True Discipleship (Philippians 3:1-3)

Philippians 3:1 is the introduction to a new section in Paul’s letter which initially is concerned with true service of God and then moves on to other aspects of sanctification.  Since he begins this section with a reference to joy, and inserts similar terms throughout the section, it is reasonable to assume that, for Paul, joy was a feature of all aspects of the Christian life. 

Obviously, a believer should have joy because of his conversion (Paul describes his experience in this section); Paul also mentions joy coming from progress in the faith, from anticipating the transformation that will occur in believers when Jesus returns, from working towards unity in the church, from a healthy prayer life, from suitable meditation and from practical expressions of brotherly support. The first area of life to which Paul applies joy is the area of worship.

The importance of spiritual joy

Why is spiritual joy so important? One aspect that we must consider is that the possession of spiritual joy is very surprising. To begin with, although Paul is experiencing discomfort and opposition, he does not regard his circumstances as a reason for not having joy. In effect, he is saying that it is possible to have spiritual joy in situations where one would not expect it. Yet the possession of spiritual joy is also surprising because the ones he urges to have it are sinners. There is no hint in verse 1 that he is excluding any of the members of the church in Philippi.

How is it possible for sinners to have joy in difficult circumstances? I suppose several reasons could be given, but I would mention two at present. First, they had joy in their adverse situations because they believed in the sovereignty of the heavenly Father. They knew that every moment of time and every inch of space was under his control and that he would work all things together for their good. Second, they had joy as sinners because they were forgiven sinners. Repentance always brings joy, even if it is accompanied with sorrow and grief. Joy comes at the first instance of repentance when a sinner is converted; it also comes at every instance when a saint is restored upon confession of sin. 

It is important to stress that the presence of spiritual joy does not require the absence of sadness. There are many things in life that should make a Christian sad. He or she should be saddened by the apparent impotency of the church to make spiritual progress among the masses in our country; he or she should be saddened at the worldliness that pervades the church; he or she should be saddened at the lack of spiritual progress in their own lives. Yet the presence of such sadness does not mean that joy cannot be present.

Of course, joy is one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. As with the other graces, it is developed in our renewed characters by the indwelling Spirit. Therefore, it is important that we get rid of anything that hinders the work of the Spirit in our lives. And Paul goes on to mention one huge barrier to spiritual joy.

Insidious legalism

Before he proceeds to describe true worship, Paul mentions a threat to their joy. This threat he calls ‘dogs, evil workers, mutilators of the flesh’. He is referring to a group of people called the Judaizers who regarded Paul as preaching an inadequate message. They were prepared to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but they also insisted that believers should keep the ceremonial law, particularly the rite of circumcision. In modern parlance, they were legalists who imagined that they could please God by their own religious efforts. They did not see that outward actions are without value unless there are true inner spiritual desires.

These Judaizers made life very difficult for Paul. It could be guaranteed that wherever he set up a Christian church those false teachers would soon be there. Of course, they are an example of the tares that the devil sows among the wheat. The church in Philippi does not seem to have had major problems at that time because Paul’s references to them indicate a healthy church in a spiritual sense. Yet the devil was out to get them through the Judaizers. We should observe the graphic language Paul uses of those false teachers. He does not try to find any good points in them to balance out the obvious bad ones.

Sadly, legalism is still alive and well and lifting its ugly head in all kinds of places. It can appear even in true Christians: think of your first response when you fall. I’m sure that sometimes your initial response is to do better the next time. Instead of confessing your fault, you resort to legalism and deprive yourselves for a time of the blessing of the joy that comes through repentance.

Also legalism appears in those who may be seeking salvation: instead of fleeing to Christ for mercy they turn to reformation of life as a kind of preparation for grace. Yet such preparation is only another way of rejecting Christ. And in rejecting mercy, such are depriving themselves of joy.

Further, legalism shows itself in those who have no interest in becoming Christians; they imagine that their upright living will be as suitable on the Day of Judgement as will free salvation from Christ. Yet despite their self-confidence, there is no sense of the presence of spiritual joy.

