The Distinctive Qualities of the True Christian, Part 1 (Philippians 3:1–3) John MacArthur

Let's open our Bibles this morning to Philippians  chapter 3, Philippians chapter 3. And I want to   introduce you to the first three verses of this  great third chapter. It is a significant chapter,   a marvelous chapter. We will find  ourselves greatly enriched as we   work our way through in the weeks to  come. But these opening three verses   in many ways set the foundation and the  tone for the remainder of the chapter. Let me entitle these three verses, "The  Distinctive Qualities of the True Christian...The   Distinctive Qualities of the True Christian."  Paul writes, "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 mutilation 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."

A wonderful three verses. Thrilling in  terms of their intent and content. They   demand our careful attention for this Lord's  day and next because of their significance. The heart of what the Apostle Paul is  saying here can be understood in this way,   he is helping us to see who is the true child  of God. In just these three verses there is a   very distinct contrast made between two groups  of people. Group number one in verse 2, dogs,   evil workers, mutilation, or as it's translated  in the NAS, false circumcision. Group number two,   verse 3, who worship in the Spirit of God, glory  in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the   flesh. Three characteristics of group one in verse  2, three characteristics of group two in verse 3.   This then is a contrast which is introduced to  us by verse 1. It is a clear and penetrating   distinction between the false circumcision  and the true circumcision, between those   who profess to be the people of God and those  who are the people of God. It is a distinction   between those who are religious and those who are  righteous. It is a distinction between those who  

have an outward mark that identifies them with  God and those who have had an inward change. And so, again we come back to this very familiar  biblical theme. It is all through the New   Testament, the theme of true Christianity.  Who is the true child of God? In fact,   I would venture to say that there are two  dominant themes in the New Testament apart from   the exaltation of Christ Himself who is the theme  of all of the Word of God. The first theme in the   New Testament is a presentation and elucidation  of the gospel. The record of the gospel work of   Christ is recorded in the gospel, Matthew, Mark,  Luke and John. The record of the spread of that   message is recorded in the book of Acts. And the  character of the gospel is delineated, expanded,   amplified in the epistles. And the goal of the  gospel is consummated in the book of Revelation.   So the dominant theme is the gospel  of which Christ is the main character.

But there is a secondary theme that runs right  behind that first one and it is the matter of   who is a true Christian. Having delineated  the gospel in great clarity, it is then of   great importance that one ascertain whether  or not in fact he or she is a true Christian.   That theme is also abundant in Scripture. In  2 Corinthians, Paul says, "Examine yourselves   whether you be in the faith." Once the faith  has been delineated the key is to know whether   you're in it. Jesus said in Matthew 7 that in the  last time many will come and say, "Lord, Lord,   but He will confess to them, I have never known  you, depart from Me you workers of iniquity."   So there are some who will think they are  Christians and children of God, who think   they belong inside the covenant and the Kingdom  but who are sadly mistaken. That too is a theme.   It starts with Jesus confronting the false faith  of the Pharisees and the religious leaders of   Israel. It moves to Peter exposing the false faith  of Simon. It moves then to Paul who warns of the   false faith of the Judaizers who want to demand  people observe the law and be circumcised before   they can be saved. It moves then to James who  describes the dead faith of a fruitless life. And   then it moves to Jude who squares off against the  hidden phonies in the church. And finally it comes  

to John who records the description of a church  that had a name but had no life, it thought it   was alive but in fact it was dead. And everywhere  in between all of those high points, the theme of   true Christianity runs like a unbroken thread  through the fabric of the New Testament. Someone might say, "You certainly do speak a lot  about this." And my response is, "I'm an expositor   of the New Testament, the New Testament speaks  a lot about it." We speak as God has spoken. And   so again we find ourselves here in Philippians  chapter 3 verses 1 to 3 looking at the matter   of who is a true Christian. There are those who  claim to be the children of God and those who   are. There are those who are religious and there  are those who are righteous. That is the issue. Saturday a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses  came to my door again for a conversation. I   was reminded of the fact that they are religious  but not righteous. They assume that they belong   to Jehovah, they do not. They believe that  they are in covenant relationship with God,   they are not. They asked me if I knew who  Babylon the great was, and I said yes I do.   And they said, "Well, everybody thinks  Babylon the great is the Catholic Church,   do you?" I said no. I said Babylon is all  false Satanic religion across the face of  

