserved [to keep, to attend to carefully – tereo (tay-reh’-o); perfect tense] in heaven for you, Who are kept [guarded] by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).139 If we would see this marvelous inheritance that God has prepared for us, then we must “keep (tereo – attend to carefully; present tense) his [God’s] commandments (1 John 2:3).140 Notice that we are to continually (tereo – keep, present tense) give the same attention to our obedience of God’s commandments as He has given (tereo – reserved, perfect tense) to our inheritance with Him. We are called to persevere (Hebrews 3:14); it is not sufficient to begin well – we must also complete that which we have begun with Christ.
The Lord was very explicit with Ezekiel concerning this: “But when the righteous turneth away [apostatizes] from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned [remembered]: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die” (Ezekiel 18:24).141 Evangelicals might well be unwilling to hear the “thus saith the Lord” of God’s Word, but it is there nonetheless. Ezekiel bore a message from the Lord for Israel, yet here are the Lord’s words to him: “... I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. And they, whether they will hear [obey], or whether they will forbear [to leave undone], (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them” (Ezekiel 2:4b-5).142 Nothing has changed: Israel ignored God’s message through the prophet, and Evangelicals ignore God’s message to us, the Bible; the results in both cases are the same – God’s displeasure. When God admonishes us to persevere in our obedience of His commandments, as given in His Word, we would do well to study the Scriptures so that we know what He desires of us. Our citizenship in heaven is not retained through praying a prayer once, but through donning the new man who is created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:24), through the careful protection of our Shepherd from any outside attack (John 10:27-28), through the intercession of the Lord and the Spirit to God the Father on our behalf (Romans 8:26, 34), and through a life lived in obedience to God (1 John 2:3-5). God has created us in Christ Jesus to live in a particular manner (Ephesians 2:10) that is in keeping with our heavenly citizenship.
When Jesus ascended to the Father, the angels declared: “... this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11b). Here, Paul says that we eagerly await (look for) the coming of the Lord Jesus from heaven.143 The return of the Lord is seen as the culmination of our salvation. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [living] and remain [surviving] shall be caught up [to seize] together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).144 Consider this passage for a moment. Unlike what is typically depicted within Evangelicalism, the coming of the Lord will not be a silent event where people simply vanish. There will be a shout, or a command, from heaven, the voice of the chief angel will be heard, and the trump, or trumpet, of God will be sounded – that is not silence!145 To the Corinthians Paul wrote: “In a moment [something too small to be cut, hence the smallest measure of time], in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible [not subject to decay], and we shall be changed [transformed]” (1 Corinthians 15:52).146 The Lord’s coming will be neither quiet nor instantaneous, it is our transformation that will take place in an indivisible amount of time; everyone on earth will know what is taking place, and they will mourn (Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7). This is the bodily resurrection of those who are in Christ; we will be raised incorruptible, no longer subject to aging and death. This can only refer to our bodies, for our souls are not subject to the ravages of this life. To the repentant thief on the cross Jesus said: “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Both Jesus and the thief died that day; Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb, and the thief would likewise have been buried. Along with the bodily resurrection of those who are in Christ, will come an eternity with Him – “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Now we are looking for the coming of our Savior in the clouds of the air; He will be coming from the place where our citizenship is held.
21. Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Jesus will come and transform (change) our body of humiliation (vile); the word vile has a much more deplorable meaning today than 400 years ago.
When God created the animals of the earth on the sixth day, we read that He “made the beast of the earth” (Genesis 1:25); when He contemplated making man, He said: “Let us make man in our image …” (Genesis 1:26). The two words made and make are different forms of the same word in Hebrew, and so there is a similarity between how the animals were created and how God created man. However, there is also a difference, and God provides us with a further explanation of how He created man. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7); in creating man, God formed him and breathed life into him. With all of the other living creatures, God simply spoke, and they were formed and had life; man was unique – the creation of both Adam and Eve came through the personal touch of the Creator. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). Mankind bears the image of God, even in our sinful state (James 3:9).
