A Tale of Two Citizenships
3: 17-21
A tale of two citizenships DIG: If the Philippians imitated Paul’s attitude, how would that contribute to their unity? Who are the enemies of the cross of Messiah here? How do they mirror Mystery Babylon? In contrast, what is to characterize the citizens of heaven? How can you spot the enemies of the cross? How does your “dual citizenship” affect your life? How do societies’ twisted values affect how you live?
REFLECT: How do you see the enemies of the cross of Messiah at work today? How can you resist them? Who are some godly believers that you can model your life after? What does it mean to have the Lord on your lips? Who in your life needs a passport to heaven? Who are you praying for? How is our hope of Yeshua’s Second Coming a powerful motive for dedicated living and service today? How about others?
Paul’s future: the alien, “I look” showing a new vision.
As Dennis Johnson relates in his commentary on Philippians, in these verses Paul speaks of two competing destinations, two contrasting paths that people walk to reach them, and two rival groups of guides that show the way. Paul and those who shared his devotion to Messiah are role models for the citizens of heaven as they walk their earthly pilgrimage (3:17) toward the glorious coming of our Savior and the end of history (3:20-21). On the other hand, Paul describes those whose walk shows hatred towards the cross of Messiah and a preoccupation with earthbound interests, and who are headed for destruction (3:18-19). Paul first calls attention to mentors’ worth imitating (3:17), but then, in the opposite direction, toward the dangerous examples that lead to the pit of hell (3:18-19). Finally, the apostle points our gaze upward and forward to the City of God that is our true home, and to the Savior who will come from there (3:20-21).
Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and keep your eyes on those who walk as we do (3:17 Greek). Paul has already commended Timothy (to see link click Bc – I Hope to Send Timothy Soon) and Epaphroditus (see Bd – Send Epaphroditus at Once) as role models. No doubt the circle was larger, including members of the Philippian church and believers passing through from elsewhere. Finally, Paul summoned the believers at Philippi to emulate his behavior by admitting that they are far from being fully mature, and to join him in the race for the prize that lies ahead (see Bi – Pursuing the Prize). Now, in case anyone has missed his earlier hints, Paul spells out very directly: “Imitate me. Think as I think, do as I do, pursue what I pursue.”
Paul’s forceful command to “keep your eyes on” is related to the noun “goal,” which Paul had just applied to the focal point of his own single-minded purpose (3:14). Earlier, the apostle had urged the Philippians to focus their attention on the interests of the others (2:4). It’s as if he is saying, “Watch carefully. We’ll show you how to run this life-long race to pursue more completely the Messiah who has pursued us, and in whose grace we rest.” Yes, you can learn by passively observing others. But here ADONAI is calling you to be more intentional and deliberate: find those whom Yeshua’s love and purity shine, and fix your gaze on how they live out their gratitude for His grace in the way they treat others, respond to setbacks and sorrows, and desire God’s glory in every situation.
On the one hand, we need both discernment and courage to identify and imitate the role models whose lives reflect the character of Messiah. The world (First John 2:15-16) invites us to emulate people who glorify rebellion, self-promotion, and immediate gratification of any and every desire (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Br – Do Not Commit Adultery). Advertising subtly signals that image and appearance are the measures of personal worth and significance. The workplace often rewards those who are clever and assertive. We need to look beneath the surface to notice those who genuinely reflect the Lord. Picture in your mind the older believers with whom you worship weekly as you read Paul’s profile of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), or his lists of the marks of maturity to be sought in the church’s elders and godly women (1 Timothy 3:1-11; Titus 1:6-9). Then, when you identify such mentors, find ways to get close to them and ask the Lord for boldness to follow their lead, swimming upstream against the strong current of the world.
On the other hand, Paul has to issue a sharp and sorrowful warning against a different set of guides, whose walk leads down a very different path, to a very different destination. For many walk, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, as enemies of the cross of Messiah (3:18 NIV). The apostle was painfully aware that the Philippians were exposed to a different company of mentors and models, whose motives and behavior contradicted everything that his friends saw at work in Paul and his colleagues.154
Paul didn’t label the specific enemies of the cross of Messiah who were troubling the Philippians. There are, however, only two options: they were either Jews or Gentiles, or both. The Jewish false teachers who identified with the Messianic community were known as Judaizers (see the commentary on Galatians Ag – Who Were the Judaizers). They argued that the Gospel alone was insufficient to save: circumcision and Torah observance were also necessary. Paul denounced them as dogs . . . evil doers and the false circumcision (3:2). Though they thought of themselves as the sheep of God’s pasture, the Judaizers were actually enemies of the cross of Messiah. Their spiritual descendants – those who add works to salvation – still plague the Church to this day.
