When someone sins terribly and then comes to fall prostrate in church, saying, “Oh, Pastor, I am a terrible sinner, and Jesus has to give me,” what do churches do? “Ah, here is a true born-again man,” and they baptize him. We generally think a great mark of a true Christian is a conviction of sin. But do we realize that even unbelievers with a natural conscience can have a sense of guilt and sin? We see in the world a natural conviction of conscience; people hate adultery, rape, and cruelty, and mass murder—that scandalizes even the natural man. There is a difference between a natural conviction and true repentance.
There can be grief for sin not because of the evil nature of sin, but for the consequences of what sin can do. An almost Christian can also leave that sin not because of true repentance with sorrow and hatred of sin, turning from sin to God, but by fearing the consequences of sin while still loving that sin. Men can feel bad about what their sin produces; they do not feel bad about the evil in them that produces the sin.
Natural conviction is related to the external, obvious, big sins people can see, but true spiritual repentance touches the secret, unnoticed, internal sins of the heart, like envy, covetousness, hypocrisy, pride, and hardness of heart. True repentance makes a man feel sorrow and hatred for secret heart sins that no one knows except the man. Importantly, natural conviction deals with my external conduct. Spiritual repentance deals with my internal condition. Natural conviction deals with the symptoms of the disease. Spiritual repentance deals with the disease itself. Not only what I do is sin, but I, as a person, am a sinner. True repentance comes from realizing, “I am a sinner not because I sin, but I sin because I was born a sinner.” This is very different. A natural man may feel badly about what his sin does to him and others, feeling bad about their conduct, but it never touches the depravity of his condition.
We started last week by looking at the “almost Christian.” In summary, an unbeliever can do all that a true Christian can do outwardly, so the important question is what are those inimitable, authentic, and patent marks of an original Christian? This brings us to Paul’s wonderful verse in Philippians 3:3. The more we look at it, the more it amazes us with its brevity and depth. I think next to our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount description—”poor in spirit,” “mourning,” “meek,” “hungry and thirsty for righteousness,” “pure in heart,” “peacemakers”—this passage stands tall in the entire Bible.
Paul, contrasting the false Judaizers, describes that we, the true believers, are the “true circumcision.” In Romans 2, we saw Paul’s words: “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart.” I explained that circumcision of the heart in the New Testament is the true regeneration work of God in the heart. I was again teaching our 1689 study group about effectual calling, and I was awed and from the depths of my heart kept thanking God with tears for the marvelous work God does in regeneration. There is no bigger miracle than that; God can easily create 10,000 worlds than to give a new birth to a dead sinner. God exerts the power with which he raised Jesus from the dead and performs a miraculous operation on the whole being of man. He enlightens his blind, ignorant mind. Now, what was so long boring now becomes very interesting. He feels as if he was blind and now he can suddenly see. His hardened heart, with no feeling towards God, with the “foreskin” removed, now feels God very close. He feels God around, and his enslaved will, which always wanted to do only sin, now freely and voluntarily wills to do good and please God. It is the first and greatest work of God in a dead sinner; it is referred to as spiritual resurrection.
I believe the failure to understand the spiritual depth of this glorious work of God and the next monumental work in the order of salvation led to many wrong understandings of the Bible. That is the problem with these Judaizers who don’t understand this glory of the marvelous work of God in the heart and with people teaching that the salvation of Christ is not enough, and you must observe external rituals. Note, I think this is also the root problem of our dispensational brothers running after the external physical nation of Israel.
See here, Paul describes believers as the true circumcision and then lists three signs that a man, a woman, a boy, or a girl who is truly regenerated will have. How do I know this great miracle of God—circumcision of the heart—has happened in my heart? WRC – Worship, Rejoice, Confidence.
First Sign: Worship
“For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit.”
Paul is using a loaded phrase, “worship in spirit.” This is an inevitable sign. With an enlightened mind, a sensitive heart, and a renewed will, a born-again man’s spiritual senses are enlivened and get life. As God is spirit, the faith of his regenerated soul starts working to feel and sense God who is spirit. His mind can see how glorious this God is, his heart loves him deeply, and his will wants to please him. All that is expressed is not in traditional, external, physical, idolatrous worship, but he worships God in spirit. That is the first sign of a regenerated man. We saw last week in detail that the kind of worship you desire shows whether you are truly saved or not.