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly [through and through]; and I pray God your whole [sound in every part] spirit (pneuma) and soul (psuche) and body (soma) be preserved [singular] blameless unto [in] the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).147 What is obvious from this verse is that there are at least three parts to man – spirit, soul and body (pneuma, psuche, soma); however, that’s where such simplicity ends. The Greek words translated as spirit and soul are often used to refer to the whole person (in Hebrew as well), thus making it more difficult for us to distinguish between the two. The word heart is also used to refer to the inner workings of man, although typically leaning more to the seat of the will than to the emotions and passions. How these all function together is a mystery known only to God (Hebrews 4:12). However, we must not overlook the fact that our body is included in the listing of what will be completely sound, and what will be carefully attended to (preserved) when we are with the Lord Jesus. Jesus told His disciples: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). This clarifies that the body and the soul are separate; the body can be killed, the soul cannot. It also shows that the body and soul can be destroyed (ruined, not killed) together in hell; this is not annihilation, but a ruin that leaves the soul and body identifiable despite being destroyed.148 What becomes evident is that our bodies are not just for this life, but, if we die, they will be resurrected – for the righteous, when Jesus returns; for the unrighteous, to stand before God to be judged according to their works (Revelation 20:12-15).
Paul refers to a transformation of our body of humiliation. When God created Adam and Eve, they were pronounced good (Genesis 1:31), but sin entered the world and death by sin (Romans 5:12). “For the creature [or creation] was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:20-23). The consequences of sin fell upon all of creation; although man immediately died spiritually, he, along with all of the rest of creation, began to feel the ravages of aging, sickness and death (the physical consequences of sin). Paul speaks here of the redemption, or deliverance, of our body from this influence – that day when “this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53). That is the day when Jesus will transform (change) our humbled (vile) body into a glorious one, and we shall be like Him for we will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).
This marvelous transformation is possible based on Jesus being powerful to bring all things under His control. When Jesus met with His disciples just prior to His ascension, He stated: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18); God the Father gave Jesus Christ complete authority over everything in heaven and on earth. This is confirmation that the power of Satan has been broken by the Lord Jesus Christ, and His victory forms the basis for His command to teach everyone to do what God has commanded (Matthew 28:20). However, in the wisdom of God, Satan is permitted to tempt and to test those who profess to follow Christ so that they might be strengthened and come forth as gold (Job 23:10). “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised [trained or exercise self-control] thereby” (Hebrews 12:11).149 To those who will be trained by God’s discipline, His righteousness will be our reward; His discipline is involved with putting on the new man, who is created in “righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Paul testified that “... there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger [an angel] of Satan to buffet [afflict or cause difficulty] me, lest I should be exalted above measure” (2 Corinthians 12:7).150 If we step back and look at this from a broader perspective than our own situation in the midst of a trial, we can see that God is using Satan to strengthen and to mold us; however, we must be willing to be trained through this discipline. If we fight against God’s working in us, then we are in rebellion against what He desires to accomplish in us; Paul prayed three times to have the angel of Satan removed from his life, yet submitted to the discipline of the Lord, rather than insisting upon freedom from this trial. We must recognize that our chastening is controlled by God Who knows our frame (Psalm 103:14); His desire is for our sanctification, that we might live in holiness before Him today, and that we might be ready to meet the Lord Jesus Christ when He returns to transform us into His image.
END NOTES:
1 Brown, Driver, Briggs Lexicon, Bibleworks 8; Strong’s Online.
2 Strong’s Online.
3 Ibid.
4 http://www.inplainsite.org/html/rick_warren_new_age.html#RW-Murdoch
5 Strong’s Online.
6 “Sex Brings Christians Closer to God,” The Vancouver Sun, July 26, 2008, http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/columnists/story.html?id=c8cd77ac-b993-4bbb-963d-7cb4dc07e5de
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Strong’s Online.
10 Friberg Lexicon.
11 Strong’s Online.
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17 Strong’s Online (from Hebrew root).
