Reading for April 21st

Read Philippians 3.1b-4.1
In 3.1b-4.1 The example of Paul.
A transition (v.1) and warning (v. 2) lead into Paul's renunciation of his advantages to counter any tendencies to arrogance (vv. 3-11).
he commends perfection but notes, in a play on words, how perfect people (relatively speaking) know they have not reached perfection (vv. 2-16).
Finally, while enemies of the cross have an earthly orientation, Paul commends a heavenly citizenship in which the believers await glorification in the future (3.17-4.1).
In verse 1: To write the same things, probably about disunity; Paul positions the words he writes about his own life as a safeguard for the community's problems.
In verse 2: Beware, repeated three times, or "watch out for," warns about a possibility, not what already exists.
Verses 2 and 18-19 likely refer to practices in the community, rather than the actual opponents, that breed disunity.
Dogs in ancient writing were examples of shameless greed.
In verse 3: Circumcision, metaphorically, God's people.
In verse 7: Regard echoes 2.3, which commends church-members to "regard others better themselves," and 2.6 which asserts that Jesus not "regard equality with God as something to be exploited."
Becoming like ("symmorphizomenos") Jesus, a link to 2.7, in which Jesus took on the "form ("morphen") of a slave.
In verses 13-14: The image is of running a race.
In verse 17: Imitation, see 1 Cor 4.16; 11.1; 1 Thess 1.6.
In verse 20: Citizenship, not a political but heavenly, See Gal 4.26.
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