Rejoice!

“Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.” (Phil 3:1-3)

Paul starts by reminding his readers to rejoice in the Lord. Why do I need to be reminded? Because Paul knew the ins and outs of daily life would cause my mind to wander and not stay focused on the real reason for our joy. This time I spend each morning is a chance to reset my compass for the day so that my heart will point where it needs to.

Then he takes a sudden turn from rejoicing to warning. Paul certainly didn’t write trying to be politically correct. When he says “Beware of the dogs” he wasn’t using kind word or talking about animals – he was using a term of contempt. If someone called you a dog they weren’t offering you a compliment. In those days dogs here were mangy, flea-bitten, vicious, starved scavengers. Gentiles of the Christian era were called dogs by the Jews. The term was therefore a strong expression of contempt, and was given by the Jews to the heathen. One commentator, Robert Thomas, explains that in Revelation 22:15 “The dogs”…is a metaphor for the morally impure as it is throughout Scripture. They represent male prostitutes (Dt 23:18), Gentiles (Mt. 15:26), and Judaizers (Php. 3:2, 3), among other things (cf. 2Ki 8:13; Ps. 22:16, 20; Isa. 56:10; Mt. 7:6; Mk 7:27). In the Orient dogs are scavengers and are objects of great contempt. So you can see it isn’t a kind term, but what is Paul warning the church in Philippi about? W.E. Vine writes that “the epithet ‘the dogs’ is metaphorical here of the Judaizing teachers and their ways, who had found their way into the churches.”  Paul was referring to the Jewish teachers, who are also referred to as legalizers.

Paul’s message that he was spreading wherever he went was that we are saved by grace alone – it isn’t a gift we deserve or can earn but one we just need to accept. He was also preaching that it was a gift to all, not just the Jews. This was all very radical teaching and the Jews would follow him and try to undo his teaching. They believed that all the Jewish laws had to be strictly obeyed to earn salvation plus they taught that salvation belonged to the Jewish people alone. For them, the Gentiles were dogs and it was insulting to say they would be saved, so Paul was turning their insult for the Gentiles around and using it against the Jews themselves.

What should stand out is Paul’s warning that we keep our hearts and minds focused. If this were a political debate our coaches would remind us to “stay on topic – don’t stray from the message.”  What is that message?

That salvation is a free gift, available to all and it can’t be earned – it can only be accepted.
While we are to do good works, that doesn’t earn salvation.
The whole of the gospel boils down to that basic message.

My takeaway is this:

Rejoice in the Lord – let Him be our source of joy, and be thankful that we don’t have to earn our salvation. If that were the case we’d all be doomed. “As doomed as doomed can be.” (Bonus points to anyone who knows the reference and where this quote comes from…)

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

Take this thought with you into today: You cannot control the events and circumstances of life, but you can control your reaction to those events and circumstances.