The Glory of Knowing Christ

Don’t put your confidence in a ritual. Paul says that he was “circumcised on the eighth day” (v. 5 ESV). Paul was an “eighth-dayer.” He wasn’t a Jewish proselyte. His circumcision was done in a first-class way (Gen 17:12). Those who were converts to Judaism could never claim to have been circumcised on the eighth day. Today, people may put their confidence in other spiritual rituals, like being baptized as an infant or attending religious meetings. These experiences aren’t grounds for spiritual confidence. Paul went through this famous Jewish ritual, but he considered it of no advantage. Salvation is about becoming a new creation in Christ, not about going through a particular ritual. Look to the One who is the substance of the shadows (Col 2:17).

Don’t put your confidence in your ethnicity. Next in his self-portrait, he says that he was “of the nation of Israel” (v. 5), which means he was of the “race of Israel” (Hanson, Letter, 223). Paul was a physical descendant of Abraham. He was no Gentile convert to Judaism, but the real thing. Yet this special privilege didn’t give him reason for assurance of salvation. He had to look to the offspring of Abraham, namely, Christ.

Don’t put your confidence in your rank. He goes on to add that not only was he an Israelite, but he also belonged to “the tribe of Benjamin” (v. 5). Paul didn’t come from a disrespected Israelite tribe, but from this distinguished tribe. When the promised land was divided among the 12 tribes, Jerusalem, the holy city, was in Benjamin’s territory. When the kingdom split, Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty. Yet Paul says, as proud as that could make a Jew, it was of no ultimate value for granting anyone salvation. Many who are exalted in the world today will one day be humbled because they’ve failed to bow down to Christ. Salvation isn’t by your rank. It comes by trusting in David’s greatest Son, Jesus Christ.

Don’t put your confidence in your tradition. Traditions can be fine as far as they go, but you should place no confidence in them when it comes to salvation. Being a traditionalist is of no more value than being a progressive if you aren’t focused on Jesus. Paul calls himself a “Hebrew of Hebrews” (v. 5 ESV). While he was fluent in Greek, he didn’t abandon his Hebrew culture. He was also fluent in Hebrew and devoted to his traditional culture. We also cannot rely on our cultural heritage or family tradition for salvation. I’ve met a lot of people whom I’ve invited to corporate worship over the years, who have claimed that their entire family was of a particular religious group. We must tell them, don’t trust in tradition. You must trust in the ultimate Hebrew, Jesus Himself.

Don’t put your confidence in your rule keeping. Paul says regarding the law he was a “Pharisee” (v. 5). They loved their rules. Their name comes from an Aramaic term denoting “the separated ones” (Hanson, Letter, 226). They even added to the commands of the Old Testament—so much so, that it was hard to know what the actual biblical commands were. That’s who Paul was. He adopted a Pharisaical lifestyle. He belonged to a morally superior group of Jews.

You will meet people today who think that salvation comes by being a moral person. To be clear, I’m not encouraging rule breaking. We must simply note that rule keeping won’t earn salvation. Many have the idea that moral people will go to heaven. It’s still around today, and it’s the default mode of the human heart.

I was at the bedside of a family member recently. In his dying days, I was trying to explain the gospel to him. I read to him Ephesians 2:8-9 and talked about salvation as a gift of grace. His response was at first, “I was in the Boy Scouts.” That’s fine, but keeping the code of some group doesn’t merit eternal life. It didn’t for Paul as a Pharisee, and it won’t for us either. Salvation isn’t by rule keeping.

Don’t put your confidence in your zeal. We certainly hear this claim today: “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere and really believe it.” Well, it would be hard to fathom anyone more “sincere” than Saul of Tarsus. He wasn’t a Pharisee in name only; he was zealous. He says, “regarding zeal, persecuting the church” (v. 6). Regarding his pre-conversion life, to the Galatians he says, “I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors” (Gal 1:14). His zeal was expressed through his persecution of the church (Acts 8:3; 9:1; 22:4-6; 26:10-11). To the Corinthians he said that only by the grace of God could he be forgiven of such sin (1 Cor 15:9-10).

Salvation doesn’t come by passion. People are passionate about lots of things. Salvation comes by knowing the real man of zeal, Jesus Christ. People can be sincere but be sincerely wrong. Paul told the Romans that some have “zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom 10:2). One must know Christ; one must be “found in Him” (Phil 3:9).

