Philippians 3:6-8
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Philippians 3:6
Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless.
The sixth of Paul's perceived assets is his religious zeal. To prove that
he was at the top of his religion he became the foremost persecutor of this
new rival religion.
CONCERNING ZEAL, PERSECUTING THE CHURCH
The man who wrote half the New Testament was at one time its principal persecutor:
"As for Saul (the apostle Paul), he made havoc of the church, entering
every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison"
(Acts 8:3). He became a Christian in Acts 9.
"For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called
an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God" (I Cor. 15:9).
"But they were hearing only, 'He who formerly persecuted us now preaches
the faith which he once tried to destroy'" (Gal. 1:23).
The word "concerning" means "according to the standard of."
It was a norm of Paul's life to persecute the church. He made it an absolute
norm to be religiously zealous. No other Jewish leader surpassed Paul in
religious enthusiasm.
If salvation comes by zeal and enthusiasm, Paul would have been on the top
of God's brownie point list. There was no one more sincere than Paul. But
sincerity is not an excuse for wrong doing. If someone goes to the medicine
cabinet for cough medicine and picks up a bottle of poison by mistake and
drinks it, they were sincere. However, they were deadly wrong. Sincerity
in that context is no virtue. Paul was mightily sincere but he was mightily
wrong.
Christianity loses its character when it makes a virtue of zeal over truth.
For example, when this happens, confidence is placed in a pleasant personality
making them vulnerable to the failure of personality. They become weak in
the moral fiber of truth. Their stability rests upon the ebb and flow of
an unstable human being rather than in the eternal Word of God.
Religious zeal is no virtue in itself. Zeal minus truth is ignorance. Paul's
own commentary on this aspect of his life is found in I Timothy 1:13 "Although
I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained
mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief." Character is always
connected to truth.
PRINCIPLE: Character is always based in truth.
APPLICATION: Have you placed your ultimate confidence in people rather than
God? Obviously, a healthy human being trusts people but not in a naive sense.
To place our ultimate confidence in a finite human being is idolatry. It
is also fleeting: "Having been born again, not of corruptible seed
but incorruptible through the word of God which lives and abides forever,
because
'All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers. And its flower falls away, But the word of the LORD endures
forever." (I Peter 1:23-25)
The seventh and last asset which Paul deeded before his conversion is about
his own human righteousness.
CONCERNING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS IN THE LAW, BLAMELESS
This is a righteousness without God. It is a counterfeit righteousness.
It is equivalent to the righteousness of v. 9: "Not having my own righteousness,
which is from the law."
Paul kept up with his sacrifices. He was blamelessly scrupulous in keeping
the sacrifices of the law. The law prescribed mechanisms for righteousness;
he never failed to keep them. He was religious. However, he was religious
but lost. To depend on anything but the blood of Christ is fatal. Paul does
not say that he was perfect; he merely asserts his faithfulness to religion.
He kept the ceremonial law perfectly.
The contrast here is between human righteousness and God's righteousness.
God's righteousness can only be obtained by the sacrificial death of Christ.
PRINCIPLE: Religion does not commend us to God; only the blood of Christ
wins God's favor.
APPLICATION: Is your confidence in your religion or in your Savior? Jesus
finished all suffering that needed to be suffered upon the cross. He did
it all; all to him we owe. Anything less than that is sinking sand. "On
Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand."
Philippians 3:7
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
In the immediate context we have seen the autobiography of an intensely
religious man. Paul has just listed seven accomplishments he thought would
commend him to God. He supposed he could gain God's favor by his religion.
Verses seven and eight give Paul's estimate of his scrupulous religiosity
in one word--manure. Everything he assumed was an asset he found to be a
liability before God.
BUT WHAT THINGS WERE GAIN TO ME
But word "but" is a conjunction of strong contrast. It is a right
about face word. There is a strong contrast between legalism and grace.
There is a massive difference between what we do to gain God's favor and
what Jesus did.
The word "what" means what quality of things. Such quality of
things as the seven things he has listed in verses 5-6. These things he
at one point estimated as "gain."
THESE I HAVE COUNTED LOSS FOR CHRIST
Under grace nothing depends upon human achievement and self-confidence.