18 Friberg Lexicon.
19 Strong’s Online.
20 Friberg Lexicon.
21 For an in-depth study of Galatians see: http://www.thenarrowtruth.com/galatians.html.
22 Friberg Lexicon.
23 Strong’s Online.
24 Friberg Lexicon.
25 Ibid.
26 Strong’s Online.
27 Stephanus 1550 NT.
28 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon.
29 Ibid.
30 Friberg Lexicon.
31 Vine’s “endure.”
32 Friberg Lexicon.
33 Ibid.
34 Strong’s Online; Friberg Lexicon.
35 Vine’s “beset.”
36 https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/subj-purpose.htm.
37 Ibid.
38 Strong’s Online; https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/subj-negation.htm.
39 BDB.
40 Stephanus 1550 NT.
41 Strong’s Online.
42 Friberg Lexicon.
43 Strong’s Online.
44 Stephanus 1550 NT.
45 Friberg Lexicon.
46 Strong’s Online.
47 Ibid.
48 Ibid.
49 This is used metaphorically only; the Ecumenical movement, per se, has no flag.
50 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Vatican_City
51 Strong’s Online.
52 Ernest Pickering, Biblical Separation, p. 165.
53 Strong’s Online.
54 Harold Ockenga, Foreword to Harold Lindsell’s The Battle for the Bible.
55 Charles Woodbridge, The New Evangelicalism, p. 14.
56 George M. Marsden, Reforming Fundamentalism, p. 65.
57 Paul Nussbaum, The Philadephia Inquirer, January 8, 2006, “The Purpose-Driven Pastor.”
58 Friberg Lexicon.
59 Strong’s Online.
60 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Council_of_Churches
61 http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/841.html
62 Strong’s Online.
63 Friberg Lexicon.
64 Ibid.
65 Strong’s Online.
66 Ibid.
67 Hank Hanegraaff , “Three Days and Three Nights,” Statement CP1402. http://www.equip.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=muI1LaMNJrE&b=4126497&content_id=%7B10478DBB-A024-42B1-9CAC-741D7B50DCB9%7D¬oc=1
68 Encarta Dictionary, “evangelical.”
69 Strong’s Online.
70 I deal with this in greater detail in The Realities of Easter; http://www.thenarrowtruth.com/realities-of-easter.html
71 Strong’s Online.
72 Ibid.
73 Ibid.
74 This is the title of an article written by David Nettleton and published in The Baptist Bulletin, December 1955.
75 Strong’s Online.
76 Ibid.
77 Friberg Lexicon.
78 Ibid.
79 Stephanus 1550 NT.
80 This was the response that I received when I directed my questions regarding David Cloud’s “Biblical” support for church membership to his “pastor” (since Cloud refused to give consideration to my evaluation of his position). Notice that he says that he believes the Baptist traditions are Biblical – which could mean that he has tested each one according to Scripture and confirmed them, or (and much more likely) that he has taken by faith that the Baptist traditions are Biblical.
81 Strong’s Online.
82 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon.
83 Ibid.
84 Strong’s Online.
85 Vine’s “obtain.”
86 Strong’s Online; http://christswords.com/main/content/ou-me.
87 Strong’s Online.
88 Strong’s Online; https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/verbs1.htm#AORIST.
89 Vine’s “look.”
90 Friberg Lexicon.
91 Strong’s Online.
92 Ibid.
93 Friberg Lexicon.
94 Mt. Olive Evangelical Free Church bulletin, September 24, 2000.
95 Friberg Lexicon.
96 Strong’s Online.
97 Ibid.
98 Ibid.
99 http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0043.html
100 I am convinced that if you sincerely desire to walk according to the Word of God, and express what that means within the context of the traditional church, you will be shown to the door or ostracized. Most churches are governed by a constitution that is shaped by tradition more than by the Scriptures; they might well use Biblical references to support their doctrine, but they are selective in their choices and traditional in their application.