Don’t put your confidence in your obedience to the law. Paul wraps up his religious résumé, saying, “regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless” (v. 6). While Paul isn’t claiming sinless perfection, he is saying that his life was exemplary when it came to obeying the Old Testament law. He was a self-righteous person, who boasted in his ability to keep God’s law, like the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-23). Later in verse 9, however, Paul will talk about the need for the righteousness of another—Christ. Salvation comes through the obedience of another, through the work of another—Christ. While Paul’s public record of moral performance was stellar, he later placed it in the loss column.

This phrase contrasted with verse 9, “the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (ESV), summarizes the difference between Christianity and other world religions. Other systems promote works-based righteousness, but the gospel is about imputed righteousness. It’s about receiving Christ’s righteousness as our own. The most sincere religious person can’t keep God’s law. We need Christ. He lived the life we should have lived, and then He died the death we lawbreakers should have died. Let me ask you again, Where is your confidence? Are you trusting in your rituals, your ethnicity, your rank, your tradition, your rule keeping, your zeal, or your obedience to the law? Paul says that a genuine Christian puts no confidence in these things. Our confidence lies in another, namely, Christ. Put your trust in Him! Paul goes on to tell us more about what this means in the next four verses.

How to Know Christ (3:7-11)

Paul transitions with some remarkable statements on knowing Christ. Silva calls this section “the essence of Pauline theology” (Philippians, 155). At the center is Christ. Paul mentions Christ by name or pronoun nine times in five verses; his supreme ambition is knowing Christ. In verse 7 Paul says that everything he thought was in the credit column (his list of privileges and accomplishments in verses 5-6) has been transferred to the debit column. Only Christ remains in the credit column. He repeats himself more forcefully in verse 8. He didn’t just count all lost; he lost it all!

Paul calls his religious accomplishments “filth” or “rubbish” (ESV) or “dung” (KJV) compared to knowing Christ. Paul uses a term that sometimes referred to animal or human excrement. At the risk of sounding crass, he says it’s all “dog crap” compared to knowing Christ. The vulgarity of the term is deliberate, as Paul wants to strike us with the worthlessness of life apart from Jesus. You can have the Bread of Life that will eternally satisfy or you can have a pile of dung. Which do you prefer: the dung of religious self-efforts and earthly praise and possessions or the eternal joy of knowing Christ as your Savior and Lord? Paul made his decision, and he’s trying to help others choose wisely. One may hear an echo from Jesus’ question, “What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?” (Matt 16:26).

This zealous Pharisee turned into a zealous missionary for Christ. This same Christ he had persecuted (Acts 9) became his Savior, Lord, and treasure. Because of his conversion to Christ, Paul “suffered the loss of all things.” You might say he traded a list of accomplishments for a list of afflictions. He lost friends, intellectual peers, his home, his security, his status, and more. In place of these things, he received the following:

Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I’m talking like a madman—I’m a better one: with far more labors, many more imprisonments, far worse beatings, near death many times. Five times I received 39 lashes from Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods by the Romans. Once I was stoned by my enemies. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the open country, dangers on the sea, and dangers among false brothers; labor and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and lacking clothing. Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my care for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation? (2 Cor 11:22-29)

Now that’s a list! Understand that Paul isn’t complaining here. Paul was committed to Christ, and he viewed everything done in Christ’s name as “gain.” On one side of the page is loss or filth—his former life of Judaism with all its privileges and accomplishments. On the other side of the page is gain—where Christ alone stands. The gain side of the page is infinitely better to Paul, even though it means great sacrifice.

Verse 9 is extremely important for understanding how one becomes a Christian—you need Christ’s righteousness. Verses 10-11 are extremely important for understanding what a Christian pursues—you need to know Christ more and more. To use theological language, verse 9 speaks of justification. Verse 10 speaks of sanctification. Verse 11 speaks of glorification. If you aren’t a Christian, you need to be justified, counted righteous before God. Otherwise, you face condemnation. If you’re a Christian, you, like Paul, need to pursue a better knowledge of Christ in this lifelong process of sanctification, which culminates in eternal glorification.

Justification: Trust Christ Alone as Your Righteousness (3:9)

In his list of accomplishments Paul said that with regard to righteousness he was “blameless” (v. 6). However, he couldn’t live up to sinless perfection. He, like us, needed someone else’s righteousness in order to be justified before God.

You see, here’s the problem. Only righteous people are going to heaven. Yet none of us are righteous (Rom 3:9-18). Therefore, we need another source of righteousness, and that’s why the gospel is good news. As Paul says here in Philippians 3 and elsewhere, believers have received the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Christ alone (cf. Rom 3:21-26); we call this “imputed righteousness.” This is the opposite of works-based righteousness or self-righteousness. That’s all dung. We need the righteousness of another, an alien righteousness. We need God’s righteousness. To the Corinthians, Paul says, “He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21). What a glorious exchange! Christ received our punishment though He never sinned, and we received His righteousness though we didn’t deserve it. Consequently, we are found in Christ. That means that God sees us through the righteousness of Christ. Believers are now protected from judgment, and we can know that we have forgiveness from God and are accepted by God. No better news exists.