Let us look at the other two signs. Verse 3: “rejoice in Christ Jesus.” Let us see three things: what is rejoicing, why a true Christian alone can rejoice in Christ Jesus, and that all those who do not rejoice in Christ Jesus are “almost Christians.”
What is this rejoicing? The ESV says, “who glory in Christ Jesus.” The NASB says, “take pride in Jesus Christ.” “Boasting in Christ Jesus.” All of this is accurate. This man rejoices in Jesus Christ so much that it becomes glorying and boasting in Christ Jesus. It is the second sign of a regenerated man. While all men live and take pride and rejoice in 101 things of this life, the greatest pride, the greatest joy for a true believer is in Christ Jesus. Again, allow this to sink into you. How much does this describe you?
What is your boast in life, your joy in life? Every man has different things. What does boasting mean? Jeremiah 9:23 says, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man glory or boast in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, and let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord.'”
Picture what Jeremiah is saying: the world is full of people boasting in different things. Some boast in their knowledge and wisdom. The man is smart, he is going to glory or boast in his wisdom. How does he reveal this? Well, he constantly spends time filling his mind with more knowledge; that is his entertainment. He enjoys doing that, and he feels an inward delight in how much he knows, how smart he is. He feels great joy and a sense of pride. Then, if you see him, he seizes every opportunity to show people how smart he is. He will show off how much he knows and loves to reveal his knowledge. He looks down on people who don’t know much. Now, that’s what a man who is boasting in his wisdom will do.
Then he says, “and let not the mighty man glory in his strength/might.” Nowadays, looking at Instagram, a lot of people are filling the gyms. There’s nothing wrong; we should exercise and go to the gym so we are fit. But that should not become an obsession. What does a man glorying in his strength do? He loves to spend three or four hours in the gym and does not worry about other important responsibilities. Why? Because he is boasting in his might, and he knows he looks pretty good and he’s got a big chest, broad shoulders, and six-packs. He wants to show off, so he wears a tight T-shirt that’s too small so people can see his chest. He’s glorying in his might. His mind is constantly filled with thoughts of his arms, chest, and body. Outside in malls, people think he’s just window shopping, but he’s really just looking at his own reflection in the window. He loves to stand before a mirror and flex his triceps. There is a great sense of inward delight. Nothing is wrong with it; maybe one day I will become “Mr. India.” We should all maintain a body. I look at such men with a little envy, “Oh, if I had time.” But that should not become an obsession. That is what glorying in might is. Whenever he gets a chance, he wants to show how strong he is by playing pushing hands with others. Now, that’s the man who is mighty and boasting in his might.
And we could carry on the same thing with regard to riches. The pattern is the same. A man will take inward delight in that. He will spend a lot of time on what he boasts about and wants to show off his riches at every opportunity: costly branded clothes, watches, purses, maybe fingers all gold, chains, a costly car… showing off. Now that’s the significance of the word “to glory” or “to boast.”
Paul says, you know, when all the world is running after something to boast about… here is a patent mark of a true Christian: he not only worships in the spirit, but secondly, he boasts in Christ Jesus. In other words, he delights in Christ Jesus, he wants to spend more time knowing Jesus, reading and hearing about Christ Jesus, spending time with Christ Jesus, filling his mind continually with thoughts of Christ Jesus, feeling great inward delight in thinking of Christ Jesus, and seizing every opportunity to speak about the glory that is found in Christ Jesus. He wants to show off Christ Jesus to others. So that is what it means to boast in Christ Jesus.
Second, why is Christ Jesus such a source of boasting and joy to a true Christian? While the unregenerate mind is blind to Christ Jesus’ glory, this man’s eyes are opened to see the infinite glory of Christ. He has true joy in His person, offices, and benefits. Notice the order is not boasting in “Jesus Christ,” but “Christ Jesus.” Why? The Holy Spirit has first revealed the glory of Christ’s ministry to him.
