Title: The Call from Above, October 2nd
Philippians 3:4b-14
call from on high
circumcision
The text we read today is also a fragment of this debate. In 3:2, the preceding paragraph, we say, “Beware of the dogs. Beware of the wicked. Beware of those who insist on formal circumcision.” Paul's voice can be heard very angry. It must be said that Paul's whole life led to a battle against the circumcision. Through Paul's extreme struggle, the Christian identity we follow today was secured.
Who are these Circumcisions whom Paul warns of as “doglike bastards”? First of all, these are Jews who believe in Jesus, not Jews outside the church. Although they admitted that they believed in Jesus and were saved, they still insisted on being circumcised. Circumcision is a modern term for circumcision, performed on the eighth day after a newborn Jewish boy is born. The Jews claimed that this circumcision was the mark of Abraham's descendants, and therefore of God's chosen people. Even after believing in Jesus, there were many people in the church at that time who could not give up such a thought. Not many, but most of the Jewish Christians of that time thought so. Not only did they lead a religious life, they even went to the point of opposing Paul's teachings of circumcision and freedom from the law. Perhaps this kind of circumcision came into the Philippi church as well, and it seems to have shaken the faith of the believers. Pointing at them, Paul criticizes them as dogs.
Paul's interpretation of circumcision
What is the faith of the circumcision, and why is Paul criticizing him in such a harsh tone? Are they really so blasphemous and so dangerous to the Christian gospel? How did Paul interpret the law and circumcision? According to Paul, this kind of circumcision is an attitude of boasting about ‘worldliness’ (4b). The King James Version and the Lutheran Bible translated it as trusting in the ‘flesh’. The worldly and the body are synonymous in that the world is distinct from holiness and the body is distinct from the spirit.
Let's listen to Paul's explanation of why this legalism centered on circumcision is secular. First of all, Paul revealed in detail how faithful he was to the law in the past. He said that he had a lot of pride that the circumcisions claim, and then he says in verses 5 and 6. “I was born of the tribe of Benjamin among the people of Israel, and I was circumcised eight days after I was born, and I am a Hebrew of Hebrews. As for the law, I am a Pharisee, and speaking of zeal, I am a persecutor of the church. If I am recognized as a righteous person by keeping the law, then I am blameless.” Paul's statement is very objective. He was the most ruthless Jew in terms of descent, status, effort, and achievements, and was a legalist.
These laws aren't that bad, but they're worth quite a bit. So Paul says in verse 7 that these things were “good for me.” This kind of legalism is the most virtuous and worthy life many people try to achieve. The life we are pursuing today also falls under the category of this law. Building up culture through education, enhancing social competitiveness, building churches or growing churches, and becoming a sophisticated believer are all beneficial in their own way, just like the law. This life can never be denied.
But, folks, we must not get lost in this very passage. Relative value is always a corporation that has its true value when it stays within a relative category, but there is a problem in trying to occupy an absolute position. Failure to distinguish this distinction not only prevents us from tasting the essence of faith, but also causes great confusion in our daily lives. Paul must have lived in great confusion in the past. After a new realization, Paul came to regard as “garbage” religious forms such as the law and circumcision, which he had previously considered somewhat beneficial. The translated version describes it as 'poop'. Why did Paul change his mind so radically? I need to supplement it a bit more through Paul's explanation.
relationship with God
Paul considers circumcision and the law to be human efforts. Praying, studying, living a good life, tithing, worshiping, fasting, etc., to the best of our ability, all human efforts to please God. However, Paul's core argument is that human beings cannot attain righteousness through such efforts. See section 9b. “It is not that I have a right relationship with God by keeping the law, but that when I believe in Christ, God sees my faith and puts me in a right relationship with you.”
Perhaps you who read this verse think you already know the answer. Yes, you have heard countless times that Christianity is saved by faith, not works. Also, trust is the best. One of these thoughts knows and the other doesn't. The Christian faith is not fundamentally belief monism, much less belief omnipotence. If we fall into this belief universalism, the Christian faith will return to achievementism, as seen in our Korean church. So, what is Paul trying to say now?
