Philippians 3:2; Beware The Dogs! ~ 20240317 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
03/17 Philippians 3:2; Beware the Dogs! Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20240317_philippians-3_2.mp3
Rejoice!
In the first two chapters Paul exhorted the church in Philippi to unity, to humble others-centered self-sacrificial service to others. He pointed them to our Lord Jesus, who is the ultimate model of self-humbling others-centered sacrificial service. He held up Timothy and Epaphroditus as examples of those who had a genuine interest in others, who were willing to risk it all to serve others. Now he grinds the gears to warn the church of a dark danger lurking. The best defense is a good offense; he tells them:
Philippians 3:1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
Joy in the Lord is our strength. This letter is saturated with joy, and he encourages them that their joy in the Lord is safe. Joy is a strong defense against all manner of attacks and temptations. And now he alerts them to a serious threat.
Watch Out!
Philippians 3:2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
This verse is tricky to translate because Paul uses alliteration and biting irony that is difficult to bring across into another language and culture. His statements are terse and sharp, three times he repeats a staccato ‘look out’ or ‘watch out, beware’ and each of the words he chooses starts with a ‘K’ sound. One commentator attempted to capture this in English this way: “Beware the curs! Beware the criminals! Beware the cutters!” [Thielman; NIVAPP, p.167]
Opposition to Evangelizing Gentiles (Acts 8-15)
Judaizers had dogged Christian ministry from the earliest days. Remember, Jesus authorized his follower to make disciples of all nations beginning in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth (Mt.28:19; Ac.1:8). But it wasn’t until Acts 8(:1), when persecution scattered believers into Judea and Samaria; it wasn’t until Acts 10, when God gave Peter a vision telling him that ‘what God had made clean, do not call common or unclean’ (Acts 10:15), that he finally got it and went with the Gentiles at his door to reluctantly visit Cornelius’ house. But he still didn’t fully get it, as he seemed surprised when this house full of non-Jews heard about forgiveness through the Jewish Messiah, and believed, and were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Of course this got Peter in trouble with some of the other Jews, who criticized him for obeying God (Ac.11:1-3). After explaining how God orchestrated these things, ‘they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”’ (Ac.11:18).
But the opposition didn’t end there. Paul and Barnabas went through Cyprus to Asia Minor making disciples among the Gentiles and planting churches, and the Jews in those areas pursued him from city to city and stoned him and left him for dead (Ac.14:19). They returned to their sending church in Antioch,
Acts 14:27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
Praise God! Praise God for all that he has done! What a blessing that the door of faith stands open even to non-Jews.
The Circumcision
Acts 15:1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Here’s the issue. Judaizers were demanding that for a person to follow the Jewish Messiah, they must first come under the covenant of circumcision, they must first convert to Judaism. They were making circumcision a salvation issue. Paul and Barnabas and some others were sent to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem with this question. In Jerusalem,
Acts 15:5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.
Read Acts 15 for the decision of what has become known as the Jerusalem council. The conclusion? Salvation for both Jew and non-Jew is by grace, not by works of the law (Ac.15:11). Salvation comes through hearing the word of the gospel and believing (Ac.15:7). ‘We should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God’ (Ac.15:19).
Now some 14 years later, Paul is aware that this danger still lurks. He may be concerned that the Judaizers will make their way into Macedonia, and he intends to inoculate the church there against that heresy.
Beware The Dogs
So he warns them ‘Beware the dogs’. This is shocking irony if we understand Paul’s culture. Dogs were not thought of as ‘man’s best friend’. Dogs were feared and despised. To call someone a dog even today is considered an insult. It was the greatest self-deprecation to refer to oneself as a dead dog (2Sam.9:8).
From a Jewish perspective, dogs were unclean animals that would indiscriminately eat anything. Under levitical law, animal carcasses that were unclean to eat could be thrown to the dogs (Ex.22:31). Even Jesus said ‘Do not give dogs what is holy’ (Mt.7:6). It was considered the greatest humiliation and disgrace to be eaten by dogs; this was the fate of wicked Ahab and Jezebel (1Ki.21:19, 23). The Psalm of God-forsakenness that Jesus quoted from the cross contains these lines:
Psalm 22:16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— 17 I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. 19 But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! 20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!
Jews considered Gentiles dogs, because like dogs they would eat indiscriminately, clean and unclean foods. Jesus on one occasion even referred to a Gentile woman as a dog. A Syrophoenician Canaanite Gentile woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon begged Jesus to cast a demon out of her daughter. Matthew records that Jesus basically ignored her. His disciples then beg Jesus, not to heal her, but to send her away, ‘because she is crying out after us’.
Matthew 15:24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”
There’s a few things to notice here. The gospel is for the Jew first and also for the Gentile (Rom.1:16); earlier when Jesus sent out his disciples, he sent them only to ‘the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ (Mt.10:5). Jesus here says he himself is sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He makes a distinction between the lost sheep and the sheep who don’t think they have strayed. He came not for the self-righteous in Israel, but the sinners. He came to seek and to save those who were lost (Lk.5:31-32).