101 Stephanus 1550 NT.
102 Friberg Lexicon.
103 Ibid.
104 Strong’s Online.
105 Ibid.
106 Ibid.
107 Ibid.
108 Dictionary.com, “apostasy.”
109 John MacArthur, The Truth War, p. 43.
110 Ibid.
111 Ibid.
112 Friberg Lexicon
113 Strong’s Online; https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/subj-negation.htm.
114 Strong’s Online.
115 The Bishop’s Bible shows this as folowers, so the KJV translators may have just followed this lead (ESword).
116 Friberg Lexicon.
117 Strong’s Online.
118 Ibid.
119 Ibid.
120 Ibid.
121 Keil & Delitzch Commentary, ESword; Strong’s Online.
122 Strong’s Online.
123 Vine’s “divination.”
124 Vine’s “weeping.”
125 Kneehill Services Directory 2012, p. 18.
126 Strong’s Online.
127 Vine’s “destruction.”
128 Strong’s Online.
129 Friberg Lexicon.
130 Strong’s Online.
131 Friberg Lexicon.
132 Ibid.
133 Ibid.
134 Strong’s Online.
135 Friberg Lexicon.
136 Ibid.
137 Strong’s Online.
138 Ibid.
139 Ibid.
140 Ibid.
141 Ibid.
142 Ibid.
143 Friberg Lexicon.
144 Strong’s Online.
145 Ibid.
146 Friberg Lexicon.
147 Vine’s “wholly,” “entire,” “preserve”; Strong’s Online.
148 Vine’s “destroy”; Robertson’s Word Pictures, Matthew 10:28.
149 Friberg Lexicon.
150 Ibid.
1 Brown, Driver, Briggs Lexicon, Bibleworks 8; Strong’s Online.
2 Strong’s Online.
3 Ibid.
4 http://www.inplainsite.org/html/rick_warren_new_age.html#RW-Murdoch
5 Strong’s Online.
6 “Sex Brings Christians Closer to God,” The Vancouver Sun, July 26, 2008, http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/columnists/story.html?id=c8cd77ac-b993-4bbb-963d-7cb4dc07e5de
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Strong’s Online.
10 Friberg Lexicon.
11 Strong’s Online.
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17 Strong’s Online (from Hebrew root).
18 Friberg Lexicon.
19 Strong’s Online.
20 Friberg Lexicon.
21 For an in-depth study of Galatians see: http://www.thenarrowtruth.com/galatians.html.
22 Friberg Lexicon.
23 Strong’s Online.
24 Friberg Lexicon.
25 Ibid.
26 Strong’s Online.
27 Stephanus 1550 NT.
28 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon.
29 Ibid.
30 Friberg Lexicon.
31 Vine’s “endure.”
32 Friberg Lexicon.
33 Ibid.
34 Strong’s Online; Friberg Lexicon.
35 Vine’s “beset.”
36 https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/subj-purpose.htm.