What does “Christ” mean? “Anointed.” Why? Three people were anointed in the Old Testament: for the ministry of prophet, priest, and king. Christ Jesus is the final Prophet, Priest, and King. A true Christian, with a circumcised heart, realizing what sin has done to him and its three effects, deeply realizes his three greatest needs. He is blind and ignorant; he needs prophetic ministry. Secondly, he has a rebellious, corrupt, sinful flesh nature; he needs kingly ministry that can rule and guide him. Thirdly, though forgiven, he often becomes guilty, maybe not of external sins, but he feels the sins of the heart, continuously knows the depth of the depravity of his heart, so he desperately needs the priestly ministry of Christ. You see, Christ becomes very precious to him.
First, he sees the glory of Christ the Messiah, anointed in His ministry… and then, realizing that this Christ had to come in a humble human form as Jesus to accomplish a great and complete salvation for him. What a wondrous, mysterious man Jesus is, who, by His life and death, revealed a way of reconciliation for depraved sinners before a holy God. I was a child of Satan, not only is the curse, hell, and wrath of God removed from my head, but God sees me as perfectly righteous. I am forgiven of all sins, I have peace with God. If Jesus didn’t take on this work and fulfill it perfectly, I would have eternally suffered, paying every penny of debt in burning hell for all my infinite sins. But He took all that on His body and destroyed all my enemies—Satan, the world, death, hell, all accusations and the curse of the law for every small sin I did—and brought immortality and eternal life to us.
He purchased this thousands of years before my birth, sent His gospel into my life, and effectually called me, regenerated me, justified me, and made me an adopted child of God. The infinite God with almighty power and wisdom is my Father. Adoption is the crowning blessing. In that relationship, a Christian sees the fullness of every blessing. It assures me that my God will supply all my wants, can cure all my diseases, overcome all my enemies, and deliver me from all dangers. This God rules providence and will allow in my life only those things that are good and will bring me closer to him. What blessings! The rest of my conscience after all the fluttering restlessness, a sense of the love of God, God’s presence, access to God. Like David says, when I go to God, He spreads a table and anoints my head, as a chief guest in heaven, with the assurance of welcome and audience. To see all the future like Psalm 23: “Goodness and mercy will pursue me, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” What! to live forever with God, the source of all eternal pleasures! The foretaste of it is a kind of heaven upon earth. All these benefits fell on my head not because I did anything. I didn’t even lift a finger to get this… not lifted a pin. This was a gift of that Jesus by His life, suffering, and death.
For a regenerated soul, what a burden sin becomes. He keeps “mourning for sin,” to realize that Jesus didn’t just come as a man to die and go; but He acts as the Christ now, the anointed Prophet, Priest, and King. What is He doing? Meeting my greatest needs. The goal of Christ’s ministry as Prophet, Priest, and King is that He will sanctify me from every stain of depravity and make me perfectly holy like Him so I can stand before an infinitely holy God without a small flinch, before whom archangels cannot.
Do you see? He and he alone who has had a heart circumcision will be able to boast in the full ministry of Christ Jesus. It is this rejoicing in an all-sufficient Savior that makes them bear trials and persecutions, makes them sing, “When men forsake me, my flesh decays, Jesus is enough.”
You see, there is a connection between the first and second. How do we know a Christian truly worships God in spirit? What will the Spirit do? Why did the Holy Spirit come? To reveal the glory of Christ in the hearts of men. The Holy Spirit always reveals the glory of Christ. So where is the presence of the Holy Spirit? Not where people are all emotional, screaming, and clapping… wherever the Spirit is present, Christ will be treasured. Wherever the Spirit is most powerfully present, Christ is most dearly loved, most eagerly studied, most confidently trusted, and most unashamedly confessed.
A true Christian’s great delight is to read about Jesus… to spend his time and life on knowing Jesus. That is why we spent years going through John, not enough, went through Matthew for seven years. That was not enough, so we did a communion series. “Looking unto Jesus”… in His pre-creation glory, seeing His glory through the Old Testament, glorying in His birth, life, His suffering, death, and resurrection, glorification, His present ministry as Prophet, Priest, and King, and then His future coming. Why no other work? No, that is the only job of a true Christian. Rejoicing in Christ Jesus with intense delight. He’s our pride. Like Paul says, “We are determined to know nothing but Christ and him the cross of Christ.”
You see, those whose hearts have been circumcised find their only point of pride is in Christ. They give all the credit and glory of their salvation and progress in the Christian life to Christ… that is the bottom line. Paul says, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” Paul says, “I am what I am by the grace of God.” Christ is the all and all. It is all because of Him, it is all about Him. He gets all the credit, He gets all the glory, He is all my pride.