the earth...apart from the true church.  They said, "Oh, you understand Babylon   exactly the way we do." And I said, "No, you  put us in Babylon, I put you in Babylon." Every system of religion without relationship,  every system of religion without righteousness   whether it's Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons,  Christian Scientists, Roman Catholic Church, or   liberal Protestantism or whatever it is, whatever  human achievement religion where you assume that   if you do fewer bad works and more good works,  or certain good works, you'll earn favor with God   is a false religious system. And the people in it  are deceived about their true relationship to God.   In the case of the Philippian church, they were  obviously being besieged by people demanding that   they be circumcised. This is not new. These kinds  of people had dogged the steps of the Apostle Paul   since he began to preach the gospel of grace,  and so Paul is warning about these people,   he calls them dogs, evil workers, and false  circumcision. He sets them apart from the   people of God who worship in the Spirit of God,  glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in   the flesh. And so again, as we come to this  text, we look at the comparison between the  

truly righteous and the religious, the false and  the true. Now, let me give you some background.   Particularly in the context of Paul's writing,  he is dealing with Jews. They were the dominant   religion of his environment. And it is to them  that he basically makes reference in verse 2. Now   let me give you a little bit of an understanding.  There were many religious Jews in that world,   many. They believed that they were the people  of God and that they maintained a covenant   relationship with God which secured their  salvation and their eternal life. And that   the proof of their identity and belonging was a  mark, a mark. They bore a mark as the children   of Abraham naturally that affirmed their right  to be called the children of God supernaturally.   For centuries, even millennia, Jews have continued  to hold on to that mark. And by that mark they   assume that they are secure with God. They  belong to God and ultimately will receive   their kingdom and their glory because they have  that mark. That mark is called circumcision.  

To the Jews of the time of Jesus and the  time of Paul and even before and even now,   circumcision is a very important mark. It is the  badge of their Jewishness. In fact, it has always   been important to the degree that the Jewish  Talmud says this, and I quote, "The commandment   of circumcision is more important than all the  other injunctions of Scripture," end quote. Interesting. In other words, the most  important thing a Jew can do to secure   a relationship with God is have circumcision.  Obviously it's only for men. But that is the   sign of God's favor on them, they believe.  They have attached their spiritual hope to   this sign of Jewishness and that is  what they hope in for the future. Now let me give you a little bit of a  background as to what circumcision is.   The English term "circumcision" comes from a  Latin word which means to "cut around...to cut   around." That terms describes the original  biblical reference to a surgery that was   performed on little boys. It was also performed  initially on adults and often on adults as the   record of Scripture indicates when they had not  been circumcised as children. The simple surgery   removes the foreskin from the male organ. Very  simple surgery. In fact, I was reading in a Hebrew  

medical book the practices of medical science  in Old Testament times this week and there is   tremendous detail in ancient Hebrew literature  about the very instruments that were used for   doing this very surgery. God Himself established  it and I'd like to show you that. Go back in your   Bible to Genesis chapter 17. We cannot understand  the false circumcision or the true circumcision   unless we understand circumcision. So we must  at least get introduced to it this morning. God is speaking to Abraham and Abraham  is the father of the Jewish people,   the father of Israel. And so, Abraham is  given this covenant, verse 10, Genesis 17,   "This is My covenant which you shall keep between  Me and you, and your descendants after you,   every male among you shall be circumcised and you  shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin   and it shall be the sign of the covenant between  Me and you. And every male among you who is eight   days old shall be circumcised throughout your  generations, a servant who is born in the house or   who is bought with money from any foreigner who is  not of your descendants, a servant who is born in   your house or who is bought with your money shall  surely be circumcised, thus shall My covenant be   in your flesh for an everlasting covenant, but an  uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the   flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut  off from the people, he has broken My covenant."