37 Ibid.
38 Strong’s Online; https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/subj-negation.htm.
39 BDB.
40 Stephanus 1550 NT.
41 Strong’s Online.
42 Friberg Lexicon.
43 Strong’s Online.
44 Stephanus 1550 NT.
45 Friberg Lexicon.
46 Strong’s Online.
47 Ibid.
48 Ibid.
49 This is used metaphorically only; the Ecumenical movement, per se, has no flag.
50 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Vatican_City
51 Strong’s Online.
52 Ernest Pickering, Biblical Separation, p. 165.
53 Strong’s Online.
54 Harold Ockenga, Foreword to Harold Lindsell’s The Battle for the Bible.
55 Charles Woodbridge, The New Evangelicalism, p. 14.
56 George M. Marsden, Reforming Fundamentalism, p. 65.
57 Paul Nussbaum, The Philadephia Inquirer, January 8, 2006, “The Purpose-Driven Pastor.”
58 Friberg Lexicon.
59 Strong’s Online.
60 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Council_of_Churches
61 http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/841.html
62 Strong’s Online.
63 Friberg Lexicon.
64 Ibid.
65 Strong’s Online.
66 Ibid.
67 Hank Hanegraaff , “Three Days and Three Nights,” Statement CP1402. http://www.equip.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=muI1LaMNJrE&b=4126497&content_id=%7B10478DBB-A024-42B1-9CAC-741D7B50DCB9%7D¬oc=1
68 Encarta Dictionary, “evangelical.”
69 Strong’s Online.
70 I deal with this in greater detail in The Realities of Easter; http://www.thenarrowtruth.com/realities-of-easter.html
71 Strong’s Online.
72 Ibid.
73 Ibid.
74 This is the title of an article written by David Nettleton and published in The Baptist Bulletin, December 1955.
75 Strong’s Online.
76 Ibid.
77 Friberg Lexicon.
78 Ibid.
79 Stephanus 1550 NT.
80 This was the response that I received when I directed my questions regarding David Cloud’s “Biblical” support for church membership to his “pastor” (since Cloud refused to give consideration to my evaluation of his position). Notice that he says that he believes the Baptist traditions are Biblical – which could mean that he has tested each one according to Scripture and confirmed them, or (and much more likely) that he has taken by faith that the Baptist traditions are Biblical.
81 Strong’s Online.
82 Stephanus 1550 NT; Friberg Lexicon.
83 Ibid.
84 Strong’s Online.
85 Vine’s “obtain.”
86 Strong’s Online; http://christswords.com/main/content/ou-me.
87 Strong’s Online.
88 Strong’s Online; https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/verbs1.htm#AORIST.
89 Vine’s “look.”
90 Friberg Lexicon.
91 Strong’s Online.
92 Ibid.
93 Friberg Lexicon.
94 Mt. Olive Evangelical Free Church bulletin, September 24, 2000.
95 Friberg Lexicon.
96 Strong’s Online.
97 Ibid.
98 Ibid.
99 http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0043.html
100 I am convinced that if you sincerely desire to walk according to the Word of God, and express what that means within the context of the traditional church, you will be shown to the door or ostracized. Most churches are governed by a constitution that is shaped by tradition more than by the Scriptures; they might well use Biblical references to support their doctrine, but they are selective in their choices and traditional in their application.
101 Stephanus 1550 NT.
102 Friberg Lexicon.
103 Ibid.
104 Strong’s Online.
105 Ibid.
106 Ibid.
107 Ibid.
108 Dictionary.com, “apostasy.”
109 John MacArthur, The Truth War, p. 43.
110 Ibid.
111 Ibid.
112 Friberg Lexicon
113 Strong’s Online; https://www.ntgreek.org/learn_nt_greek/subj-negation.htm.
114 Strong’s Online.
115 The Bishop’s Bible shows this as folowers, so the KJV translators may have just followed this lead (ESword).
116 Friberg Lexicon.
117 Strong’s Online.
118 Ibid.
119 Ibid.
120 Ibid.
121 Keil & Delitzch Commentary, ESword; Strong’s Online.
122 Strong’s Online.
123 Vine’s “divination.”
124 Vine’s “weeping.”
125 Kneehill Services Directory 2012, p. 18.
126 Strong’s Online.
127 Vine’s “destruction.”
128 Strong’s Online.
129 Friberg Lexicon.
130 Strong’s Online.
131 Friberg Lexicon.
132 Ibid.
133 Ibid.
134 Strong’s Online.
135 Friberg Lexicon.
136 Ibid.
137 Strong’s Online.
138 Ibid.
139 Ibid.
140 Ibid.
141 Ibid.
142 Ibid.
143 Friberg Lexicon.
144 Strong’s Online.
145 Ibid.
146 Friberg Lexicon.
147 Vine’s “wholly,” “entire,” “preserve”; Strong’s Online.
148 Vine’s “destroy”; Robertson’s Word Pictures, Matthew 10:28.
149 Friberg Lexicon.
150 Ibid.