Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Philippians 3

“Finally” seems to suggest that Paul is drawing his letter to a close. Inasmuch as over forty percent of the letter is yet to come, some assume that a combination of several letters makes up this letter and suggest that 3:1 is the conclusion of one of them. But Paul and other writers use this expression in a variety of ways. It is best to understand the meaning here in a nontechnical and natural way. A speaker may use the word “finally” as he passes the midpoint of an address, and will then continue on for a rather long time. This poses no real problem for the English listener, and even less for a Greek reader for whom the expression could also mean simply “furthermore” or “in addition” (cf. 1Th 4:l).

Paul’s exhortation to “rejoice in the Lord” should be understood as belonging with what follows. The readers are to maintain the joyful spirit that has characterized this letter thus far, even though Paul now goes on to speak of some unpleasant matters. He repeats some of his former instructions, but this is “no trouble” to him, for it has in view the worthy goal of safeguarding them from entrapment in wrong doctrine.

How specifically should “the same things” be understood? Surely it does not refer to the command to rejoice, for this would not have been thought to be a troublesome task or a safeguard against something dangerous. Because there has been no earlier warning against Judaizers in this letter, some have referred “the same things” to prior correspondence with the Philippians. This is certainly possible, though little evidence exists to support it. If, however, Paul meant the words to refer to previous warnings against opponents generally, then 1:27–30 would be an earlier instance in this letter.

The verses that follow warrant the identification of these opponents with the Judaizers—those who dogged the trail of the apostles and endeavored to compel Gentile converts to submit to circumcision and other Jewish practices in order to be saved. Three epithets designate them. (1) “Dogs” denotes the wild, vicious, homeless animals that roamed the streets and attacked passersby. Used figuratively, it was always a term of reproach (cf. Dt 23:18; 1 Samuel 17:43; 1 Samuel 24:14; Proverbs 26:11; Isaiah 56:10–11; Matthew 7:6). Paul castigates the Judaizing teachers with the very term they probably used of others. (2) “Men who do evil” is literally “the evil workers.” If the word workers is stressed, the epithet may emphasize their energetic labors and perhaps their concentration on performing deeds of law rather than trusting in God’s grace for salvation. (3) By “mutilators of the flesh,” Paul deliberately parodies the Judaizers’ insistence on circumcision by sarcastically calling it mutilation. For those who had lost the significance of circumcision and insisted on it as a rite for Christians, it was nothing more than a mutilation of the flesh.

Paul follows the above warning with an explanation. Christians are the real “circumcision,” not the Judaizers who insisted on the physical rite. He implies that they have received the circumcision of the heart (Colossians 2:11) —a concept already referred to in the OT (Leviticus 26:41; Leviticus 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4; Ezekiel 44:7). The Judaizers misunderstood OT doctrine as well as Christian teaching. Elsewhere Paul equates this circumcision performed without hands with the believer’s removal from spiritual death to spiritual life (Colossians 2:11, 13). Thus it is virtually synonymous with regeneration.

Just as Paul characterizes the Judaizing teachers by three terms in the previous verse, so here he explains the true circumcision by three descriptive clauses. (1) Such persons “worship by the Spirit of God,” not by human traditions or some external rite. (2) They “glory in Christ Jesus” (cf. Jeremiah 9:23–24; 1 Corinthians 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:17). Satisfaction comes from recognizing that their hope is found in Christ alone, not through meticulous conformity to the external demands of the Mosaic law. They have understood that Christ’s sacrifice has fulfilled the law for them. (3) They “put no confidence in the flesh.” This states the negative aspect of the previous positive phrase. “Flesh” (GK 4922) refers to what a person is outside of Christ; Paul often uses the term in controversy with Judaizers (e.g., Romans 3:20; 7:18, 25; Galatians 2:16; Galatians 3:3; 5:19, 24). He teaches that sinful humanity has no grounds for confidence before God, because no one is able to achieve righteousness before God on one’s own. True believers, however, put all of their trust in Christ and so remove any grounds for human pride or boasting.

In stating that true believers put no confidence in the flesh, Paul has in mind the contrary teaching of those opponents who stressed the importance of conformity to Jewish practices. For the sake of argument, therefore, he temporarily adopts one of their attitudes (“confidence in the flesh”) and shows that his rejection of certain Jewish “advantages” was not because he was jealous that he did not possess them. If any one of these opponents should claim an advantage because of his Jewish heritage and practices, Paul wanted it known that in such matters he could stand on equal footing with any Judaizer. He personally disavowed such as reasons for confidence before God because he had found them inadequate to provide the righteousness God requires (cf. vv.7–9).

Paul now enumerates some of his reasons for confidence in the flesh. First on the list is physical circumcision, perhaps because the Judaizers stressed it so much. Paul had been circumcised as a Jewish boy in accord with the instruction given to Abraham (Genesis 17:12) and in the law (Leviticus 12:3). Furthermore, he was born of Israelite stock. He belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, a fact he proudly acknowledged on more than one occasion (Acts 13:21; Romans 11:1). This tribe alone had been faithful to the Davidic throne at the time of the division of the kingdom. It had given the nation its first king, after whom Paul had been named by his parents. By calling himself a “Hebrew of Hebrews,” he suggests he was of pure Jewish ancestry from both parents and possibly that he knew both Hebrew and Aramaic, even though he had been born in the Diaspora (Acts 22:2–3). In addition, by his own choice he belonged to the most orthodox of the Jewish parties, the Pharisees. This party contained the most zealous supporters and interpreters of OT law, and Paul had studied under Gamaliel, its most celebrated teacher (Acts 22:3; cf. 5:34).