God says...I want everybody living in this land,  I want everybody who is in your association to   be circumcised. That is the plan, and, of  course, Abraham by now is a full-grown man,   he had to have his circumcision as an adult. God's  design was that from then on at eight days of age,   a child would be circumcised, the male child. It  is interesting to note that in reading ancient   Egyptian literature, this custom of circumcision  began to show up in Egyptian culture. For them it   had not the significance that it had for Israel,  but for them it was hygienic. And God knew of its   hygienic benefits as well. And medical science  today tells us that it lowers significantly the   risk of cancer in that area as well as fimosis(??)  and certain kinds of inflammation that can be very   very serious, particularly among those who have  diabetes. So it has a medical hygienic purpose.   God knowing that authored it in the life of His  people, but that was not the major purpose for it,   although it is hygienic, that was not God's  primary design. God ordained it as a symbol,   as a sign, a very important one. Not just for  physical benefit but as a spiritual reminder.   And the reminder is simply this, and I'll see if  I can give you a full understanding of it. Nowhere  

or at no point is a man's depravity more manifest  than in the procreative act. You say, "Why do you   say that?" Well, we know man is a sinner by what  he says, we know man is a sinner by what he does.   We know man is a sinner by the attitude,  the bearing that he carries. We can see on   the outside sinful deeds. But how do we know  man is a sinner at the base of his character?   How do we know man is a sinner at the root  of his existence? The answer, by what he   creates. Whatever comes from the loins of man is  wicked because man is wicked. So I say to you,   nowhere then in the anatomy of a man or in the  activity of a man is depravity more manifest   than in the procreative act because it is at  precisely that point which he demonstrates the   depth of his sinfulness because he produces  a sinner. And I would remind you that Jesus   Christ had no human father because there  was no human father who could produce a   perfect person. The Spirit of God had to plant a  perfect seed in Mary and bypass a human father.

The male organ then is the point at which  human depravity is most demonstrated.   You see not the deeds of sin but the nature  of sin passed on to the next generation. You say, "Well then..still what is the connection  with that and circumcision?" When God demanded   that they circumcise the male, He was giving  them a symbol that the...the outward part of   man's procreative organ was cleansed to remind  them that man needed to be cleansed of sin at   the deepest root of his being. That was the  idea. Man needed to be cleansed of his sin   through a spiritual surgery, at the very root  of his nature. And that very graphic symbol was   chosen because that is the procreative point  at which man produces sinful man. So man in   his natural condition is a sinner and he produces  sinners, sinners, sinners, sinners and nothing but   sinners. At the very point of his nature then he  needs cleansing. And every time they circumcised a   person and every time they circumcised a little  eight-day-old male child, they were reminding   themselves of the fact that man at his very base  nature was a wicked sinner and desperately in   need of a cleansing. It was an illustration of  the sinfulness of man. And even the bloodshed  

that occurred in circumcision could symbolize the  need for sacrifice to accomplish that cleansing.   So there was even a picture of the pain and  the sacrifice in the circumcision as well. Now, did God intend that it just be physical?  No, God intended that it be a symbol which   would have far more meaning than just  that. Very early it became important,   in fact there aren't too many commands at all in  the Bible about circumcision because the people   did it. And so there wasn't any prevailing reason  to command them to do it, they very carefully,   very judiciously observed it. I might just  note that they were always very good at doing   the outward things and they did this. In Joshua  chapter 5 you remember what happened in Joshua   chapter 5? All of the children in the wilderness  had been marching for 40 years in the wilderness.   The old generation had died off and now there  was a new generation. We don't know exactly how   many of them but they could have numbered in the  several millions of people. They've all grown up   in the wilderness. In Joshua 5 the Lord says to  Joshua in verse 2, "Make for yourself flint knives   and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second  time." The prior generation had been circumcised,   this generation born in the wilderness and  now growing up had not been circumcised,   so "They made flint knives and they circumcised  the sons of Israel at Gibeath-harraloth." Now  

they may well have circumcised a million people  which is an unimaginable scene. That is what God   required. He wanted His people circumcised, He  says in verse 4, "All of the ones who came out   of Egypt were already circumcised, they've died,  you must circumcise this generation as well." And so, circumcision was followed. According  to Exodus 12:48 and Leviticus 12:3 it was   non-optional. It was required and the people,  for the most part, complied with circumcision.   It is a curiosity to me that they as far back  as Genesis 34 were already seriously committed   to the matter of circumcision. And you have in  Genesis 34 a bizarre story. "Dinah the daughter of   Leah who was born to Jacob went out to visit the  daughters of the land and when Shechem the son of   Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her,  he took her and lay with her." What happened was,   Shechem the son of King Hamor raped Dinah  the daughter of Leah. And, of course,   Shechem spoke to his father and said, "Get me  this young girl for a wife, I want her." Not   only did he rape her but he wanted her as a wife.  "Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his   daughter but his sons were with his livestock in  the field so Jacob kept silent until they came in.  