In whatever way legalism lifts its ugly head, it always becomes a barrier to spiritual joy in the Lord’s people. We should regard it as the enemy that it is. It deprives Christians of their joy: it makes them proud of their imagined attainments and critical of the way that others behave.

Features of true discipleship

Paul mentions three details that are always present when true discipleship is found: they are (a) service of God in the Spirit, (b) glory in Christ Jesus, and (c) no confidence in the flesh. Before we think about each of these details, we should note that Paul describes such worshippers as ‘the circumcision’. When he describes believers in this way, he means that they are in covenant with God.

Of course, he is using a term that comes from the Old Testament. Circumcision was meant to be a sign that one belonged to the people of God, that such were members of the true Israel. God had given this sign to Abraham to show that the circumcised belonged to God by covenant. Strikingly, Paul uses the term to describe believers living in a community in which there was no synagogue. Yet he is reminding the Gentile believers there that they now were the circumcision, members of the people of God. All the details promised of God’s people apply to them, which is another way of saying that they have great spiritual blessings.

Those who have such a relationship with God serve him in the Spirit. Paul is not limiting worship here to church services. Instead, what he means by worship is all of life. He is concerned with what we do on Mondays as well as on the Lord’s Days. The Christian life should be one ongoing life of worship and service. In Romans 12:1-2, Paul describes Christian worship: ‘I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.’

It is possible that spirit is a reference to the human spirit, and if that is the meaning Paul is contrasting an inner attitude with the external ritual of the Judaizers. Believers will worship with energy, with devotion; all their hearts will be involved in what they are doing. Their attitude is portrayed in Psalm 103:1: ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!’ Yet it is more likely that the word refers to the Holy Spirit. The fact is that a believer can only give hearty worship by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. Moment by moment, the Holy Spirit equips a believer to serve God from a true and full heart.

Of course, we are worshipping God in a particular way when we gather here in church. How should we worship the Lord? Here is a kind of guideline to help us. First, the external activities in which we engage are only means to interacting with the Lord. Second, we confess our spiritual weaknesses and inabilities to worship as we should. Third, we ask the Lord to give us the Spirit to enable us to worship him. Fourth, when that happens, we will rejoice in the Lord.

The second feature of a true commitment is boasting in Jesus Christ. Such an attitude involves an intellectual understanding of who Jesus is and what he has done, is doing, and will do for his people. All that he does has been summarised for us in what we call the offices of Christ: a prophet to teach us; a priest to intercede for us and to exercise compassion on us; a king to rule over us and to defend us. There is much in these roles to cause us to boast in Jesus Christ. Or we could look at the blessings that we have through union with Jesus – we have been justified because of Jesus, we have been adopted because of Jesus, we are being sanctified because of Jesus, and we will be glorified and become inhabitants of the new world because of Jesus.

At present, the political parties are having their conferences and they are boasting in their leaders, at least to some extent. Of course, the longest of them leads for a very short time whereas Jesus reigns for ever. A complaint made about some of them is that people don’t know what they stand for. We should know why we boast in Jesus Christ. 

Yet it involves more than an intellectual awareness because there must also be heart involvement. When a person boasts in someone or in a team, there is emotional commitment. Similarly, believers enthuse about Jesus Christ. He is their hero, the one they admire. The thought of him fills them with great joy. He is the centre of their lives.

The third feature of a true commitment is no confidence in the flesh. Paul proceeds to say why he could have had such confidence and he mentions aspects of his life from before his conversion (vv. 4-8) and after his conversion (vv. 11-13). Before conversion, he had status, racial privileges and earnest zeal; after conversion he had many spiritual attainments. But he did not build his hopes on them. Nor did he build his hopes on what he did for the Lord after being converted.

Application

From Paul’s description we can see that Christian worship is real in contrast to the shadows of the past because of the work of the Spirit. Moreover, it is marked by joy in Jesus Christ, our beloved Saviour who alone gives reasons for boasting.

Do we belong to those who are members of the true circumcision, who have these three marks of dedication to God, delight in Jesus Christ and disdain for all their attainments?