Knowing Christ
Knowing Christ and knowing of him are infinitely different. If we call ourselves “Christians” we better know which Christ it is that we serve.
Paul begins chapter 3 of his letter to the church at Philippi with a call for the church to rejoice. Indeed, as followers of Christ, if we look over the many things God has brought us through and the ways He has worked in us by His grace, we would have much to rejoice over! But all of this rejoicing is vain if it does not see the Lord as the giver, sustainer and source of all our good.
It is possible to elevate things of lesser importance to the neglect of that which is most important. We are actually quite skilled at it. Without thought to consequence, we give more attention to the people in or on the screen than those around us. The newsfeed creates an insatiable hunger that keeps us coming back for more. We end up giving more thought to our so-called friends’ statuses than the status of our friendships. Even worse, we do it to the detriment of those closer than just friends: our families.
In the same way, we can boast of all that God is doing in a way that disconnects His work from His Word. No thought is given to His presence with us. When we do so, we are nothing more than cultural Christians with sanctified jargon.
Rejoice in the Lord?
In this letter to the Philippians Paul says, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.”
A call to rejoice seems fairly standard but then he has what seems to us to be a break. What he is about to say is nothing new and he is clear about this fact. However repetitive it may be, it is needed because of the danger that is apparent in and around the church invading its life and teaching.
“Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.” Philippians 3:2
At this time, there were those claiming to be the true people of God, claiming to be “the circumcision,” who were insisting on circumcision as a requirement for salvation. They were imposters, posing as those who would inherit the promises of God in Christ Jesus on the basis of works, outward signs, particularly in the sign of circumcision. They claimed to know Christ but the “christ” they were worshipping required circumcision.
Paul says that they merely “mutilate the flesh” … that is to say that their circumcision is nothing more than a medical procedure. It is a sign of destruction and death because it is disconnected from the internal work of the Spirit. Circumcision was a shadow that found substance in the work of the Spirit, the “circumcision of the heart” which is a gift of God, not a result of works.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.” Jeremiah 9:25-26
Their religious rite was nothing more than an outpatient procedure that confirmed their own blindness to the identity of Christ and the nature of his life, death, and resurrection. This isn’t the only place that Paul speaks of such deception and boasting in the flesh either:
“Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.” Ephesians 5:2-4
These are strong words! Paul insists that these dogs are not who they say they are—they are imposters, severed from Christ, fallen away from grace. He calls the church not to believe what they say because the identity of the church is not rooted in matters of the flesh. He tells them, rather:
“Look out for [these dogs]… For we are the circumcision, who: worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh.”
Paul says in Romans 2:28-29
“…no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”
Salvation was never a matter of outward signs.
Not that those signs are unimportant. No, those signs were meant to point to Christ and that through faith! Not to mention that they were signs given by God himself. Circumcision has always been about the heart. This is not merely a New Testament teaching.
“Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no longer stubborn.” Deuteronomy 10:14-16
“The Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” Deut. 30:5-6
Circumcision of the heart is needed for truly loving God and truly knowing Christ. Knowing Christ and knowing of him are infinitely different. The former is a work of God performed on our hearts. The latter is shown by many signs but on its own, its end is a fiery death and its people are destined for a well-informed destruction.
“Thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.” Jeremiah 4:3-4
It is only by God’s regenerating work in our hearts that we too can “rejoice in the Lord” as Paul calls upon the church at Philippi. It is only by His grace that we can “worship by the Spirit and glory in Christ Jesus” and when we do, we will “put no confidence in the flesh”, having seen all our good deeds as filthy rags.
Merely knowing of Christ results in a false confidence with an unquenchable afterburn. Truly knowing Christ leads to greater confidence than our flesh can afford. For this reason and thousands more, we rejoice in the Lord, worship by the Spirit and glory in Christ Jesus!
