Sunday, May 16, 2010
YOU CAN GAIN CHRIST THROUGH FAITH
Phil. 3:7-9
Jesus told a little parable that goes like this: The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that is hidden in a field. When a man finds that treasure, he hides it again and the joy at the prospect of owning that treasure drives him to sell everything he has and buy that field. Then Jesus added another parable like it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a man looking for valuable pearls. When he finds one, he sells everything he has so that he can buy that precious pearl.
What do you think Jesus was trying to say? It is obvious that He wasn’t just interested in hidden treasure and pearls. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the treasure and the pearl represent Jesus Himself. He is the treasure; He is the pearl of great price. Surely when a person sees the value of Jesus Christ, he will give up everything he has in order to have Him.
Sometimes the question is asked, “Does a person have to give up anything in order to follow Jesus?” We can respond to that by sharpening the focus of the question and giving a definite answer: “The one who sees Jesus for who He is gladly gives up everything in order to follow Him.” That’s what this passage in Philippians 3 is all about. The key is verse 7, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” We find the what things in verses 5-6, “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." Paul not only gave up all that had been dear to him, but he counted them as loss. He considered them garbage.
Let me make it clear again that Paul was not saying it was a bad thing to grow up with great spiritual privilege. Remember that he was circumcised the 8th day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. Nor was he saying that it was bad to value the law of God and to pursue God with zeal. Paul was emphasizing that it is very detrimental to trust in either spiritual privilege or personal achievements. And why did Paul trust in those things in the first place? Because he thought they added up to righteousness before God. But when Paul saw the righteous Christ, he realized that all his “gains” did not equal righteousness. Compared to Jesus, all his own righteous deeds were like filthy rags. Like the prophet Isaiah, who saw the Lord high and lifted up, Paul saw himself as lost and undone.
Last week we took from Phil. 3:4-7 the principle, “Don’t Count on Your Own Righteousness.” Today, as we look primarily at verses 8-9, we are going to expand on that principle. This is no small thing for Paul, and it is no small thing in our world today. There is a pride deep within the heart of natural man which longs to make its own way, to earn its own reward. As we read in Prov. 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction…,” so it is for the person who tries to make himself righteous before God. That is the way of death and destruction that ends up in hell forever and ever. As we will see, Paul lays out two kinds of righteousness -- a law kind of righteousness and a faith kind of righteousness. We will be looking at them again this morning. Before we come to that emphasis in verse 9, we first want to look at what it was that Paul gained.
Let’s read our passage again… (Phil. 3:4-11)
Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 5. Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
I. What Is Our Gain?
Back to verse 7, which holds the key to this passage: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” Remember that Paul speaks with the language of an accountant -- gain, loss, count. Everything that was on the “gain” side of his ledger was removed, because he counted it loss. So what took its place? Did anything take its place? Absolutely. All of us have a “gain” column. We have our assets. All of us have something which is very dear to us. For Paul, it had been those things of verses 5-6. Those are the things in which he was trusting. Now that they are no longer dear to him, what is dear to him?
Now let’s read together verses 7-9a, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9. And be found in him…” Notice first of all that Paul uses the word “count” three times in this brief space. Twice he says that he counted those things loss, and the third time he says he counts them as garbage (rubbish, dung). Now this is what I want us to see, in each case there is something that follows. Verse 7, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” Verse 8, “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” And then later in verse 8, “For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as dung.”
While you are looking at these three phrases, notice the presence of the word “for” in each one of them. Translations will differ, and I can’t find any other than the KJV that renders this word the same in each instance. It is the same word, though “for” is not a very good translation. The Greek word is “dia” (dia), and it means “on account of,” “because of,” “for the sake of” (when used with the accusative case of the noun, as here). In order to be consistent, let’s translate it “for the sake of.” Paul counted those things but loss for the sake of Christ. Yes, he counted all things but loss for the sake of the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ his Lord. He suffered the loss of all things for the sake “of whom,” and it is clear that the “whom” refers to Christ Jesus his Lord. What could possibly be clearer. What Paul gained was Christ. All his counting loss was for the sake of Christ.
