Rejoice in the Lord, But Beware of Dogs

Turn to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. That's where we'll be tonight. And when you're there, say amen. Amen. Just take a quick one quick. Don't forget to give aloha. Uh this is your last opportunity to do that by Wednesday and it's a great opportunity to increase your giving. So if you haven't done that yet, take the time to go out to food land and get that done. Amen. All right. Well, let's pray and then we'll dive into our passage tonight. Father, we thank you so much for being so good to us. Thank you for uh the reminders already uh during the uh singing time uh and the reasons why we should trust you um is because you're our fir firm foundation, Lord.

And so we we praise you um just for those reminders. And we pray that you would continue to speak to our hearts even tonight as we open your word as we look at what Paul is writing um in in the first portion of uh chapter 3 here. And we pray that you would just uh be able to speak to us. Would you use me uh as a mouthpiece uh to be clear and to be able to um just preach your word tonight? Father, we love you so much. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. All right. So, we're going to be in Philippians chapter number three and we'll start reading right away just so we can get into our passage. Um, but our passage, our portion tonight is going to be verses 1-6.

So, Philippians 3 1-6, the Bible says this. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinkketh that he had whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

Um, tonight we're covering these verses. Uh but I'll be honest with you, uh it's going to be an incomplete message. Uh because I'm stopping at verse 6. Uh this is actually leading up to an argument that Paul is trying to make to um to his church, to the Philippians. Um and what he is going to say in verses 7 on, Paul is making a case that everything he has laid out, all of his qualifications are nothing compared to gaining price. So if you want to learn about that portion, we'll come back two weeks from now. Uh next week we are going to have a special evening service. Uh but tonight what I want to focus on is just on the first part of this passage in verse 1-6.

And Paul, we're going to be talking about a group of people that were very much against Paul. Now the title of my message tonight, uh if you notice, he says, "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord." So my the title is rejoice in the Lord, oh but beware of dogs. Rejoice in the Lord, but beware of dogs. And so as we look at this passions right now, um it's it's pretty interesting. Paul doesn't sugarcoat his language when warning against this group. Uh he's going to be talking about a group um based off of looking at other portions of scripture. Paul is talking about the Judaizers and the Judaizers were Jewish um Christians who went around preaching that you needed to believe in Jesus and something else.

Um and the Judaizers were very much about preaching the the law and circumcision and the likes of it. But the whole letter in Philippians, we as we've been going through it, uh we see that Paul emphasizes rejoice or or joy or rejoicing uh in the Lord. And we see from our title uh for this sermon, for this theme of our um book study, it's joy in Christ. And where is Paul writing this from? He's writing from prison. And so the first two chapters, it just seemed like it's very light. It's very um a loving father kind of at um encouraging his uh children and it's it's a man that loves the the brothers and sisters in Christ in Philippi.

Um, and it's just like, okay, we it's a warm feeling. And then we get to chapter number three, and in verse number two, he's very sharp and it's like he goes from super happy, joyful to like, I don't like these people. And be aware of them. And it and actually Paul doesn't like these people. And that's what we're going to be talking about tonight. We're going to be talking about the group that Paul is is calling out and is warning this church in Philippi to beware of. And so, as we look at our passage, we see in verse number one, actually, in order for us to understand who Paul is really talking about, um, instead of you just trusting that I'm saying that these are the the people that Paul is talking about, we need to look at verse number three.

Um in verse number three, Paul said this, "For we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh." And so before we we uh understand who he's talking about with the dogs and the evil workers and the concision, we see in verse number three that Paul is actually making a contrast to those people. So before we go and and guess, oh, who who is Paul talking about? Is it this specific person? Is it like just dogs in general? Is it like people that are evil in what they do? No, Paul is actually speaking about a specific group. And he is he and we understand that from making this contrast.

The way he's making the contrast. We are the circumcision, not them. We are the one that worship God in the spirit, not them. We are the one that have no confidence in the flesh, not them. So it's clear to us that Paul is talking about a specific group of people. Now I don't think we have these people in our church. Um but I think we can have the spirit of this people. And so just follow with me as we we get through this this passage as we look at what Paul says about them. And so, um, in Acts chapter number 15, I want to I'm going to give you guys where we first hear about this this group. Acts chapter 15, this is known as the Jerusalem Council.

