July
July 1
Chapter 3, Verse 1, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.”
Finally is obviously not a term of summation here but rather a change of direction. He was simply transitioning from talking about his two friends to emphasizing another important idea. χαίρετε ἐν Κυρίῳ, chairete en Kyriō, “rejoice in the Lord,” may be roughly equivalent to Old Testament hallelujah. Paul liked to take about rejoicing, 10 times in Philippians, and over 20 times altogether in his writing. In spite of all his troubles, Paul realized fully he had a lot to rejoice about. He wanted to communicate the importance of an attitude of “leaning in toward gladness” to everyone he knew. I can think of not better way to communicate my joyful heart in Christ than to rejoice out loud for all the world to hear.
July 2
Chapter 3, Verse 1, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.“
Paul, being a big proponent of the idea of rejoicing, wrote that it was “no trouble” for him to encourage the church to think in those terms. What did that mean? ὀκνηρόν, oknēron, “troublesome,” with the negative οὐκ, ouk, “(is) not,” just meant that he had no reluctance to make the recommendation. It was another way of saying, “I really encourage you . . .to rejoice!” Paul used such plays on words regularly. He added to the encouragement by writing that for his readers, rejoicing was ἀσφαλές, asphales, “safe.” The idea was that with full confidence his exhortation was reliable and trustworthy. He knew the people would enjoy the result of having a mindset of rejoicing–period!
July 3
Chapter 3, Verse 2, “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evil doers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.”
Βλέπετε, blepete, “beware of,” carries with it several levels of meaning. As translated in the ESV, it means “be on the lookout.” Literally, put your eyes on a situation so you can see what is actually happening rather than depend on the report of someone. Add to that the idea of seeing something physical that has a spiritual result. The, there is the idea of perception using all the physical sense to gain an even better understanding of what is going on. And finally, see with the mind’s eye, which can mean to observe mentally, or in the case of a believer, to discern spiritually which is, of course, the most important.
July 4
Chapter 3, Verse 2, “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evil doers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.”
Βλέπετε τοὺς κύνας, blepete tous kynas, “beware (of) the dogs,” in the East, dogs were almost universally despised, especially those that scavanged. Metaphorically, this represented a person with an impure mind, like the Sodomites in Abraham’s time (Genesis 19). Figuratively, and likely what was meant by Paul, it means a spiritual predator who feeds off of others. These come in two stripes: the ones who come in the name of God begging because the are without and know little or nothing about God and, those who know plenty about God but not as Savior and Lord–they seek to confuse and/or sew discord in the church. Simply put, the are troublemakers of the worst kind. Don’t just avoid them, expel them.
July 5
Chapter 3, Verse 2, “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evil doers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.”
βλέπετε τοὺς κακοὺς ἐργάτας, Blepete tous kakous ergatas, “beware the evil workers;” there are different types of workers, those who work hard at their jobs, those who do what they have to do, those that do just enough to keep their job, and those who don’t do anything and somehow manage to hold on. Who is the worst? In the case of evil doers, it is the first group. They intentionally involve themselves in purposeful destruction. The word kakous, from kakia, means inner malice or inwardly foul emanating from a morally rotten character. This wicked way of thinking is clearly counter to a godly mindset/character and leads to quarrels, gossip, lies, and worse, to things like murder, especially of the unborn. These people are calculated in their advanced planning to do harm.
July 6
Chapter 3, Verse 2, “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evil doers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.”
βλέπετε τὴν κατατομήν, Blepete tēn katatomēn, “beware (of) the false circumcision,” like the dogs and evil doers already referenced, the mutilators Paul is talking about are Jews, judaizers to be precise, who insisted on imposing the Mosaic Law on Christian believers. In this case, they insisted that all gentiles undergo circumcision or risk not being saved. They were no different than various religious sects today. Anyone who adds anything to the gospel, i.e., faith in Jesus because of his death, burial , and resurrection, is a false teacher. Further, a legalistic approach to doing church pollutes the intent of Paul and the New Testament. Adding to what the New Testament clearly teaches about church hurts the church of Christ.
