There are two dominant themes in the New Testament. The first theme in the New Testament is a presentation and elucidation of the gospel. But there is a secondary theme and it is the matter of who is a true Christian. Having delineated the gospel in great clarity, it is then of great importance that one ascertain whether or not in fact he or she is a true Christian. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.
I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Today we kick off a series on a topic that couldn't be more important, how to know if you're really a Christian. Scripture says there's a narrow way that leads to heaven and there's a broad road that goes the opposite direction.
This study will help you know which path you're on. It's titled The Road to Nowhere. John, it's hard to imagine someone traveling on a road to nowhere and yet in spiritual terms that is exactly what some people are doing and what's more, they don't even know it.
Well, that's absolutely true. It's a road to nowhere as far as they know, but we know exactly where they're headed. There's only two destinations for every living soul. One is heaven and the other is hell. One is the eternal presence of God and joy, unspeakable and full of glory. The other is the absence of God and punishment for forever. I'm afraid that in the world most people are on a road to a destination that they don't even understand.
They don't comprehend. Most people probably feel that if there is a heaven they're going there, but they aren't. The people who think they're going to heaven might base that on their heritage.
They might base it on their sincerity, their goodness, their religiosity, their tradition, their philanthropy, their charity. And so they must be on the road to heaven because don't those things get you there? And that is the road to nowhere, nowhere near where they think they're going. That is in reality the road to hell, the road to eternal punishment and the absence of God. In this series on the road to nowhere, we're going to not only identify efforts that don't please God, but also exactly what it is God looks for, what He demands, and what makes a person, a true worshiper, headed to heaven.
This is a great study to give careful attention to if you know of someone caught up in a religion based on works or ritual. Stay with us for this important series, The Road to Nowhere. Thanks, Jon. And friend, if someone you know struggles with doubts about whether he's really a Christian, or if you have those doubts yourself, this study will help you know the assurance that's found only in Jesus Christ.
So follow along with Jon now as he throws up some roadblocks to help you avoid the road to nowhere. Let's open our Bibles to Philippians chapter 3, Philippians chapter 3, and I want to introduce you to the first three verses of this great third chapter. Paul writes, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.
To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the mutilation, for we are the true circumcision who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. A wonderful three verses, thrilling in terms of their intent and content. The heart of what the Apostle Paul is saying here can be understood in this way.
He is helping us to see who is the true child of God. In just these three verses, there is a very distinct contrast made between two groups of people. Group number one in verse 2, dogs, evil workers, mutilation, or as it's translated in the NAS, false circumcision. Group number two, verse 3, who worship in the Spirit of God, glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.
Three characteristics of group one in verse 2, three characteristics of group two in verse 3. This then is a contrast which is introduced to us by verse 1. It is a clear and penetrating distinction between the false circumcision and the true circumcision, between those who profess to be the people of God and those who are the people of God. It is a distinction between those who are religious and those who are righteous.
It is a distinction between those who have an outward mark that identifies them with God and those who have had an inward change. And so again we come back to this very familiar biblical theme. It is all through the New Testament, the theme of true Christianity.
Who is the true child of God? In fact, I would venture to say that there are two dominant themes in the New Testament apart from the exaltation of Christ Himself who is the theme of all of the Word of God. The first theme in the New Testament is a presentation and elucidation of the gospel. The record of the gospel work of Christ is recorded in the gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The record of the spread of that message is recorded in the book of Acts and the character of the gospel is delineated, expanded, amplified in the epistles. And the goal of the gospel is consummated in the book of Revelation. So the dominant theme is the gospel of which Christ is the main character. But there is a secondary theme that runs right behind that first one and it is the matter of who is a true Christian. Having delineated the gospel in great clarity, it is then of great importance that one ascertain whether or not in fact he or she is a true Christian. That theme is also abundant in Scripture. In 2 Corinthians, Paul says, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith.
Once the faith has been delineated, the key is to know whether you're in it. Jesus said in Matthew 7 that in the last time many will come and say, Lord, Lord, but He will confess to them, I have never known you, depart from me you workers of iniquity. So there are some who will think they are Christians and children of God who think they belong inside the covenant and the kingdom but who are sadly mistaken.
That too is a theme. It starts with Jesus confronting the false faith of the Pharisees and the religious leaders of Israel. It moves to Peter exposing the false faith of Simon. It moves then to Paul who warns of the false faith of the Judaizers who want to demand people observe the Law and be circumcised before they can be saved. It moves then to James who describes the dead faith of a fruitless life. And then it moves to Jude who squares off against the hidden phonies in the church. And finally it comes to John who records the description of a church that had a name but had no life.
It thought it was alive but in fact it was dead. And everywhere in between all of those high points, the theme of true Christianity runs like an unbroken thread through the fabric of the New Testament. Someone might say, you certainly do speak a lot about this in my responses. I'm an expositor of the New Testament. The New Testament speaks a lot about it.
We speak as God has spoken. And so again we find ourselves here in Philippians chapter 3, verses 1 to 3, looking at the matter of who is a true Christian. There are those who claim to be the children of God and those who are. There are those who are religious and there are those who are righteous.
