Philippians 3:8-9
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—
I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them as dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness…but the righteousness which is of God by faith. (Phil. 3:8-9)
If you read Philippians 3 you will discover that Paul lists those THINGS that he lost for the sake of Christ. (see Phil. 3:4-6) You will not find SINS on that list. Nor material possessions. Rather, Paul said he lost everything about HIMSELF that he had been using to make himself righteous before God. In short, primary to what Paul lost, was his self-righteousness.
Anyone of us can easily read and memorize the doctrines of the Bible. We can become experts on the doctrines of justification by faith and law vs. grace. But Paul is not talking about a doctrinal realization. He is talking about what happened to him when he encountered Christ. He saw that his self-righteousness was a lie. So he lost it.
Losing self-righteousness is so vital and central that Paul was able to say that when he lost his, it was so that he might, “win Christ and be found in Him.” But notice HOW Paul was found in Christ: No longer with a self-righteousness, but with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. This was the pivotal point in Paul’s walk with Christ.
David A. DePra
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