Philippians 3:2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
Potential problems:
Paul warns of potential failures in our faith and walk in the Lord. In Col 2:8 he speaks of being “spoiled” which means to be carried away as captive; to be lead away from one’s persuasion. We can be spoiled about our beliefs. Paul also mentions making “shipwreck” of our faith (1 Tim 1:19) and Peter mentions of falling away from our steadfastness” (2 Pet 3:17).
Faith and doctrine are integral parts of our salvation. We need faith to believe and enter into the born again, new life, experience; but we must also keep our faith grounded in God’s word – the pure doctrine of Scripture. Scripture warns of these errors – Ro 16:17; Eph 5:6-14; Col 2:18; Heb 13:9; 2 Jn 8
Dogs:
Paul mentions “dogs” as a danger to our spiritual life. The word means a literal animal, dog, but metaphorically a man of impure mind, an impudent man. The term dog is used throughout Scripture and is always used in a bad or negative sense – Deut 23:18; 2 Ki 8:13; Psa 22:16, 20; Isa 56:10, 11; Matt 7:6; 2 Pet 2:22; Rev 22:15. There are times, however that it is used simply as the animal, but always spoken of in a lowly sense of character. Paul’s warning to beware of dogs, then must refer to those people who are of impure minds, character and lifestyle. These can lead us away from our faith, reward or even standing before God.
Evil workers:
Evil workers are those of bad nature, character and may refer to those who we associate with that live a low level of life, spiritually speaking. We all either work around, are friends with or related to evil workers. There are two armies, forces at work in the universe – the forces of good led by God and His angels and the forces of evil led by the devil and his fallen angels. We are either on the side of God and good or we are on the side of evil and the devil. While we may not like to associate friends, relatives or associates in this way, we must realize that there is no middle ground. We are not to disassociate from all the people who are lost (1 Cor 5:9-13), but the warning is to beware – to discern – the affects they can have on us.