Sometimes big things can be said in small ways. Verse 3 of Philippians 3 is one those times.
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.
The Big Thing: Christians are right with God when they see and feel, from beginning to end, that everything about their faith and obedience is from God and for God.
Below are five quotes from one of the best commentaries on Philippians.
the circumcision: Because Israel lost sight of the spiritual significance of circumcision, focused on the external ritual, and failed to boast in the Lord alone (Jeremiah 9:23–25), it has forfeited its right to the title “The Circumcision.” The church of Jesus Christ, however, is the true Israel (Galatians 6:16), heir of all the rights and privileges belonging to it (Romans 9:24–26 and 1 Pet 2:9–10), including the right to the title, “circumcision.” “We,” says Paul emphatically, “are the circumcision.”
who worship by the Spirit: “by the Spirit of God,” stresses that the Spirit of God is the divine initiator at work in the depths of human nature, profoundly transforming a person’s life so as to promote a life of love and service, and generate a life for others; for “such a life is the only worship acceptable to God.
glory in Christ Jesus: For here Christians are rightfully described as possessing a triumphant, exultant, boastful attitude, not in themselves, however, nor in their accomplishments or personal goodness (Galatians 6:13), but in Christ Jesus.
put no confidence in the flesh: Their basis of pride, their reason for boasting, their grounds for full and exultant confidence is God himself, who acted in grace and mercy toward all people in Christ Jesus (Galatians 6:14; Jeremiah 9:23–24; 1 Corinthians 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:17). Christians are the circumcision precisely because they take pride not in what they may do by themselves to earn God’s favor, but only in what God in his favor has already done for them in Christ Jesus.
Conclusion: So in Paul’s memorable words, in a modern key, we are his people. We worship as the Holy Spirit moves in us; we place our only hope in Christ, and in that act we renounce all claim to being accepted by God on the basis of ethnic or cultural superiority. Here, then, is a thumbnail sketch of what Paul’s gospel is all about as far as human relationship to God is concerned.
The commentary from where these quotes comes from is… Word Biblical Commentary (Revised Edition), by Gerald F. Hawthorne & Ralph P. Martin, 2004, Zondervan Publishing.
The Men's Bible Reading Idea 