not by works — Faves of Dave - Bible Study

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Paul is warning the Philippian believers about false teachers who might come to them and deceive them into thinking that faith in Christ alone is not sufficient, attempting to convince them that they needed to follow the Mosaic Law. Paul has just told them that if people think they have some special credentials in their Jewishness and attempt to control them through some sense of spiritual authority, they need to understand that he has even more credentials. He explained his own heritage and credentials.

But in verses 7-11 he explains that those credentials are now worthless. In fact, he calls them “rubbish.” (v. 8) Why is this? In verse 7, he explained that in all those things he “counted as loss for the sake of Christ.” All those credentials had served him well prior to his conversion to faith in Jesus. He had the authority to teach others. People recognized his credentials and accepted what he said and did. We see that evident early in the book of Acts, which reveals Paul’s zealous persecution of the early Christians. He believed they were blasphemers. So, he sought to stop it, and people understood his credentials. But when Jesus appeared to him and revealed that he was the Christ (Messiah), Paul realized that he had to switch teams, so to speak. He understood that he would have to forfeit everything he had gained in order to serve Jesus and the gospel.

In verse 8, he continues by explaining that he counted “everything as loss.” Imagine working your whole life in pursuit of gaining something and achieving it, only to lose it all in a moment. It would be hard enough if you had no control over it. But Paul made the choice because he understood there was something to gain that far exceeded the value of what he had gained in the flesh. He said that it was, “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (v. 8) What a thought. It makes me wonder if I see “knowing Christ Jesus [as] my Lord” as more valuable than anything and everything else in life.

Paul continues by explaining what that looks like. He says that knowing Christ means receiving a righteousness that comes through faith in Christ and not from his own efforts to do good. (vv. 8-9) His position with God is not about his credentials or his efforts to obey the law, but simply about being “in Christ” and therefore accepted before God based on the righteousness of Jesus, not his own.

Verses 10-11 sound a bit like Paul is not certain about the ultimate outcome of trusting in Christ versus his own fleshly credentials. Verse 10, “that I may know him . . . “ and verse 11, “that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection,” make it sound like he is ambiguous about how it will work out. But the fact that he has already become absolutely convinced that Jesus is the Christ and has been willing to forfeit everything else to follow Christ, even in his sufferings and death, reveals confidence, not uncertainty. Paul makes a strong argument for a literal resurrection from the dead in his first letter to the Corinthians (See 1 Corinthians 15:12-49). So, why the apparent uncertainty? One possibility is that Paul is expressing his uncertainty about the path and about the experiences the Lord will lead him through to his death and resurrection. Another possibility is that Paul is speaking in these terms to downplay his own effort and credentials, and to emphasize that everything about him and his future is in the hands of the Lord.

The big idea here is that we need to follow Paul’s example of not trusting in our own efforts of doing good to be accepted by God, but by faith, trusting in Jesus, so that we can know him and stand before God in his righteousness and not our own.