That is the issue. Every system of religion without relationship, every system of religion without righteousness, whatever human achievement religion where you assume that if you do fewer bad works and more good works or certain good works, you'll earn favor with God is a false religious system and the people in it are deceived about their true relationship to God. In the case of the Philippian church, they were obviously being besieged by people demanding that they be circumcised.
This is not new. These kinds of people had dogged the steps of the Apostle Paul since he began to preach the gospel of grace. And so Paul is warning about these people.
He calls them dogs, evil workers, and false circumcision. He sets them apart from the people of God who worship in the Spirit of God glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. And so again, as we come to this text, we look at the comparison between the truly righteous and the religious, the false and the true.
Now, let me give you some background. Particularly in the context of Paul's writing, he is dealing with Jews. They were the dominant religion of his environment and it is to them that he basically makes reference in verse 2.
Now let me give you a little bit of an understanding. There were many religious Jews in that world, many. They believed that they were the people of God and that they maintained a covenant relationship with God which secured their salvation and their eternal life and that the proof of their identity and belonging was a mark...a mark. They bore a mark as the children of Abraham naturally that affirmed their right to be called the children of God supernaturally. For centuries, even millennia, Jews have continued to hold on to that mark. And by that mark, they assume that they are secure with God.
They belong to God and ultimately will receive their kingdom and their glory because they have that mark. That mark is called circumcision. To the Jews of the time of Jesus and the time of Paul and even before and even now, circumcision is a very important mark. It is the badge of their Jewishness. In fact, it has always been important to the degree that the Jewish Talmud says this, and I quote, the commandment of circumcision is more important than all the other injunctions of Scripture, end quote.
Interesting. In other words, the most important thing a Jew can do to secure a relationship with God is have circumcision. Obviously, it's only for men, but that is the sign of God's favor on them, they believe.
They have attached their spiritual hope to this sign of Jewishness and that is what they hope in for the future. Now let me give you a little bit of a background as to what circumcision is. The English term circumcision comes from a Latin word which means to cut around, to cut around. That term describes the original biblical reference to a surgery that was performed on little boys. It was also performed initially on adults and often on adults as the record of Scripture indicates when they had not been circumcised as children. The simple surgery removes the foreskin from the male organ.
Very simple surgery. In fact, I was reading in a Hebrew medical book the practices of medical science in Old Testament times. There is tremendous detail in ancient Hebrew literature about the very instruments that were used for doing this very surgery. God Himself established it and I'd like to show you that. Go back in your Bible to Genesis chapter 17. We cannot understand the false circumcision or the true circumcision unless we understand circumcision, so we must at least get introduced to it. God is speaking to Abraham and Abraham is the father of the Jewish people, the father of Israel, and so Abraham is given this covenant, verse 10, Genesis 17, this is my covenant which you shall keep between me and you and your descendants after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be the sign of the covenant between me and you. And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations. A servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your descendants, a servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised. Thus shall my covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from the people.
He has broken my covenant. God says, I want everybody living in this land, I want everybody who is in your association to be circumcised. That is the plan, and of course Abraham by now is a full grown man. He had to have his circumcision as an adult. God's design was that from then on at eight days of age a child would be circumcised, the male child.
It is interesting to note that in reading ancient Egyptian literature, this custom of circumcision began to show up in Egyptian culture. For them, it had not the significance that it had for Israel, but for them it was hygienic. And God knew of its hygienic benefits as well, and medical science today tells us that it lowers significantly the risk of cancer in that area as well as thymosis and certain kinds of inflammation that can be very, very serious, particularly among those who have diabetes. So it has a medical hygienic purpose. God knowing that authored it in the life of His people, but that was not the major purpose for it. Although it is hygienic, that was not God's primary design. God ordained it as a symbol, as a sign, very important one, not just for physical benefit, but as a spiritual reminder.
And the reminder is simply this, and I'll see if I can give you a full understanding of it. Nowhere or at no point is a man's depravity more manifest than in the procreative act. You say, why do you say that? Well, we know man is a sinner by what he says. We know man is a sinner by what he does. We know man is a sinner by the attitude, the bearing that he carries. We can see on the outside sinful deeds. But how do we know man is a sinner at the base of his character? How do we know man is a sinner at the root of his existence?
The answer, by what he creates. Whatever comes from the loins of man is wicked because man is wicked. So I say to you, nowhere then in the anatomy of a man or in the activity of a man is depravity more manifest than in the procreative act because it is at precisely that point which he demonstrates the depth of his sinfulness because he produces a sinner.
And I would remind you that Jesus Christ had no human father because there was no human father who could produce a perfect person. The Spirit of God had to plant a perfect seed in Mary and bypass a human father. You say, well then, still what is the connection with that in circumcision? When God demanded that they circumcise the male, He was giving them a symbol that the outward part of man's procreative organ was cleansed to remind them that man needed to be cleansed of sin at the deepest root of his being.
That was the idea. Man need to be cleansed of his sin through a spiritual surgery at the very root of his nature. And that very graphic symbol was chosen because that is the procreative point at which man produces sinful man. So man in his natural condition is a sinner and he produces sinners, sinners, sinners, sinners and nothing but sinners.