July 7
Chapter 3, Verse 3, “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”
περιτομή, peritomē, “circumcision;” After God made his covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15), he added a sign to the covenant (Genesis 17), that required all males to be circumcised, indicating they were physically part of the covenant people. Then, for centuries, removal of the foreskin was a hallmark of being God’s people. In verse 2, Paul teaches that the judaizers are people without faith, depending on works of law, including circumcision, to be part of God’s family. Paul states, to the contrary, that works cannot bring a person into relationship with God. Rather, the true members of God’s family are included only by faith in the finished work of Christ on the Cross.
July 8
Chapter 3, Verse 3, con’t, “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”
οἱ Πνεύματι Θεοῦλατρεύοντες, hoi Pneumati Theou latreuontes, “those in the Spirit of God worshipping;” worship is an elusive subject when you begin searching for an adequate definition. The root word, latris, means a hired servant. In the bible, the most basic meaning is “to serve.” The root meaning generally expressed that someone rendered technical assistance or, acceptable service, because they were specifically qualified or equipped. As I better understand what the word meant, and how it is used here, I realize that I cannot worship or serve God without the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Without him, so-called worship is just noise. With him, the overwhelming presence of God is experienced, felt, and expressed in a myriad of ways from quiet contemplation to exhuberance in music and movement.
July 9
Chapter 3, Verse 3, con’t, “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”
καυχώμενοι ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, kauchōmenoi en Christō Iēsou, “glorying in Christ Jesus.” The root καυχάομαι, kauchaomai, means living with your head up high, boasting, exulting proudly. It is a sort of bragging, something most of us like do to at some time or another. Myself, I like to brag about certain accomplishments. Unfortunately, most of that bragging is completely self-centered. Paul is talking about something that is totally brag-worthy. “In Christ,” he wrote in Colossians 1:27, Paul said, “To them (saints) God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” So, I glory or brag about God in Jesus because I know clearly all he has done for me and I know that someday I will glory in his presence.
July 10
Chapter 3, Verse 3, con’t, “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.“
πεποιθότες, pepoithotes, “having put confidence,” with οὐκ ἐν, “not in;” I find myself having confidence in a lot of things/people. Some of my confidence has come into question lately and it is never about things; it is always about people. When I sat to write this morning, I was confident my chair would hold me up. I’ve found that to be true by using it over and over, making it trustworthy. The people who made it apparently knew what they were doing. That tells me daily experience plays a big part in confidence. Maybe that is why I have lost confidence in government and religious organizations. They either just outright lie or bureaucracy has made them top-heavy and useless. I am glad God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
July 11
Chapter 3, Verse 3, con’t, “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.“
ἐν σαρκὶ, en sarki, “in (the) flesh;” The flesh is not necessarily or always evil, but it does have the natural penchant towards doing wrong. Why? Simple, sin. Sin, that has been passed down since Adam, causes us to be deaf to the voice of God. Even as believers, with all the junk we experience in the world, our spiritual ears sometimes get “sin wax” in them and God’s voice is muffled by the world’s onslaught. This co-called carnality is the part(s) of us that have not been transformed by God. Since we carry this flesh until we die, it will always have the propensity to act against God’s will. That is why Paul said we cannot have confidence in it.
July 12
Chapter 3, Verse 4, “though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he had reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more”
It seems clear to me that Paul is sounding a very serious alarm in this verse. A continuation of verse three, Paul now points out that his life shows ample evidence, reason, for putting confidence in the flesh. And, apparently, harkening again back to verse three, he has wrongfully done so far too often. It seems that he is referring almost exclusively to his life before he met Christ on the road to Emmaus because their is no evidence that he continued to live in the ungodly and murderous way that he did previously. To the contrary, all we know about Paul shows that when a person is truly saved by the grace of God, their life radically changes and their focus moves from self to service–serving God through serving the lives of others.