And this is our first encounter with these uh group of men, these group of people that um later on are very much against Paul. But in this in the early stages of the church, we see Paul's en encounter with these people. In Acts chapter number 15 in verse number one, the Bible says, "And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." Now, I want you to understand he's saying Judea taught the brethren. Okay? So these these people they came to talk to Christians and they're telling the Christians unless you do this ritual that Moses talked about you are not saved.

In verse number two, he said, "When therefore Paul and Barnabas," Luke is the one writing this by the way, "had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question." Now notice it says when therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation. Um the idea there is they got into a very heated argument. Um it says no small meaning that this was not a little argument. Uh Paul and Barnabas when these people were preaching this message about what you need to do to get saved on top of Jesus.

Paul and Barnabas were very much ready to defend. Okay. In verse number four down, it says, "And when they were come to Jerusalem, they received of the church and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had what God had done with them. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees, which believed." So these in the at the beginning these were actually believers which believed saying that it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, "Men and brethren, ye know how that at a good while ago, God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

And God which knoweth the hearts, bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why tempt me ye God? And then listen, listen to this, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear. But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as day." Then all the multitude kept silence and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. Now in verse number 24 the Bible says this.

For as much as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words subverting your soul saying ye must be circumcised and keep the law to whom we gave no such commandment. So, at the Jerusalem console, there's this problem because the the Jewish um believers there, they just got saved and they don't know what to do with the law. Um they they grew up with the law. They they went to the temple. They've heard the law preached. And so when when it was when the gospel was preached that you needed to believe in Jesus to be saved, the Judaizers at the at the start did not know what to do with the law.

And so in their mind said, since God gave us this law, we should continue to keep the law even though we are to believe in Jesus, but we should continue to keep the law as a way to show that we are righteous. And that was the problem. It wasn't that they were keeping the law. It was they were relying on the law for their salvation. And so when they were preaching that to the Christians and they were confusing the gentile Christians cuz to be a a gentile and a a Christian, they were telling them you needed to do this ritual that the Jewish men did in order to become a Jew in a sense and then you can be saved.

And when they were preaching this to the Gentiles, Paul and Barnabas, because they already received the gospel from from Jesus and they received the message, the good news, they were quick to defend and say, "No, no, no, that's not what Jesus said." And so Peter, if you remember in Acts chapter 9, he had this whole this dream and God actually spoke to Peter and said, "Look, don't call something unclean that I have called clean." This is talking about uh eating the pork when Jews are not allowed to eat pork. And God is saying, "Look, there's a pork. It's good. It's bacon. Eat it." And Peter is like, "This is not good.

I'm a Jew. I'm not supposed to do this." But this this uh this was a dream that God had came to Peter to reveal that his message is no longer stopping with the Jews. It is now extending to the Gentiles. And so Peter at this Jerusalem console, he remembered that. And when Paul and Barnabas are making their case and these these Judaizers are coming in and saying, "No, they have to follow the law." Peter is able to defend as as well and say, "No, actually they're right." So in the beginning, it it was just confusion like what are we supposed to do with this? Like how are we supposed to move forward with the law?

But Philippians is a church that has been a couple years past the Jerusalem council. And it seemed that at the Judaizers back then that maybe some of them did believe, but some of them ran with the idea and they started to add to or started to intensify this message that you needed to trust in Jesus. Yes. But you also needed in their words to be circumcised or to keep the law or to follow this and that. Whatever it was that Moses said in the Old Testament, if they don't do it, they're not saved. And this was the message that these Judaizers were going around preaching. And because of this, at the end of the council, um James and uh the the apostles that were there, they they made sure, okay, this is a problem.

Let's fix it. let's send out missionaries with Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and these other uh Jewish men. They would go to these churches and they would actually comfort the churches and straighten what was not made straight and and clarify what the gospel was. And so, at the end of Acts chapter 15, you see that that they actually do send missionaries out and they're now going to clarify what the gospel was. But then we get to Philippians and we see that there are those Judaizers that have intensified and are continuing to um preach this gospel which Paul actually said is not the gospel. And we see Paul encounter this people again this group again in the book of Galatians.

