The Con Game

“For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3).

Just stop. Right now. Quit trying. Don't fall for the cont. You’re wasting your time. You can’t do it. You cannot save yourself. And even if you could (which you CAN’T!), you can’t keep yourself saved. Before you completely punk out on any hope of a relationship with God, there’s some good news. Some VERY Good News. “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (v3). While you and I are completely helpless to rescue ourselves, God does for us what we could never do. As a matter of fact, the entire Trinity teams up on our behalf. Father, Son, and Spirit roll up their supernatural sleeves to do what we could never do. We’re cut free from our sin. We don’t thump our own chest but point to the One who deserves the applause. And this starts when we come to the cold, cruel reality that we’re not all that and a bag a chips.

Paul writes to the church in Philippi from behind bars in Rome. He’s firing off a quick note of encouragement to some of his favorite people on the planet. He fell in love with these folks several years back on his second tour of the Mediterranean rim telling everyone who would listen about Jesus (Acts 16:12-40). While he waits for Caesar to hear his appeal, the apostle has already written letters putting out fires among believers in Colossae and Ephesus. Those folks are faced with a false teaching which says Jesus alone can’t get us in God’s kingdom, much less keep us in. According to these spiritual hucksters, we have to work our butts off following all sorts of religious rites, rules, and rituals in order stay saved. So Paul includes a couple of lines of warning to his Philippian friends warning against buying this spiritual snake oil.

Maybe the people spreading this message aren’t so bad after all. Rewind one verse and check out the apostle’s description of these knuckleheads. “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh” (Phil 3:2). Dogs. Wicked workers. Mutilators. They sound less like pastors and mentors than characters from a Stephen King novel. These false teachers try to weasel into local churches and dupe the followers of Jesus to trusting in their own efforts. You need to know that there was a HUGE controversy over what to do with all of these Gentiles God was saving. Since nearly all the believers were Jewish to this point, a lot of folks thought it would be a great idea for these non-Jews to convert to Judaism as a requirement of following Jesus. You can imagine circumcision was kind of a big deal. Eventually, the big dogs at the home office back in Jerusalem decided this was a non-starter (Acts 15:1-29). You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from Gentile believers.

But the ruling from church leaders didn’t stop a crew called the Judaizers from wreaking havoc among the followers of Jesus. They peddled a false gospel which included that very delicate and personal surgical procedure. That’s exactly who and what Paul talks about in the previous verse when warns us of the “mutilators of the flesh” (Phil 3:2). Instead, “we are the circumcision” (v3). He’s saying the true followers of Jesus aren’t saved by a scalpel. Instead of someone hacking away at my human flesh, God cuts away the sin and spiritual impurity from my previously wicked heart. For a better understanding of this idea of spiritual circumcision, The Message calls these folks “the real believers” (v3 The Message). The apostle makes this point in a letter to Roman believers. “Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of the Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith” (Rom 2:29-30). Even with all the incredible advances in medicine today, there’s not a surgeon anywhere skilled enough to do that. But God can. Instead of hacking away at human flesh like Sweeney Todd, God gently and precisely slices away our sin. He does what we could not. 

After God slices and dices the sin from your heart, we are now able to “worship by the Spirit of God” (v3). The Father and Son now partner up so that we can truly treasure and cherish God for who He is and what He’s done. Paul uses an interesting Greek word here for “worship” (v3). This is latreuo, which means to serve, venerate, perform activities which recognize faith in God. The emphasis of the word is activity. Jesus uses this term in one of His comebacks to Satan during His temptation. Christ drops a little Deuteronomy on the devil and says, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve (Gr. latreuo)” (Mt 4:10). We only able to worship God through our service because of His Spirit has gotten involved. Jesus tells the Samaritan woman all about the mysterious spiritual connection in genuine worship. “True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people who worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn 4:23-24). The Father trims our sin. The Spirit allows us to worship and serve.

Instead of thumping our own chest and taking any credit, we “glory in Christ Jesus” (v3). The apostle uses a slightly different word here than we normally see in the NT for glory. This is the verb kauchaomai, which describes boasting or taking pride in something. We don’t celebrate what we’ve done. We don’t take center stage and bask in the applause. No, we know the spotlight is reserved for just for Jesus. We rejoice because of what He’s done in our place. Christ lived the perfect life of obedience we failed to live. He died the bloody death on the cross we should have died. He rose to a spectacular new life we don’t deserve. We boast in what He’s done for us. This is most ridiculous and lopsided transaction in the history of the universe. Martin Luther calls it the Great Exchange. Jesus gives us His perfect sinlessness and obedience for our sin and disobedience. If we’re going to be proud of anything or anyone, it’s in the risen Rabbi from Nazareth. 

We point to Jesus because there is not reason to “put no confidence in the flesh” (v3). He did for us what we could never dream of doing on our own. Don’t let anybody try to fool you into thinking otherwise. I can’t save myself through rule following. I can’t save myself by church attendance. I can’t save myself by being a good person. Anybody trying to convince you to have confidence in yourself is con artist. You can’t do it. Only Jesus can. When He was one the cross, He didn’t scream out, “Now get busy!” Christ shouted, “It is finished!” (Jn 19:30). He wants us to realize we can’t rely on our own human effort to pull ourselves up by our spiritual bootstraps. There is absolutely nothing inside us that can give us the power or ability to save ourselves. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Zero. The folks in Galatia were dealing with some similar smoke and mirrors. Follow the rules, the false teachers said. Save yourselves, they said. You can do it, sure you can, hey, let’s go! The apostle puts his foot down and tells them there’s only one thing to place our hope. “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Gal 6:14-15). 

Confidence in myself is con. Check out the Amplified Bible’s take on this verse. “For we [Christians] are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit and by the Spirit of God and exult and glory and pride ourselves in Jesus Christ, and put no confidence or dependence [on what we are] in the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages and external appearances” (v3 AMP). So just stop. Right now. Quit trying. You’re wasting your time. Don't fall for the con. You can’t do it. You cannot save yourself. But Jesus can.