If it isn’t clear enough, Paul summarizes is bluntly at the end of verse 8, “that I may win Christ.” If your translation has “that I may gain Christ,” that is an ever better translation. Why do I say that? Because it is the same word that is used in verse 7, “But what things were gain to me…” Yes, it is the same exact word. Paul has moved out of his gain column his trust in spiritual privilege and personal achievements and has replaced them with Christ. He gave them all up that he might gain Christ. What an exchange for Paul. “I was trusting the fact that I was circumcised on the 8th day, that I was an Israelite from birth, that I could trace my lineage as being from the tribe of Benjamin, that I was a true Hebrew in every sense of the word, that I was a Pharisee, that I zealously persecuted the church, and that I obeyed the law so completely no one could find anything to blame in my life. But now I am done with that and I am trusting Christ.”
Understand that Paul is not adding Christ to his gains. When he moves Christ into the gain column, everything else is kicked out. Paul is no longer trusting his spiritual privileges and personal achievements. That is the whole point of saying that he counted them as loss. As a matter of fact, in verse 8 he makes an even stronger statement. Not only did he count the things of verses 5 and 6 as loss, but he counted “all things” as loss. What does “all things” include? Everything but Christ. Name anything you can possibly name. If it isn’t Christ, but Paul counted it loss. He is simply saying that when he encountered the living Christ, he refused to trust in anything else.
We are living in a religious society that specializes in making Jesus an “add on.” There is a false gospel that is preached, and it goes something like this: “Friend, you think you have it all together. You may have a nice job and a nice family. You get along well with people. All that is great, but if you look deep inside, you will have to admit that something is missing. That something is Jesus. If you will just trust Jesus, He will fill that empty spot on the inside and life will be all that it was meant to be.” It’s an “add on gospel.” Just add Jesus to what you already have, and everything will be right. That is the lie that will lead to destruction. The person who truly gains Christ will count everything else as loss.
When we look at what Jesus said, there is good reason to believe that Paul got his language from the Lord Himself. Let’s read the words of Jesus in Matt. 16:24-26…
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
The word translated “lose” in verse 25 is not the word we have here in Phil. 3. It can mean “to lose” or “to destroy.” We could read verse 25, “For whosoever wants to save his life shall destroy it.” But then when we come to verse 26, we find the words “gain” and “lose,” and they are the exact words that Paul uses here in Phil. 3. What profit is there in gaining the whole world, if you lose your own soul (life)? Then Jesus adds the searching question at the end of verse 26, “Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” It is the same kind of language. Up until he met Christ, Paul was trying to save his life. By piling up things in his “gain” column, Paul was trying to save his own life. In reality, he was losing it; he was destroying it. But when he counted all things loss in order to gain Christ, he gave up trying to save it. He gave up the whole world in order that his own soul might be gained for all eternity. Paul made the right exchange -- all things for Christ. If that exchange hadn’t taken place, then Paul would have hung on to all things and lost his own soul.
I urge you to audit your spiritual books. How is your accounting? What will give in exchange for your soul? You may not be counting on spiritual privilege, as Paul was, but remember that Paul expands his “what things” to “all things.” If you are trusting in anything other than Christ, then you will lose your life. You will destroy it. But if you lay it down in order to gain Christ, you will find it. That is, you will find real life. You may be tempted to add Jesus on to the things in which you are trusting. Don’t be deceived. Jesus will not be added on to your other things. He must be your treasure.
Now let’s come back to our text and look again at the three occurrences of that preposition “for” (dia). In the first and third instance, it is “for (the sake of) Christ,” but the middle one is a bit different. Let’s read the first part of verse 8 again, “Yea doubltess, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” While it is obvious that the gain is Christ, Paul specifically speaks of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.