When Paul is writing to the Galatians, um he is very again his tone is very much I'm defending the Christians and I'm against anybody that preaches against the gospel. And we see in Galatians um Peter actually falls as well. He uh he he doesn't do what he's supposed to be doing. He's a disciple. He was a follower of Jesus Christ. He he was the rock that got Jesus said Peter on you are the rock on this rock I will build my church. Jesus was talking about himself but Peter was one of the most passionate disciples of Jesus. But in in the letter to the Galatians um and an incident happened. Peter was eating with some of the Gentiles.

But then Paul said that when these men came, Peter started to act weird. At first Peter was eating with some Gentiles and then the Judaizers came in and when Peter saw that he separated himself and he started to eat with just the Jews and left the Gentiles alone. There was segregation happening there and Paul said in Galatians 2 11 but when Peter was come to Antioch I withtood him to the face because he was to be blamed. Verse 12, he said, "For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles, but when they were come, he withdrew him uh he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision."

Again, this was a title often given to the this group. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, if thou being a Jew live after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compelst thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews. There was corruption happening at this church because of these men. These men were spreading a false gospel. And in Galatians 1 verse number 6 and 7, Paul said, "I marvel that you're so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel." And then he said in verse 7, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

Can you understand why Paul would call these people dogs, evil workers? The concision What was the gospel that these people preached? Well, they preached that the law needed to be obeyed in order to find righteousness. And we see that in Galatians 2:16. Paul said, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. When Paul was having to correct some of these teachings, he was needing to tell the Galatian brothers and sisters in Christ that this is the truth, not what these people are preaching.

And then um the other thing they were preaching was that circumcision was necessary for salvation. In uh Galatians 5 2 and 4 uh the Bible says, "Behold, I Paul say unto you that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to the whole law." And in verse four, he said, "Christ is become of no effect unto you. Whosoever of you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace." The other part of the message that they were preaching was that faith alone in Jesus was not enough because in Galatians 2 21 uh Paul asked them did Christ die for nothing and and Paul said this I do not frustrate the grace of God for if righteousness come by the law then Christ is dead in vain.

So this was the message that these Judaizers, these men that were against Paul and going into the churches that he had started and preaching this other gospel that wasn't the gospel. This was kind of what this is the summary of what they were preaching at these churches. In Galatians chapter 2:4, the Bible says, "And that because of false brethren unawares brought in who came in privy to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage." Paul said false brethren unaware. Do you understand what that means? These were Christians or quote unquote fake Christians that were so good at looking like Christians, but they were preaching another gospel.

The people were actively going against the work and message that Paul was spreading and they would follow him around to try to correct the teaching and add to that gospel. And what made them so dangerous was that they claimed to be believers. But they added something to grace. They they added their rituals. They added their works. They added the law. It was what we would call a worksbased salvation. Um Jesus is not enough. Uh you need to try your best to get saved. You need to keep the whole law. And that is very different from someone who has truly accepted the gospel because a true believer gives their all for Jesus because they are accepted, not so that they can be accepted.

I want I want you to understand that true believers give their all to Jesus because they are accepted, not so that they can be accepted. And we understand this because Paul said it in Philippians chapter number two. Um Paul said that you are to work out your salvation. Why? Because God had already saved you. And if he saved you, then you should be able to show that you're a Christian. But it's not the other way around. And the message that the Judaizers were spreading was that if you want to be saved, then do these things. But the message that Paul was clarifying is if you want to be saved, then trust in Jesus.

I mean, we just sang about it tonight. Trust and obey. It's only in Jesus that salvation is is something we can even have. And so, let's break down verse number two and see what Paul is is um is calling these men or the this group. In verse number two, uh he calls them dogs. He said, "Beware of dogs." Um I don't know if you remember in Matthew chapter number 15 uh Jesus was speaking to a cyro phoenician woman and uh the the woman was needing help and she prayed to like she was crying after Jesus could you help me I have an issue and Jesus said it is not meat to give the children's bread and give it to dogs.

Now Jesus wasn't trying to disrespect the lady, but this was the culture in which Jesus was living in. The Jews, especially the elite, would often consider the Gentiles as dogs. Now, do you see how cool Paul is? He flipped that and he called these evil workers dogs because that's how serious he is with this message that these people are subverting. The gospel is not to be messed with because Jesus Christ gave his life for it. And why are you trying to prove it when he's already proven his love for you? He calls them dogs. In Psalm chapter number 59, um the psalmist said this. He calls the wicked.