Notice also that Jesus doesn’t do what his disciples ask; he doesn’t send her away. He allows her to remain, to continue to ask.
And Jesus softens the normal word for ‘dogs’ here. Normally it is [κύων]; here he uses the diminutive [κυνάριον], little dogs or puppies. It seems he is giving her some hope. She picks up on this and runs with it.
Matthew 15:27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
Where Jesus often rebukes his own disciples for their lack of faith, he commends this woman for her great faith, and he does what she asked of him.
But there’s more going on here. Both Matthew (15) and Mark (7) record this event with this Gentile woman right after Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees, whom he calls hypocrites, who honor God with their lips, but their heart is far from me; right after his teaching that:
Mark 7:15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”
Jesus taught:
Mark 7:18 ...that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” ( Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Jesus taught that true defilement doesn’t have to do with what you eat. It’s about your heart. The Pharisees, who were meticulous about being ceremonially clean, were defiled by their wicked hearts. This Canaanite woman, who was unclean by Jewish standards, was made clean through her simple faith in Jesus. Where the Pharisees viewed themselves as righteous and scorned Jesus, she viewed herself as needy and desperate, and looked to Jesus as her only source of help, help that she received in due time from Jesus.
Jesus flips the tables and calls the self-righteous religious people unclean dogs, and he invites this desperate and needy sinner to come eat from the Master’s table.
Paul with similar irony calls the meticulous religious box-checkers unscrupulous ‘dogs’, and warns the church ‘beware of the dogs.’
Beware The Evil-Workers
Paul warns; beware the evil-workers. Those who promote doing what the law requires Paul here calls workers of evil, and he warns the church to watch out for them. How can those who promote obedience to God’s law be considered workers of evil?
It matters not only what you do, but why you do what you do. Obedience to God is good. Doing good is good if it’s done for a good reason. Think of the familiar verses in Ephesians 2;
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Good works are good, but salvation is never a result of the good we do. Salvation is God’s free gift, received by simply taking God at his word. We are saved for good works, not by good works. If I turn this around, and seek to work for my salvation rather than from my salvation, then the good works I do are no longer good, they are evil. If I do good works so that I can boast about my own accomplishment, my good works turn into pride, an offense against God, in the words of Isaiah ‘all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment’ (Is.64:6).
As we saw in Acts 15, the circumcision party said:
Acts 15:1 ... “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
By requiring circumcision, Judaizers were looking at outward conformity to the law as a means to attain our own righteousness, not the law as a way to measure how far we fall short of God’s perfect standard, as a means of celebrating the grace God freely gives to lawbreakers. They made much of their own righteousness, which undermined the very reason Christ died. They were actually seeking to foster pride and self-righteousness, and as such, they became workers of evil.
Beware the Mutilators
Beware the dogs! Beware the evil-workers! Beware the mutilators! Paul here is making a play on the word ‘circumcision’ calling it ‘excision’. Circumcision is a compound word that means to cut around; Paul uses a compound word with the same root that means to cut down or cut off. Earlier Paul wrote to the Galatians:
Galatians 5:12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
Paul is comparing this requirement of circumcision for Gentile believers as a destructive cutting or mutilation. In 1 Kings 18, when Elijah made a showdown between the one true God and the prophets of Baal; the false prophets, in a vain attempt to get the attention of their god,
1 Kings 18:28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.
Their self-mutilation was utterly worthless, an abomination to God, and Paul says that those who demand circumcision of Gentile believers are more like pagan self-mutilators than they are the people of God.
Application
What do we do with this? I don’t know of anyone today pushing circumcision on followers of Jesus. But there are plenty who seek to add requirements to the gospel. There are plenty who are pushing Torah observance for Gentile believers. We believe in Jesus; Jesus and; Jesus plus. But Jesus plus anything is nothing. Beware. Be alert. Be on guard. Watch out for those who seek to add to Christ’s finished work, who add prerequisites for receiving God’s grace. Beware of boasting in self. Rather rejoice in the Lord, for when our joy is fixed on Jesus, we are safe.
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2024.03.17 Sermon Notes
Philippians 3:2; Beware Of The Dogs!
Make disciples of all nations
Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; 8:1
“What God has made clean, do not call common”
Acts 10:15
Opposition to evangelizing Gentiles
Acts 11:1-3, 18; 14:19, 27; 15:1, 5, 7, 11, 19
Dogs; unclean animals that eat indiscriminately
2 Samuel 9:8; Exodus 22:31; Matthew 7:6; 1 Kings 21:19, 23; Psalm 22:16, 20
Jesus commends the Canaanite woman
Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30; cf. Matt.10:5
Jesus condemns the self-righteous Pharisees
Matthew 15:7-20; Mark 7:13-23; cf. Luke 5:31-32
Evil Workers
Ephesians 2:8-10; Isaiah 64:6
Mutilators
Galatians 5:12; 1 Kings 18:28-29
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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org