“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”
“Look-out-for the dogs! Look-out-for the evil -workmen! Look-out-for the concision. For we, we-are the circumcision, the-(ones) worshipping by-the-Spirit of-God, and exulting in Christ Jesus, and not trusting in flesh.”
The first two verses of Chapter 2 call us to be of “one mind.” But immediately after, Verse 3 exposes those evils which hinder the desire of the Spirit for this unity. Similarly, the first verse of Chapter 3 calls us to “Rejoice in the Lord,” (vs. 1) and we saw that this is the path of strength for devotedness to Christ. Now, immediately, Verses 2 and 3 expose those teachers whose evil teachings would hinder this joy in the Lord, and so hinder the power for devotedness to Christ; and these verses also give the character of those who hold the truth. We will see that these things are given to us in seven short sentences:
1. Look-out-for the dogs!
2. Look-out-for the evil workmen!
3. Look-out-for the concision!
4. For we, we are the circumcision,
5. The ones worshipping by (the) Spirit of God,
6. And exulting in Christ Jesus,
7. And not confiding in the flesh.
Notice how three times over the Apostle repeats the words: “Look-out-for the ... ” thus making them tremendously emphatic. In the Greek New Testament each of these first three sentences has only three words in it.
In Acts 15:11And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. (Acts 15:1) we read of “certain men which came down from Judaea” to Antioch, and taught the brethren, “Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved” (Acts 15:11And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. (Acts 15:1)). Actually these men, by demanding circumcision, were seeking to put the disciples under the Law of Moses, and were, as Peter said, putting “a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear.” (Acts 15:1010Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? (Acts 15:10)). And Paul wrote: “I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing” (Gal. 5:22Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. (Galatians 5:2)). This was a desperately important matter: important for us as well as for them: and the church in Antioch decided to send Paul and Barnabas, with some others, to Jerusalem unto the Apostles and elders about this question. At that time the Apostles and elders in Jerusalem plainly stated that the Gentile disciples were not to be put under the Law of Moses, and were not to be circumcised: that “yoke” was not to be put upon their necks.
But those “evil workmen” who so troubled the Christians in Antioch never wearied of their evil work; and wherever Paul preached the glad tidings of salvation through Christ alone, without the deeds of the law, these “dogs” followed, and tried to “remove” the disciples from “the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another” (Gal. 1:6-76I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:6‑7)). Almost the whole of the Epistle to the Galatians is written to expose the folly and wickedness of these evil workmen. Hear the Apostle cry, “Who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth?” (Gal. 3:11O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? (Galatians 3:1)). And notice well the solemn curse, twice repeated, on such teachers, in Gal. 1:8-98But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8‑9). But it was not to Galatia alone these “dogs” found their way, but also to Corinth, and most of the latter part of Second Corinthians is taken up exposing them there. Listen: “Such are false apostles, deceitful workmen, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness.” (2 Cor. 11:13-1513For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (2 Corinthians 11:13‑15)). “False apostles” is the name the true Apostle calls them: “deceitful workmen,” and “ministers of Satan.” Such in the sight of God are teachers who seek to put the saints of God under law.
And the descendants of these evil workmen are just as active today as they were in Paul’s day: so we do well to give good heed to the Apostle’s warning. When I was a child we had a neighbor who kept some fierce dogs; and he had a sign on his gate: “Beware of the dogs!” That is just what Paul is saying to us. The word translated “beware” is just the ordinary word for “look,” so we have translated it, “look out for the dogs!”
In Paul’s day the Jewish rabbis used to teach, “The nations of the world are like dogs.” Our Lord took up this saying to test the faith of the woman of Canaan in Matt. 15:22-2822And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. (Matthew 15:22‑28); but, in His infinite grace, He changed the word to “little dogs,” and this gave the woman the opportunity to point out that the “little dogs” got the crumbs under their master’s table, even though it was true in the East that the other dogs were kept outside. The Jews felt that they, and they only, were the people of God; and all else were unclean: were dogs! Now Paul takes up their saying, and, as it were, says: “No, it is not the Gentile Christians who are the dogs. They are truly God’s people: it is you, yourselves, who are the dogs: you have rejected Christ, God’s Son, and so you cannot now be reckoned as God’s people: you are the unclean ones who are outside: you are the dogs!” And when we come to verse 8, we will see that Paul says that all these outward religious observances, such as circumcision, were only refuse, only fit to be thrown to the dogs.