He said they return at evening. They make a noise like a dog and go round about the city. Uh this psalmist is is calling these wicked people dogs. Um dog often has a negative connotation. Um now it's not talking about your your pet dog. That's not the kind of dog that they had back in back in this time. Um but these dogs were ravenous. They were there were dogs that um were not trained at all. But um they just had a negative outlook in scripture. And then Paul goes ahead and calls them evil workers. Uh the word worker here um is the the word laborer. And if you remember what Jesus said in Mark Matthew chapter number 9 in verse number 37 uh he said then said he unto his disciples the harvest truly is plenteous but the laborers are few.

It's interesting Paul uses this word laborer to call these people, but then he said evil workers and laborers are often now in in scripture in general, it's it's somebody that's worth their somebody that is uh there to be hired. Um and in scripture, you also see that the laborer is worthy of of their hire. Um, but Paul is referring to ministers, but he's saying evil ministers. So, he isn't just talking, again, we already said that from verse number three. It's a contrast to who they truly are, but Paul is talking about uh these false prophets, false teachers that would come in and he is calling them evil.

In 2 Corinthians chapter number 11:13-15 the Bible says this for such are false apostles deceitful workers that that word again is laborers transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And then he says and no marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness whose end shall be according to their works. Paul calls them evil workers, deceitful, false teachers. And then he he goes ahead and calls them um he says, "Beware of the concision." And the word concision here is the it literally means um to cut up the flesh which just means mutilators.

And so um in scripture circumcision was something that was beautiful because it was something that God had set apart for the Israelites to show their um faith in him. But Paul isn't using that word circumcision for them. He's calling them just mutilators. They're not even worth calling circumcision. just mutilators. And he says in Galatians chapter number uh 5:12 uh he uses a play of word. He says, "I would they were even cut off would trouble you." Paul was very much against these people. So let's read that those two verses again. It says, "Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision.

For we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. So what does verse number three mean for us though? What what does that mean? And what is Paul saying about verse number three is Paul says we are the circumcision. And that's that's that should alert us and not alert us but that's an encouragement because Paul is writing to Gentiles. uh most of the the Christians in Philippi were Gentile Christians. And so when he's saying that not the Jews, these so-called believers, we are the Gentiles are the ones and and he's lumping himself in in that as well.

He's saying we are the true, we are the circumcision. And then he says um or um it says in Deuteronomy chapter number 30 in verse number six the Bible says this. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul that thou mayest live. What was the reason? What what is Paul saying and what is he meaning in verse number three? He says uh let me just read that again. Verse number three. He says, "For we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus." So what does it mean for we are the circumcision?

What Paul was saying was God was always after the heart. The ritual that he set up for the Israelites was a picture of what he was going to do with salvation. And salvation is the cutting away of the sinful flesh which is in the heart. and and Col in Romans chap number 2 verse 28- 29 the Bible says this for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God. The Judaizers were just cutting up flesh. They completely miss the the meaning of what the circumcision was for.

But God cuts the heart. And at the moment of salvation, God renews us. He makes us new by cutting away of that sinful heart. The next part is in Colossians chapter number two verse number 11. We need to understand that Christ is the one that did the cutting. He says in verse number three again, which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. Colossians 3:11 says, in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Um, the word made without hands, it's the idea that you didn't do it.

Nobody did. It was Christ that did it. Christ was the one that did the work. When you trusted Christ, he cut away the old you, putting off the body of sin. And then we also have to understand that we belong to Christ. In Galatians chapter number 3 29, he said, "And if ye be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise, you don't need to be born a Jew to be part of God's family. You don't need the right family, the right bloodline, the right tribe. If you are Christ, you are Abraham's seed." And the Judaizers were saying because or if you become like us, you will belong.

But Paul is saying you already belong if you have Christ. So how do we know that we are the true ones? How do we know that we are the Christians? And as we see as Paul is writing here, he says that we worship God in the spirit. In John chapter number 4:23 is the encounter of Jesus and the and the woman at the well. And Jesus said this, "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipper worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." True worship isn't about a ritual or a building or a ceremony.

It's the heart and by the spirit of God living in us. If you have the spirit of God in you, if you have the Holy Spirit, then you have the ability to worship God, it's because he's the one that's enabling you to worship God. And then he says, we rejoice in Christ Jesus. Galatians 6:14 says, "But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Um, I love that song. Um, it's a song by the Gettys, but it's a it's a song that says, "We don't boast in in our flesh, we boast in our redeemer." I want to read a couple lines of that song.

