Lesson: Philippians 3:7-11;
Golden Text: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Philippians 3:7).
I. INTRODUCTION. According to normal standards of accomplishments for a first century Jew, the Apostle Paul had been a tremendous success prior to his salvation. However, without Christ, his accomplishments were worthless. In this week’s lesson, we will see the very heart of Paul as he desired the most important thing; to know more about Jesus. This goes way beyond intellectual knowledge and reaches deep into spiritual and heart matters.
II. VIEWING THE PRESENT (Philippians 3:7-9). In this third chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippian believers, he warned them against the teaching of Jewish legalists. These legalists placed confidence in the flesh, that is, in self-effort (see verses 1-3). The point that Paul was making was that these Jewish legalists were placing an importance on works and following the Law of Moses in order to gain salvation. This included being circumcised to which Paul referred to when he told them to beware of the “concision” or mutilation in verse 2. It was not necessary to mutilate one’s flesh in order to be right with God. Paul explained this by revealing all he had done previously in order to be right with God. He went on to list his credentials in verses 4-6 to show that he had accomplished more than those Jews who still taught that keeping the law was necessary to salvation.
A. Counting loss (Philippians 3:7). At this point one would think that Paul would have been proud of who he was and what he had accomplished even after becoming a believer. Instead he wrote “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” The things that Paul had once put his confidence in to make right with God (see verses 4-6), he considered them as “gain” or a plus. But now after being saved, he “counted” or considered those same things as “loss” because of Christ. The Greek word translated “loss” means “detriment.” Whenever anyone puts confidence for salvation in anything other than Jesus Christ, he or she is in danger of falling away from the faith.
B. Gaining Christ (Philippians 3:8). Paul continued to say “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” The apostle considered as loss not only his formerly prized Jewish heritage and his religious accomplishments, but he also counted “all things” as losses. Whatever pleasures, possessions, and prestige the world had to offer, Paul wrote off as “dung” or worthless. The Greek word translated “dung” refers to any type of refuse, rubbish or trash. Such things as family ties, inheritance, former friendships, influence and worldly security had been replaced by a far greater treasure---Jesus Christ. Tell me; of what value is Jesus Christ to you? After Paul had considered everything he had accomplished in his life, he said it was all “but loss” when compared to the “excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” This is a profound statement about values. Paul said he gave up everything else so that “I may win Christ.” Gaining more knowledge of Jesus Christ should be our ultimate goal. A person’s relationship with Christ is more important than anything else, because it’s the only thing that will last.
C. Finding righteousness (Philippians 3:9). Paul not only considered all worldly gains as loss in order to gain the greater knowledge of Christ, he also wanted to “be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” The phrase “be found in him” takes God’s point of view, as He sees the believing sinner in His Son, both now and when we are in glory. In Jesus Christ every one of us is completely safe, for our eternal destiny has already been decided. In the phrase “not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law” Paul was saying that his own righteousness would not be sufficient since he assumed keeping the law made him righteous. He realized that true righteousness or justification can only come “through the faith of Christ” or by faith in Christ who has made us righteous (see II Corinthians 5:21). It is true that only “the righteousness which is of God by faith” is given to those who trust Christ can meet God’s righteous standards (see Romans 3:20-22; Galatians 2:16).
VII. VIEWING THE FUTURE (Philippians 3:10-11)
A. Knowing Christ (Philippians 3:10). The apostle realized that being found in Christ not only made him righteous, but that same righteousness was given to him as he said “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” The Greek word for “know” refers to knowledge based on personal experience. Paul wanted to have an experiential knowledge of Christ as if he had literally walked with the Lord Jesus and had seen and heard all that He did. Paul wanted his own personality to be constantly remolded to be more like Jesus’ personality so that he could experience more of Him in somewhat the same manner as a happily married couple becomes more and more like each other as they live together over the years. Simply knowing about Christ was not what Paul had in mind. Paul listed three things that he wanted to know or experience about Christ.
1. First, He wanted to know or experience the “power of his resurrection.” This was the power that raised Jesus from the dead and gave Him victory over sin and death (see Romans 6:4-13). This same power would raise Paul and all believers from the dead (see I Corinthians 15:51-57; I Thessalonians 4:14-17).
2. Second, Paul wanted to experience “the fellowship of his sufferings.” The apostle recognized that he would come to understand Christ’s compassionate heart by being a partner in His sufferings. In Philippians 1:29 Paul wrote, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.” We will never suffer what Jesus did on the cross, but if we are true to Him, we will experience the kind of suffering that comes from those who don’t believe and who hate Him. We should be more than willing to suffer with Christ in that way. For sure, the opposition to the gospel assures us that there is plenty of suffering left for all who serve Him (see Matthew 20:22-23; I Peter 4:13-15).
3. Third, Paul wanted to experience Christ by “being made conformable unto his death.” The idea of being like Christ in His death is explained in Romans 6:4-11 as becoming dead to sin. Those who are joined to Christ and who have died to their former life enter a new life of victory over sin and of service to the Lord. Jesus Christ gave His life for us in selfless love. Paul wanted to know Christ so that he could have this same love for others.
B. Attaining perfection (Philippians 3:11). Paul concluded our text by saying “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” The use of the word “if” does not imply that Paul doubted that he would be resurrected from the dead. A better word would be “since.” The phrase “by any means” indicates that Paul was not sure how he would meet God; by execution or natural death. He didn’t doubt that he would be raised from the dead, but he knew that attaining it was in God’s power not his own. It’s true that our identification with Christ in suffering, death, and resurrection will result in our bodily resurrection. However, this resurrection is dependent not on our works but on having the righteousness provided by faith in Christ. There is no doubt about the resurrection of true believers (see I Corinthians 15:12-23). This beautiful hope is provided for all who are in Christ (see I Corinthians 15:51-57; I Thessalonians 4:13-17; I Peter 1:3-7). The Lord has promised that we will be with Him forever (see John 14:2-3; I Thessalonians 4:17).
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