Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
Paul's letter was written while in prison in Rome to the Christians in Philippi, an important town of Macedonia on the great highway from east to west, named after Philip II and in his time a Roman colony. Paul had been grievously maltreated when he first visited it, yet its church sent once and again to his necessities when he was elsewhere. The verse belongs to his pouring out of his heart to his friends, entreating them to be of one accord and one mind and thanking them heartily for their great kindness to him.
The circumcision is used as a collective noun for circumcised people themselves, with the name of the rite standing for the whole group so described. Dogs is a harsh metaphor for the malice and rage of Paul's adversaries, comparing them to savage beasts. It illustrates the New Testament use of animal imagery for violent or dangerous people. The passage is to be compared with Jesus' reply to the Canaanite woman, in which he also uses the image of dogs.
The warning is against treating circumcision as a condition of salvation. Circumcision was a sign of righteousness, not a way to become righteous, since real righteousness comes by faith. Without faith circumcision is only an outward sham, distinguishing those who rely on the outward sign from those who have faith and live in obedience to God. The warning is against dangerous opponents, and the contrast in verses 3-6 identifies the flesh in which Paul once placed confidence with circumcision and related ceremonial privileges, not the moral law. Circumcision was not part of the moral law, and the moral law is spiritual rather than fleshly, while the law of fleshly ordinances consisted of regulations about food, drink, and washings that were imposed until the time of reformation and added until the promised seed came.
The dogs to be shunned include false teachers and, more generally, people who know the truth or may have accepted it but reject it with scoffing, return to evil ways, and rail against those whose teaching or example condemns them. They are people hostile to the truth and to Christ's religion who attack Christ's followers with words and writing. The verse also warns against evil workers. It warns of hypocritical dogs who lurk around the flock and prey on it, threatening believers' spiritual safety and usefulness.
The beware of dogs applies to talebearers and slanderers, since people who carry gossip about others may carry yours as well, so they are to be kept clear of. It warns against impostors who use religious claims to deceive and exploit others for their own support, calling for caution rather than extending help or trust without good proof of a person's identity. The language is sharp and severe warning language, and to apply it to Seventh-day Adventists is false and unsound. They endeavor to regulate their lives by the highest moral code yet known, the law of God, so calling them dogs, evil workers, and the concision for keeping that law exposes the falsity of the charge against the Sabbath.
Paul's letter was written while in prison in Rome to the Christians in Philippi, an important town of Macedonia on the great highway from east to west, named after Philip II and in his time a Roman colony. Paul had been grievously maltreated when he first visited it, yet its church sent once and again to his necessities when he was elsewhere. The verse belongs to his pouring out of his heart to his friends, entreating them to be of one accord and one mind and thanking them heartily for their great kindness to him.
The circumcision is used as a collective noun for circumcised people themselves, with the name of the rite standing for the whole group so described. Dogs is a harsh metaphor for the malice and rage of Paul's adversaries, comparing them to savage beasts. It illustrates the New Testament use of animal imagery for violent or dangerous people. The passage is to be compared with Jesus' reply to the Canaanite woman, in which he also uses the image of dogs.
The warning is against treating circumcision as a condition of salvation. Circumcision was a sign of righteousness, not a way to become righteous, since real righteousness comes by faith. Without faith circumcision is only an outward sham, distinguishing those who rely on the outward sign from those who have faith and live in obedience to God. The warning is against dangerous opponents, and the contrast in verses 3-6 identifies the flesh in which Paul once placed confidence with circumcision and related ceremonial privileges, not the moral law. Circumcision was not part of the moral law, and the moral law is spiritual rather than fleshly, while the law of fleshly ordinances consisted of regulations about food, drink, and washings that were imposed until the time of reformation and added until the promised seed came.
The dogs to be shunned include false teachers and, more generally, people who know the truth or may have accepted it but reject it with scoffing, return to evil ways, and rail against those whose teaching or example condemns them. They are people hostile to the truth and to Christ's religion who attack Christ's followers with words and writing. The verse also warns against evil workers. It warns of hypocritical dogs who lurk around the flock and prey on it, threatening believers' spiritual safety and usefulness.
The beware of dogs applies to talebearers and slanderers, since people who carry gossip about others may carry yours as well, so they are to be kept clear of. It warns against impostors who use religious claims to deceive and exploit others for their own support, calling for caution rather than extending help or trust without good proof of a person's identity. The language is sharp and severe warning language, and to apply it to Seventh-day Adventists is false and unsound. They endeavor to regulate their lives by the highest moral code yet known, the law of God, so calling them dogs, evil workers, and the concision for keeping that law exposes the falsity of the charge against the Sabbath.