8-Learning How to Count
Chapter Eight
Circumstances and people can rob us of joy, but so can things, and it is this “thief” that Paul deals with in Philippians 3. It is important to see the total message of this chapter before examining it in detail, so perhaps the following outhne will be helpful.
vv. 1–11
vv. 12–16
vv. 17–21
Paul’s past
Paul’s present
Paul’s future
the accountant
the athlete
the alien
“I count”
“I press”
“I look”
new values
new vigor
new vision
What Paul was describing is the “spiritual mind.” In Philippians 3:18–19, he described professed Christians who “mind earthly things,” but then in Philippians 3:20 he described the believer with the spiritual mind, who minds heavenly things. You will recall that the city of Philippi was actually a Roman colony—a “Rome away from Rome.” In the same sense, the people of God are a colony of heaven on earth. “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20 NASB), and we look at earth from heaven’s point of view. This is the spiritual mind.
It is easy for us to get wrapped up in “things,” not only the tangible things that we can see, but also the intangibles such as reputation, fame, achievement. Paul wrote about “what things were gain” to him (Phil. 3:7); he also mentioned “things which are behind” and “things which are before” (Phil. 3:13). In Paul’s case, some of these “things” were intangible, such as religious achievements (Gal. 1:14), a feeling of self-satisfaction, morality. We today can be snared both by tangibles and intangibles, and as a result lose our joy.
But even the tangible things are not in themselves sinful. God made things, and the Bible declares that these things are good (Gen. 1:31). God knows that we need certain things in order to live (Matt. 6:31–34). In fact, He “giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17). But Jesus warned us that our lives do not consist in the abundance of the things that we possess (Luke 12:15). Quantity is no assurance of quality. Many people who have the things money can buy have lost the things that money cannot buy.
The key word in Philippians 3:1–11 is count (Phil. 3:7–8). In the Greek, two different words are used, but the basic idea is the same: to evaluate, to assess. “The unexamined life is not worth living,” Socrates said. Yet few people sit down to weigh seriously the values that control their decisions and directions. Many people today are the slaves of “things,” and as a result do not experience real Christian joy.
In Paul’s case, the “things” he was living for before he knew Christ seemed to be very commendable: a righteous life, obedience to the law, the defense of the religion of his fathers. But none of these things satisfied him or gave him acceptance with God.
Like most religious people today, Paul had enough morality to keep him out of trouble, but not enough righteousness to get him into heaven. It was not bad things that kept Paul away from Jesus—it was good things. He had to lose his religion to find salvation.
One day Saul of Tarsus, the rabbi, met Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and on that day Saul’s values changed (read Acts 9:1–31). When Saul opened his books to evaluate his wealth, he discovered that apart from Jesus Christ, everything he lived for was only refuse. He explained in this section that there are only two kinds of righteousness (or spiritual wealth)—works righteousness and faith righteousness—and only faith righteousness is acceptable to God.
WORKS RIGHTEOUSNESS (3:1–6)
The exhortation (vv. 1–3). “Finally” at this point does not mean Paul is about to close the letter, because he keeps on going. The word means “For the rest,” and introduces the new section. Paul’s “finally” at Philippians 4:8 is the one that means “I am about to close.” Paul has warned the believers at Philippi before, but now he warned them again. “Look out for dogs! Look out for the workers of evil! Look out for the mutilation!” To whom was he referring in this triple warning? The answer takes us back into the early history of the church.
From the very beginning, the gospel came “to the Jew first” (see Acts 3:26; Rom. 1:16), so that the first seven chapters of Acts deal only with Jewish believers or with Gentiles who were Jewish proselytes (Acts 2:10). In Acts 8:5–25, the message went to the Samaritans, but this did not cause too much of an upheaval since the Samaritans were at least partly Jewish. But when Peter went to the Gentiles in Acts 10, this created an uproar. Peter was called on the carpet to explain his activities (Acts 11). After all, the Gentiles in Acts 10 had become Christians without first becoming Jews, and this was a whole new thing for the church. Peter explained that it was God who had directed him to preach to the Gentiles, and the matter seemed to be settled.
