May 5 - Philippians 3:3-6
“For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.”
We are all fully aware that at the moment Paul met Jesus face to face, everything became radically different in his life. He set aside all earthly … fleshly things on that day and set his sights on the One man who would change the world.
But, the people in Philippi were just as we are now … still so concerned with those things that we believe define us. Our status, our position, our homes, our cars, our jobs, our children, our parents, our power, our work in the church, who we know, where we have vacationed. We drop names and hints of our prosperity … unless of course, our poverty will gain us more status.
That’s not what Paul is doing here. He is reminding the Philippians that he had a lot to set aside. There was a lot of expectation for Paul’s life and all of that dropped away when he met the Lord.
I was a perfect Hebrew man, highly educated, raised correctly. He moved into the Pharisee’s council, he believed fully in the cause of the Jews and knew the Law as well as anyone. He would be able to stand with pride before any gathering of Jews knowing that he was as straightforward and upstanding as any.
When he talks about putting no confidence in the flesh … in the things of this world that we believe define us … he knows what he is talking about. He has a lot of reasons to put confidence in the flesh … it defined him and defined him well for many years.
The glory of Christ Jesus defines him now. None of the rest of that matters. Paul walks among Gentiles, teaching and living with them, loving them with no reservation. He does this because of Jesus, not because of who or what he knows, where he works and what his associations are. This is a real call to us to proclaim who or what defines us.
“For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.”
We are all fully aware that at the moment Paul met Jesus face to face, everything became radically different in his life. He set aside all earthly … fleshly things on that day and set his sights on the One man who would change the world.
But, the people in Philippi were just as we are now … still so concerned with those things that we believe define us. Our status, our position, our homes, our cars, our jobs, our children, our parents, our power, our work in the church, who we know, where we have vacationed. We drop names and hints of our prosperity … unless of course, our poverty will gain us more status.
That’s not what Paul is doing here. He is reminding the Philippians that he had a lot to set aside. There was a lot of expectation for Paul’s life and all of that dropped away when he met the Lord.
I was a perfect Hebrew man, highly educated, raised correctly. He moved into the Pharisee’s council, he believed fully in the cause of the Jews and knew the Law as well as anyone. He would be able to stand with pride before any gathering of Jews knowing that he was as straightforward and upstanding as any.
When he talks about putting no confidence in the flesh … in the things of this world that we believe define us … he knows what he is talking about. He has a lot of reasons to put confidence in the flesh … it defined him and defined him well for many years.
The glory of Christ Jesus defines him now. None of the rest of that matters. Paul walks among Gentiles, teaching and living with them, loving them with no reservation. He does this because of Jesus, not because of who or what he knows, where he works and what his associations are. This is a real call to us to proclaim who or what defines us.
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