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Philippians 3:7-9

We have seen that the persecution in Philippi might have been causing the believers there to reconsider the
thought of keeping the Law, for Judaism was a tolerated religion in the Empire. Paul wants his friends to
know that this would compromise their walk of faith - for they cannot live by legalism and liberty at the
same time.

To make his point, Paul has walked his friends through his former life, as a Hebrew of Hebrews - few could
claim greater credentials than Paul had as a Jew in Judaism, both in terms of heritage and performance. If
any man could have found a way to be accepted by God based on the keeping of the Law, it would have
been Paul.

But what he learned is that the Law could neither give a man righteous standing with God, nor enable him
to live righteously. Paul learned this through coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ - and he now walks his
friends, through his experience.

Lets begin back in the last part of verse 4, and continue into the part that were studying today.

[Philippians 3:4b-11]

As Paul begins, we see he is writing about gains and losses. Its as if hes an accountant, and hes looking
at a business ledger, on which is recorded the profits and losses - of two different kinds of life.

Theres Pauls former manner of life, under the Law, in Judaism. Paul had thought everything about that
life was an asset to him - and gave him great worth. His birth, His accomplishments - all were carefully
recorded, in the profit column.

Paul used to think that he would certainly have great gain with God, as he zealously pursued that life! But
now now Paul perceives a great error, in his ledger. All of those things were in the wrong column! They
were actually losses, to him.

The word loss means detriment. Paul was not merely saying that these things were worthless; they were
actually detrimental; harmful, to his overall goal - to be accepted by God; to enter into the Kingdom of
heaven. These things would actually prevent Paul from doing just that.

Now, Paul did not think that being born a Jew was detrimental, in itself - any more than being born a
Gentile was detrimental. But thinking that God would be more inclined to accept him, because he was
born a Jew - or because he was circumcised - that was a deception; one that was actually keeping Paul from
God, and from entering His Kingdom.

And likewise with Pauls comprehensive knowledge of the Law; and his religious zeal; and his own
perceived righteousness, based on external conformance to the Law. Wrong column! Not gain; loss. They
were all detrimental; obstacles, that kept Paul from the very goal he had set his heart upon - being accepted
by God.

So all of what Paul was, in the flesh - both what his flesh had been, and what his flesh had done - he now
counted as loss. But those things had been of such great value to him! What caused Paul to see that they
were all worthless? And whats Pauls simple answer? Christ; His surpassing value; His immeasurable
worth, to which nothing can compare.
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That worth was recognized by Paul, on the road to Damascus - when Paul had his personal encounter, with
the risen Lord. In that moment, Paul realized that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Messiah of Israel; the
Savior of the world. Jesus, whom Paul had counted as worthless, now had matchless value in Pauls eyes;
and all that he treasured before was consequently seen as loss, to Paul.

So like a wise accountant, Paul immediately corrected his error. He moved all that he was before, all that
he did before, to his loss column, to make room for this new, one and only item to occupy his gain column:
Christ. And just like that, Pauls gain column was completely filled. It was pure profit, always would be,
and there just couldnt be any more; nothing could be added to it, whatsoever.

But what Paul had gained did keep paying dividends; in fact, the dividends were out of this world. In
Christ, Paul was blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies (Eph 1:3); even now, he possessed
the riches of Gods grace (Eph 1:7), so that Paul was filled with all the fullness of God (Eph 3:19).

And Pauls gain assured him of a guaranteed inheritance (Eph 1:14) - as a son, in the Kingdom of God - the
very thing that he endeavored to obtain before, which had always eluded him - because he had tried to
obtain it through his own merit.

The dividends were so great, that since the time of Pauls conversion, he came to count, not just the things
of his past life as loss, as we see in verse 7, but even things of the present - that is, the things that this
present world has to offer - in verse 8, Paul says, he counts all things loss.

Paul surrendered his brilliant prospects, for honor and distinction, as well as the security in life that this
would have brought. He relinquished his identity with his people, the nation Israel - and forfeited the
approval of his fellow Jews. He set aside a safe and comfortable life, as he traversed the roads of the
Roman Empire. He sacrificed health; he risked death.

Everything that carried value in this present age - Paul now counted as loss. There was no longer any place
for it, in his gain column - which was fully occupied, by Christ.

And for Paul, Christ was worth it; the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of Him - of Christ Jesus,
Pauls Lord. Now, this knowledge, of which Paul writes, is not knowledge about Christ; Paul is not
speaking of knowing Scripture, or doctrine, concerning Him. The word in the Greek refers to experiential
knowledge, here referring to relationship.