Or, those enemies of the cross of Messiah might have been Gentiles. Some Gentile false teachers held to the dualist philosophy prevalent in contemporary Greek thought. Those heretics, forerunners of the dangerous second-century heresy known as Gnosticism (see the commentary on Colossians), taught that spirit was good and matter was evil. Since the body is made of matter, they thought it is intrinsically evil. In their view, salvation ultimately didn’t involve redemption of the body, but deliverance from it. They believed that since the body is incurably evil, it didn’t matter what one did with it. Its desires can be satisfied; a person could practice all kinds of sexual abominations, including homosexuality, adultery, incest, and child abuse, or be a drunkard. They taught that all those things didn’t matter because they only affected the body and not the spirit. The Judaizers added to the Gospel, and the Gentile false teachers subtracted from it. John, under the inspiration of the Spirit, would later write: I warn everyone hearing the words of the prophecy in this book that if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues written in this book. And if anyone takes anything away from the words in the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the Tree of Life and the holy City [the New Jerusalem] (Revelation 22:18-19).155
In the apocalyptic imagery of the Bible, Mystery Babylon (see Revelation Dd – I Saw a Woman Holding a Golden Cup) and the New Jerusalem (see Revelation Fv – Nothing Impure Will Enter New Jerusalem) represent the ultimate “tale of two cities.” They symbolize the cosmic clash between the kingdom of man, enemies of the cross of Messiah – characterized by worldly power, materialism, rebellion against God, and eternal torment – and the Kingdom of God, defined by divine Presence, purity, holiness, and eternal peace.
Mystery Babylon is the corrupt counterfeit, representing earthly things. She is personified as a decadent, wealthy prostitute riding a scarlet beast, labeled Mother of Prostitutes and of the Earth’s Abominations. Babylon embodies humanity’s systems of power, greed, and idolatry. She seduces the nations through materialism, commerce, and false philosophies, leading humanity to glory self-reliance rather than the Creator. But despite her intoxicating power and deceptive allure, her reign is only temporary. Revelation prophesies her sudden, violent, and complete destruction, bringing an end to the systems that oppose ADONAI (see Revelation Em – Fallen is Babylon! She Has Become a Home for Demons). Therefore, whether our enemies were in the past during Paul’s lifetime, enemies in the present, or enemies in the future, Paul gives us four ways of identifying the enemies of the cross of Messiah:
1. They are headed for destruction (3:19a NLT)! Having rejected the one and only truth of salvation – all false teachers face the same fate. They are headed for eternal torment and punishment in hell (Matthew 25:46 and Second Thessalonians 1:9). The Judaizers deserved this fate because they added human works to the cross of Messiah. To believe the truth about Him, but also to believe that human works are necessary for salvation is to be damned forever. The Gentile heretics deserved their fate because they stripped the cross of Messiah of its power to transform lives. The result is a dead faith, unable to save (James 2:14-26).
2. Their god is their appetite (3:19b NLT). Appetite translates koilia, which refers to the abdomen, particularly the stomach. Here it is used symbolically to refer to all unrestrained sensual, fleshly, bodily desires (First Corinthians 6:13). The false teachers were condemned because they didn’t worship ADONAI, but bowed down to their own sensual impulses. It could be a reference to the Judaizers’ emphasis on eating kosher (see the commentary on Leviticus Bk – Ritually Clean and Unclean Animals). Or if the false teachers in view were Gentiles, it could refer to their unrestrained pursuit of sensual desires. Jude described them as godless people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Yeshua Messiah our only Master and Lord (see the commentary on Jude Ah – Godless People Have Secretly Slipped In).
3. They are proud of what they ought to be ashamed of (3:19c Greek). Shockingly, these false teachers boasted about the very things that brought them shame. This is the most extreme form of wickedness – when the sinner’s most disgraceful conduct before Ha’Shem is the highest point of self-exaltation. The Judaizers boasted in their rubbish – as Paul himself had done before he learned to count all of it as loss for the sake of Messiah (see Bh – Paul’s Response to His Opponents: Religious credits that do not impress God). Those Gentiles libertines also boasted – of their supposed freedom to pursue their most sensual desires. They were most proud of their worst perversions (First Corinthians 5:1-2).
4. They set their mind on earthly things (3:19d NASB). Their earthly focus provides evidence that the false teachers were not saved. James asked: Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be friends with the world makes himself the enemy of God (James 4:4). The Judaizers focused on ceremonies, festivals, feasts, sacrifices, new moons – things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Messiah (Colossians 2:17). The libertines focused on the passing sensual pleasures of the world. Therefore, the enemies of the cross of Messiah, whether they add to the Gospel or take away from it, are to be avoided, never imitated.156
However, the New Jerusalem is the City of God, representing heavenly things. Found in Chapters 21 and 22 Revelation, the New Jerusalem stands as the radiant, eternal antithesis to Mystery Babylon. The New Jerusalem is the dwelling place of God with His people. It represents all creation, where sorrow, pain, and death are entirely eliminated. Unlike Mystery Babylon – which thrives on exploitation – the New Jerusalem is a sanctuary of healing and perpetual light, symbolizing humanity fully aligned with the divine will.