Then Hamor the son of Shechem went out to Jacob  to speak with him. Now the sons of Jacob came in   from the field when they heard it and the men  were grieved and they were very angry because   he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by  lying with Jacob's daughter for such a thing   ought not to be done." Fornication and I believe  a form of rape. And now the guy wants to marry   her. "And Hamor says, The soul of my son Shechem  longs for your daughter, please give her to him   in marriage and intermarry with us, give your  daughters to us and take our daughters for   yourselves." In other words, let's intermarry.  This is a Hivite, this would pollute the line of   Israel, of Abraham. "And you'll live with us and  the land will be open before you, live and trade   and acquire property." Here is a Satanic rape.  Here is a Satanic merger. Here is a way to twist   and pervert the Messianic line by infiltrating  it with Hivites who are not of Abraham. "Then   we'll all live together. Shechem also said to her  father and to her brothers, If I find favor in   your sight then I will give you whatever you say  to me. Ask me whatever bridal payment, whatever   gift and I'll give you according as you say to  me but give me the girl in marriage for my son."

So you know what they said? "We can't do  this thing, to give our sister to one who   is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace  to us." Already by Genesis 34 they know it's a   disgrace to have anybody in their society who  is not circumcised. That's how important that   sign was. "So on this condition we'll consent,  if you will become like us, every male among   you be circumcised, the whole of the Hivite  males all circumcised." So you know what they   did? They all came over and they circumcised  all of them. They circumcised all of them. And it says, "After they had been circumcised,"  verse 25, "the third day when they were still   in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and  Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword,   came on the city unawares and killed every male."  Interesting. They circumcised them and three days   later they massacred them. The intent of this  of course all along was a trap and a murder.   In one sense it was within the plan of God  because obviously these were wicked vile   people. In another sense we cannot honor the  deception of these men. But God preserved His   line and we learn how significant circumcision  was, that if this was going to be a merger and  

a marriage, the whole male population had to be  circumcised...amazing. So they were very serious   about this matter of circumcision. It was not  some trifling thing, it was very important. In the time of David, Michal, Saul's daughter,  loved David, 1 Samuel 18:20, when they told Saul   the thing was agreeable to him and Saul thought,  "I will give her to him that she may become a   snare to him and at the hand of the Philistines  may be against him, therefore Saul said to David,   For a second time you may be my son-in-law  today." And it says Saul commanded the servants,   "Speak to David secretly saying, Behold the king  delights in you and all his servants love you,   now therefore become the king's son-in-law.  So Saul's servants spoke these words to David   but David says, Is it trivial in your sight  to become the king's son- in-law since I am   a poor man and highly esteemed. And the servants  of Saul reported to him according to these words   which David spoke. Saul then said, Thus you shall  say to David, The king does not desire any dowry   except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines  to take vengeance on the king's enemies."   I'd like to circumcise a hundred Philistines, he  says. That's what he wants to give up his daughter   Michal to David. "Saul planned, of course, to  have David fall by the hand of the Philistines."   He thought he was going to go out there and  try to get a hundred Philistine foreskins by   himself, no way. Ridiculous. "And when his  servants told David these words," verse 26,   "it pleased David to become the king's son-in-law.  Before the days had expired David rose up, went,  

he and his men and struck down two hundred  men from the Philistines and brought in   their foreskins." Rather bizarre thing.  "And gave them in full number to the king   that he might become the king's son-in-law, so  Saul gave him Michal his daughter for a wife.   Saul saw and knew the Lord was with  David and that Michal, Saul's daughter,   loved him. And Saul was even more afraid of  David and Saul was David's enemy continually." Here again you see that there was almost...it was  almost a war to circumcise Gentiles. They took the   circumcision thing as a very serious issue. They  used it in very bizarre ways and we don't defend   these ways. But it points up how significant it  had become. Now what is interesting...keep this   in mind...is that already in Genesis 34  and certainly by David's time the sign of   circumcision has lost its spiritual significance.  Okay? It has come to be some kind of a weapon,   some kind of a way to inflict pain. You  say, "Well, didn't God just give it as an   outward sign, was there more to it than  that?" Oh yes, much more...much more.

