Paul is going to tell us today that everything he lost for the sake of Christ is like garbage to him. He once was an influential man among the Pharisees and he held a high rank in the Sanhedrin council. He was wealthy and respected. He was achieving his ambitions. But after he met Christ none of those things mattered to him anymore. He will speak out against those who rely on the works of the flesh, for he too once relied on the works of the flesh and was bitter and miserable. On the outside he was a success; on the inside he was a spiritual failure.
Now he's a prisoner in Rome because of his faith, dependent on the help of his friends for even the basic necessities, but he's never been happier. "Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by His Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh---though I myself have reasons for such confidence." (Philippians 3:1-4a) We previously learned in other letters that there were those who troubled the Gentile believers by telling them they weren't really saved unless they became circumcised and followed the law of Moses. Circumcision and the law, however, mean nothing if the heart isn't right with the Lord, so Paul's words echo those of Moses who said, "Circumcise your hearts." (Deuteronomy 10:16a)
If circumcision and trying to follow the law made a person perfect in the eyes of God, then Paul could have bragged he needed no help from God. "If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless." (Philippians 3:4b-6) He says, "I was trusting in my heritage, in my affiliation with the Pharisees, in my observance of the law, in my bringing of the proper sacrifices and offerings, and in what I thought was my service to God in persecuting the church. If righteousness could be imputed by hard work, then I would have had it."
But when Paul met Christ on the dusty road to Damascus, he realized how feeble his works were. He saw how meaningless his former way of life was. He had to admit to himself that it was impossible to obtain righteousness by works, so he acknowledged his need for grace and mercy. "But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ---yes, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:7-11) Righteousness was always by faith and not by works. The law taught man he couldn't perfectly keep it, and in that way the law taught man he had to depend on the mercy and grace of God to make up for his lack of perfection.
But suppose we could have perfectly kept the law. We would have missed out on knowing Christ! We would have had no need for a Savior, and our relationship with the Lord would have been superficial at best. We would not have had fellowship with Him. We wouldn't have had to lean on Him for strength and comfort. We could never have experienced the relationship that is more satisfying than all others, or the power that is greater than any the human mind can fathom. Paul asks, "What is my former way of life compared to this? It's nothing! I gladly threw overboard everything I once held dear. It was weighing me down. It was hindering my knowledge of the Lord. Now, free of all that useless baggage, I'm unencumbered as I move forward."
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-14) Paul says, "I'm not perfect yet because I'm not home with Christ yet. But I'm letting Him make me more and more like Him every day. I'm not allowing anything to hold me back, not even the mistakes of my past. Christ has redeemed my past. He's redeeming my today. He's going to keep redeeming me in the future. I'm not letting anything weigh me down because I'm keeping my eyes on the prize, doing all I can for Christ, knowing He's waiting for me at the finish line."
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