Phil 3:17-19 (NIV) Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.
NOTE: It is hard to know who are these enemies of the cross. In context, it would appear to be the Judaizers, who appear in verse 2, and whose confidence in the flesh is the main thrust of Paul's response in the first part of Chapter 3. But, in many cases, the Judaizers are believers, so that would not seem to fit with verse 19 since their destiny is destruction, unless the destruction is physical punishment and not spiritual, that is relating to salvation. This would also fit with the warnings given in Hebrews to believers who were falling back under the law and in danger of physical destruction, not the loss of salvation, that was to occur in a few years (the destruction of Jerusalem). Either way, whether they are believers or not, we need to be wary of those who preach a works-based relationship with God. They may be false brothers, they may be misguided brothers, but their teaching is wrong. Our citizenship is in Heaven. We have a relationship with God by faith and through faith. We live by the Spirit of God. We seek to fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6:2; 1 Cor 9:21) by caring for and loving one another. Love is the law we now live by.
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