Religion can give us a veneer, a religious culture. There is a disillusionment
in depending upon religion, morality, character. This can be a synthetic,
man-made righteousness which is not acceptable to God.
The word "counted" means to esteem, conclude. Paul concluded that
everything he thought was success was failure. The Greek indicates that
this became a settled conviction of his. He lost all confidence in his own
attempts at gaining God's favor.
The word "for" in "for Christ" means because of. It
was because of Christ that he lost his confidence in self-confidence. The
more he thought of the wonder of the person and work of Christ the less
he thought of his accomplishments. Everything that we have in grace is because
of Christ.
Paul changed his life ambition from one of the most religious men on earth
to a man who loved the Lord Jesus with all his heart. This was the life
ambition of a spiritual giant. This is more than a testimony of salvation;
it is a testimony of spiritual aspirations.
Paul came from the right nation--Israel, the right race--Hebrews, the right
sect--Pharisee; he had the right drive--zealous. He was always up on his
sacrifices. He was scrupulously righteous. Yet all that was manure (dung).
All these things were weights, not wings. They were the rags of religion,
the relics of superstition. As a girl who ends a relationship with her boyfriend
gathers up all her letters and throws them into the fire, so Paul gathers
up all his achievements and views them as a pile of manure. This is a vote
of no confidence in Paul's pedigree. PRINCIPLE: Christianity is person centered.
It is "because of Christ" we can live in the grace of God.
APPLICATION: Are you centered in Christ? Do you make much of him? It would
be thrilling to be invited to Buckingham Palace to be introduced to the
queen. That would be exciting. Yet we know the Lord of Glory, King of Kings.
Does he diminish all the other pursuits of our lives? Is everything else
a pile of manure in comparison to him? The studied estimate of the apostle
Paul after more than two decades as a Christian was the inestimable wonder
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only one who has ever gained the approbation
of God. He is the only one who can recommend us to God.
Philippians 3:8
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
We have before us the life ambition of a spiritual giant. More than anything
else Paul wanted the excellence of the knowledge of Christ his Lord. Initial
salvation does not exhaust the person of Christ. Paul has been a Christian
for two and a half decades and yet his life ambition is still centered in
Christ.
YET INDEED I ALSO
These four words constitute five Greek particles. These particles indicate
Paul is speaking with passion and force here. He is shouting out. He is
about to speak of his greatest passion. Paul waxes eloquent about the most
important ambition of his life.
COUNT ALL THINGS LOSS
The word "count" means to conclude. After thinking through a comparison
between his achievements and his knowledge of Christ he came to a conclusion.
In the present tense it means that he keeps on concluding all things loss
for something of greater importance. He has been a Christian for 25 years
and he is still concluding this.
"All things" are his successes of vv 3-6: all his energy of the
flesh, all his status symbols of success. This is all his achievement without
God: his popularity, all the approbation he has received, all his successes.
But this is a stronger statement than the loss of his achievements; he counts
everything loss in comparison to Christ.
"Loss" is singular. All his accomplishments are nil as one big
ball of wax.
FOR THE EXCELLENCE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST JESUS MY LORD
Now Paul states his greatest aspiration. The most important ideal for Paul
is the excellency of the knowledge of his Lord. It is more important than
his ministry, prayer, fellowship or even evangelism. Fellowship with his
Lord is the driving force behind these other wonderful values.
The word "for" means "because of." This is the cause
of his suffering the loss of all things.
The word "excellence" is a verb which means "to be held over
or beyond." It means to be superior, to excel. The Greek indicates
that his superiority is the on going excellence of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus his Lord. This knowledge is constantly superior. Nothing else is worth
living for in the light of his superiority.
PRINCIPLE: Our highest ambition is the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.
APPLICATION: The studied estimation of Paul after 25 years of the Christian
life was clear. After all those years as a Christian he has something more
than a Savior--he has a Lord. Nothing brings greater glory to God than when
a child of God confesses Christ as his Lord:
"And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father" (2:11)
Do we count knowing Christ as a priceless privilege? That sense of privilege
is manifested in our lives when he is Lord of everything important to us.