We have seen what rejoicing in Christ Jesus is, and why a true Christian alone can rejoice in Christ Jesus. Now, are all those who do not rejoice “almost Christians”?
Oh, everyone may say, “yes, we also rejoice in Christ Jesus.” See the subtlety. The problem with almost Christians, who have not had a heart circumcision, is that they want only part of Jesus or part of Christ. They want Him only as a priest, who paid the penalty for all their sins, and when they sin again, they want Jesus to forgive them, that’s enough. They don’t want His prophetic ministry, not committed to a life of a disciple, going through every word He taught and learning to live a life as taught by this final prophet. Mainly, oh, they don’t want this spiritual king who will rule their hearts, who will make them submit to His kingdom rules. Like those first-century Jews, they don’t even see His glory as a king now, so they don’t submit to His laws; they don’t see His kingdom now. Why? Like the Jews, they are waiting for a political king who will rule the world from Israel. For a true Christian, Jesus in all His humanity and what all He has done and is doing as Christ will be his greatest boast. He is not like so many who are picking and choosing what he likes, but he takes the full Christ in all His demands of ministry as Prophet, Priest, and King, and submits to that… because he sees the great need for this.
By this criterion, true believers will rejoice in Christ Jesus. How many churches in our country will pass this test? I don’t have to tell you what is happening. Instead of boasting in Christ Jesus, they are all boasting in man, what “we” are doing for Jesus, how “we” are loving Jesus, the pastor’s sermon is all about what he is doing. They are boasting in what they do.
You see again, this is a masterstroke of Paul, indirectly attacking these Judaizers. What is all their glory? Their glory is how their nation is a special nation, how “we” have God’s worship rituals directly from heaven, “we” are circumcised, “we” are the true people of God, our forefathers are great like Abraham, Moses, and David. But they don’t realize that all their nation, their rituals, and their forefathers pointed to Christ Jesus and His work. He is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament. Yes, they claim to believe Jesus, but in their theology, Jesus and His salvation are incomplete; we need to add Old Testament rituals. They were not boasting in Christ Jesus; they were boasting in their external religion and their nation.
Paul says, “We are the true circumcision, true children of Abraham by faith. We stand as the true covenant people of God, worshipped by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus and in Christ Jesus alone.”
A man’s boast reveals his true inner self. Let me ask you personally, as if I am sitting next to you and seeing your eyes: Is this a distinguishing mark of your life? Again, you see, people cannot see this. This is an internal thing. If there is some way we can scan the deepest part of your heart, what would be there? Is your boasting and joy in your wisdom, might, reputation, attainments, external religion, or anything else, or are you glorying in Christ, the anointed Messiah and man Jesus?
If you are not rejoicing in Christ Jesus, your claim of being a believer is either defective or false; you are almost a Christian. The great goal of salvation is to make us esteem Him, delight in Him, and count all things as dung and dross so that we might gain Him. If this goal has not been attained in a growing way, we must examine our Christian experience.
Perhaps the reason Christ is not precious to you is that you may not have truly felt the depravity and disease of your heart. Medicine becomes precious only when we feel the disease. So, you don’t see the value of Christ Jesus and His work. It makes no difference to you whether He came and died or not. If He had not died for sinners, woe unto us! What could we have done about all the accusations of the law and our conscience, the curse of the law, the fear of hell’s burning, and approaching damnation? How could you look God in the face or think one comfortable thought of Him? If Christ has changed all this, and you cannot rejoice in Him, with no sense of thankfulness, then you have definitely never realized your disease of sin.
For Christians, if you are saying, “Pastor, if God looks deep into my heart, there is rejoicing in Christ Jesus, but the pulse of that rejoicing is weak, sometimes obscured by sin, and by thoughtless living,” then you see this is a great problem in our lives. Our rejoicing faith is so weak. Our Lord said, “Rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” He says to not rejoice in what you are able to do now, even your ability to cast out demons, or to rejoice in any worldly things. Instead, rejoice because your names are written in heaven, because for those whose names are written there, He has accomplished a great salvation. Do we rejoice about the great salvation we have in Jesus Christ? How strong is our rejoicing? It is this rejoicing that helps us overcome temptations, face afflictions and persecution, and be joyful even in trials. It enlarges our heart in duty and strengthens us on the way of God.
