I. Introduction
A. Phil. 3:18-19 “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”
II. Paul’s strong language
A. To be honest, in our 21 century American ears, these words of Paul sound harsh and intolerant.
1. What if a preacher today criticized another group like this? A group that claimed to believe in Christ, a group that claimed to believe in the cross? “They are enemies of the cross?”
2. The concept of tolerance is very popular right now, and I’m very supportive of it — to an extent .
B. But I believe the Bible is the word of God, and that these words are ultimately from the Holy Spirit, and therefore perfect and precisely reflective of the mind of God.
1. So, I have to think of this differently. I can’t just attribute it to archaic ways of thinking.
C. So, I have to ask myself: What brought on this sudden angry apostolic warning?
D. And frankly, these strong words are strange in light of three things:
1. This is not a harsh, mean-spirited man. Paul was a champion of love. This is the same guy who wrote 1Cor.13, the love chapter, which said, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (v.4-5, 7)
2. Earlier in Philippians we find him reacting totally differently to another group of preachers. These men were preaching the gospel not out of sincerity but out of selfish ambition, and to spite Paul. But he doesn’t condemn them. In fact, he rejoices that Christ is being proclaimed, whatever the motive. (Philippians 1:17–18)
3. Not only this, but in the verses just before Phil.3:18-19, Paul has been talking about love and joy, he’s been praising Timothy and Epaphroditus, and all of a sudden he comes out with three flaming invectives.
E. And yet now this same Paul is calling these preachers "enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”
1. Not only this, but a few verses earlier he said of the same people, “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision.” Phil.3:2
F. How can we explain this?
1. First of all, let’s talk about who these “enemies of Christ” were. This was not Paul’s first run-in with them. Paul is warning the believers again about an enemy that has hounded him for ten years of his ministry: the Judaizers.
a. When he introduced the Galatians to the gospel of Christ, these men came in among the Galatian believers after he had departed and troubled them by distorting the gospel Paul had preached to them (Gal.1:7) to the point that Paul said about them — twice, “If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” (Gal.1:8-9)
2. And this happened over and over again. Wherever Paul preached they would oppose him, and after he left, the Judaizers would come in after him and deceive and try to undermine the gospel he preached.
3. Paul talks forcefully about these Judaizers again in 2Cor.11:4. He talks about them coming and proclaiming “another Jesus than the one we proclaimed.”
4. And a few verses later he describes them in 2Cor.11:13-15: "Such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds."
G. Let’s see if we can’t understand Paul’s harsh words here.
1. The fact is that even in the present atmosphere of our society there are times when this kind of language is not only acceptable but cheered.
2. Language about people who harm children, language about drunk drivers who endanger everyone else on the road, about those who steal identities or create computer viruses.
3. It’s understandable to speak harshly against those who abuse and harm others, especially those who abuse and harm the innocent and vulnerable.
4. Any parent would understand. You threaten my child and suddenly my standards for tolerance begin to be adjusted.
5. It’s like what the meek and humble Jesus said about His little children: Luke 17:1–4 “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.”
6. Well, I suggest that this isn’t far from the explanation for Paul’s very strong words here.
7. What if there was a treasure so valuable that losing it was worse than dying?
8. And what if there were a crime which could be committed against a child which was worse than anything you can imagine, worse that anything all the gory crime shows could ever depict?
9. What if these men really were enemies of the cross?
10. And what if the cross really was man’s only hope for salvation?
11. This paragon of love used such harsh words to refer to these men because of his love for the Philippians. Paul loved the Philippians so much that he didn’t want anyone to lead them away from Christ. And he knew that these men were wolves in shepherds’ clothing. They were not preaching the true Christ from false motives. They were preaching a false Christ. And so he warns them about them.
III. Let’s talk about the teaching of the Judaizers in order to understand why Paul speaks this way.
A. And, in particular, what did the Judaizers do to the cross that made this champion of love say they were enemies of the cross and preaching a different gospel?
1. The Judaizers taught that Gentiles needed to become Jews before they could be Christians, that only Jews who followed the OT ceremonial laws could be Christians. (And, of course, they knew that requiring adult circumcision was akin to keeping the Gentiles out of the church altogether, for, like the god-fearers, not many would be willing to endure that in order to convert.)
2. By claiming and teaching that salvation was only for the Jews, they were denying that salvation was by Christ and what He did on the cross alone.
3. By telling the Gentiles that in order to be saved, they had to be circumcised and come under the obligations of the ceremonial law of Moses, they were denying that salvation was by Christ and what He did on the cross alone.
4. You see, we don’t — indeed we can’t — add anything to what Christ did upon the cross. We only receive it by faith. It is not even a little bit by our works. It is totally by the work of Christ upon the cross.
5. And that’s why Paul was so hard on the Judaizers, and why he so severely warned his spiritual children about their lies.
IV. Application
A. There are many ways someone could be an enemy of the cross. But obviously Paul doesn’t have just any way in mind. He has one particular way of being an enemy of the cross in mind.
B. And I would suggest that a lot of people today are enemies of the cross, even people who claim — like the Judaizers — to be Christians.
C. A lot of people who wear crosses are enemies of the cross.
1. A lot of churches with crosses on their steeples and in the front of their sanctuaries and hold Good Friday services are enemies of the cross.
2. Because they think that being a good person is at least part of how you get to heaven.
3. Because they believe that following rules and performing ceremonies has something to do with being saved from sin.
D. When it comes to the means of salvation, the cross is antithetical to works!
1. And when you include human effort or human virtue into salvation, you ruin it.
2. It is not by works. It is by the cross.
3. It’s not by what we do. It is totally by what Christ did.
4. It is not by paying for our sin through religious acts, it is by Christ paying for our sins by taking our sins upon Himself on the cross.