Some define “justification” as “just as if I never sinned.” But we should add that it’s more than this. It’s “just as if I’ve always obeyed.” For we haven’t just gone from negative to neutral; we have gone from negative to positive. We have not just received forgiveness; we have been given the perfect righteousness of Jesus.

Paul quickly makes two important points in Philippians 3:9 regarding this “justification” or this “righteousness.” First, justification is a gift from God. Paul says that this righteousness comes “from God.” We can’t earn it, and we don’t deserve it. God, in infinite grace, gave His only Son to live and die for law-breaking people that they might be saved.

Second, justification is received by faith. Paul says it clearly, doesn’t he? And he actually says it twice: “but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith” (v. 9). Salvation doesn’t depend on your record, your rank, your ethnicity, your religious attendance, your good deeds, and such. It depends on faith alone in Christ’s perfect work alone. Justification is God’s work, secured by Christ’s death, and appropriated by faith.

This is what it means to be a Christian. This is what it means to know Christ. This is what it means to have your values in the right place. Carson says, “Paul recognizes that in God’s universe, the most important thing is to know God” (Basics, 86). Knowing Christ as your Lord is more important than politics, sports, movies, social media, and even family. And we come to know Him by looking away from ourselves and looking to Christ as our righteousness. You should see now how infinitely different Christianity is from other religions. In other systems, you have to do the work. In Christianity, Christ did the work. We rejoice in those wonderful words, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). They are a translation of just one word in Greek, but it’s loaded with meaning, and I dare say we will be pondering it for all eternity.

So, will you look to Christ as your righteousness? Do not trust in your own goodness. Many people think they’re somewhere between Mother Theresa and Ted Bundy, assuming that God somehow grades on a curve. Consider Paul: he said as to righteousness under the law, he was blameless, yet he discovered that he was under the judgment of God and needed Christ’s righteousness. We need this righteousness also. If you are a Christian, then remind yourself of this good news daily by reading the Bible, meeting with other Christians, meditating on good books, and singing gospel-saturated songs. Isaac Watts wrote “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” a beautiful hymn that calls this passage to mind:

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,

Save in the death of Christ my God!

All the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down!

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

I think the apostle Paul would have enjoyed this song! I pray you can sing it as well.

Sanctification: Know Christ More and Become More Like Him (3:10)

In verse 10 we find that Paul didn’t adopt an attitude like, “I’ve arrived spiritually.” He never got bored with knowing Jesus. As believers, we, too, need to press on to know Him. Of course, Paul does know Christ, but because of his love for the Savior, he wants to know Him more. Is there a better example for believers than this? Paul says, “Join in imitating me” in Philippians 3:17. As we observe his life, we see an all-consuming passion to know Christ. He sounds like David in Psalm 63; his passion was to seek God and to be satisfied in Him.

Dr. Stan Norman was one of my (Tony) favorite professors in seminary. His Systematic Theology class was magnificent! I used to say, “We should type notes on our knees,” because the content was so worshipful at times. In one of Dr. Norman’s classes, the subject of the day involved Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and the deep implications of it. In the midst of dealing with this subject, a frustrated student said, “I didn’t come here to study this stuff. All I want to do is know how to pastor a big church.” Dr. Norman didn’t like this response, to put it mildly—nor should he. To think that you can pastor and not need to know about the Christ, His resurrection, and how it applies to people’s lives is foolish. Paul says this is of first importance (1 Cor 15:3-5)! This student’s attitude didn’t reflect the life of the apostle Paul, who considered everything as dung compared to knowing Jesus. He should have realized that the very reason he was in seminary was to know Christ more and to become more like Him.

J. I. Packer put it well: “Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord” (Knowing God, 34). What is your main business in life? Is it to pastor a big church? Is it to make money? Is it to get married? Is it to be entertained? Everything in life flows from this fountain: knowing Christ. What do you want to pass on to your kids? Alistair Begg said a man once quipped to him, “When I was young I had six theories and no kids. Now I have six kids and no theories” (in DeYoung, Crazy Busy, 74). It only took me (Tony) five kids to realize this! Let’s give them what they must have: a knowledge of Christ.

Specifically, Paul mentions knowing Christ and “the power of His resurrection” and “the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” Let’s unpack this.