What is this knowledge of Christ? I could speak of Rob’s and Alisa’s knowledge of computers. Both of them work with computers and they know a great deal about them. Is this the kind of knowledge Paul is talking about? No, not at all. There is a text book kind of knowledge, but there is also an acquaintance kind of knowledge. Norman has a great knowledge of Rita. That means that he is well acquainted with Rita. He has been gaining this knowledge for almost 50 years. He knows Rita in an intimate and loving way. That is the kind of knowledge of which Paul is speaking here. We see it even more clearly in verse 10, “That I may know him…” We will be looking more at that next week. For now suffice it to say that when Paul speaks of gaining Christ, he is not talking about gaining a commodity that you can sell at the market place. He is talking about a relationship that is personal and precious.
We still don’t have the complete picture, because Paul speaks of “the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.” Again, translations will differ at this point. This is a word of comparison. It root word literally means “to have or hold over.” It speaks of being better than. The idea is probably best captured by the translation “surpassing value” (NASV; “surpassing worth,” ESV, Amplified; “surpassing greatness,” NIV). Paul is still using the language of accounting. This personal intimate knowledge of Jesus is worth more than anything else in the universe. Paul is willing to sacrifice everything in order to know Christ, because nothing else can compare.
We could go on and on, because knowing Christ has no end. Lord willing, we will explore more of this next Sunday.
II. How Do We Gain Christ?
So we have seen very clearly that Paul’s new gain was Christ and a precious relationship with Him. Knowing Christ was worth more to Paul than anything else. In verse 9 the apostle comes back to the idea of how a person gains Christ. To be more accurate, he tells us how not to gain Christ and then how we can gain Him. Paul speaks of a law kind of righteousness and a faith kind of righteousness.
Let’s read it in verse 9, "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:" Paul’s desire is that ultimately he will be found in Christ. “In Christ” is one of Paul’s favorite terms, being found over 160 times in his letters. But in order to be found in Christ, righteousness is required. In order to know Christ, a person must be righteous. Jesus is righteous and He cannot have an intimate relationship with a human being who is not also righteous. So now Paul deals with what kind of righteousness will bring a person into Christ’s presence.
He beings with the word “not.” He says, “Not having my own righteousness, which is of the law.” This is the negative side. He testifies plainly that his own righteousness will not give him a right standing with God, will not bring him into the presence of Christ. When he speaks of his own righteousness, he is referring back to those things in verses 5-6. Those seven things that we have looked at equaled his own righteousness. He was trusting in those things to make him right with God.
He further describes his own righteousness with the words “which is of the law.” What does he mean by that? Paul was basing his righteousness on his ability to keep the law. His circumcision was according to the law. His being of the stock of Israel was based on the fact that the descendants of Israel were the people of God. His being a Pharisee identified him as one whose whole life was wrapped up in the law of God -- interpreting it, obeying it, guarding it, teaching it, proclaiming it. Concerning that law, he was blameless. Paul had based his righteousness on the hope that he was keeping the law in a way that was pleasing to God, in a way that would earn him acceptance with God.
Now let’s apply Paul’s word to our own lives. You may say, “I’m not like Paul. I have never tried to keep God’s law the way Paul did.” Maybe you haven’t done it the same extent, but have you set up a standard of your own and tried to keep it? That standard, no doubt, has something to do with God’s law. Perhaps you have added your own special features to it. Is there some standard you are trying to achieve in order to accepted by God? If I can just live a decent life day by day and help those around me, surely that will be acceptable to God. If I can add to that the fact that I go to church services, read the Bible, and pray, that will give me that much more chance. And if I am baptized, that ought to do it. That is “my own righteousness, which is of the law.” It is a law kind of righteousness. It is you setting a standard and trying to reach it in order to be acceptable to God.
Paul contrasts this law kind of righteousness with the other kind of righteousness. Lets’ read it again in verse 9, "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:" Notice the “but” right in the middle of the verse. These two kinds of righteousness are opposites. You either have one or the other, not both. This second righteousness is the one which is through the faith of Christ. “Through the faith of Christ” is a very literal translation. Most every other translation (except those which are deliberately literal, such as Darby and Young) will render it “through faith in Christ.” In the original language, it can mean the faith exercised by Christ or Christ as the object of one’s faith. The context here seems to demand that we understand it as one putting faith in Christ.
