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PHILIPPIANS 3:1-21
LESSON #05
JOY AND THE PERSON I AM

• Memory verse: Philippians 3:14
• Paul begins this chapter with a warning to believers. He wants us to maintain a clear view or perspective of where we are and where we are going. A lack of a proper perspective can cause you to lose your joy.
• Read Phil 3:1-3 “Beware”!
• The word “beware” is a continuous verb and means = keep on being aware of some danger.
• There are 3 types of people about which we are warned.
• =1= The dogs
• These are evil people with an evil character. They are called “dogs” because they are like wild dogs that roam a city never satisfied but always seeking food wherever it can be found
• They are outsiders. (Isa 56:11 Mat 15:26)
• =2= Evil workers
• These are evil people who do evil deeds.
• These people are insiders who destroy from within the body of Christ. (2Pet 1:1-3 2Cor11:13)
• =3= The concision
• These are legalistic, evil Jews who destroy the work of Christ by placing people under the bondage of legalism. They have an evil belief system. They are known through the New Testament as “the Judaizers”. (Jude 3-4)
• The Greek word “concision” is a sarcastic play on words. It refers to Jews who practice circumcision believing they are saved by it. Paul says they are simply mutilators of the flesh, and it profits them nothing.
• What are the characteristics of the “true circumcision”? (3)
• Read Rom 2:29
• Old Testament circumcision was introduced by God as a sign of the covenant between God and his people. (Gen 17:10-14)
• Gradually the Jews believed more in the symbol of circumcision rather than in God.
• A true New Testament circumcision is a circumcision of the heart. It is a cutting away of the flesh nature. This occurs figuratively when a person is born again. He determines that he will trust in God and not in the flesh nature.
• Read Phil 3:4-9
• What are the reasons why Paul could boast in the flesh? (4-6)
• Paul was circumcised.
• He was a Jew.
• He was from the tribe of Benjamin.
• His family maintained a strong Jewish identity. He was very well taught in Jewish scriptures.
• Paul was a Pharisee.
• He was zealous in his religiosity when he persecuted Christians.
• He kept the Mosaic Law as well as anyone.
• What was Paul’s attitude toward these things?
• Paul says that all these things in which he could boast are worthless compared to eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.
• They are not only “worthless”, they are “loss” which means = refuse, manure, a damage, or detriment.
• Instead, Paul boasts in the things of the Spirit.
• Discussion: there are similar things that people boast of today? What are they?
• Read Phil 3:10-14
• What was Paul’s goal? (10-14)
• Paul’s goal had three parts:
• =1= He wanted to know Jesus better and more completely.
• =2= He wanted to know and experience the power of the resurrection; “to attain resurrection” means = the full operation of the Life of Jesus in all his Christian experience.
• =3=He wanted God to change him so he would be worthy of suffering for Christ; “to be made conformable to death” means = shaping one thing like another, conforming to what is essential in character from the inside out.
• Paul says he has not attained his goal. (12)
• The word “attained” means= to reach a place by digging and uncovering.
• Paul is still working out his own salvation. He is not yet “perfect”.
• The word “perfect” = doesn’t mean sinless, but mature, complete, reaching the goal.
• Reaching the goal is a balance:
• “I apprehend”, “I am apprehended of Christ” means = a double balance of working out your own salvation.
• Christ empowers and I cooperate.
• What did Paul learn that was a key to spiritual freedom? (13)
• Paul learned to have joy in the person he was. He did not look back to the accomplishments or failures of the past.
• Paul lived very much in the present with his eyes upon the future.
• He constantly pursued maturity, reaching for new challenges in Christ.
• Paul had that eternal perspective.
• Summary:
• Every Christian needs a proper perspective of who he is in Christ.
• We must stop looking at what we have become through what we have accomplished on our own.
• If we are trusting in the things we have accomplished, then when they are taken away, so is our joy.