At the very point of his nature then, he needs cleansing. And every time they circumcised a person and every time they circumcised a little eight-day-old male child, they were reminding themselves of the fact that man at his very base nature was a wicked sinner. And desperately in need of a cleansing, it was an illustration of the sinfulness of man and even the bloodshed that occurred in circumcision could symbolize the need for sacrifice to accomplish that cleansing. So there was even a picture of the pain and the sacrifice in the circumcision as well. Now did God intend that it just be physical?
No. God intended that it be a symbol which would have far more meaning than just that. Very early it became important.
In fact, there aren't too many commands at all in the Bible about circumcision because the people did it and so there wasn't any prevailing reason to command them to do it. They very carefully, very judiciously observed it. I might just note that they were always very good at doing the outward things and they did this. In Joshua chapter 5, you remember what happened in Joshua chapter 5? All of the children in the wilderness had been marching for 40 years in the wilderness. The old generation had died off and now there was a new generation. We don't know exactly how many of them, but they could have numbered in the several millions of people.
They've all grown up in the wilderness. In Joshua 5, the Lord says to Joshua in verse 2, make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time. The prior generation had been circumcised, this generation born in the wilderness and now growing up had not been circumcised, so they made flint knives and they circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibiathah Arulath. Now, they may well have circumcised a million people, which is an unimaginable scene.
That is what God required. He wanted His people circumcised. He says in verse 4, all of the ones who came out of Egypt were already circumcised.
They've died. You must circumcise this generation as well. And so circumcision was followed. According to Exodus 12 48 and Leviticus 12 3, it was non-optional. It was required and the people, for the most part, complied with circumcision.
It is a curiosity to me that they as far back as Genesis 34 were already seriously committed to the matter of circumcision. And you have in Genesis 34 a bizarre story. Dinah, the daughter of Leah, who was born to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land and when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her. What happened was Shechem, the son of King Hamor, raped Dinah, the daughter of Leah. And, of course, Shechem spoke to his father and said, get me this young girl for a wife.
I want her. Not only did he rape her, but he wanted her as a wife. Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter, but his sons were with his livestock in the field so Jacob kept silent until they came in. Then Hamor the son of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.
Now the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it and the men were grieved and they were very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter for such a thing ought not to be done, fornication and, I believe, a form of rape. And now the guy wants to marry her. And Hamor says, the soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him in marriage and intermarry with us. Give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves. In other words, let's intermarry.
This is a Hivite. This would pollute the line of Israel, of Abraham. And you'll live with us and the land will be open before you live and trade and acquire property. Here is a satanic rape. Here is a satanic merger. Here is a way to twist and pervert the messianic line by infiltrating it with Hivites who are not of Abraham.
Then we'll all live together. Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, if I find favor in your sight, then I will give you whatever you say to me. Ask me whatever bridal payment, whatever gift, and I'll give you according as you say to me, but give me the girl in marriage for my son.
So you know what they said? We can't do this thing to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. Already, by Genesis 34, they know it's a disgrace to have anybody in their society who's not circumcised.
That's how important that sign was. So on this condition will consent. If you will become like us, every male among you be circumcised. The whole of the Hivite males, all circumcised.
So you know what they did? They all came over and they circumcised all of them. They circumcised all of them. And it says, after they had been circumcised, verse 25, the third day when they were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword, came on the city unawares and killed every male.
Interesting. They circumcised them and three days later they massacred them. The intent of this, of course, all along was a trap and a murder. In one sense, it was within the plan of God because obviously these were wicked, vile people.
In another sense, we cannot honor the deception of these men. But God preserved his line and we learn how significant circumcision was. That if this was going to be a merger and a marriage, the whole male population had to be circumcised.
Amazing. So they were very serious about this matter of circumcision. It was not some trifling thing.
It was very important. That's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary. Today, John kicked off a series that can help you know for certain where you stand before God. His study here on Grace to You is titled, The Road to Nowhere.
Well, if today's lesson motivated you to study Philippians chapter 3 in more detail and better understand everything it says about salvation, I would encourage you to work through all six messages in John's current study at your own pace. You can download the Road to Nowhere series in MP3 and transcript format when you go online today. Just visit our website, gty.org. This would be a great series to go through with a new believer.
And again, to download The Road to Nowhere free of charge, just go to gty.org. And friend, if today's lesson has challenged you to make sure that you are in a right standing before God, or if it encouraged you to tell someone you know what it means to repent and follow Christ, remember that teaching like this is available in this community and beyond because of faithful listeners like you. To stand with Grace to You financially, mail your tax-deductible gift to Grace to You, Box 4000, Panorama City, California 91412. You can also donate online at gty.org, or you can express your support when you call us at 800-55-GRACE. That number again, 800-55-GRACE. Well, John has started to spell out the tools to help you evaluate your own salvation. There's much more to say tomorrow, so make sure you're here and encourage a friend to tune in. For John MacArthur and our staff, I'm Phil Johnson inviting you to join us for another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time, on Tomorrow's Grace to You.
