A New Disruption
A NEW DISRUPTION
PHILIPPIANS 3:1-7
Paul describes the Jewish privileges he rejected for the sake of Christ.
The somewhat turbulent opening of chapter 3 comes as an unexpected surprise. An abrupt change in tone and subject is apparent in the lack of transition between 3:1 and 3:2. The probable explanation for the break in thought is that Paul was interrupted in the course of dictating his letter. Before returning to this task he received reports of the renewed activity of the Judaizers, those who were attempting to put Christians back under the law as a requirement to salvation and who were boasting in their Jewish pedigree. With biting sarcasm Paul applies to them the description they applied to all Gentiles, “the dogs.” They are evildoers whose goal is the mutilation of the flesh, contrary to the Roman laws governing the colony of Philippi (3:2; see also Acts 16:21). In contrast, the Gentile Christians of Philippi constitute the true circumcision which God desires (see Deuteronomy 10:16), since they acknowledge that the ground of their confidence is God alone (3:3).
Paul shows that “according to the flesh” he has more of which to boast than any Judaizer, though to him this is “foolishness” (see 2 Corinthians 11:19,21,23). Among his inherited advantages, Paul lists circumcision (the seal of the covenant), direct Israelite descent, a rich tribal heritage and parents who were concerned to maintain the language and traditions of Judaism. For his part, he had demonstrated an earnest piety and fanatical zeal, patterning his life after the patriarch Phinehas (see Numbers 25:6-13; Psalm 106:30f.). By choice he joined the Pharisees, and his strict observance of the law would demand the verdict “blameless” in any human court.
But if Paul had once regarded these advantages as “gain” he now categorized them as “loss” (3:7). He does not look on them as something indifferent or unimportant but sees them as detriment, as impediments which stood in the way of his coming to faith in Christ. They had given to him a false sense of security and had prevented him from sensing God’s indictment on his goodness (see Isaiah 64:6). This is what Paul—and every Christian who contemplates the former objects of devotion and way of life—is forced to recognize for the sake of Christ.