Paul is referring to knowing Christ, Himself; the person. But it is very interesting that Paul only uses the
personal name Jesus here; throughout the rest of this passage, he uses the title, Christ, which points to
His work, as the Savior, Redeemer, Deliverer.

This is definitely personal, but Paul is stressing that the value is not in knowing Jesus in any sort of
mystical way, but in knowing Christ - knowing Jesus, in what He did for us - in an experiential way. This is
the way that Paul came to know Him, in which he found such value. And it is the way that he lays out for
all believers to know Him - to partake of that value, for themselves.

So the emphasis is on Jesus as the Savior, Redeemer, and Deliverer, whom Paul had taken to be his Lord.
Paul gained Christ by rightly subordinating himself to the Lord, as his Master.

And for the great gain of having such a Master - a just Master, who only does good; a loving Master, who
has his servants best interests, at heart; a powerful Master, who ensures a most glorious destiny - Paul was
willing to sacrifice all things.
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The idea is of the bondservant, who freely chooses to serve his Master with faithfulness, love, and single-
hearted devotion. Paul was willing to let go of all things in the world, for Christ. In fact, he now
considered those things as rubbish; garbage.

This word in the Greek literally means that which is thrown to the dogs. It is sometimes used for dung, and
is so translated in the KJV, but is used by Paul elsewhere for refuse, as from a table (1 Cor 4:13). The idea
is table scraps, which are considered to be inedible for people. These are therefore separated from the food,
and then thrown to the dogs, for their undiscerning consumption.

This is most likely how Paul was thinking of the word, since it would mean that he was categorizing all
worldly gain along with what he discovered about his religion of Judaism - that it was worthless, fit only
for dogs - his term for the Jewish false teachers.

And thats true of the things that the world offers, isnt it? They hold no eternal value, for the Christ One;
nothing to nourish the new Life he has received, to cause him to grow in the Lord.

Such rubbish needs to be identified for what it is - worthless garbage - and then it needs to be separated
from the things which are of Christ (2:21), and thrown away. After all, what would happen if you didnt
take out your garbage?

Paul understood that in order to really gain Christ - and keep making gains, in Him - that which was not of
Christ could not be allowed to remain; it had to go. And Paul was willing to let it all go - gladly
surrendering each thing in his life, for the all-surpassing worth of his personal experience, with his Lord.

As Paul continues in verses 9 and 10, he then reveals what he discovered to be the value of this gain - for
him, as a Christ One.

Verse 9 shows this from the viewpoint of heaven - the eternal perspective; Gods perspective. Verse 10
then takes the viewpoint of earth - the temporal perspective, of the Christ One, through time; Pauls life
experience, the value of what he gained, in Christ.

Paul had to let go of everything he was holding onto in life - everything by which he was trying to be
accepted by God, he had to count it as loss - in order for him to be able to embrace Christ, as His Savior.
Thats what Paul means by gaining Christ - receiving Him, by faith.

From the heavenly, eternal perspective, God views the believer as joined to Christ - identified with Christ,
through his faith; the believer is now in Him.

When Paul writes in verse 9 of being found in Him - in Christ - he is speaking of a judicial finding; that
is, the finding of a judge. Who would the judge be, who finds the believer to be in Christ? God; the
Judge of all the earth, who does right (Gen 18:25).

All men are judged by God, in terms of Christ. Only those who are found to be in Christ, having placed
their faith in Him, are accepted by God - accepted, in His beloved Son (Eph 1:6).

Its important for us to have an understanding of how God views us as believers - in Christ - because then
we grasp that we are completely, forever accepted in the Son - we have assurance of our salvation. But that
understanding also allows us to begin to fathom the value of our salvation - and therefore, to value our
Savior - the way that Paul did.
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So for that, were going to turn first to Romans chapter 5. Paul has just leveled the playing field for both
the Jewish and Gentile believers in the Roman assemblies, who had troubled relations with one another.

They were all equally sinners, in the past; and then they had all been equally justified by simple faith in
Christ alone - works apart. And Paul then went on to show that this was what God had planned from the
very beginning - for men to become righteous and receive eternal life - in Christ.

To accomplish His purpose, God only needed two men: Adam and Christ. Through the first man, Adam,
God would obtain men in flesh bodies, for a temporary existence. Through the second Man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, God would then obtain living sons for His eternal kingdom.

In verse 14, Paul writes that Adam is a type of Him who was to come; that is, Adam is a kind of picture that
foreshadowed Christ. In what way? In the sense of being the head of a creation.

Adam is the progenitor of the entire human race; of men in natural bodies (1 Cor 15:44); flesh men. All
men begin as the seed of Adam; they are born of him, sons of Adam an earthly birth.

