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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Php_3:7-11
7But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Php_3:7 "I have counted as loss" This is a perfect middle (deponent) indicative. Paul came to see how useless ritual and rules were as a means of obtaining and maintaining true righteousness (cf. Col_2:16-23). This was a major theological shift of emphasis from Paul's previous religious training and lifestyle which occurred at his Damascus road conversion (cf. Act_9:1-22; Act_23:3-16; Act_26:9-18).
Php_3:8-11 These verses are one sentence in Greek.
Php_3:8 "I count" This is a present middle (deponent) indicative. This term is used three times in Php_3:7-8. This is a business term for "forfeit." All Paul previously trusted in for righteousness (his race and religious performance) he now was counting as "loss."
NASB, NRSV "in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord"
NKJV "for the excellent knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord"
TEV "for the sake of what is much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord"
NJB "because of the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord"
The key to Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus. In Hebrew "know" implies intimate personal relationship, not facts about something or someone (cf. Gen_4:1; Jer_1:5).
The gospel is (1) a person to welcome; (2) a content to believe; and (3) a life to be lived! For "the surpassing value" (huperechô) see Special Topic: Paul's Use of Huper Compounds at Eph_1:19. This same word is used in Php_2:3; Php_3:8; and Php_4:7.
▣ "I have suffered the loss of all things" This is an aorist passive indicative. This could refer to his family, his inheritance, his religious merit and/or his rabbinical training. Everything he had previously considered valuable suddenly lost all its value! Everything changed on the Damascus road (cf. Acts 9; Act_22:3-16; Act_26:9-18).
NASB, NKJV "count them but rubbish"
NRSV "regard them as rubbish"
TEV "I consider it all as mere garbage"
NJB "and look on them all as filth"
This is literally the term for "dung" or possibly a popular abbreviation of the phrase "thrown to the dogs" (cf. Php_3:2). Metaphorically it meant "of no value."
▣ "that I may gain Christ" This is an aorist active subjunctive. Paul uses this commercial term metaphorically, "to gain" or "to win" Christ or the gospel as in Php_1:21; Php_3:7-8; and 1Co_9:19-22 [five times]. In Tit_1:11 he uses it in a literal sense.
Php_3:9 "and may be found in Him" This is an aorist passive subjunctive. It expresses Paul's deepest prayer. "In Him" or "in Christ" was Paul's favorite grammatical construction for believers (for a good example notice Eph_1:3-4; Eph_1:6-7; Eph_1:9-10 [three times], 12, 13 [twice]).
▣ "not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law" This is the key issue (cf. Rom_3:9-18; Rom_3:21-31). How is a mankind right with God? Performance or grace? This was once and for all answered for Paul on the Damascus road (cf. Acts 9; Act_22:3-16; Act_26:9-18). See Special Topic at Eph_4:24.
▣ "but that which is through faith in Christ" Faith is how individuals receive the gift of the grace of God in Christ (cf. Rom_3:24; Rom_6:23; Eph_2:8-9). Faith and repentance are two necessary aspects of mankind's response to the new covenant (cf. Mar_1:15; Act_3:16; Act_3:19; Act_20:21).
▣ "The righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith" Righteousness is a gift from God (cf. dôrea, Rom_5:15; 2Co_9:15; Eph_3:7; dôrçma, Rom_5:16; dôron, Eph_2:8; charisma, Rom_6:23). He always takes the initiative (cf. Joh_6:44; Joh_6:65). God desires that all humans be saved (cf. Eze_18:23; Eze_18:32; 1Ti_2:4; 2Pe_3:9); He has provided a way for all humans to be saved! They must respond and continue to respond to God's offer by
1. repentance
2. faith
3. obedience
4. service
5. perseverance
See Special Topic at Eph_4:24.
Php_3:10 "the power of His resurrection" This must refer to believers' new life in Christ. This series of phrases in Php_3:10 may reflect Paul's sufferings for the gospel (cf. 2Co_4:7-12; 2Co_4:16; 2Co_6:4-10; 2Co_11:23-28) which included his current imprisonment.
Others see all these phrases in Php_3:10 as aspects of believers' mystical union with Christ or their Christlike maturity. As Jesus was perfected by the things He suffered (cf. Heb_5:8) so believers are matured by suffering (cf. Rom_5:1-5).
▣ "the fellowship of His sufferings" Suffering is a common theme of the Christian experience of the first several centuries as it is in many societies in the world today (cf. Rom_8:17; 1Th_3:3; 2Ti_3:12; 1Pe_3:14; 1Pe_4:12-19). As believers share Jesus' victory, they also share His ministry (cf. Mat_10:24; Luk_6:40; Joh_13:14-16; Joh_15:20; Joh_17:18; Joh_20:21; 2Ti_3:12). See Special Topic: Koinônia at Php_2:1.
▣ "being conformed to His death" This is a present passive participle. Believers must be dead to sin and self and alive to God (cf. Mat_16:24-26; Rom_6:1-11; Gal_2:20; Col_3:3). True life is preceded by death to the old life!
Php_3:11 This is a third class conditional sentence which meant probable future action. Php_3:11 must be interpreted in light of Php_3:10. This phrase does not express doubt about salvation, but humility!
▣ "I may attain" Here again is the dialectical or paradoxical model of Paul's theology. Paul knew he was a Christian and that as Christ was raised by the Spirit so he would also be raised (cf. Rom_8:9-11). However, Paul saw salvation not only as a past completed event (cf. Act_15:11; Rom_8:24; 2Ti_1:9; Tit_3:5), but also an ongoing process (cf. 1Co_1:18; 1Co_15:2; 2Co_2:15) and ultimately in a future consummation (cf. Rom_5:9-10; Rom_10:9; 1Co_3:15; Php_1:28; 1Th_5:8-9; Heb_1:14; Heb_9:28). Christianity is resting in the character and gift of God in Christ and an aggressive, constant, vigorous life of grateful service to God (cf. Eph_2:8-10). George E. Ladd's A Theology of the New Testament, pp. 521-522, has a good discussion on this subject.
▣ "resurrection" This is an unusual compound term. It is found only here in the NT. It is literally "out of the dead into resurrection life." Paul has been discussing the intimate personal relationship between himself and the resurrected Christ. He longed for the end-time day when he, too, would experience physical resurrection as he already had experienced spiritual resurrection (cf Rom_6:4-11; 2Co_5:17; 1Jn_3:2). This is part of the "already but not yet" tension of the Kingdom of God, the overlapping of the two Jewish ages.