Paul, now makes an astonishing statement: My citizenship is in heaven, where I look for a Savior, the Lord Yesha Messiah, for this world is not our permanent home (Philippians 3:20a Greek and Hebrews 13:14). To be a citizen of Philippi was to be a citizen of distant Rome, where Caesar ruled his immense empire, with all the related privileges and responsibilities. So, the believers in Philippi, whether their status in society was a slave or a citizen or something in between, were citizens of a distant cosmic capital, of heaven itself, where their Savior and Lord, Yeshua Messiah, infinitely mightier than Roman emperors, was ruling the universe.157 Although we live in this world physically, we are citizens of heaven. In reality, we have dual citizenship. We are members of Messiah’s Kingdom, which is not of this world (John 18:36). Our names are recorded in heaven (Luke 10:20; cf. Philippians 4:3; Hebrews 12:23; Revelation 13:8 and 21:27). Our Savior is there (Acts 1:11; First Thessalonians 4:16); our fellow kedoshim are there (Hebrews 12:23); our inheritance is there (First Peter 1:4); our reward is there (Matthew 5:12); and our treasure is there (Matthew 6:20). Though we do not actually live in heaven right now, we live in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 2:6). We have the life of ADONAI within us, are under the rule of heaven’s King, and live for heaven’s cause.158
These two cities represent two destinations. As believers we are continually called to distance ourselves from the worldly values of Mystery Babylon and live as citizens of the coming New Jerusalem. Faith in Yeshua Messiah is like our passport. It shows our true citizenship, which is in heaven. We are not going to be here forever. We are not earth-bound. Why should we hold on to this life so tightly? One day we must go. We can’t take it with us. We should hold things of this life loosely. Success and money will not make a big impression in heaven. Are you homesick for heaven? Believers do not fit into the scheme of things down here. The world tries to force us into its mold. They do not like to be reminded that there are higher standards. We reject their values. We reject their philosophy of life. We march differently than the unbeliever because we march according to a different Drummer. We are going in another direction. We do not belong here as our permanent residence. We are just passing through. We are out of place. We do not fall in line with the parade of this world. We are heaven-born and heaven-bound. God leaves us here as light and salt to influence others for Messiah. We do not want to go to heaven alone. We want to take others with us: grandparents, father, mother, brother, sister, friends. The Lord might just as well take us to heaven now if we are not going to take others with us.159
We are not to wait for Messiah’s return with attitudes of passive resignation or bored disinterest. Instead, we are to eagerly wait for the return of our Savior, the Lord, Yeshua Messiah (3:20b Greek). We are not waiting for an event . . . but a Person. Apekdechomai (eagerly wait) is often used to speak of waiting for Messiah’s Second Coming (Romans 8:19, 23, and 25; First Corinthians 1:7; Galatians 5:5; Hebrews 9:28). It describes not only eagerness, but also patience. As noted in the previous file (see Bi – Pursuing the Prize), Messiah’s return (see the commentary on Isaiah Kg – The Second Return of Jesus Christ to Bozrah) marks the end of our struggling pursuit of the elusive prize of holy perfection, for it is then that He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorified bodies (see the commentary on First Corinthians Dv – Our Resurrection Bodies). At that time, like Messiah’s resurrected body, our resurrected bodies will be recognizable. We will be able to eat, talk, and walk, but we will not have the physical restrictions of our present bodies. Boy, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a trade-in!
Lest there is any doubt that Messiah has the power to transform our bodies, Paul points out that He will accomplish all this by the exertion of the power that He has to subject all things to Himself (3:21 NASB). Hupotasso (subject) means to arrange in order or to manage. That means Messiah will have the power to rule the Messianic Kingdom (Revelation 12:5 and 19:15; cf. Isaiah 9:6 and 32:1; Zechariah 4:9). By His power He will transform the earth’s topography (Zechariah 14:4-8) and the natural kingdom (Isaiah 11:6-9). Paul’s point is that if Messiah can subject the entire universe to His sovereign control (First Corinthians 15:24-27), He has the power to transform believers’ bodies into His image.
As we run the spiritual race (Hebrews 12:1), we must look to godly examples for inspiration and instruction. We must also look out for those enemies of the cross of Messiah who would lead us astray. Finally, we must focus on the glorious hope that is ours when Messiah returns and the transformation of our bodies to be like His. Then, regenerated fully in soul and body, we will be ushered into eternal, holy glory and joy.160
Dear heavenly Father, praise You for giving me citizenship in heaven! To have wealth of money or to travel this world, is nothing compared to the glorious beauty of praising you in Your holy heaven, along with the multitude of Your children, from every language and nation. Thank You for loving me so much that You give me the privilege of being adopted into Your family. But whoever did receive Him, those trusting in His name, to these He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12). And when it is time for You to bring me home, You will wipe away every tear from my eyes, and death shall be no more. Nor shall there be mourning or crying or pain any longer, for the former things have passed away (Rev 21:4). In Messiah Yeshua’s holy Name and power of His resurrection. Amen
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