Losing to Gain (Phil 3:1-11)

Jesus Christ told us to count the cost if we want to follow him (Luke 14:25–33). Becoming a Christian costs everybody something; for some it can be a very costly decision. Sometimes the cost of following Jesus isn’t apparent at conversion but comes later, when a person discerns God’s will for his/her life. Such was true of Dr. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones. Lloyd-Jones was an accomplished medical doctor, who turned from that profession to pastoring. He eventually became one of the most well-known preachers of the twentieth century, but he didn’t know that when he quit his medical practice to go into vocational ministry. Many people asked Lloyd-Jones through the years why he would give up the money and prestige of being a medical doctor to serve in the church full-time. Lloyd-Jones wrote that someone once asked “Why give up good work – a good profession – after all, the medical profession, why give that up? If you had been a bookie, for instance, and wanted to give that up to preach the gospel, we should understand and agree with you and say that you were doing a grand thing. But medicine – a good profession, healing the sick and relieving pain!” Lloyd-Jones replied that God had called him to help heal souls, even if the profession of pastor wasn’t as prestigious or lucrative as a medical doctor. What the world saw as loss, he viewed as gain. Christ was worth giving up anything that this world could offer. With this mentality, Lloyd-Jones was imitating Paul.

In the late 50s, Paul found himself sitting in a Roman prison cell for the first time, and he didn’t know whether his path led to freedom or execution. Early in his imprisonment, he heard about disunity in the Philippian church, so he sent them a letter via Timothy and Epaphroditus. The letter urged them to pursue joy and humility. In Philippians 2:19–30, Paul had just finished commending Timothy and Epaphroditus as good examples. He then went on in chapter three to point out some men who were bad examples: the Judaizers. These guys promoted legalistic spirituality and ultimately works-based salvation. In Philippians 3:1–11, Paul argued that the Philippians should exchange a legalistic mindset for a relational pursuit. Whatever assets that they thought they had accumulated for their salvation; they needed to view them as liabilities for the sake of gaining Christ. Ultimately, they needed to lose so that they might gain. My prayer this morning is that we will see the surpassing worth of knowing Christ compared to anything that we might gain in this world.

Forsake a Legalistic Mentality (3:1–3)
Rejoice in the Lord’s Salvation (3:1)
Paul began this section by exhorting the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord in verse one, and he wrote that such a thing was not difficult for him to do. How could this be? Keep in mind that Paul was imprisoned in Rome! Even in this unhappy situation, he was able to write that it was no trouble for him to say that Christians should find joy in the Lord. How?

Happiness and sadness fluctuate depending upon our circumstances. In contrast, joy comes from our relationships, and no relationship can bring greater joy than union with God. If we’ve lost all joy, then we’ve forgotten about our relationship with God and everything he’s done for us and will do for us. Because Paul had a relationship with God, he could easily say that Christians can rejoice in the Lord!

Paul also wrote that rejoicing in the Lord would help keep the Philippians safe. How?  Well, beyond helping to keep us from a depressive mindset, joy in the Lord guards us from falling into a legalistic mentality. When we take our eyes off the joy that comes from our relationship with God, we can easily re-orient our spirituality around just following rules and doing rituals. Has legalism slipped into our hearts? We can diagnose ourselves by asking why we do what we do. Are we attending, giving, serving, reading, caring, and praying because we know that we should do so, feel obligated to do so, or just have the habit of doing so? Or do we attend, give, service, study, care, and pray because God has filled our hearts with joy so that we love to be with him and serve him in response? Losing the joy found in our relationship with God leads to a life fixated upon following rules; a life filled with the joy of the Lord generates a natural desire to serve and obey God. We do what we do because we want to do it, not because we know we ought to or because we’re just in the habit of doing so.