Um, the song goes like this. The title of the song is, "My worth is not in what I own." And the song says, "My worth is not in what I own, not in the strength of flesh and bone, but in the costly wounds of love at the cross." And he says, "My worth is not in skill or name, in win or lose, in pride or shame, but in the blood of Christ that flowed at the cross." And then the chorus goes, "I rejoice in my redeemer. Greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul. I will trust in him no other. My soul is satisfied in him alone." What a beautiful song that really shows what Paul is writing here as he's writing to the Philippians.

And that's why Paul started with rejoice in the Lord. Joy in Jesus keeps you from joying in yourself. When you rejoice in the Lord, you're focusing on not everybody else, not on yourself, but on Jesus. And then he says, "And we we have no confidence in the flesh." Ephesians 2:8:9 says, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." And how often have we boasted in what we have done to acquire our salvation. Oh, I go to church every single Sunday. I read the Bible every single day. I I I do my ministry every Sunday.

I I smile to people. I give to the church. I I do something to earn my love from God. And that is not what salvation is. Salvation is understanding that Jesus died for you. And because he died for you, you believe in what he's done for you, the message, the the the gospel, and in trusting in him. It is what he has done on the cross that has saved you and not yourself. We have no confidence in the flesh. The Judaizers said Jesus plus something. But Paul is just saying Jesus period. It's it's what Jesus has done. A true Christian puts no confidence in the things that we have listed, but it's all confidence in Christ.

So what's the problem with these people? And I'm going to try to wrap up with the rest of our passage here. Their confidence is in the wrong thing. They are proud knowing nothing. And so Paul says in verse number 4-6, "Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinkketh that he had whereof he might trust in the flesh, Paul says, I more circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law, a Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." They think that they are all that.

And Paul says they're not. And Paul is actually saying I am way more than that. It's like Paul is saying I outqualified these people. I I I've done more than they have done. And why is Paul having to say these things? And I think it's because he's writing to this church and he's trying to warn this church. Remember when he said this, I think it's safe that I'm telling you these things again. And he's writing to them. And why is he saying this? because I think it's better to hear from somebody that has done it all and then tells you it's not worth it. And Paul is saying, I am super qualified, but in the next passage that we're going to in the next portion of our passage, he's going to say, I count it all but done.

That is so that's crazy that Paul would say that everything that I have ever thought I have accomplished for God, what I thought I gained for Christ, the Greek word is dudu is worse than trash. That's what Paul says. And and whoever is preaching that will explain expound that. So I'm not going to touch with their portion yet. But I'm just telling you this is the setup. Paul is saying there's a warning that I need you guys to understand. There are people that are preaching a different gospel. Don't listen to them. In fact, beware. And that word is just be stay away from them. And I know we don't have Judaizers in our church.

I hope we don't have Judaizers in our church. But I wonder if we have the spirit of a Judaizer. I wonder if all of our performances for Christ is so that we could feel loved by God. I wonder if our ministry, the things that we do for Christ at Ohana Baptist Church is just so that we can be accepted by God. And if that's the case, that's just like the Judaizers. They thought that they can earn their salvation. Paul already said in the beginning of this letter, it's not about us. It's about Christ. And that's why we have to have the mind of Christ. And that's why we have to uh work out the salvation that Christ has already given us because it's not about working to be accepted.

It's that we are accepted. So work it out. And that's what Paul is trying to warn against these Judaizers, these men. Later on he talks about a different group and it's actually kind of the opposite because the Judaizers will be kind of um similar to like legalistic Christians who are so strict on their standards. He talks about a different group and this group is people that just fill their bellies and they're just going crazy like enjoying the grace of God and they're actually just messing up the grace of God. And he talks about them in in chapter 3. So whoever is preaching that will talk about that too.

But for tonight, there's three questions that I want to ask us as we close. The first one is this. The Judaizers believed in Jesus but added something to him. What are some Jesus plus things people are tempted to trust in today? Or actually I rewarded it again here so it's better for you guys. Um the next one is what is the difference between serving God so that we are accepted and serving God because we are accepted and how would you know which one you're doing? And then the last one, if we have time for that, Paul says, "True believers worship God in spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Which of these three do you need to grow in most right