Paul then further defines this righteousness which comes through faith in Christ with the words “the righteousness which is of God by faith.” Literally, it says, “the out of God righteousness upon the faith.” The source of this righteousness is none other than God Himself. This is not a righteousness that we attain; it is righteousness that God bestows upon us. And it is based solely upon faith. Note the importance of faith. This righteousness comes through faith in Christ. Yes, it is based upon faith.
So what is it that makes these two kinds of righteousness such complete opposites? One is my righteousness; the other is God’s righteousness. One is centered in keeping the law; the other rests upon faith in Christ. While the one holds out hope that I can keep the law well enough to please God, the other acknowledges that only Jesus can keep God’s law. The one strives to gain acceptance through doing; the other receives acceptance in the Beloved through faith. Ultimately, the one trusts self and rejects Christ, while the other despairs of self and trusts Christ. My own righteousness and the righteousness which is through faith in Christ are total and exact opposites. They cannot coexist at all.
Conclusion
Earlier this morning we read the conversion experience of Paul (Saul at that time). We are told very little about what went on inside Saul. Actually, we aren’t even told much about how God saved him. Luke, the writer, gives us the historical record, what could be observed by one looking on from the outside. Jesus appeared to Saul in a blinding light. Then He set Ananias to deal with Saul. After three days, Saul was able to see again, after which he arose and was baptized. Then we read that he began to preach Christ. Acts 9 is the historical record.
Aren’t you glad we have Philippians 3. In this passage, Paul tells us what was happening on the inside. “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for the sake of Christ. Yea doubtless, I count all things but loss for the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but garbage that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God based on faith.”
In Acts 9, we see the sovereign hand of Almighty God deliver Saul from darkness and translate him into the kingdom of His dear Son. It is the record of the supernatural miracle in his life. That might give us the idea that Saul was totally passive, but that is not the case. I like the way John MacArthur puts it….
Salvation is a sovereign act of God by which He invades the sinner's darkness, gives him light, and saves him. But salvation does not annihilate, obliterate, destroy, or bypass human faculties. It stimulates human faculties. And so what you have in Philippians 3 is the record of what was going on in Paul's mind and emotions and will on the inside as these days in Damascus were passing. (Sermon: “The Surpassing Value of Knowing Christ”)
The longer we walk with Christ the better we understand all that was involved when He saved us. Next week we will focus more on the present tense of the believer’s life with respect to this passage.
Let’s close with a reminder about a man who responded to the Lord differently than what Paul did. We know him as the rich young ruler. In many ways, he was similar to Paul. He had plenty of reason to trust in the flesh. His gain column was full. The fact that he was a ruler most likely meant that he was the ruler of a synagogue. Therefore, he was a highly respected Jew. When Jesus listed several of the commandments, he confidently affirmed that he had kept them all of his life. The fact that he was rich was likely interpreted to mean that God had richly blessed him for his faithful service. Then Jesus said to him, “Go sell all you have, give it to the poor, and follow me.” In other words, count it all loss and make me your gain. That young man said, “No.” Instead of counting everything loss and gaining Christ, he counted everything gain and lost Christ. What a tragedy.
You can be like Paul, or you can be like the rich young ruler. You can pursue your own righteousness, or you can put your trust in Christ and gain true righteousness. You might ask, “Why is important that I put my trust in Christ?” It is because Jesus is the one whom the Father sent to rescue you from your sins. You haven’t lived a righteous life, but Jesus did. He pleased the Father in all things. According to the pictures of the Old Testament, He is the perfect sacrifice that God sent to die in your place. You deserve to be punished for your sins, to be cut off from God forever and ever. But God demonstrated His love by sending His Son to die in your place, to take on Himself the wrath of God, that you might go free. If you trust your own righteousness, you are saying to God, “No, thank you for sending your Son to die on the cross and bear your wrath, but I think I can make it on my own. I will trust the things that I have done to make me acceptable in your sight.”
I urge you this morning to put your faith in Christ. Admit that you have no righteousness of your own. All your good deeds add up to filthy rags. Throw yourself on the One who is completely righteous.
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