Abandon a Works-Based Salvation (3:2–3)
The importance of joy in fighting back legalism is highlighted by Paul in versus 2 through 4a. Who is Paul referencing in these verses? In the first century, certain Jews believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but they did not understand that he had fulfilled the old covenant and created a new one. They argued that people needed to embrace the old covenant in its entirety to be saved. In other words, a person had to become Jewish to be saved; it wasn’t enough just to have faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Paul routinely argued against the Judaizers. He told the Philippians to watch out for them, and he flipped the script with his description of them in verse two. The Jews called Gentiles ‘dogs’ mainly because they weren’t allowed within the temple and were outside the covenant community of Isreal. Paul said that these Judaizers were “dogs.” They were the ones outside the new covenant community built around a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

The Judaizers also fancied themselves to be righteous, but Paul said that they were evil workers. How could those who carefully followed God’s law be evil workers? They might have been meticulously following God’s law, but they were also spreading heresy by teaching a works-based form of salvation.

Finally, Paul wrote that they pushed people towards mutilation. What is he talking about? As mentioned previously, the Judaizers held that people had to become Jewish to be saved. For Gentile men, this process required circumcision. Hence, the Judaizers were telling Gentile men that they couldn’t be saved unless they were circumcised. Paul flipped this idea on its head by saying they were urging mutilation. Now, Paul was not saying circumcision was bad. He himself was circumcised, and he circumcised Timothy (Acts 16:3). However, Paul vehemently rejected the notion that salvation requires circumcision.

In fact, Paul wrote in verse three that the Gentile believers were the ones truly “circumcised,” meaning they had been regenerated and were a part of the new covenant community of faith. In Colossians 2:11, Paul wrote that “¹¹In [Jesus] you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.” In other words, Christians have a spiritual circumcision so that we do not need a physical one to be a part of the church. Those spiritually circumcised are characterized by Paul as worshipping by the Holy Spirit and boasting in Jesus Christ rather than having confidence in their flesh. In other words, true believers trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ to save them, rather than in their own works.

Embrace a Relational Pursuit (3:4–11)
Paul’s Love & Pursuit before Conversion: Pedigree & Practice (3:4–6)
Paul concluded by mentioning in the first half of verse four that he of all people should have had confidence in his ability to merit salvation through his works. He didn’t turn to Christ because he failed at being a Jew. He realized at the height of his righteousness that his good deeds were not good enough to merit heaven. Thus, Paul threw down the gauntlet in the second half of verse four. He challenged anyone who might think that they were good and kind enough to get to heaven. They shouldn’t compare themselves with the average person but with Paul. If Paul couldn’t achieve salvation through his righteousness, what chance do the rest of us have?

Paul thus laid down his resume in verses five through six, in which he went over his pedigree and practice before his conversion to Christianity. He began by stating that he was circumcised on the eighth day. Why was this important? He had been following the old covenant laws since birth because his parents were devout Jews; he did not turn to God after living a prodigal lifestyle. Luke similarly remarks how Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day (Luke 2:21–24). Luke wanted to show that Jesus fulfilled the old covenant from birth, not just as an adult. Can we say that we’ve followed God’s commands from childhood? Some may say “yes,” but most turn to God later in life.

Even if someone could answer “yes” to the question above, can we say that we were born into the nation of Israel, that old covenant community of God? Paul could. He wasn’t born to Gentiles who then converted to Judaism (as would be the case for the Philippians and most of us). He was born into the nation of Israel. In fact, he was from the tribe of Benjamin, which was the only tribe that remained with Judah when the other 10 left to form the Kingdom of Israel. In other words, he wasn’t just born an Israelite, he was born into the faithful tribe of Benjamin to godly parents!

These examples reveal that a pedigree and lineage isn’t good enough to see someone into heaven. A person can attend church their whole life and do all the right things; it’s not enough to merit entrance into heaven. A person can be born into a godly family, maybe a family that even boasts pastors and missionaries, but a person can’t inherit salvation from their family. Paul had the right lineage and childhood so that he at one time had confidence in his own righteousness, but he learned that those items weren’t enough to merit salvation.

Regarding Paul’s credentials, he could call himself a Hebrew of Hebrews in the middle of verse five. He was as Jewish as a person could get. Paul placed this statement in the center to highlight it. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews in terms of his pedigree (circumcised on the eighth day, born into the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin) and his practice.