• Trusting in what you have accomplished gives you the glory and not God.
• Trusting in the things around you takes your eyes off of the Lord, who is eternal, and places them on temporary things.
• This is the worldly kind of joy that depends on exterior circumstances to exist.
• The believer in Christ has a joy that depends in Christ who dwells within you, and which no external circumstance can dim.
• Read Phil 3:15-21 Paul’s appeal for unity in the Christian community
• What are the essential ingredients for unity?
• =1= Maturity (perfect). (15)
• When each believer is growing in his knowledge of Christ and his knowledge of the Word of God, unity will grow in their midst.
• When each believer is living a contented life in Christ, there is unity in the body of Christ.
• =2= Thus minded means = single minded
• Unity is based on a single focus. When believers have Jesus Christ as their focus, there will be unity in the body of Christ.
• Therefore a lack of unity means that the body of Christ has more than one focus.
• =3= Continual growth (16)
• Mature leadership is the example Christians must follow to produce unity. (17)
• Discipleship
• Continual growth is achieved through discipleship which is the making of disciples.
• Paul says, “mark them who walk”. The illustration is that of the marking of steel by a blow that puts a dent in the steel.
• In the same way, discipleship puts your mark on other people so that they follow you as you follow Christ.
• Training
• Leaders are trained through experience with the Word of God.
• This training of a leader must include learning humility, submission, and obedience.
• Without mature leaders, there will not be unity in the body of Christ.
• =4= Watchfulness against those who are “enemies of the cross”. (18)
• The doctrine of Antinomianism (18)
• These were people who believed that Christians were free from moral law because of God’s grace and their faith. God would automatically forgive everyone.
• Part of the Antinomianism doctrine were those people called the Epicurean sect of the Gnostics that believed man’s sins of the body did not affect man’s spirit.
• This is just the opposite of the Judaizers who believed that Christians should be bound by legalisms of right and wrong. Both of the doctrines of the Judaizers and the Antinomians were wrong.
• Their end is destruction. (19)
• Their appetite is their god.
• They glory in their own evil.
• They are preoccupied with earthly things.
• What does it mean when he says our “citizenship is in heaven”? (20)
• Here and now we are children of eternity. We live in a different kingdom, with a different king, and a different set of rules.
• We look for Jesus’ coming when He will glorify us. He will give us a new body for a life in an eternal heaven (21).
• Secret #5 for living a contented life: Maintain an eternal perspective!
• Discussion: How does maintaining an eternal perspective add contentment to your life?
• What is an eternal perspective?
• It is knowing who you are in your relationship to God.
• It is knowing what God’s plan and purpose is for your life.
• It is being able to keep your eyes on Christ and on His eternal kingdom
• How do you obtain an eternal perspective?
• Prayer
• Study the Word
• Get deeper in your relationship with Christ.
• Contentment comes by trusting in God’s sovereign love over every area of your life so that you can keep your eyes on Christ without fear or doubt.
• Application:
• Usually there are things that humanly speaking we do not like about ourselves.
• However, to have joy in the person that I am means that I must consider the following thoughts seriously:
• God is my Creator.
• God knows me better than I know myself.
• God made me who I am.
• God loves me just the way He made me.
• To doubt God’s wisdom and sovereignty is pride and a lack of faith.
• Pride and a lack of faith in God leaves me without hope and therefore without joy.

HOMEWORK
PHILIPPIANS 4:1-23
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of Phil 3:1-21
• What would you say is the thing you focus on most in your life?
• If your focus is not on Christ, you need to develop an eternal perspective.
• How do you plan to do that?
• Preparation for Phil 4:1-23
• Joy in any circumstances is the theme of this chapter. What circumstances in your life rob you of joy?
• What problem does Paul talk about in this chapter? (2-3)
• What solution does Paul give?
• What does this chapter tell you that can help you have joy even if your circumstances do not change?
• Memory verse: Phil 4:11