But it was not settled for long. Paul was sent out by the Holy Spirit to minister especially to the Gentiles (Acts 13:1–3; 22:21). Peter had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles in Acts 10, and Paul followed his example on his first missionary journey (see Acts 14:26–28). It did not take long for the strict Jewish believers to oppose Paul’s ministry and come to Antioch teaching that it was necessary for the Gentiles to submit to Jewish rules before they could be saved (Acts 15:1). This disagreement led to the Conference at Jerusalem that is described in Acts 15. The result of the conference was an approval of Paul’s ministry and a victory for the gospel of the grace of God. Gentiles did not have to become Jewish proselytes in order to become Christians.
But the dissenters were not content. Having failed in their opposition to Paul at Antioch and Jerusalem, they followed him wherever he went and tried to steal his converts and his churches. Bible students call this group of false teachers who try to mix law and grace Judaizers. The epistle to the Galatians was written primarily to combat this false teaching. It is this group of Judaizers that Paul was referring to in Philippians 3:1–2. He used three terms to describe them.
“Dogs.” The orthodox Jew would call the Gentile a dog, but here Paul called orthodox Jews “dogs”! Paul was not just using names; he was comparing these false teachers to the dirty scavengers so contemptible to decent people. Like those dogs, these Judaizers snapped at Paul’s heels and followed him from place to place “barking” their false doctrines. They were troublemakers and carriers of dangerous infection.
“Evil workers.” These men taught that the sinner was saved by faith plus good works, especially the works of the law. But Paul stated that their good works are really evil works because they are performed by the flesh (old nature) and not the Spirit, and they glorify the workers and not Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8–10 and Titus 3:3–7 make it clear that nobody can be saved by doing good works, even religious works. A Christian’s good works are the result of his faith, not the basis for his salvation.
“The mutilation.” Here Paul used a pun on the word circumcision. The word translated “circumcision” literally means “a mutilation.” The Judaizers taught that circumcision was essential to salvation (Acts 15:1; Gal. 6:12–18), but Paul stated that circumcision of itself is only a mutilation. The true Christian has experienced a spiritual circumcision in Christ (Col. 2:11), and does not need any fleshly operations. Circumcision, baptism, the Lord’s supper, tithing, or any other religious practice cannot save a person from his sins. Only faith in Jesus Christ can do that.
In contrast to the false Christians, Paul described the true Christians, the “true circumcision” (see Rom. 2:25–29 for a parallel).
He worships God in the Spirit. He does not depend on his own good works, which are only of the flesh (see John 4:19–24).
He boasts in Jesus Christ. People who depend on religion are usually boasting about what they have done. The true Christian has nothing of which to boast (Eph. 2:8–10). His boast is only in Christ! In Luke 18:9–14, Jesus gave a parable that describes these two opposite attitudes.
He has no confidence in the flesh. The popular religious philosophy of today is “The Lord helps those who help themselves.” It was also popular in Paul’s day, and it is just as wrong today as it was then. (By “the flesh” Paul meant “the old nature” that we received at birth.) The Bible has nothing good to say about flesh, and yet most people today depend entirely on what they themselves can do to please God. Flesh only corrupts God’s way on earth (Gen. 6:12). It profits nothing as far as spiritual life is concerned (John 6:63). It has nothing good in it (Rom. 7:18). No wonder we should put no confidence in the flesh!
A woman was arguing with her pastor about this matter of faith and works. “I think that getting to heaven is like rowing a boat,” she said. “One oar is faith, and the other is works. If you use both, you get there. If you use only one, you go around in circles.”
“There is only one thing wrong with your illustration,” replied the pastor. “Nobody is going to heaven in a rowboat!”
There is only one good work that takes the sinner to heaven: the finished work of Christ on the cross (John 17:1–4; 19:30; Heb. 10:11–14).
The example (vv. 4–6). Paul was not speaking from an ivory tower; he personally knew the futility of trying to attain salvation by means of good works. As a young student, he had sat at the feet of Gamaliel, the great rabbi (Acts 22:3). His career as a Jewish religious leader was a promising one (Gal. 1:13–14), and yet Paul gave it all up—to become a hated member of the “Christian sect” and a preacher of the gospel. Actually, the Judaizers were compromising in order to avoid persecution (Gal. 6:12–13), while Paul was being true to Christ’s message of grace and as a result was suffering persecution.
In this intensely autobiographical section, Paul examined his own life. He became an auditor who opens the books to see what wealth he has, and he discovers that he is bankrupt.