Leviticus 26:41 talks about the circumcised  heart. Deuteronomy 10:16, the circumcised   heart. Deuteronomy 30 verse 6, the circumcised  heart. Jeremiah 4:4, the circumcised heart.   Ezekiel 44:7, the circumcised heart. That  starts all the way back in Exodus 6...Leviticus,   Deuteronomy, the Pentateuch already when God  said, "I want an outward sign," He was saying,   "I also want an inward reality." A circumcised  foreskin can only be a sign of the need for a   circumcised heart, a cleansed heart. But it wasn't  long after God instituted it that they had already   begun to deteriorate and that's why you have  those passages where God says circumcise your   hearts. That's why those are there because  already the thing began to deteriorate and   all they were living by was the physical sign  and disregarding the spiritual counterpart.

You see, the point is this, these people were  religious to the T in terms of external ceremony,   but they were not righteous. Their hearts  were wicked. Their mouths were wicked. Their   ears were wicked. Oh sure, they very dutifully  circumcised their little boys on the eighth day,   they very dutifully circumcised anybody that  came in to their land to live with them,   but they had skewed the whole thing so that all  they had left was the duty of the external and   there was no reality of the internal. In other  words, they were religious on the outside and they   were not spiritual on the inside. They could do  the natural fleshly thing, they could not do the   supernatural spiritual thing. They were cleaned  physically, they were never cleansed spiritually. Notice Romans 2, Paul sums up  their whole problem. Verse 25,   "For indeed circumcision is of value if you  practice the law." Did you get that? You say,   "What good is circumcision?" It's of value  if you practice the law. Why? It's a symbol.   It's a symbol of the need for cleansing  if you're obedient. And then he says,   "If you are a transgressor of the law, your  circumcision has become uncircumcision."   In other words, the symbol isolated from the  reality is meaningless. What would it matter  

if you came here on the Lord's day and took  communion if you denied the crucifixion and   the resurrection? What would it matter if you came  in here and were baptized in water if you didn't   believe in Jesus Christ? Absolutely pointless. The  symbol means nothing without the reality. And so   if you are a transgressor of the law and you've  never been cleansed on the inside by the grace of   God and made righteous to become obedient to the  law, circumcision is useless. If you have come to   righteousness and if you have been cleansed on the  inside and you're a new creation on the inside,   then the outward sign means something to you, it  demonstrates outwardly what has happened inwardly. Verse 26, "If therefore the  uncircumcised man keeps the   requirements of the law...which he can  only do because he's had a changed nature,   he's been saved...will not his uncircumcision  be regarded as circumcision?" Of course. The   Jews were very concerned to circumcise all the  Gentiles, he's saying...Look, an uncircumcised   Gentile who has been transformed and cleansed  to obey My law doesn't need circumcision,   and a disobedient lawless unsaved Jew  with circumcision will find it useless.

Verse 27 says, "And will not he who is  physically uncircumcised if he keeps the law,   will he not judge you who through having  the letter of the law and circumcision are   a transgressor of the law?" Boy, what a  statement. He is saying the uncircumcised   but saved and obedient Gentile will judge the  circumcised lost and disobedient Jew. Then he   sums it up in verse 28 and 29. "For he is not  a Jew who is one...what?...outwardly because   circumcision is not that which is outward in  the flesh. He is a true Jew...implied...who is   one inwardly and circumcision is that  which is of the heart. By the spirit,   not by the letter of the law...implied...and  his praise is not from men but from God." There you have the sum of it all. The  Jews were circumcised on the outside,   not the inside and God was more pleased  with Gentiles who were not circumcised   on the outside but circumcised on  the inside. And again remember,   circumcision is the symbol of cutting  away sin, it's the symbol of salvation.