July 13
Chapter 3, Verse 4, con’t, “though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he had reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more“
This phrase jumped of the page this morning and I decided to chase a rabbit totally out of context. For Paul, this is a lament. It made me think about something else, greed. Jesus taught us about giving and doing it sacrificially, to help those in need, especially those at church. And he told us to do it in humility, not bragging. In the world today, it is just the opposite. The uber-rich, especially athletes, flaunt their wealth at every opportunity. I am thankful for the ones who actually share–they are the minority. What strikes me as even more sad, though, are churches and pastors who do the exact same thing. They use charisma to capture an audience with lies and then flaunt their own personal wealth at the expense of those in need. I suppose it is really not off point since that type of person is showing how much they trust themselves instead of God.
July 14
Chapter 3, Verse 5, “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee.”
His first point is circumcision; for him and all other Jewish men, the outward sign of inclusion in Israel. God made the original covenant for future Israel with Abraham in Genesis 15. He followed that with the sign of the covenant, circumcision, in Genesis 17. Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. Every new born son from that time forward was cut on the 8th day of life. Hence, Paul’s claim to national identity. Why was it only for me? The obvious answer is women can’t be circumcised. The real answer is that the burden of leading a nation for God sits squarely on the shoulder of men. Even though the requirements of the old covenant were fulfilled in Christ at Calvary, the burden of leadership is still upon men. We should stand and lead even when it is hard to do.
July 15
Chapter 3, Verse 5, con’t, “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee.”
Here, Paul moves from his identity with Abraham to his identity with Jacob. Abraham’s son Isaac blessed Jacob over his elder brother, Esau (Genesis 27). The two sons did not speak for years. Jacob took two wives from Laban, Leah and Rachael. Jacob wrestled with God, was made lame, and met and was reunited with his brother (Genesis 33). Later, at Bethel (house of God), God changed Jacob’s name to Israel (God contends). During the previous years, Jacob had 12 sons: Rueben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun by Leah; Dan and Naphtali by Bildad; Gad and Asher by Zilphah; and Joseph and Benjamin by Rachael. A generation later, Joshua would the the 12 tribes of Israel across the Jordan river in to the promised land into what was and is the country of Israel. Paul was connected.
July 16
Chapter 3, Verse 5, “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee.”
Now, Paul goes “tribal.” The word tribe, as used here, is like the word clan, and is used to indicate a common ancestor from which a whole people group emanated. The Jews carefully traced their ancestry to prove their connection to Abraham. Several important Hebrew leaders came from Benjamin including Israel’s first king, Saul. The tribe ient with Judah in the south when Israel divided and survived until Babylon attacked around 585 BC. Included in their land assignment by Jacob was territory bordered on the east by the Jordan River and included the city of Jerusalem. So, even to Paul’s time, there was a connection to the seat of royal ancestry that as an Israeli, Paul could “crow” about.
July 17
Chapter 3, Verse 5, “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee.”
Here, Paul means a Hebrew “descended” from Hebrews, another connection to national heritage. In fact, the practicing Hebrew Jew, who kept, regardless of where he was born, the old form of their language, their colloquial education, and the various religious customs of their fathers, were held and held themselves to be better than the Greeks or anyone else for that matter. It was nothing more than ancient racism. And Paul knew that, in order to reach those who God had called him to, the very Greeks he had despised, he would be required to set that aside if he were to be effective. I cannot hep but wonder what else I need to set aside for the sake of the gospel.
July 18
Chapter 3, Verse 5, “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee.”
κατὰ νόμον Φαρισαῖος, kata nomon Pharasaios, “according to (the) law, a Pharisee.” Now Paul moves to his particular religious sect within Hebrew life. The Pharisees were separatists or priests in regard to religious teaching and observance. Their teaching was very legalistic and tied directly to outward image. They were extremely particular in their ceremonial washings, prayer, fasting, and giving of alms–and they always did these in public so as to be seen as pious. The result was little actual spiritual substance because of their misguided desire for attention and noteriety. The were not unlike most religious people in America today.
July 19
Chapter 3, Verse 6, “as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
When a word is spoken and the sound matches its meaning, it is said to be onomatopoeic. In Greek, the word for zeal, ζῆλος, zēlos, is such a word. The root of it, ζῆ, literally means, “hot enough to boil.” Hence, it is used metaphorically to mean “burning anger, or love, or zeal.” So Paul is using zeal in this application to mean ardor, enthusiasm, passion–in embracing, pursuing, and/or defending a religious position or idea. The problem with zeal is that many times people have a lot of it without any real knowledge of what the are passionate about (Proverbs 19:2). That is dangerous, especially when dealing with people about eternal issues.
