Philippians 3: 7-17
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Paul has just gone through his resume of all the high accomplishments he had earned; but now he's saying that all these things he had counted on to give him standing, was just standing in the way between him and Christ.
More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
Even beyond that, he considered everything in this World as being a stumbling stone in the way of knowing, not just knowing about, Christ Jesus Himself.
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
Paul really has lost the value of all the items on the list of his accomplishments, because he doesn't need them any more.
and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
Now they're just trash compared to the extremely high value of having Christ Jesus.
and may be found in Him,
And not just having Jesus, but Jesus having him, living inside of him by His Spirit.
not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law,
This is what he had on his resume, all the legalistic rule-based living.
but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
The faith in Christ, trusting Him to have done it all for us. Righteousness comes from God, not from anything we can do, only what He has done for us. And this comes to us as a gift from God on the basis of our trusting Him and relying on Him alone.
that I may know Him and the power of His Resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
Paul wants intimate communion with Him, and this would mean going with Jesus into Resurrection through His sufferings and dying with Him, as though it all happened to Paul while Jesus suffered and died. They went through it together.
in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
This is what it takes to get to Resurrection. Nothing less will do. But Resurrection is the end of this road. No other road will get us there.
Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on
Paul admits that he's not finished yet, he's still on the road, trudging along.
so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Here is the back and forth again: Paul wants what Jesus wants to give him. Jesus laid hold of Paul, now Paul is hanging on to Jesus.
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet;
Paul knew he still had a ways to go before he would be ready to become all God had planned for him to be; he wasn't there yet.
but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
He's taken his focus off of all the stuff he left behind, and is reaching, stretching forward, toward what is ahead of him.
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
He is pressuring himself to keep on keeping on, to push through, keeping his eyes on the prize, that he knows is ahead, because that's what God has promised him in Christ Jesus. He's not letting anything get in his way, not being distracted by anything.
Let us, therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude;
He just said that he wasn't "perfect" yet, so here he means "mature." As many of us who consider ourselves mature in the faith, we will have this kind of thinking process going on in our heads, to produce this attitude of seeking Christ with single-mindedness.
and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;
And if anyone thinks differently, then they must take that up with God our Father who will help them sort it out. It's a personal issue.
however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.
However far each of us has gone in living our lives righteously according to God's standards for us, let's keep on getting better, not letting anything slide.
Brethren, join in following my example.
Paul says to follow him as he follows Christ. He's setting himself up as an example to follow.
I find this a rather dangerous position to be in. If someone is going to follow me, I would not want them to repeat any of the mistakes I still make. Paul sounded very confident here, much more confident than I am.
When I had my children, I knew that they would see all my imperfections, and would magnify those in their lives. So I let them know what to watch out for, and prayed for them (which I still do every day), and left them in God's hand.
Now that they are grown, they do have some of my better character qualities, but they also have their own weaknesses. So I still keep them in my Father's hand, who Loves them even more than I do.
Meanwhile, I endeavor to live a lifestyle of responsibility for myself and others, which includes a high moral standard of purity and compassion, with social and financial responsibility.
And I must keep on top of my own weaknesses so that they won't interfere with my goal of the high calling in Christ Jesus. So pray for me, too.
O my Father, You are so good to me, and to all of us. Please continue to help us all grow up as Your children, to keep our families in Your hand to call them also to repentance and faith in Your time.
Send out Your teachers and workers into Your fields to find all Your little lambs who are still lost out there, to bring them in to the safety of Your fold.
And may Your house be full, every place at Your banquet table taken.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess in every language, of every creature above, on the Earth, and below, Your glory and honor and authority. That the Lord Jesus Christ is Sovereign King and Almighty God over all Creation, to the glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