Oh, our faith is so weak. If there is any small, temporary difficulty or trial in the world, this rejoicing fades and disappears. Why? Is not God’s grace more powerful than the world? This rejoicing should grow so strong; Jesus said nothing in the world would take away your joy. Look at Paul, even in jail, not knowing when he would die, his rejoicing in Christ Jesus did not stop. We have such treasures of reasons to rejoice in Jesus, and if we are discouraged and sad with every small difficulty in the world, it reveals a very faint, dim, and weak faith. When you have peace with the Creator God, how can a small blasting or rebuke from a mere creature destroy all our peace? If you have the hope of eternal glory, how can you not bear a disappointment in the world? Are you assured of the care of your heavenly Father and His particular providence over you, and yet you are so full of grudging and discouraging thoughts when He prunes you to be fruitful, removes comforts, and changes worldly circumstances? Do you have a God in a covenant with you who has engaged all His love, wisdom, and power to help you and to turn all things to your good? Romans 8:28. What though the trial of your faith and patience is very severe?
Surely all this shows not only that we have a very weak faith but also that we are too much addicted to the world, to present worldly comforts, and to the love of the ease of the flesh. We have such low rejoicing in Christ Jesus. Do you have a due sense of the glory of the world to come and that better and enduring substance, and yet you complain so bitterly of worldly losses? Oh, may we realize this and recognize that as believers, our great description, true identity, and great need is to rejoice in Christ Jesus. This rejoicing will increase again by the regular means of grace, by abiding in Christ Jesus, by deep meditation, and by deeply growing in the knowledge of our great salvation. We just started the order of salvation with effectual calling; we will study other aspects of salvation. Join us. Know deeply what great salvation we have. If we are careless, how shall we escape punishment? Fill your mind with the realities surrounding Messiah Jesus; fill your heart and your thoughts.
A Third Mark of a True Christian: No Confidence in the Flesh
This is the negative side. This again is connected to the first two points. If you give all the glory to God by worshiping Him in spirit, if all your pride and rejoicing is in Christ, then you are a person who will certainly not put any confidence in the flesh.
What does it mean to have no confidence in the flesh? This word “flesh” is used in many ways in the New Testament. But in this particular context, “flesh” means every advantage or good one may have by birth, upbringing, tradition, any external obedience to the law, any human self-attainment, anything and everything that I do by human effort. Now, how do I know that is what “flesh” means? Look at the context; he describes what confidence in the flesh is in verses 4-5: “though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee.”
So, confidence in the flesh is to trust in or depend upon anything that I have by birth, by culture, by training, or by any effort of my own that will give me a standing and acceptance before God. It is the ability of my unredeemed flesh without God’s grace. Paul is not denying that all those things are good in a social sense; elsewhere he says those are privileges. Some of these things God could use as means, but when you want to be truly saved by God, you are saved by God’s grace. We don’t depend on these for salvation, but on God. Jesus said all that flesh begets is flesh; only what the Spirit begets is of the Spirit.
Now, the distinguishing mark of all of God’s people is that they put no confidence in the flesh. You see how he’s striking at the Judaizers again. All their confidence was in the flesh—in their Jewish birth, that they are Abraham’s children, their circumcision, following Moses’s law, and what they did and could do. You know what? It got them nothing. Romans 3:19-20 says that “no one… no one will be redeemed by the flesh.” By the deeds of the flesh, nobody gets justified. But they went around teaching people to stop worshiping God in spirit and rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and instead to put confidence in the flesh, to circumcise themselves, to follow rituals, and to make sacrifices.
Judaizers trusted their outward acts as a means to please God. Oh, the deadly danger of this confidence has deceived and sent more people to hell than anything else. What confidence it gives! They are more confident of being accepted by God and going to heaven than even a true believer’s confidence. But they don’t realize they are living a deception. Oh, what powerful confidence it gives that even hinders them from coming to God through the true Gospel! It is a false, imaginary happiness, secured in some counterfeit self-righteousness, in which they please themselves. Until God opens their eyes, they will never seek after God’s righteousness. We can call it the “confidence in the flesh” religion; it is so diversified according to people’s education and knowledge. Pagans had their own way. Jews used the Old Testament to create their own external religion—an outward profession, or some strict form without the power, under which we shelter ourselves and by which we bolster up our confidence until God convinces us of our mistakes.