So, circumcision is the external symbol depicting  the need for a deep total cleansing from sin. But   Israel had reduced it to a tribal tattoo, that's  all, with nothing of spiritual significance.   Now what do you have in the era of the early  church? You have Christians and Jews. The Jews   still claiming to be the people of God, right?  We're the people of God...we're the people of   God. They claimed it, that's why they killed  Jesus because they didn't want to accept what   He said about the fact that they weren't the  people of God. So the Jews are claiming to be   the people of God, the church is claiming to be  the people of God. And Paul wants the Philippians   to be sure they know the difference. So go back to  Philippians chapter 3 and note again the contrast. He says, "Beware," verse 2, and then he describes  the Jews that are still holding on to circumcision   and ceremony, religion on the outside. They  are dogs, evil workers, they are the false   circumcision...or better...mutilation.  Then on the other hand, he says,   "We...verse 3...are the true circumcision."  And how are we identified? We're not dogs,   evil workers and mutilation, we are identified  as those who worship in the Spirit of God,   glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence  in the flesh. That's the distinction.

Paul then is again describing the difference  between the true and the false. And that is the   age-old issue in New Testament concern,  who is real, who is not. And, beloved,   I submit to you that this goes on and on  through all the ages of life on this earth   until Jesus comes, the false religionists  up against the true. They have their mark,   we have our mark. We must know the difference. Now what made this exceedingly relevant to the  Philippian church is this, when the time Paul   started his ministry really began it wasn't  long before his steps began to be dogged by   the Judaizers. And they were coming behind  Paul who was preaching the gospel of grace,   the gospel of grace, salvation by grace  through faith plus or minus nothing,   all of grace, all of grace, and all we have to do  is believe. You can't be saved by circumcision,   you can't be saved by keeping ceremonial  law, you can't stay saved by circumcision,   you can't stay saved by obeying tradition,  ceremonial law, or in your own flesh keeping   the law of God. That was grace. But along came  the Judaizers and behind Paul they would come   into the church and they would say...No, you  must be circumcised. And they would show them  

Old Testament passages. You must keep the law of  Moses...and they would show them Old Testament   passages. Not understanding that the old covenant  had been set aside in favor of the new covenant,   and being somewhat confused many of the  Christians would buy into the lies of these false   circumcision. And it was confusing the church.  In fact, it was so confusing to the church that   the letter of Paul to the Galatians is basically  all about this one subject. It's all about these   people who preach a false gospel. Verse 7 of  Galatians 1, "They are disturbing you and they   want to distort the gospel of Christ." And what  was their distortion? "You must be circumcised   physically and you must keep all the law of  Moses...the ceremonies of Moses." You've got   to have this outward sign and then you've got  to do all the ceremonies, all the sacrifices,   all the offerings, all the holy days, all the  sabbaths, all the feasts and you have to do good,   do good, earn your way. And these Judaizers were a  burden of immense proportions to the Apostle Paul.

You say, "Well, how is it relevant to us? We  don't have any Judaizers running around." Listen,   what we have running around is the same  thing. People who are saying all the time   if you want to be right with God you've got to  do this, do that, do this, light this candle,   bow down, go through this ceremony, say this  prayer, do this ritual, buy this absolving,   or you've got to join this organization, be a part  of this, have this special kind of baptism, you've   got to work your way into the Kingdom. I've said  this many times, there are only two religions in   the world...the religion of divine accomplishment,  salvation by grace, and the religion of human   achievement and that is every other religion on  the face of the earth. I saw it in India, I saw   the Hindus trying to earn their way in, buying  offerings, buying sacrifices, buying flowers,   lighting incense, bowing down, doing whatever  they had to do to appease the gods, trying to do   more good than they did bad, weigh the balance of  the scale in their favor. I've seen the Buddhists   trying to do the same thing, sitting on the floor  in a trance, genuflecting while incense rises up,   hopefully by their religious activities and their  duties and by their good works and their good   deeds, God will be pleased with them and accept  them in...that's all the same kind of stuff. And   there are people who want to come along to those  of us who believe in grace and believe we're saved   by grace and impose on us some kind of legalistic  code by which we earn our way to heaven. Some say   you have to be water baptized or you can't get  into heaven. That's a necessary work. Some would  

