Philippians 3:4-6 4although I myself have confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks to have confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, being blameless.
Beginning in verse 4, Paul gives his resume of spiritual accomplishments in the flesh before he became a believer in Jesus. He compares his own credentials with the false teachers who apparently claim to be pretty good Jews. They boast in the flesh, but Paul can outdo them. The flesh here refers to looking at things from a human perspective. This is how unbelievers view life. It is all about “self.” Paul boasts about his creation credentials in the flesh only to throw them all out in a few verses. This has the rhetorical effect of putting all the boasting of the opponents in a bad light. It should wake up the Philippians to what really matters in life.
Paul’s credentials as a Jew are outstanding. Few people could beat his list. He begins by appealing to what may have been one of the key boasts of the opponents: circumcision. Paul’s claim of being circumcised on the eighth day fulfilled the Old Testament requirement for baby boys. This showed Paul to be part of the special covenant community of Jews. He was of the special people of Israel, God’s chosen people. He was of a special race of people. Within this people, he was part of the very special tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin was the favorite son of Jacob. It was from this tribe that the first king of Israel came. All of this make Paul a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was also part of the special group of “holiness people” called the Pharisees. This group was very devout to the law and tried to keep every aspect of it. What drove Paul was his zeal to please God by preserving the tenets of Judaism. When he saw the heretical group of followers of Jesus of Nazareth, he persecuted them because he believed his views were right. In his personal religious piety, we was blameless in the law. He was good at what he did.
If you wanted to see an example of a first-century Jews, Paul was the man. He was quickly rising in the ranks of Jews and was bound for inclusion in the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of Jews. He was a model Jew who, from a human perspective, had it all. He was the poster child of first-century Judaism. In Galatians 1:14, he writes, “I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”
God used Paul’s past both to teach him about grace and as a resource of knowledge. Not all of Paul’s past was useless. The problem was that he put emphasis on the wrong things. It is not always appropriate to boast like Paul in these verses. We must read this passage in the broader context of what he was trying to communicate to the Philippians. He was challenging them to look at what really matters in life. Whatever they could boast in was meaningless compared to knowing Jesus. God can transform our past into something that can be used for his glory. This passage calls us to examine our priorities and how we may need to re-order our lives so that Jesus is indeed our Lord.
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