Note first, believers have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (see Eph 1:19). This power is at work within us so that we may desire to work according to God’s pleasure (Phil 2:13). This power is at work within us to make us holy. This power is at work within us to help us understand God’s great love and mercy. This power gives us strength to endure life’s hardships (Col 1:11-12).

But Paul wants more. At this point, everyone may be “amening”! You might say, “Yeah, I want to know Christ. Yeah, I want the power of Christ.” But we may be tempted to skip this next line and jump to the resurrection part. We must not skip over this line about suffering because we’ll miss something very important. Paul says he wants to know the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. Earlier, he told the Philippians that we have been given the gift of suffering for Christ (1:29). This flies in the face of prosperity theology, which says if you have faith you will be healthy, be wealthy, and have no trials. Many don’t understand the truth about Christianity. When I (Francis) became a Christian in high school, no one told me about suffering on behalf of Christ. I was raised with a version of Christianity that adopted a view that one could be a disciple but not look like Jesus. Paul corrects our understanding and gives us an inspiring example to follow.

To be clear, we shouldn’t read this as if Paul enjoyed suffering in and of itself. That’s not what he means. Rather, he understands that in following the Man of Sorrows, we, too, will encounter suffering and sorrow, and as we follow along this Calvary Road, we will know the Master better. If you want to know Christ more than anything in life, and it’s through suffering for Him that you’ll know Him better, then you won’t mind suffering. It will be worth it! You will actually find joy in it (Acts 5:41).

Glorification: Anticipate Your Resurrection ( 3:11)

At first glance, Paul seems to be uncertain about his resurrection, but we should reconsider that assumption. Rather, he’s either speaking modestly—over against the Judaizers and others who held to an over-realized eschatology (Witherington, Friendship and Finances, 91), thinking the perfected state was in the present—or he is using “somehow” as Carson thinks:

The word “somehow” in the original probably suggests that Paul is uncertain as to the timing and circumstances of this experience. Might it come to him in his lifetime, so that he receives a transformed, resurrection body without passing through death? From his letter to the Thessalonians we learn that this is what Paul teaches will befall those believers who are alive when Jesus returns (1 Thess 4:13-17). Or will he die and then rise from the dead? Either way, “somehow,” he will “attain the resurrection of the dead.” And in Paul’s mind, attaining that glorious end, the final resurrection, the new heaven and earth, the home of righteousness, is bound up with persevering in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. So for that knowledge of Christ he yearns. (Basics, 88–89; emphasis  added)

We, too, should long for this “glorious end, the final resurrection” when we will see Christ. Paul concludes this chapter by giving us this hope:

But our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself. (Phil 3:20-21)

We have a taste of this glory now, but we have not experienced the fullness of it yet. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:6). When God redeems a person, He uses the same creative power that He used when He spoke the universe into existence. He shines in our hearts to give us the knowledge of Christ. Later, more glory will be revealed. Habakkuk says, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab 2:14). We await our resurrected bodies, our new home, and an increased knowledge of Christ. Let this hope purify you (1 John 3:1-3). Let this hope encourage you in your sufferings (Rom 8:18-39). Let this hope help you put all things into perspective.

My (Tony) first mission trip was to Australia. I know: it was a hard location. Our team went to Sydney to do street evangelism during the Olympics. After a few days, our leader asked me and three other guys on our team to go lead a basketball clinic in a small town about five hours south, along the beautiful coast. We went and had a very fruitful ministry there. Our hosts were locals. They treated us wonderfully. When we arrived, they showed us our rooms and then took us to the ocean. I looked at this majestic ocean and the beautiful countryside behind me. I saw dolphins jumping in this stunning scene of endless waves. The youngest member of the family then asked me if I wanted to get in. Of course I did. I began, like many do, by putting one toe in the water. Then I put in a foot. Then I walked out into the ocean until I was swimming. But I never covered the bottomless glory of this ocean. There was so much more to know and to experience.

Paul is showing us in this passage that there’s an ocean of glory in Christ Jesus for us to know and experience. He never grew stagnant or bored with knowing Christ. Instead, he wanted to know Him better and better. He traded his self-righteousness for God’s perfect righteousness through faith in Christ. He possessed Christ’s resurrection power. He knew Christ better and better by suffering for Christ, and he thus rejoiced in suffering. He anticipated a glorious resurrection that would enable him to know his Savior even more. Let’s not be content with putting a toe in the water. Let us pursue a deep relationship with Jesus Christ, and let’s long for the day in which we see Him, the One with scars on His hands, who defeated death through His resurrection. Nothing on earth compares to knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.

Reflect and Discuss