Paul’s relationship to the nation. He was born into a pure Hebrew family and entered into a covenantal relationship when he was circumcised. He was not a proselyte, nor was he descended from Ishmael (Abraham’s other son) or Esau (Isaac’s other son). The Judaizers would understand Paul’s reference to the tribe of Benjamin, because Benjamin and Joseph were Jacob’s favorite sons. They were born to Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife. Israel’s first king came from Benjamin, and this little tribe was faithful to David during the rebellion under Absalom. Paul’s human heritage was something to be proud of. When measured by this standard, he passed with flying colors.
Paul’s relationship to the law. “As touching the law, a Pharisee … touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Phil. 3:5–6). To the Jews of Paul’s day, a Pharisee had reached the very summit of religious experience, the highest ideal a Jew could ever hope to attain. If anybody was going to heaven, it was the Pharisee. He held to orthodox doctrine (see Acts 23:6–9) and tried to fulfill the religious duties faithfully (Luke 18:10–14). While we today are accustomed to use the word Pharisee as the equivalent of “hypocrite,” this usage was not prevalent in Paul’s day. Measured by the righteousness of the law, Paul was blameless. He kept the law and the traditions perfectly.
Paul’s relationship to Israel’s enemies. But it is not enough to believe the truth; a man must also oppose lies. Paul defended his orthodox faith by persecuting the followers of “that deceiver,” Jesus (Matt. 27:62–66). He assisted at the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:54–60), and after that he led the attack against the church in general (Acts 8:1–3). Even in later years, Paul admitted his role in persecuting the church (Acts 22:1–5; 26:1–11; see also 1 Tim. 1:12–16). Every Jew could boast of his own blood heritage (though he certainly could not take any credit for it). Some Jews could boast of their faithfulness to the Jewish religion. But Paul could boast of those things plus his zeal in persecuting the church.
At this point we might ask, “How could a sincere man like Saul of Tarsus be so wrong?” The answer is, he was using the wrong measuring stick! Like the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17–22) and the Pharisee in Christ’s parable (Luke 18:10–14), Saul of Tarsus was looking at the outside and not the inside. He was comparing himself with standards set by men, not by God. As far as obeying outwardly the demands of the law was concerned, Paul was a success, but he did not stop to consider the inward sins he was committing. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made it clear that there are sinful attitudes and appetites as well as sinful actions (Matt. 5:21–48).
When he looked at himself or looked at others, Saul of Tarsus considered himself to be righteous. But one day he saw himself as compared with Jesus Christ. It was then that he changed his evaluations and values, and abandoned “works righteousness” for the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
FAITH RIGHTEOUSNESS (3:7–11)
When Paul met Jesus Christ on the Damascus road (Acts 9), he trusted Him and became a child of God. It was an instantaneous miracle of the grace of God, the kind that still takes place today whenever sinners will admit their need and turn to the Savior by faith. When Paul met Christ, he realized how futile were his good works and how sinful were his claims of righteousness. A wonderful transaction took place. Paul lost some things, but he gained much more than he lost.
Paul’s losses (v. 7). To begin with, he lost whatever was gain to him personally apart from God. Certainly Paul had a great reputation as a scholar (Acts 26:24) and a religious leader. He was proud of his Jewish heritage and his religious achievements. All of these things were valuable to him; he could profit from them. He certainly had many friends who admired his zeal. But he measured these treasures against what Jesus Christ had to offer, and he realized that all he held dear was really nothing but refuse compared to what he had in Christ. His own treasures brought glory to him personally, but they did not bring glory to God. They were “gain” to him only, and as such, were selfish.
This does not mean that Paul repudiated his rich heritage as an orthodox Jew. As you read his letters and follow his ministry in the book of Acts, you see how he valued both his Jewish blood and his Roman citizenship. Becoming a Christian did not make him less a Jew. In fact, it made him a completed Jew, a true child of Abraham both spiritually and physically (Gal. 3:6–9). Nor did he lower his standards of morality because he saw the shallowness of Pharisaical religion. He accepted the higher standard of living—conformity to Jesus Christ (Rom. 12:1–2). When a person becomes a Christian, God takes away the bad, but He also takes the good and makes it better.
Paul’s gains (vv. 8–11). Again we are reminded of Jim Elliot’s words: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” This is what Paul experienced: He lost his religion and his reputation, but he gained far more than he lost.