Paul is now focusing his thoughts on God. He is now reorienting his relationship with God from a human perspective to that of God. From God's point of view, human actions are not very different. There is not much difference between a person who fasts for 40 days and a person who prays for a minute before going to sleep. Therefore, such human actions have no significance in our relationship with God. So, what does God see in humans? It is an inner attitude toward God. He sees whether he is honestly centered on God or merely formally. Even if he does not engage in religious or exemplary behavior at all, if he sets his heart on God, it means that God recognizes man as a right relationship with him.
I think this explanation might sound abstract to you, so I'll give you an example. There are people here who are learning the violin. He will first need to learn fingering in order to sound the sheet music correctly. This is because fingering is a rule established by those who have played before in order to produce the sound most effectively. But if this violinist stays only in his fingering, he is by no means a musician. The most important thing in playing the violin is the music itself. No matter how perfect your fingering may sound, it is not a musical experience. It would be nice if it sounded good, but that and the music experience can be different. For this player to become a true musician, he will have to get to the point where the music makes sounds through him rather than he makes sounds through the practice of his fingering skills.
I don't know if it was an appropriate example, but Paul is now entering from the level of the law, the fingering of the violin, into the relationship with God, the musical experience itself. A fundamental 'paradigm shift' is taking place in him from self-effort to God's grace.
from a high place
He describes this completely new enlightenment faith as living in ‘high places’ (14). Just as to become a true musician by listening to the original music, Paul could hear the call from a high place in his faith. Saying this ‘call from on high’ will again confuse your thoughts. People who have no thoughts will unconditionally say ‘Amen’, but if you are a person with only a little thought, you may wonder what the hell does that high place mean? How can I put this into words? When a person like Paul confesses that he has not yet reached his goal and is only running towards it, what skill can I have to briefly explain to you the status quo? Even if Paul's spiritual state is clearly stated in the Bible, a preacher who has not experienced it cannot explain it. I can just pretend, but I can't explain it right. Still, I will speak at the level of my understanding, hoping for the help of the Holy Spirit.
I mentioned earlier that Paul approached the issue of faith from God's perspective. From that point of view, circumcision and the law, which are human efforts, were almost useless in correcting our relationship with God. According to Paul, when we “believe in Christ” (9), God puts us in a legally right relationship. Paul explains his belief in Christ a little more in verses 10 and 11. “To know Christ, to realize the power of Christ's resurrection, to share suffering with Christ, and to die like Christ. And at last I hope to rise again from the dead.”
These two verses are full of the weight of life that we cannot bear. Christ means the Messiah, that is, the Savior. Have you ever wondered what salvation is? What do suffering, death, and resurrection refer to? What is it that we die, and what does it mean to live again? Today we do not intend to think of such a serious subject as such. What Paul is talking about is the calling from on high, which is what he is trying to say, ‘knocking on the door’ from this ultimate world. To open your eyes to God means to delve deeply into this subject. The biblical expression that God spoke to Abraham, Moses, and many of the prophets actually refers to these experiences. It is God's calling that brings us into the life, death, and survival of individuals and of the nation as a whole, and into the end of history. Without this experience, no one can know God, and no one can do art and literature.
Then there will be people who think that the Christian faith is not very different from such philosophy or art. Although the question of the depths of life and death and the mystery of history are similar, the Christian faith has a crucial difference in that the answer is found in the case of Jesus of Nazareth. Religious forms, such as circumcision and the law, that were previously considered beneficial to Paul, who discovered the calling on high from Jesus of Nazareth, seemed like excrement. For those who have entered ultimate life, that is natural. What is our current status? What are the sounds that sustain our lives? Is it the voice of this world to fulfill oneself, the law of religious refinement, or the call from above, as Paul confesses, who found a whole new relationship with God in Jesus Christ?