In this respect, Adam foreshadows Christ, who is the head of the new creation, in Him. Christ is the
progenitor of the sons of God; of men in glorified bodies. Believers are the seed of Christ; they are born of
Him, born-again, children of God; a heavenly birth.

Adam is a type of Christ in one other respect. Through a single act, both Adam and Christ affected the
entire creation which was born of them; that is to say, all of their seed bear the consequences of what Adam
and Christ have done.

In this sense, both Adam and Christ were not just progenitors of men, but representative before God as the
Judge of all those who are born in them; they stood in the stead of men, acting in their place, and the results
of their actions are accounted by God to the men whom they represent; the men who are in them, through
birth; their sons.

In this way, Paul is showing how the work of one man can affect the position of other men before God, and
their eternal destiny because in Gods plan, there were always, only two men Adam and Christ and
every man is either in one or in the other.

[Romans 5:12-21]

v. 12 Through the transgression of the LORDs command - to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil - Adam introduced sin into the world - and death through sin, which was the penalty for
transgressing Gods command.

Adam was our representative - the prototype, of men in the flesh. Adam showed that, given freedom to
choose, men would choose to put their own will, over Gods will; that is, to sin.

When Adam sinned, death entered his body, even though it took 930 years for Death to actually take it!
(Gen 5:5) And through his seed, death spread to all men; theyre born of the corruptible seed of Adam;
born dead, in trespasses and sins.

God put the entire human race under the sentence of death, because of Adams sin. Is that fair? Actually, it
is; because God had tested the prototype, and knew that all the others would do the same. And do they?
They certainly do, proving that God is a righteous Judge.
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Paul wants to make it absolutely clear that men are judged in their representative man, Adam - all sinned, in
Adam - and so he makes a point, using the Law.

v. 13-14 What Paul is saying is that men couldnt be charged with their sins, as God had not yet revealed
His will through the Law, to them; but they still died, anyway.

Pauls point is that they were judged in Adam, for Adams sin - as their representative man; the prototype.
Again, the fairness of this judgment is seen in the fact that everyone sins, personally.

v. 15 Paul has shown how Adam is alike to Christ, a type of Him; now he is showing some contrasts
between them - stark contrasts, for what they have brought to mankind.

Due to Adams offense, the many who are in him died - thats the entire natural creation of men. Were all
born, in bodies of death (Rm 7:24). We had no choice about that, did we?

Now, what is this free gift Paul is referring to? Look down in verse 17; it is the gift of righteousness. It
is freely given, by the grace of God; the gift in grace of the Second Man - Jesus Christ.

And righteousness abounded, to meet the needs of the many - the many who are in Christ, by faith. A gift
graciously given - undeserved, unearned - freely received, in Christ. And thanks to God, we were given a
choice about that!

Notice that Paul says what Christ gave man was much more. In Christ, God did not simply undo what
Adam had done; what good would that do? In giving us the gift of righteousness, believers have much
more than Adam ever had.

Adam was never righteous; he was just untested - and then proven to be unrighteous. But in Christ,
believers receive the righteousness of God - which puts them in a whole new position, with Him - as Paul
brings out next.

v. 16-17 Paul continues to contrast the two men - Adam and Christ - to show the effect on men, of what
each one brought into the world. Adam brought in the offense, through his sin. This resulted in Gods
judgment upon Adam.

And as Adam represented the entire human race - hes the prototype - all mankind was judged, in him; and
all came under the penalty of death, in him. Death reigned like a tyrant, over the entire creation of
mankind, in Adam - due to Adams one sin.

How different from what Christ brought into the world - the gift of righteousness! Because of the offering
of Christ in His perfect righteousness, Gods justice has been satisfied concerning sin - all those many,
many offenses, above and beyond what Adam did.

This enables God as the Judge to extend his grace abundantly to those who believe into Christ, freeing them
from all charges of sin - accounting Christs righteousness, to them - and justifying them, in His sight.

This is more than just a reversal of the charges of sin against them. The gift of righteousness will enable
them to become righteous, so that one day, they will reign in Life, through Christ.

Paul is referring here to eternal life, in a glorified body - the certain future, of those who are in Christ. This
is more than men ever had, in Adam - much more!
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Paul now continues to show the parallels between Adam and Christ.

v. 18 There is some repetition of ideas here. What was the one mans - Adams - offense, that was in view
of God, as the Judge? The transgression of Gods command, in the garden.

And what would you say was the one Mans - Christs - righteous act, that God had in view? His death on
the cross. In each case, Paul cites the one act that affected the entire creation, in each man.

v. 19 Theres more to this verse than meets the eye. In the Greek, the word made means to be
positioned as. Through Adams disobedience, all mankind were positioned as sinners - in Adam, their
representative. By who? By God, the Judge.