Regarding his observance of the law, he used to be a Pharisee, who were the strictest and most conservative interpreters of the Old Testament. Paul didn’t live like a normal Jew; he followed God’s law meticulously. Regarding his zeal, he wasn’t lukewarm in his Jewish faith; he was so zealous in his Pharisaical beliefs that he persecuted the church because he thought that they were a heretical sect! Regarding his own righteousness as compared to the law, people had said that he was blameless. Paul was not saying that he was sinless because even Pharisees recognized that they sin. He was saying that he was above reproach, that nobody could point to something in his life that was a direct violation of God’s law. Even when he did sin, he followed the sacrificial laws perfectly. According to the law, he was faultless, even if he wasn’t sinless.

Before his conversion, Paul was a man who seemed to have it all together. He had the right pedigree and practice which would have led to prestige. For the Jews, he of all people would be worthy of heaven. However, Paul discovered that none of that stuff was going to come close to being enough. Paul might have been righteous compared to others, but he wasn’t sinless. Paul needed perfect righteousness to be found not guilty before God. Where could he get this perfect righteousness if he couldn’t achieve it?

Paul’s Love & Pursuit after Conversion: Jesus Christ (3:7–11)
In verse 7, all the items that Paul listed in his resume, everything that he originally considered a gain to him (something that would merit him heaven), he now considered them a loss (something worth getting rid of) for the sake of Christ. Paul then used stronger language in verse 8. He considered everything that this world could offer (not just the items in verses 4–6) to be worthy of losing for the sake of gaining the surpassingly valuable knowledge of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

For Christ’s sake, Paul indeed had lost everything. He was no longer a Pharisee; he had lost a ton of prestige and fame among his Jewish peers. Paul had given up his home and wealth for the sake of being a missionary. Indeed, Paul’s choice to follow Christ had landed him in a Roman jail and would eventually cost him his life. Paul had lost everything. However, he wrote that he considered everything that he had lost like dung/trash, something that should be discarded, because in return he had gained Christ. In other words, he may have lost everything, but he didn’t care because those things were worth losing for the sake of gaining Christ.

I’ve been asked many times what it takes for someone to be saved. In Acts 2:38, Peter replied that people need to repent and be baptized. In other words, people need to turn from their sin and commit instead to the Christian life found in the church. In Romans 10:9–10, Paul wrote that people must believe in the resurrection of Jesus and confess him as Lord. In other words, people must believe in what the Bible says about Jesus to be true (including his resurrection), and they must confess him to be God and Lord over their lives. Based upon Philippians 3:7–8, we can also say that salvation requires a change in mindset. People must reject any notion that their good and kind enough to get into heaven and instead pursue a relationship with Christ.

What do we gain when know Christ and are united to him? gain justification, sanctification, and glorification. For starters, we gain justification. Justification is the declaration by God of “not guilty.” How are we able to be declared “not guilty”? Even someone like Paul couldn’t follow the law perfectly, and we’ve all broken the Great Commandment by not loving God with everything within us (Matt 22:34–40). We deserve a guilty sentence. Thus, justification does not come from our own goodness, but from Christ’s righteousness that’s imputed onto us. Just as our sin got imputed onto Christ while he hung upon the cross, Christ’s perfect righteousness envelopes us when we become united to him through the indwelling Holy Spirit. In union with Christ, with his righteousness enveloping us as he serves as our head and representative, God can then justly declare us “not guilty.” How again does one get this imputed righteousness of Christ that leads to justification? We receive it through knowing Christ, which is not just an intellectual knowledge but a relationship with him that unites us to him. We must repent of our sin, trust in his works to save us, and confess him as our Lord.

Through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we not only are justified but are sanctified. In verse ten, Paul thus transitioned from talking about salvation to spirituality. As Christians, we know that we’re not saved by our works, but it’s easy to reject a works-based salvation only to fall into a works-based spirituality. Paul didn’t reject his Pharisaical lifestyle, only to return to it after being saved. He was saved by pursuing a relationship with Jesus, and he wrote in verse ten that his goal now as a Christian was to continue to pursue a greater relationship with Jesus. This process of growing in our knowledge and relationship with Jesus is called sanctification.