The knowledge of Christ (v. 8). This means much more than knowledge about Christ, because Paul had that kind of historical information before he was saved. To “know Christ” means to have a personal relationship with Him through faith. It is this experience that Jesus mentioned in John 17:3. You and I know about many people, even people who lived centuries ago, but we know personally very few. “Christianity is Christ.” Salvation is knowing Him in a personal way.
The righteousness of Christ (v. 9). Righteousness was the great goal of Paul’s life when he was a Pharisee, but it was a self-righteousness, a works righteousness, that he never really could attain. But when Paul trusted Christ, he lost his own self-righteousness and gained the righteousness of Christ. The technical word for this transaction is imputation (read Rom. 4:1–8 carefully). It means “to put to one’s account.” Paul looked at his own record and discovered that he was spiritually bankrupt. He looked at Christ’s record and saw that He was perfect. When Paul trusted Christ, he saw God put Christ’s righteousness to his own account. More than that, Paul discovered that his sins had been put on Christ’s account on the cross (2 Cor. 5:21). And God promised Paul that He would never write his sins against him anymore. What a fantastic experience of God’s grace!
Romans 9:30—10:13 is a parallel passage, and you ought to read it carefully. What Paul said about the nation Israel was true in his own life before he was saved. And it is true in the lives of many religious people today; they refuse to abandon their own righteousness that they might receive the free gift of the righteousness of Christ. Many religious people will not even admit they need any righteousness. Like Saul of Tarsus, they are measuring themselves by themselves, or by the standards of the Ten Commandments, and they fail to see the inwardness of sin. Paul had to give up his religion to receive righteousness, but he did not consider it a sacrifice.
The fellowship of Christ (vv. 10–11). When he became a Christian, it was not the end for Paul, but the beginning. His experience with Christ was so tremendous that it transformed his life. And this experience continued in the years to follow. It was a personal experience (“That I may know him”) as Paul walked with Christ, prayed, obeyed His will, and sought to glorify His name. When he was living under law, all Paul had was a set of rules. But now he had a Friend, a Master, a constant Companion. It was also a powerful experience (“and the power of his resurrection”), as the resurrection power of Christ went to work in Paul’s life. “Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20). Read Ephesians 1:15–23 and 3:13–21 for Paul’s estimate of the resurrection power of Christ and what it can do in your life.
It was also a painful experience (“and the fellowship of his sufferings”). Paul knew that it was a privilege to suffer for Christ (Phil. 1:29–30). In fact, suffering had been a part of his experience from the very beginning (Acts 9:16). As we grow in our knowledge of Christ and our experience of His power, we come under the attack of the Enemy. Paul had been a persecutor at one time, but he learned what it means to be persecuted. But it was worth it! For walking with Christ was also a practical experience (“being made conformable unto his death”). Paul lived for Christ because he died to self (Rom. 6 explains this); he took up his cross daily and followed Him. The result of this death was a spiritual resurrection (Phil. 3:11) that caused Paul to walk “in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). Paul summarized this whole experience in Galatians 2:20, so take time to read it.
Yes, Paul gained far more than he lost. In fact, the gains were so thrilling that Paul considered all other “things” nothing but garbage in comparison! No wonder he had joy—his life did not depend on the cheap things of the world but on the eternal values found in Christ. Paul had the “spiritual mind” and looked at the things of earth from heaven’s point of view. People who live for things are never really happy, because they must constantly protect their treasures and worry lest they lose their value. Not so the believer with the spiritual mind; his treasures in Christ can never be stolen and they never lose their value.
Maybe now is a good time for you to become an accountant and evaluate in your life the “things” that matter most to you.
QUESTIONS FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION
OR GROUP DISCUSSION
1. What are some of the things (tangibles and intangibles) that may snare us and cause us to lose our Christian joy?
2. What is the basic difference between works righteousness and faith righteousness?
3. Paul described true Christians as ones who boast in Jesus Christ. What does that mean and how do such people differ from merely religious people?
4. Why does the true Christian not put confidence in the flesh?
5. What is the only “good work” that takes the sinner to heaven?
6. Why is sincerity not enough for salvation? How is Paul a good example of this?
7. How was Paul using the wrong measuring stick before he met Jesus? How are people today still doing this?
8. “He is no fool to give what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” What does that mean to you?
9. Why is the first step to salvation to admit that you need to be saved?
10. Why can’t things make us truly happy?