After deliberate reflection Paul came to three negative conclusions about
personal ambition. First he concludes his whole career as loss simply for
Christ himself (v.7). Then he considered it loss for the surpassing privilege
of knowing Christ personally (v. 8). Finally, he considered his aspirations
as more than a minus. He concluded they were "rubbish" (v.8b)
in comparison to full fellowship with the Lord.
FOR WHOM I HAVE SUFFERED THE LOSS OF ALL THINGS
Paul abandoned his success mentality. He had placed his confidence in the
wrong goals. There came a time when he abandoned lesser goals.
There is some truth to the statement "The church popular is the church
polluted." When the church puts greater value on acceptance to the
world, it loses the core vitality of knowing Christ fully.
"All things" here again means all his human attainments.
Very few of us in our day suffer much of anything. On the other hand, we
fight for every ounce of success possible. Our success is our passion, our
ambition. Has knowing Christ cost us anything? Has it cost us our job or
business? Some growing Christians realize that their job compromises their
convictions. They willingly sacrifice their job for their love of Christ.
The word "loss" suggests an accounting idea. This portrays profit
and loss. This word occurs once in verse 7 and twice in verse 8. He records
both what he gained and what he lost.
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses
his own soul?" (Mark 8:36). This passage may refer to the believer
who loses the reason for his living before God in time.
Paul says in effect, "Do not look upon me with pity. Wait till you
find out what I have received in their place."
PRINCIPLE: It is not enough to view ambitions from a positive viewpoint.
To hold Christ exclusively we must view personal ambition as a "loss."
APPLICATION: In order to put priority on the things of greatest value we
need to deal with our attitudes about lesser things. When we allow our minds
to compete with the knowledge of the excellence of Christ, lesser things
gain primacy in our values. Are we dealing adequately with the negative
influences that pull us away from knowing Christ intimately?
Paul's personal ambition centered around knowing Christ fully. He wanted
to become Christ centered in his spiritual life. In order to achieve that
goal he needed to do something both negatively and positively. Negatively,
he viewed personal achievement in a special way. Positively, he held Christ
in a unique fashion.
AND COUNT THEM AS RUBBISH
The word "count" occurs twice in verse 8. This second use of the
word "count" means that Paul came to another conclusion in addition
to the first use. The first use of "count" in verse 8 was in the
sense of displacement. He displaced the excellency of knowing Christ for
human success. In this phrase the word "count" means to negatively
evaluate human achievement. It is one thing to place a great ideal before
oneself; it is yet another to radically reject its competitor.
The word "rubbish" is human excrement. The word is in the plural.
Human success is like a big pile of excrement. This is not extravagant language.
Every standard of human success is viewed as so much excrement by Paul.
He does not use abstruse language here! Human excrement has never been highly
regarded by the human race! This is a very vivid portrayal of anything that
attempts to compete with the knowledge of Christ
Excrement is waste from the human body. The nutriments have been taken out
and used by the body. All that remains is waste. Anything that takes away
from the knowledge of Christ should be look upon as waste.
THAT I MAY GAIN CHRIST
Paul is obviously already a Christian. Why does he then need to "gain
Christ?" This is not gaining Christ in salvation. This is gaining a
greater valuation for Christ as a Christian. Paul was not satisfied with
mere acquaintance with Christ. His aim was to know the most wonderful person
in the world better.
We could be worth billions of dollars but if we do not have Christ it will
not count for much either in time or in eternity. We will leave all our
gadgets behind in eternity. However, there never will be a time when we
do not know Christ personally. We may lose our father or mother or even
a child but there is never a time when we lose Christ. The worst thing that
could happen to us cannot separate us from Christ:
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" (Rom. 8:35)
PRINCIPLE: It is possible to advance spiritually far beyond our initial
salvation. Knowledge of the excellency of Christ as our consuming passion
should be our central ambition. We do not become a mature Christian until
we become Christ centered. We must reject all competition to that goal.
APPLICATION: It is most difficult to hold Christ as the center of our lives
if we have an active competitor with him. If our personal success is as
important as he is, he cannot become the principal person in our lives.
Does Jesus Christ have a rival in your life? Are you honest enough to acknowledge
it? Do you have enough courage to deal with it?
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Copyright © 1995, Dr. Grant Richison. All rights reserved.
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