Philippians 3:3

3. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh:

Translation and Paraphrase

3. For we (Christians) are the (people who are the true) circumcision, (we) who worship by (the guidance and instructions of) the Spirit of God (and not through the law of Moses), and (we who) rejoice in Christ Jesus (as our only hope), and do not put (our) trust in the flesh (like those who place their confidence in circumcision do);

Notes

1.

In this verse Paul gives a reason why we must beware of those who try to force the law upon Christians: They are not the true people of God. Christians are the true people of God.

2.

In the Old Testament God told Abraham, the father of the Hebrew nations, that he and every male with him must be circumcised. It was the token or sign of the covenant between God and Abraham, This was to be done by all of Abraham's descendants after him. The uncircumcised male was cut off from his people because he had broken God's covenant. Genesis 17:10-14.

Because of this command to Abraham, the Jews became a circumcised race, and the The Circumcision came to refer to the Jews.

3.

Paul asserts that this has now been changed. The Jews who practice fleshly circumcision are no longer the true circumcision, the true people of God. We Christians who worship by the Spirit of God and place no confidence in the flesh (like the Jews did in this circumcised flesh) are now the real circumcision. A similar thought is given in Romans 2:25-29. Compare Galatians 6:15-16 and Colossians 2:11-13.

Because Christians are the true circumcision it is proper to refer to the church as Israel. Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:6-8; Galatians 3:29; Galatians 6:16; Revelation 3:9.

4.

The idea that fleshly circumcision is of no value unless it is accompanied by true faith and a godly life was not original with Paul. Deuteronomy 10:16; Deuteronomy 30:6 speak of an uncircumcised heart, that is, a heart not yielded and obedient to God. Jeremiah 6:10 speaks of an uncircumcised ear, an ear not receptive to God's commands. Exodus 6:20 speaks of uncircumcised lips, that is, unworthy lips. These references were all spoken about people who practiced fleshly circumcision. From these references it appears that circumcision had always been a matter of the heart, rather than of outward fleshly form. This is further confirmed by the fact that Abraham received the sign of circumcision AFTER he had already been declared righteous before God as a result of his faith. See Romans 4:9-11; Genesis 15:6; Genesis 17:11.

5.

Three signs of the true circumcision: (Philippians 3:3).

(1)

Worshipping by the Spirit of God.

(2)

Boasting in Christ Jesus.

(3)

Having no confidence in the flesh.

6.

Worshipping by the Spirit of God involves several things:

It involves worshipping according to the new covenant laws, which were given by the Holy Spirit beginning on the day of Pentecost, when the church began. See 2 Corinthians 3:3; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Acts 2:4; Acts 2:16-17.

It involves worshipping with the righteousness, peace, and joy that is produced by the Holy Spirit within us. See Romans 14:17. We serve God in our spirits (Romans 1:9), which have been made free from the law of sin and death by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:2).

The Holy Spirit was not given to all men until after the death of Christ and His glorification. Therefore those under the law before Christ could not really have worshipped by the Spirit. Neither can those who now try to worship according to that system of law in force before the Holy Spirit was poured out upon all flesh. John 7:39; Galatians 3:2.

To relapse back to a pattern of life which followed the law of Moses after having once began to serve Christ would be the height of folly. Paul said to the Galatians, who were doing this, O foolish Galatians. having begun in the Spirit, are ye now perfected in the flesh? (Galatians 3:1-3).

7.

Christians, the true people of God, glory in Christ Jesus; that is, they have Christ as their basis for boasting (that is, glorying or confidence), and not the law. Paul gloried in nothing except the cross of Christ (with all that that involved). (Galatians 6:14; Compare II Cor. 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:17).

Philippians chapter three elaborates at great length about how Paul had more grounds for glorying in fleshly distinctions than many Judaizers who gloried in them, and yet Paul counted all these things loss that he might gain Christ. (Philippians 3:7-8)

8.

Christians, the true people of God, have no confidence in the flesh. The fact that they are negro or white, circumcised or uncircumcised gives them no confidence whatsoever. We know that God can, if He should desire, raise up circumcised children of Abraham from stones. (Luke 3:8). We put our trust in the living God and in His son, and not in our flesh.

Worship involves all of our lives. It is not limited to acts done in group assemblies. Worship involves the feelings in our hearts, toward God, our constant prayer contact with God, and the deeds and words that we do because we are God'S

9.

All the religious teachers in modern times who try to convert people to keep the law, wholly or in part, fall under Paul's condemnation here in Philippians 3:2-3. This includes all those who try to make us keep Saturday as a Sabbath day, to reject certain meats or foods, to keep the feasts of the law like the feast of Tabernacles, etc. See Colossians 2:16-17.

It is odd that in our generation that is generally so lawless, that some should yet seek to bind an extreme and obselete system of law upon us. While we are not without law before God, we are not under the law given through Moses. 1 Corinthians 9:20-21.