July 20
Chapter 3, Verse 6, con’t, “as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
διώκων, diōkōn, “persecuting,” comes from διώκω, which means to aggressively chase as a hunter would pursue and catch his prey. Paul uses it here to describe running after another person. The result of his “captures” was often imprisonment and/or death. The Pharisees considered Christians as heathen and traitors. In the modern world, little has changed. in some places, Christianity is considered criminal while in others it is opposed because of morality. That seems to be the case generally in America. Those who are without faith believe we who do have faith want to force them to adhere to our standards. Wrong! We simply want them to understand their need of a savior. That changes everything.
July 21
Chapter 3, Verse 6, con’t, “as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
δικαιοσύνην, dikaiosynēn, is the regular New Testament term for righteousness which means “divine approval” or “approval from God” and comes from the root δίκη, dike’, “a judicial verdict.” Paul’s usage as a Jew would not merely hearken back to his understanding of צְדָקָה, tsideqah, the Hebrew word for righteous. In the Old Testament, righteousness was imputed by God through faith in YHWH (the tetragrammaton generally translated Jehovah or Adoni), just like it is in the New Testament through Jesus. Paul and his Pharisee cohorts, however, add all sorts of “layers” of rules that had to be met in order to be right before God. In essence, work was at the core of their system of faith just like many today in the church who hope their good works will outweigh the bad and get them into heaven. Sadly, it will not happen that way.
July 22
Chapter 3, Verse 6, con’t, “as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
“In the law,” in the Greek text, the idea is that Paul lived exactly according to the “Law.” What law is he talking about? The Ten Commandments? The Law as given in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy? The answer is yes, but not only that which was given by God in what we know as the Pentateuch. Over time, the Pharisees developed oral tradition that consisted of their theological arguments resulting in prevailing opinion that, to them, became equal with the actual biblical law. This resulted in too books, Mishnah and later Talmud, both given legal standing in religious circles for code of conduct. Eventually they were layered on top of biblical law. The problems was that all this was their opinions, rules upon rules, none or most of which people couldn’t keep up with much less adhere to. Churches face the same problem today. Faith versus practice. Rules control. Faith frees the mind to follow Jesus. We are certainly supposed to follow Jesus’ commands–but his, not those layered on top of the word by perverse men hiding behind the cloak of religion.
July 23
Chapter 3, Verse 6, con’t, “as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
γενόμενος ἄμεμπτος, genomenos amemptos, “having become faultless,” or properly, “not blame worthy,” –neither by commission or omission and hence above reproach because of becoming morally pure. OMG! Paul, and those of his sect actually believed that under the law, as they understood it, they, by and through their so-called works of righteousness, had somehow become morally pure. This is self-righteousness at its worst. Understanding his error, Paul also wrote, “None is righteous, no not one; no one understand, no ones seeks for God.” (Romans 3:10-11). Without Christ, there is no hope for righteousness and no escape from the penalty of sin which is eternal death and separation from God.
July 24
Chapter 3, Verse 7, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”
Ἀλλὰ ἅτινα ἦν μοι κέρδη, Alla atina ēn moi kerdē, “But whatever things were to me gain,” the translation more than slightly changes the focus and understanding of Paul’s intent. “Things” covers a lot of territory, much more than an inanimate object held in the hand–although our stuff can certainly get in the way of a relationship with God. Why? The more stuff we haave, the less likely we are to rely on God. People and ideas/beliefs can also get in our way. Non believers, especially celebrities, lead many astray. Probably worse is believing religious concepts that run contrary to the clear teaching of God’s word. Unfortunately, there are likely as many or more of these false teachings today than there were in Paul’s day.
