He warneth them to beware of the false teachers of the circumcision, shewing that himself, if any, hath greater cause than they to trust in the righteousness of the law: which notwithstanding he counteth as dung and loss, to gain Christ; he exhorteth them to be thus minded, to imitate him, and to decline the ways of carnal Christians.
Anno Domini 62.
ST. Paul wrote the most of his epistles to confute the erroneous doctrines and practices of the Judaizing teachers, who, in the first age, greatly disturbed the churches, more especially by their affirming, that unless the Gentiles were circumcised after the manner of Moses, they could not be saved. But, as these teachers artfully suited their arguments to the circumstances and prejudices of the persons whom they addressed, the controversy has a new aspect in almost every Epistle. And the Apostle's reasonings, in confutation of their doctrine, comprehend a great variety of particulars, for explaining and establishing the doctrines of the gospel, highly worthy of the attention of Christians in every age.
Among the Philippians, as among the Corinthians, the Judaizers supported their erroneous doctrines chiefly by magnifying their own character and authority as teachers, and by appealing to their circumcision, as a proof of their right descent from Abraham, and by calling themselves the circumcision, to intimate that they were the keepers of the former revelations, and the only objects of the divine favour. Moreover, they boasted of their knowledge of the ancient revelations, and of the care with which they observed the divine law. And, on all these accounts, they hoped the Philippians would pay more regard to their opinions in matters of religion, than to St. Paul's, whom they affected to despise, because he was born among the Gentiles; by which they said his descent from Abraham was at least rendered uncertain. Withal, supposing him to have been educated at Tarsus, theyaffirmed that his knowledge of the ancient revelations was superficial and erroneous: and that, having apostatized from the institutions of Moses, it was little wonder that he now represented these institutions as of no avail in the sight of God.
His confutation of the pretensions of these wicked men, and of the calumnies by which they endeavoured to lessen his authority, the Apostle introduced, with telling the Philippians, that to write the same things to them, concerning the false teachers and their pretensions, which he had written to other churches, and which he had ordered Epaphroditus to represent to them, was by no means troublesome to him, seeing it was safe for them, Philippians 3:1.—Wherefore as he had written to others, so he now wrote to them, to beware of the Judaizers, whom he called dogs, a name which the Jews, in contempt, gave to the Gentiles; and evil workmen, or labourers, on account of their corrupting the gospel. And because the unbelieving Jews boasted in the appellation of the circumcision, as importing that they alone, of all mankind, were acceptable to God, the Apostle desired the Philippians to beware of them, calling them the excision, to shew that they were soon to be destroyed. This severity in speaking against the unbelieving Jews and Judaizing teachers, the Apostle used, by the direction of the Spirit of God, to make the Philippians shun their company and conversation, and to put them on their guard not to allow them any footing in their church, Philippians 3:2.—Next, he assured the Philippians, that the disciples of Christ are the circumcision; they are persons acceptable to God, through the Blood of the Covenant,possessingtheinwardqualitiessignifiedbycircumcision,andworshipGod in spirit, and glory in their relation to Christ as his disciples, and not in their fleshly descent from Abraham, nor in any right pertaining to the flesh. At the same time, to shew the falsehood of the calumnies which these deceivers spread abroad concerning the Apostle's extraction, he told the Philippians, that if any particular teacher among them could have confidence of acceptance with God, on account of his descent and privileges as a Jew, he himself had more cause for such confidence than that teacher: by which they might know, that if he spake in a slighting manner of these things, it was not from envy, as being destitute of them, Philippians 3:4.—For he was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth: he was a branch from the stock of Israel: he belonged to the honourable tribe of Benjamin, which did not join in the defection under Jeroboam. Though born in Tarsus, he was a Hebrew, descended from Hebrew parents; and was educated a Pharisee, a sect which was acknowledged to have the most perfect knowledge of the law, Philippians 3:5.—These particulars the Apostle mentioned also in his Epistle to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 11:22.—And to make the Philippians still more sensible of his title, if any one could have it, to have confidence in the flesh, he told them, that, from his earlier years, he wasso exceedingly zealous of the law, and of the traditions of the fathers, that he persecuted the Christians as enemies to both. And, with respect to his own external obedience to the law, he assured them, that it was altogether blameless, Philippians 3:6.—Wherefore, whatever honour the false teachers could claim on account of their knowledge of the law, and of the care with which they obeyed its precepts, that honour was more justly due to him. Nevertheless, all these things, which, indeed, formerly he considered as the greatest advantages, he now looked on as things to be cast away, because they were of no use in the justification of sinners, Philippians 3:7.—Nay, he regarded all human attainments as things to be cast away, when set in competition with the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, his Lord; and had actually thrown them all away, that he might obtain justification through him, ver.8.—not by his own righteousness, which never could merit justification; but through the righteousness which is of God, by faith, Philippians 3:9.—which imparts to the soul an experimental knowledge of Christ, a resurrection to newness of life, and an ability to suffer with Christ for the truth, Philippians 3:10.—Which righteousness, holiness, and power, accompanied with persevering fidelity, will be rewarded with a glorious resurrection from the dead, Philippians 3:11.—which blessing of a resurrection from the dead the Apostle had not yet received; but which he represents himself as striving to secure. And, by comparing his exertions for that purpose with the exertions of those who contended in the games, he gives us a lively picture of the labour and difficulty of the Christian course, Philippians 3:12-14.—Then he exhorted the Philippians to follow his example, in striving to obtain justification and eternal life by faith, Philippians 3:15-17.—and pronouncedall who sought to be justified by the sacrifices and purifications of the law of Moses, enemies to the death of Christ, Philippians 3:18.—and assured them, that their end would be perdition; for their only view in teaching such a method of justification was to gratify their own lusts, Philippians 3:19.—Whereas the teachers of truth, and their disciples, had no temptation to pervert the gospel; because they lived in a pure and heavenly manner, and looked for the coming of Christ from heaven, Philippians 3:20.—to refashion their present body, (which was humbled, or made mortal by sin,) into the likeness of his own glorious body, at the resurrection, Philippians 3:21.
The Apostle's method of confuting the Judaizers in this Epistle, is worthy of notice. He does not, as in his Epistles to the Romans, to the Galatians, and to the Hebrews, bring arguments from the writings of Moses and the prophets; but, to the assertions of the Judaizers, he opposes his own affirmations, as an inspired apostle; expresses a just abhorrence of the teachers who corrupted the gospel; and vindicates his own character and qualifications as an apostle. This method hefollowed, because he knew it was sufficient for establishing the Philippians, who, from the beginning, knew him to be a true apostle of Christ, loved him as their spiritual father, and were sure he would not deceive them.—In those Epistles, in which he confuted the errors of the Judaizers, by arguments from the writings of Moses and the prophets, St. Paul made the churches to which they were sent, and all who should afterwards believe, sensible, not only that he was an apostle, but a learned Jewish doctor, who was well acquainted with the ancient scriptures, and who understood their true meaning.