In our ordinary English Bible it reads: “Beware of dogs.” But in the Greek New Testament there is the word “the”— “the dogs.... the evil workmen.... the concision.” The word “the” in Greek is generally like a finger pointing out something or someone. So it probably means that there were some special men who had come to Philippi, and were going, or trying to do, their evil work there, just as they had done in Antioch, Galatia, Corinth and other places.
In Acts 20:2929For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. (Acts 20:29) Paul foretold that “grievous wolves” should enter in among the saints, “not sparing the flock”. Wolves are even more fierce and cruel than “dogs.” When Paul wrote to the Philippians, the dogs were already there: but since then the wolves have come, and what havoc they have made of His flock His “beautiful flock”! (Jer. 13:2020Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? (Jeremiah 13:20)).
The Apostle goes on, “Look-out-for the evil workmen!” It may be either evil workmen, or workers. “Workmen” would turn our eyes to these evil men themselves; whereas “workers” might make us think more of their evil teaching, always preaching “works,” of which they were so proud, but which were so evil, as a means of salvation or holiness. It is exactly the same word that we saw in 2 Cor. 11, where the Apostle calls them “deceitful workers” (2 Cor. 11:1313For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:13)). O Beloved Saints of God, let us ever, ever remember that salvation is “not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:99Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:9)).
The third name that the Apostle calls them is “the concision.” This is a term of the utmost contempt. The Apostle is making a sort of pun on two Greek words: kata-tome (verse 2), and peri-tome (verse 3). You will notice each word has tome in it, but one begins with kata, and the other begins with peri. The first means literally, a “mutilation,” which was forbidden by the Law of Moses in Lev. 21:55They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. (Leviticus 21:5); where this very Greek word is used. Paul compares their circumcision, of which they were so proud, just to being mutilated. The second word is the proper word for circumcision, which was the badge, or mark, of a true Jew. In Rom. 2:28-2928For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Romans 2:28‑29), Paul wrote, “He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Rom. 2:28-2928For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Romans 2:28‑29)). It is very interesting to remember that Paul had almost certainly heard Stephen say much the same thing: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye” (Acts 7:5151Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. (Acts 7:51)). And perhaps as Saul of Tarsus listened to Stephen, he remembered that Jeremiah had said: “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah” (Jer. 4:44Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. (Jeremiah 4:4)). And these “men of Judah” were already circumcised in their flesh, as Saul well knew. In Galatians we find the same thing: “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” (Gal. 5:66For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. (Galatians 5:6); See also 6:15). And in Gal. 36Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. (Galatians 3:6), you may see how plainly Paul shows that. “Ye (Gentile Christians) are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.... And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
All these things the Apostle tells the Philippian saints in three short sentences. And now he goes on to tell us the other side of the matter; in four short sentences: “For we, we are the circumcision, the ones worshipping by (the) Spirit of God, and exulting in Christ Jesus and not confiding in flesh.” As we have seen, the Scriptures plainly tell us that in the sight of God circumcision is a heart matter, not an outward thing: and so Paul can say: “For we, we are the circumcision.” Paul was a Jew, but the Philippian Christians were Gentiles: but circumcision in the flesh availeth nothing: so, no matter whether Jew or Gentile, “we are the circumcision—
“the ones worshipping by (the) Spirit of God,
and exulting in Christ Jesus,
and not confiding in flesh.”
In our ordinary English Bibles we read, “We are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit” (vs. 3). But the way we have rendered it is almost certainly correct; and you will see that the New Translation by Mr. Darby renders it in almost the same way. You will recall that our Lord in John 4:2424God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24), said: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” There is no way to worship God in spirit and in truth, except “by the Spirit of God” (2 Cor. 3:33Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. (2 Corinthians 3:3)). I fear that very much of what is called “worship” today is not by the Spirit of God; and is not in spirit and in truth. The very first necessity to worship by the Spirit of God is that we should be born again— “born of the Spirit” (John 3:88The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)). They who are not born again, are still “in the flesh,” and “they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:88So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:8)). The contrast here is between external ceremonies, which these evil workers were pressing, and worship by the Spirit of God.
The word used here for worship is one which the Scriptures have taken to express the service of God, which was told forth in type by the priesthood of old. So here the Spirit of God claims that every true believer is “one worshipping by the Spirit of God.” That means that every true believer is a priest. And other Scriptures tell us the same thing, as for example, “Jesus Christ.... hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.” (Rev. 1:5-65And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5‑6). See also 1 Peter 2:99But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1 Peter 2:9)).