say you have to pray a certain amount of time or  you have to have certain prayers that you say.   Some would say you have to engage in certain  absolution or certain types of confessions where   you release your sin and when you do that God  will accept you. Some believe that if you take   communion on that basis God accepts the merit of  that. So there are always going to be the people   around who will say that, who will want to impose  works, symbols, systems on grace. And whether they   come as Judaizers or Hindus or Buddhists or  Shintoists or whatever they are, Anomists(?),   whatever cult or occult, whatever system of  religion that puts anything in there that   you do convolutes the pure grace of God. So the  battle is still there. And this question still   comes all the time. People ask me this very very  often...frequently about Seventh Day Adventists,   for example, they say, "Are Seventh Day Adventists  Christians?" And my answer is a person is a   Christian who trusts completely and only in Jesus  Christ for his salvation. If they believe that   they earn any merit with God that is a part of  their salvation by going to church on Saturday,   they're lost because that's a work and where there  are works grace is no more grace. But you see,  

you still have that same thing. People say to me,  "Are Catholics Christians?" I received a letter   this week, amazing letter, from one of the leading  Jesuit priests in New Orleans. He was writing to   say that he had been listening to Grace to You  for a long time and in listening to Grace to   You had committed himself to Jesus Christ and  become a true Christian and was in the process,   I believe, he had been just in the process of  being a retreat with a large number of Jesuits   and he was the teacher and had taught them through  The Gospel According to Jesus book. He has been   a five-year listener to Grace To You. His life is  totally transformed, he continues, I think, to get   the subscription to all the study guides. And his  hope is clearly in Christ. But I'll tell you what,   he's a part of an organization literally filled  to the brim with people who by self-abnegation   and religious ritual are believing they can earn  their way into heaven. That's the same lie. Paul   says anybody who comes along and tells you that  stuff label as dogs, evil workers, the false   circumcision. The true circumcision, hey they're  not marked by the external, they worship God in   the spirit, that's internal. They glory in Christ  Jesus, not in their own works. And they put no  

confidence in the flesh. See the difference? And  we'll go in to that in detail in our next study. So, Paul is calling us again to the same basic  recognition that we have had all through the   New Testament...who is a true believer and who  is not. And I guess the question that we have   to ask ourselves this morning is where do I fit?  Ephesians 2:8 and 9 says, "For by grace you are   saved, that not of...what?...yourselves,  not of works, lest any man should boast."   For by grace are you saved through faith, that not  of yourselves, it is the gift of God. That's the   heart of that verse. It is the gift of God. If you  receive salvation in Jesus Christ by His death and   resurrection as a gift from God, you received  it confessing your sin and turning to Christ,   you're the true circumcision. If you're  doing anything to earn favor with God,   you're the false. The Philippians needed  to know the difference, they needed to be   careful. In fact he says in verse 2, "beware"  three times because these will confuse people.   They'll confuse people. And certainly the  Judaizers would have used Bible verses from  

the Old Testament without understanding their  significance. So, beloved, again we say then   as we look at this passage in more detail next  time, here are the distinctive qualities of a   true Christian. Their life is a relationship not  a ritual. They possess righteousness not religion.   And we'll see the outworking of that as we look  at it in further detail. Let's pray together. Lord, we who know You in a true way know You  because You have redeemed us out of Your sovereign   love, not by virtue of anything which we have  done or could have done or would have done. And   so we give You all the glory and all the credit.  We have come today to worship by the Spirit of God   internally not in some external ceremony. We have  come to glory in Christ Jesus, not to boast about   our flesh and what we've accomplished in our good  works. And we have come with no confidence in the   flesh, not for a moment believing that there is  some good thing in us whereby we can please You,   that's just not true. So we're the true  circumcision, we thank You for that.

But, Lord, we know too that there are some  here who are not true, who do not worship by   the spirit, they worship externally through forms  and rituals and the means that men have designed,   who do not glory in Christ Jesus but boast,  as it were, in their own accomplishments,   their own religiosity, their own good deeds,  and who mistakenly have confidence that in   their flesh, in their humanness they  can do things to please holy God. Lord,   awaken them to the lie that that is and may  they cast themselves at the merciful feet of   Jesus Christ who in grace will forgive them for  such an affront as to think that an unworthy,   ungodly sinner could do anything to please  a holy God. Father, we pray that You'll save   those who are only religious and make  them righteous, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

You've been listening to John MacArthur,  Bible teacher with Grace to You. For free   access to all of John's lessons and a listing  of Study Bibles and books available for sale,   visit Grace to You's website at gty.org.  John MacArthur and Grace to You reserve   all copyright protection under applicable  law. Our copyright policy is available at   gty.org and it includes instructions for and  limitations on duplicating this digital file.