Judaizers did not die in the first century; a legal spirit is natural to us; we are natural legalists. We love to justify ourselves and sanctify ourselves by doing something because it appeals to our fleshly pride and self-righteousness. Why even the New Testament Judaizers? We can trust our godliness, waking up early in the morning, daily prayer, Bible reading, a devotional life, the sacrifices we make, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, coming to church, and listening to a sermon—all external acts. We can have confidence in the time we spend in prayer, the number of chapters we read, and the number of verses we memorize. All these are means, outward expressions of the inward reality of faith, love, and worship. Without the inward realities, all these are empty, and if you just trust in these outward acts and think you have gained God’s favor by doing them, you are an almost Christian and are deceiving yourself.
The question is not whether you heard the Gospel and understood it, but have you felt the power of the Gospel in your experience? The question is not whether you have been baptized, but have all your sins been forgiven? The question is not whether you take communion, but whether you have a living, vital, and relational union with Christ Jesus? We should go beyond, “Yes, I am reading the whole Bible calendar,” to ask, “Is there fruit from all that in my life?” We should go beyond the question of whether you prayed to ask, “Did prayer fill you with peace beyond understanding and guard your heart in Christ Jesus?” Go beyond attending church to ask, “Did you worship God from your heart?” God hatefully says, “This people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.”
All this danger of boasting in the flesh—how many years of ministry, how big our church building is, how many members we have, how many attend our service, how many YouTube subscribers and likes, how “Reformed” we are, and how faithful to the truth we are—is a fascination with external things and achievements rather than with who we are inside in Christ. The true Christian has one source and one center of boasting and glory, and that is Christ Jesus—that is all. It is not what we are, what we have done, or what we have attained. All confidence in the flesh is a direct attack on the very vitality of the spirit of worship and rejoicing in Christ.
“Beware of dogs.” Oh, may we realize the danger of this. We are surrounded by this infection. Our country, infected with Arminian teaching, is nothing but people who put confidence in the flesh. It is a flesh-confidence religion. They believe they have the ability to save themselves and please God. How many today are preaching this in our country? Instead of preaching the true Gospel and what Jesus did, all preaching is about what you can do, what you should sacrifice, boasting in that, and teaching people to sacrifice this and that, to fast for 21 days, and to do this and that. So many follow them and make such big sacrifices in life; some sell their wealth, some do not marry, and some leave their family. All their confidence is in the flesh. Instead of the cross, a life of losses becomes their point of confidence. But the mark of true circumcision is that they put no confidence in the flesh.
There are only two religions: one is true, and all false religion is a confidence-in-the-flesh religion. There is a religion of the flesh. The flesh seeks to justify itself, sanctify itself, and seeks to enter heaven by its own efforts without God’s grace. If your religious life is one of self-effort and self-confidence, you are blind; your eyes cannot see the superlative beauty, excellence, and worth of Jesus Christ. I have observed that the more external pomp there is of man’s devising—traditional coverings of dress, priestcraft, music—the less internal spiritual reality there is. People love the external form of godliness because it satisfies the flesh. It is much easier than spiritual worship. It is for a while, and it calms the conscience: “Oh, what peace. We went to a big church and prayed and heard a sermon today.” It doesn’t make them holy or spiritual; it doesn’t kill their lusts or mortify their sin; there is no serious godliness. It fills them with a sense of self-righteous pride, so the flesh makes people very satisfied and appeases their conscience with a false confidence that they are God’s children. But the deadly danger is that this is confidence in the flesh. Every person that has a conscience must have something to trust in. So, a person gets deceived by this external religion and puts his confidence in the flesh. Self-righteousness deceptively calms all fears of sin’s punishment.