“And exulting in Christ Jesus.” The word translated “exult” means to glory, or to boast; but it carries in it the additional sense of joyful exultation. It is both different in form and of a weightier force, than the words usually translated to glory, or boast: it expresses rather the full utterance of victorious confidence, than merely gladness of heart. (See Pridham). It is one of Paul’s favorite words. He uses it almost sixty times in his Epistles, and elsewhere we only find it in Hebrews and James. He may have taken it from Jer. 9:2424But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:24), which he quotes more than once. Beloved, may we exult more in Christ Jesus: may we enter more into His triumphs and victory!
Thou, Thou art worthy, Lord,
Of most exulting praise;
The Lamb once slain shall be adored
Through everlasting days.
O Lord, the glad new song
Is ours e’en here to sing;
With loyal heart and joyful tongue
We now our homage bring.
“Worthy!” we cry again,
“Worthy for evermore!”
And at Thy feet, O Lamb once slain,
We worship, we adore.
(Miss von Poseck)
The Judaizers could not sing this. We, who rest in Christ alone, without works, we are the only ones who can “exult in Christ Jesus.”
“And not confiding in flesh.” Every child of God must watch and fight against this snare. It was this that caused Simon Peter to deny his Lord, and this fleshly confidence comes naturally to “the flesh.”
But in this verse in Philippians 1 think the Spirit of God is speaking especially of fleshly piety, and empty forms, in place of Christ. Alas, far from being rare, such confidence in the flesh, in respect to the things of God, is the commonest thing today. May the Lord help us each one to say from the depths of our hearts: “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” (Gal. 6:1414But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Galatians 6:14)).
I do not think that these “evil workers” were seeking to bring the Philippian saints to Jewish worship; but they were, I believe, seeking to mix Jewish worship with Christian worship: and that is exactly what we see on every hand today. The forms and ceremonies, the robes and vestments, the choirs and instrumental music, the noble church buildings and magnificent furnishings; everything, indeed, that is of an outward form, rather than of spirit and of truth: as well as putting people under the Ten Commandments: these all are, I believe, in heart going back to Judaism; and partake of the work and teaching of these evil workmen.
If you were to say to people who use such things, that Christ alone is sufficient for salvation, and the Holy Spirit for worship, many would agree, but assure you that they only use these external things as a help to worship, and the Commandments as a rule of life. “We know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully” (1 Tim. 1:88But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; (1 Timothy 1:8)). But this is not a “lawful” use of the law: on the contrary, such people are “so foolish,” that having begun in the Spirit, they want to be made perfect by the flesh. (See Gal. 3:33Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3)). This is just what those evil workers tried to do at Antioch, Galatia, Corinth and Philippi. This is exactly what made the Apostle use such strong language— “dogs, evil workmen, the concision, false apostles, ministers of Satan.” It is of just such people the Apostle said of some at Ephesus, that they were “desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm” (1 Tim. 1:77Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. (1 Timothy 1:7)).
It is common to the heart of man the whole world over to suppose that righteousness and holiness come by works by keeping the law: but if you will read carefully the early chapters of Romans, you will see that the Scriptures teach the exact opposite. Listen: “Sin, getting a point of attack by the commandment, wrought in me every lust; for without law sin was dead.... And the commandment, which was for life, was found as to me, itself to be unto death: for sin, getting a point of attack by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.... O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. For what the law could not do, in that it was without strength through the flesh, God, having sent His own Son, in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit.” (Rom. 7:88But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. (Romans 7:8) to Rom. 8:44That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:4) New Translation).
Perhaps before we stop, we should ask, “What does circumcision indicate in the mind of the Spirit?”
It was first given to Abraham in Gen. 17, “as a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had being yet uncircumcised.” (Rom. 4:1111And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: (Romans 4:11)). Thus circumcision marked Abraham and his family off from all others in the world: it was a mark of separation. But it was a picture of death, so the Spirit of God says to us, those who are now the circumcision, “Mortify (or, put to death) therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleaness, etc.” (Col. 3:55Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: (Colossians 3:5)). We are (or, should be) marked off from the world, not by an outward mark in the flesh: but because, having died with Christ, and having been raised with Him, we should walk in newness of life, in separation from evil, and possessing a righteousness, not of works, but by faith.
And have no confidence in the flesh.