July 25
Chapter 3, Verse 7, con’t, “But whatever was I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”
ἥγημαι . . . ζημίαν, hēgēmai . . . zēmian, I have esteemed . . . loss; this word “counted” has two distinct meanings. It was used about an official who leads, who carries important responsibility and there “casts a heavy vote” or, it means (as used here) a thought that takes first priority over others; since Paul was one of those figures in religious circles and he was caught up on the traditions and practices of his sect, believing that his actions based on his beliefs determined his right standing with God, he certainly had a lot of baggage to unload and severe religious consequences if he went in a different direction; that is what happens to all of us when we turn from our sinful ways and turn to Jesus: change.
July 26
Chapter 3, Verse 7, con’t, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”
Getting rid of things can sometimes bring a sense of relief, such as a garage sale. It is stuff you didn’t need anyway and there might even be a little profit involved. But what if it is something you did not want to lose, like dropping your car key in the ocean (I’ve done that). Immediately, a sense of paralysis overtakes you. What am I going to do now? The same thing can happen when you realize, as a Christian, that God is calling on you to give up (lose) something you may have held onto for a long time—like a bad personal habit or a long held belief that you discover is in error. But, still, you give it up to honor God. That is faith.
July 27
Chapter 3, Verse 7, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”
While I understand the use of the term “for the sake of,” in the ESV and others, it is not in the original text. διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν, dia ton Christon, is simply “because of Christ.” Adding words here seems totally unnecessary to me. Why? Because of Christ! Just like Paul, who realized his religious and national connections to be of less importance in his life than his relationship with Jesus, I too have found that nothing is to be compared to or considered as important as Jesus in my life. Why? Because of Christ. . his complete, voluntary, propitiatory sacrifice of his own life to redeem me from sin and give me, at his expense, eternal life in his presence. It is all because of Christ.
July 28
Chapter 3, Verse 8, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
“Indeed,” is a particle of emphasis for the word it is connected to. In this case, ἀλλὰ μὲν‿ οὖν‿ γε, kai; alla men ouv ge, kai; But therefore indeed, also; so Paul, in our vernacular would likely be saying, “You better doggone for sure believe what I just told you because. . .” He had just rehearsed all of the connections to his heritage and stated that all that was worthless in comparison to Jesus. Now, he makes it plain that anything else that was formerly more important to him than God–all of it had little, actually no value–when compared to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Indeed, this is true.
July 29
Chapter 3, Verse 8, con’t, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
This statement cannot be overemphasized when I consider my Christian life, especially when I view everything going on in the world and even in my own heart. While the emphasis is on the total picture, the way it is stated has an even more comprehensive meaning. In other words, while nothing compares to Jesus on the whole, nothing compare to Jesus when I consider each thing individually. So, nothing compares to nor should be considered as important as Jesus in my life; not my family, my friends, not anything I call mine, not even life itself. I must always be prepared to die if called upon for the sake of the Lord, even if it means doing so in a violet way.
July 30
Chapter 3, Verse 8, con’t, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Today, I am still thinking about this statement, “I count everything as loss.” What comes to mind is a song that came out the year I graduated from high school. The song is “Giving Up” by Donnie Hathaway. The line is “giving up is hard to do.” At least it is for me. Giving up on toxic relationships is hard if not seemingly impossible for some people. Giving up on eating stuff that is toxic to my health is–tough. Giving up on habits that corrupt my thinking are most difficult for me. Triggers that bring bad thoughts to mind catch me off guard and, before I know it, I am “shot in the head” again. I am willing to think God’s way, but my own mind sometimes gets in the way. I surrender, I think, but maybe not all. That is when I, when we, count everything as loss for Christ.
July 31
Chapter 3, Verse 8, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Surpassing worth here is only one word in Greek, ὑπερέχον, hyperechon, which means excelling. I am not quite sure, again, why English translators add words where they are not necessary. A few lesser used versions got this one right. At any rate, the word means to be superior, to excel, or to surpass, and sometimes to exercise prominence. To the point, Jesus does and is all these things in time and space and beyond both (Ephesians 4:1-10). Paul was communicating, as he often did, that nothing in the world or in the heavens compares to the supremacy of Jesus. We must look to him if we have any hope of figuring out this life we live.
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