Why Does Paul Say That We Will “Share in Christ’s Sufferings”?

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Updated May 17, 2023

Knowing Jesus Christ comes with blessings and sufferings. Having a relationship with the Lord means eternal salvation, having all sins forgiven completely, and living forever with God after this life is finished. It also means experiencing hardships, rejection, mockery, pain, and persecution because people who reject Jesus will hate those who follow Him.

The Apostle Paul’s life is great testament to this fact. When he hated Christians, he persecuted them. When he met Jesus Christ and gave his life to the Lord, he experienced persecution. He wrote about the purpose of his suffering and persecution to the Church in Philippi, stating,

“That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11).

Knowing Jesus and receiving His righteousness means suffering like He did, but it also means being glorified like Him, even being physically resurrected one day.

What Does This Verse Mean?

Paul spent time in his letter to the Philippians making the connection between the righteousness of Christ, His death, and His resurrection, and what it means for those who believe in Him. In these verses, Paul is explaining there are powerful implications of Jesus’ resurrection, and to know the resurrected Christ and embrace Him will mean sharing in His sufferings.

However, sharing in the sufferings of Christ means that one day the believer will also be resurrected physically from the dead, not just having their sins forgiven and their souls going to Paradise. In eternity, Jesus Christ and those who live with Him in the New Heaven and the New Earth will be both body and soul, perfected.

What Is the Context of Philippians 3:10-11?

This verse is the back half of a longer sentence that takes up several verses. Paul is writing to the Church in Philippi. It is a letter of encouragement, even though he was in chains. This letter has many exhortations and is optimistic in tone. In the section of the epistle that traditionally opens chapter 3, Paul is encouraging the church to pursue righteousness and to live in accordance with the example of Jesus Christ.

The full sentence from which these two verses come is:

“For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 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 — that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8b-11).

Paul was suffering greatly for the sake of the Gospel. At this time, he was in prison, had been beaten many times, had been dragged around the Mediterranean in chains, and had been shamed many times for the sake of Jesus Christ. Paul explained that none of that was important when considering His relationship with God. Obeying the Lord, even if it means suffering, is worth it.

Because of his relationship with Jesus Christ, Paul receives the righteousness of Christ freely, flowing through his faith. The more he exercises his faith, the more he grew in Christ’s righteousness, and the better he knows the Lord. Because of this relationship, he will suffer, but he will also attain the resurrection from the dead. His soul is freed from the burden and future punishment for his sins, and his body will be restored to him and glorified, just like Jesus. For Paul, any suffering is worth it because Jesus suffered and received glory, and God promises that anyone who suffers with Jesus will be glorified with Jesus.

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:16-17).

What is temporary suffering in this life compared to eternity with God as co-heirs with the Savior?

Why Would We Want to "Share in Christ's Sufferings"?

There are several signs outlined in the Bible that are outward indicators that someone is a true follower of Jesus, though the Bible is clear that only God knows the heart and who truly loves Him. These indicators include:

- The Fruit of the Spirit

- God using them for His purposes

- Public expressions of their love for and alignment with Jesus Christ

- An ability to forgive.

A crucial one identified by Jesus during His earthly ministry before His crucifixion is suffering and persecution.

“Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours” (John 15:20).

This idea was even found in the Sermon on the Mount.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).

When someone is persecuted for doing the right thing according to the Bible, or because of their public testimony about Jesus Christ, they are obeying the Lord, but they are also following in His footsteps. Persecution refines, making someone more like Jesus, and shows the world, this person is one with Jesus Christ.

Each believer will suffer in different ways for the sake of the Gospel. Some will lose their jobs, others will be rejected by friends, some will spend time in jail, and others still will be tortured and killed. Pointing to someone who seems to suffer less or more and try to claim to know the level of their faith because of it is not something Christians should do. God is in control, and is the only one who can know the heart of someone else. It is not the place of Christians to determine who is suffering more or less, and why. Instead, they are to turn to God in their times of distress, and cling to His promises.

How Can We "Attain Resurrection from the Dead"?

One of the greatest, most controversial, and most difficult concepts in the Bible for those who do not understand the power of God is that of bodily resurrection. Today, atheists point to the idea that Jesus walked out of the tomb alive after three days as proof of the falsity of the Bible. Some Christians try to compromise this idea by arguing it is a symbolic resurrection.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the promise of a future, bodily resurrection, is an essential element of the work of Jesus and the Gospel.

“For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’” (1 Corinthians 15:53-55).

In fact, the physical resurrection of the body from death is so crucial to the Christian faith that Paul explained to the Church in Corinth:

“Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:12-20).

At this time, most Greeks believed the soul and body were separate, that the body was a cage and when someone died the soul was freed from the corporeal prison. As some converted to Christianity, they struggled with the idea that Jesus would be raised bodily from the dead, or that they would be physically raised. Some even suggested the resurrection of the Lord was only in spirit. Paul makes it clear here, Jesus was raised bodily, and one day the church will be raised bodily as well.

When God created Adam and Eve, they were intended to live in their bodies, so to fully redeem mankind, the body must be redeemed from death just as much as the soul must be redeemed from eternal punishment in hell for sin. Eternal resurrection from the dead will only be attained through faith in Jesus Christ.

How Does This Verse Help Guide Us in Our Faith?

This verse is one that believers should turn to in difficult times, especially if they are suffering due to external pressures put on them because they are believers. While it can be difficult, Jesus and Paul both encouraged Christians to rejoice when persecution comes, because it is the world - which hates God and all things that are godly - reacting to the Spirit of God living in the believer.

One of the few promises made to those who follow Jesus about their life on earth is that suffering will come, and to expect persecution. It will look different for different people, but when suffering comes, it is important to cling to Jesus. Christians are persecuted because those who love sin and the things of this world are trying to persecute the righteousness of Jesus they detect. Suffering because of Christ is temporary, but the life that will come with the resurrection from the dead is eternal, glorious, and beyond compare.

“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved” (Romans 8:22-24a).

Sources

Bruce, F.F. Philippians Understanding the Bible Commentary Series. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1989.

Thielman, Frank. Philippians The NIV Application Commmentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995.

Walvoord, John F. and Roy B. Zuck. The Bible Knowledge Commentary An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Old Testament and New Testament. United States of America: Victor Books, 1987.

Wilmington, H.L. Wilmington’s Guide to the Bible. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1981.

Bethany Verrett is a freelance writer who uses her passion for God, reading, and writing to glorify God. She and her husband have lived all over the country serving their Lord and Savior in ministry. She has a blog on graceandgrowing.com.