And by Christs obedience - to the death of the cross - the many who are in Him are positioned as righteous
- also by God, as the Judge.

Verse 20 is particular to the Jews.

v. 20 As we discussed last week, the Law simply caused men to sin more, because their lawlessness rises
up against the restraint. But Paul indicates Gods grace was more than enough, to cover it - it super-
abounded.

v. 21 Sin reigns like a tyrant, in its dominion of death, the realm of its rule - dead men - the creation in
Adam. But for those who receive the gift of righteousness in Christ, does Sin reign? It shouldnt. Christ
died, in order that Grace might reign.

The Lord is a gracious ruler. He does not compel His subjects to obey Him, nor does He seek to do them
harm - like the tyrant, Sin.

The Lord loves His people - and He simply gives them opportunities, through each moment of their lives,
when they can make the choice to freely love Him, in return.

As they do this, His righteousness is expressed through them - in loving acts of grace, toward others. And
the more they do this, the more His righteousness is becoming a part of them, preparing them for that day
when they will share their lives with Him, completely - reigning with Him, in glory.

Now as we look back at the new creation in Christ, we begin to see how God as the Judge views us as
believers - from His eternal, heavenly perspective. Because of Christs righteousness, the finding of the
Judge concerning each and every believer is, not guilty. Each one has been justified, by faith in Christ.

Paul also wrote to the Corinthians about how God views us, in Christ. Turn to Second Corinthians chapter
5. Paul was speaking about believers living, no longer for themselves, but for Christ.

[Second Corinthians 5:17-21]

v. 17 Old things have passed away; all of those former things, when we were part of the creation in Adam.
We died out of that old creation; that would mean that were dead to those things then, right? Paul wrote,
Christ delivered us, from this present evil age (Gal 1:4). Or as we read earlier, I have suffered the loss of
all things, and count them as rubbish.
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Now my all are the new things - the things which are of Christ Jesus (Phil 2:21) - the very things of God,
Himself.

v. 18-20 God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself - reconciling those who were willing to meet
Him there. First they had to come to the mercy seat - the place where God could extend His forgiveness,
for sin. Christ is that mercy seat - in the Greek, this is the same word translated also propitiation - where
Gods justice is satisfied, concerning sin.

Gods justice found its satisfaction in the death of the Righteous One, as our sin-bearer. Since Christ took
our sin, God did not charge us with it, and the Judge found us not guilty; we were justified. Once Gods
justice was satisfied, God could forgive us - and we could be reconciled to Him. And then the reconciled
ones cant help but want to share that with others!

The last verse shows how God as the Judge justified us, so that we could be reconciled to Him.

v. 21 Paul has in mind the judicial act of God, on behalf of believers, through Christ - the heavenly
perspective. For those of us who have united ourselves to Christ by faith, God accounts our sin to Christ -
the Sinless One, who offered Himself in our stead - our representative; and He accounts Christs
righteousness to us, as the new creation, in Him.

But in the latter part of the verse, Paul is looking beyond what God has already done for us, in Christ, from
the eternal perspective, to what God is doing in Christ, through time - the perspective from earth.

Over time, believers are to become the righteousness of God, in Christ. The idea is to live the righteousness
that God has imputed to us - to use the gift, that we have received - in order to be sanctified. Thats a
choice - which is why Paul says, might become; but its a choice every Christ One should make, and
continue to make.

[Return to Philippians 3]

So Pauls first great gain as a believer was being found by God in Christ. Because of that, God found Paul
not guilty; Paul was delivered from sin, and was given the free gift of righteousness.

Righteousness has to be a gift - for men dont possess it, naturally; only God is truly righteous.
Righteousness also has to be free - not something to be earned; for God cannot and will not reward the
efforts of the flesh - no flesh can justify itself, in His sight (Rm 3:20).

These were things that Paul discovered through the Law, by trying to keep it. In that sense, the Law led
Paul to Christ (Gal 3:24). And once Paul got there, and found himself accepted by God in His beloved Son,
he left the righteousness of the Law completely behind - and never looked back.

Paul wants the believers in Philippi to see that its virtually impossible to walk forward, continuing to make
gains in Christ, if theyre looking backward. Along with Paul, they must count all things of the present age
loss - of no eternal value, whatsoever - which would include any plan in the flesh that involves a false
religion, completely opposed to Christ. For the Philippians, it was time to take out the garbage.

As we continue in the passage next week, well see what Paul has to say about his gain in Christ, as viewed
from the temporal perspective - through his personal life experience, with Christ.

Reading: Romans 6:3-11; Eph 3:14-21; John 12:24-26, 15:12-27; 2 Cor 4:5-17.