Paul wrote that part of sanctification is experiencing the power of Christ’s resurrection. What did Paul mean by this statement? We get to experience the presence of the risen Christ as he remains with us through the Holy Spirit. We get to experience a spiritual resurrection called regeneration, and we will one day experience a physical resurrection when Jesus returns.

A relationship with Christ allows us to feel the power of his resurrection, and it brings us into fellowship with Christ. However, Paul wrote that he wanted to fellowship with Christ so closely that he even shared in Christ’s suffering. As American Christians, we don’t think much about imitating Christ through suffering for him. For the early church, suffering for Christ was a badge of honor because it was a way to imitate Christ. Paul wrote that he wanted to know Christ so well that he would even die for Christ if called upon to do so. We must keep in mind that Paul was in a Roman prison. He was suffering for Christ. In addition, as far as he knew, he was about to die for Christ. However, Paul wrote that he wanted to have such a close relationship with Christ that he would fellowship in Christ’s suffering and even conform to Christ’s death.

Can we as American Christians say the same? Most American live posh lifestyles and don’t have to face much persecution for Christ. At worst, we might have to deal with some ridicule or discrimination. Could we honestly say with Paul that we want to have such a close relationship with Christ that we’re willing to fellowship in his suffering, even more so conform to his death? How does our pursuit of Christ compare to Paul’s?

Following his statement about dying like Christ, Paul briefly remarked in verse eleven that he wants to arrive at the resurrection of the dead (i.e., glorification). This verse is like an aside in Paul’s argument; it’s not a major thrust. However, the verse can easily confuse since Paul used the language of “assuming” or “somehow.” Paul was not questioning the future resurrection, which he clearly teaches in passages like 1 Corinthians 15. Paul was transitioning into verses 12–21, which is on Christian perseverance. Thus, verse eleven is less assertive than we might expect because it’s a springboard into the next subject. What Paul ultimately wants us to know is that a relationship with Christ is exceedingly more valuable than anything in this world because we gain justification, sanctification, and glorification when we gain Christ. Therefore, for Paul, all his previous good deeds were like trash, worth nothing but to be thrown out, for the sake of gaining Christ and getting to know him better.

Conclusion
Ultimately, God wants his people to exchange a legalistic mindset for a relational pursuit. Paul began this section by commanding the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord, a command which he wrote was easy for him to give and was a safeguard for the Philippians as it’d keep them from a works-based mindset. If the Philippians would rejoice in the Lord’s salvation, they would more easily avoid the error of the Judaizers, who argued that people needed to become culturally Jewish to be saved. Paul responded that those who worship by the Holy Spirit and boast in Jesus Christ are the ones who are truly saved. The Judaizers put too much confidence in their own righteousness, and Paul could say this because of his own pedigree and practice before his conversion. Paul had followed the old covenant regulations from childhood. Indeed, he was not only born into the nation of Israel, but he came from the faithful tribe of Benjamin. He pursued righteousness under the law as a Pharisee. With great fervor, he accomplished more than what the Judaizers were requiring. However, he now considered his pedigree and practice before his conversion like garbage compared to his relationship with Jesus Christ. Indeed, Paul had thrown much of his former life away for the sake of knowing Christ.

How should we respond to this passage? The application is the same for everyone. We must reject a legalistic mentality and turn to a relational pursuit. For those who have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, this passage urges a rejection of any confidence in one’s own ability to merit heaven. Instead, cling to Christ. Repent of sin, believe in Jesus, and confess him as Lord. For believers, we can reject works-based salvation, only to return to works-based spirituality. Paul did not go back to a Pharisaical lifestyle after his conversion. He was saved through a relationship with Jesus, and he lived as a Christian with a desire to know Jesus better. Maybe your spirituality has gone cold, maybe you no longer are easily able to rejoice in the Lord, we can turn to Christ afresh and pursue him again as our first love (Rev 2:4). We can renew our love for Christ so that our devotion and service come naturally rather than happening out of obligation or habit. May our lives reflect our love for Jesus Christ and our pursuit to get to know him better.

Dr. Forrest Mills