“For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” Philippians 3:18-21 -> me: There is some good conversation on who the ‘many’ are that Paul is talking about here in verse 18. One idea is that these are Jewish Christians who are still leaning on the law as way to attain righteousness and justification. The other is that these are a group of teachers who are saying that the body was an irrelevance once the mind had been illumined and the soul redeemed. Therefore moral constraints could be ignored and no carnal sin could stain the pure soul – in some cases using grace as a ground of license (a false teaching Paul addresses in Romans 6:1 and following). I tend to think he is talking about the latter group. BUT! Unlike these, our citizenship is in heaven! I love this! I am still drawn to Paul’s ‘tell you with tears’. As much as these people were the enemies of the cross, Paul’s heart still ached for them. I have to ask myself – do I have a deep sorrow for the people I see false teaching, no -> I find myself angry at them…even bitter toward them. I need a heart more like Paul’s.
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