Adding to this deception, external forms of religion bring great praise from people. But not internal, true religion. Romans 2:29 says, “Whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Oh, how powerful this influence of praise from people has over the masses. The world will be rebuking and hating him. Let a man put on an external show of religion, and see how he is praised, applauded, and loved and accepted by the world. His parents love and support him: “Oh, our child is so godly.” The church loves him, and people in his job say, “Oh, you go to church and pray. Wow.” Once a person gets that kick from the praise of people, even if he has no inward reality, he wants to continue to put on the form of godliness. He doesn’t want to get their disappointment or hate if he leaves it. So, a person is set on an external religious lifestyle by his community. What’s the big deal? Go for two hours on Sunday and be godly; outside, put on a show. What a “kick” for me as a pastor to put on an outward show and preach and get appreciated without an inward reality. The “almost Christian” is all about these externals, with no care for the condition of the heart. Are you like that?
If there is something instead of Christ that can keep the conscience quiet, it is the deceptive religion of confidence in the flesh. The great danger of the confidence-in-the-flesh religion is that it completely twists the Gospel, so the true Gospel of God’s grace through faith is completely neglected and rejected. The horror is that the world is full of “almost Christians” who do not worship God in spirit and do not rejoice in Christ Jesus. See the kind of sermons. Whenever I put a title about Jesus Christ, the cross, the Gospel, or the glory of Christ Jesus, there are very few views. The superficial righteousness not only keeps people from Christ but sets them against Christ, His way, His servants, and His true interests in the world. These were “dogs, evil-workers,” to whom the apostle opposes the true Christians.
The first use is a personal caution. Beware of the confidence-in-the-flesh religion, confidence in external things without internal reality. Look to your hearts to be upright with God. Be careful of false peace and false happiness that comes just from external religion. Beware of self-righteousness, for this is plain confidence in the flesh. This makes you senseless and ignorant of your danger and careless about the means of grace. It makes us less prayerful and less likely to read Scripture, like a Pharisee. Can you go on to such danger? Like them, where Christ says that tax collectors and prostitutes enter into the kingdom of God before Pharisees and self-justiciaries (Matthew 21:31). No condition is more dangerous than to be fully depraved and yet feel self-righteous and that everything is fine with us, confident in the flesh, in external observances, without real internal holiness.
The best way to avoid the confidence-in-the-flesh religion is by practicing the first two signs. If you make it your business and purpose to worship God in the spirit, you will rejoice in Christ. Spiritual worship will make God precious to us, and His word will convince us of our defects, and you will see a need for Christ’s renewing and reconciling grace.
If you have no confidence in the flesh:
- You are still kept humble and thankful. Humble, with a sense of sin and deserved wrath; confessing and forsaking your sins, and glorying in Christ only. You are kept vile in your own eyes, and in a humble admiration of grace. And you ascribe all to the mercy of God and the merit of Christ, blessing God for Him and imploring pardon for your best duties, as our righteousness is but as filthy rags.
- Partial external acts will not fill you with self-righteousness because you will not be satisfied with that. A heart that finds rest in empty formal services certainly places confidence in the flesh. They do not look to see whether it has affected their heart, killed their lusts, or whether they have grown in holiness or the change of their natures. They perform external acts and think all is done. They even go so far as to challenge God. Isaiah 58:3: “Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?” And Luke 18:12: “I fast twice in the week, and I give tithe of all that I possess.”
- Thankfulness or gratitude sets you to work for God, rather than a legal conscience that says, “Oh, I have done and paid God’s debt.” Duties are performed as a thank-offering rather than a sin-offering, out of love to God rather than fear.
Application
So, we have seen three signs of the original Christian—WRC (Worship, Rejoice, Confidence). They are the true circumcision, God’s true covenant people who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. When we take a group photo, the first thing we do is see the picture and our eyes automatically go to us, don’t they? I am not the only one doing it. Though there are 100 people, we can clearly identify ourselves. I will not look at Pastor Bala and wonder whether it is me or Pastor Bala. No, I clearly know me. Why? I have enough self-awareness of my nose, forehead, and hair; I can easily recognize myself.
Paul is drawing a picture before us of a true child of God in these three signs. Do you see yourself in Philippians 3:3 this morning? All these are not external acts but an internal mindset. Keep asking yourself as you go through this week: Do you WRC? You’re the only one who can really know your own heart. “Examine yourselves.” I can’t examine you. You can fool me because you can do all the outward duties. You can be an “almost Christian,” and I can’t tell the difference. God knows it; don’t you be deceived. You examine your heart.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 