Paul's Example - The Priceless Privileges from Knowing Christ - Part 1

Let's take our Bible. Let's turn to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. If you pay attention, if you look at where we are in the book, we are moving along and we are closer to the end than we are in the beginning. I'll say this before we get into our verses, verses 7 to 11. Maybe take some time over the holiday and read back through Philippians. If you're like me, sometimes Philippians can become overshadowed with things that we're studying on Sunday morning. We don't need to do that. This is a rich book, a rich study, and I believe these are things that we need to see and we need to study.

So maybe take some time over the holiday to read back through Philippians. Get a little sharp there with some things that we've studied and you might need to even catch up on a message or two that you have missed. But we're going to be in verses 7 to 11 tonight. We're not going to cover all of these verses. This will be part one and part two. I'll talk about that a little later on. Now in two messages we covered verses 1 to 6. I called those messages Paul's example against the Judaizers. Paul's example up against the Judaizers. In those messages we saw that Paul was writing to the much-loved Philippians to do several things.

He was writing to educate them. He was writing to equip them. He was writing to counsel them. And you can put this in all capital letters because this was very serious. He was writing to caution them because it seems that the Judaizers and their false teaching were a legitimate threat to the Philippian believers and to the church as a whole. And we saw that Paul had a two-sided approach. First he pointed out that the Judaizers were putting their confidence in their religious achievements and their self-effort. And he pointed out that the Judaizers were actually abusing the Old Testament law.

They were abusing those Old Testament rights and rituals in doing these things. And then second Paul showed them that if there was any person who could have put confidence in their religious achievements and self-effort it was him. I know I said this a few times. He did not do this in any prideful manner at all. He was not being braggadocious. But he explained to them that if anyone kept the law and all of those Old Testament rituals and rights it certainly was him. He was showing them that he did those things much much better than even the Judaizers. So notice what Paul was doing. He was refuting the Judaizers.

He was pointing out their error. He did everything but call their names. And he offered himself as an argument up against their teaching. And he offered himself as an example of what it means to find and to possess true eternal life. Because remember now this is all about true salvation and a right standing before God. Now before we move on from verses one to six because all of this is tied together. Let's read verses one to six. Piles says finally my brothers rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and it is safe for you.

In other words Paul had taught these things before and he's saying that it's no trouble for me. You need it. This is for your spiritual safety. Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evil doers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. And of course he's talking about how they used circumcision. For we verse three are the circumcision or the true circumcision. For we worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and we put no confidence in the flesh. Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone thinks or anyone else thinks he has reason for 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 as to the law of Pharisee as to zeal a persecutor of the church as to righteousness under the law blameless blameless which surprises some because externally he was blameless. Now starting here in verse seven begin to see a shift in Paul's teaching and approach. Now Paul is still offering himself as an example to the Philippians but Paul is still and Paul is still using business or accounting language. He speaks of gains and he speaks of losses. But in verses seven to eleven Paul starts to speak more of all that he gained in Christ.

Now notice how Paul's teaching progresses really how all these verses fit together how they're laid out. You might take note of it of this in your copy of God's Word. In verses four to six Paul speaks of his religious inheritance and his right religious achievements. In the first part of verses seven and eight Paul speaks of counting all those things as a loss. And in the second part of verse seven and eight and then through verse 11 Paul speaks of the many things that he gained when he finally did receive eternal life.

And more specifically Paul says that he gained five benefits when he came to true saving faith and we will see that these are priceless benefits. These are what I call priceless benefits that are tied to the priceless privilege of knowing Christ. Now this is the title of the message. Paul's example because we're still seeing his example. Paul's example the priceless privileges plural from knowing Christ. And of course this is a part one because we cannot cover all of the privileges tonight because of time. So let's look at verses seven to eleven. Verses seven to eleven.

Paul says but whatever gain I had I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. See that business accounting language? Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surprising worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and I count them as rubbish in order 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 comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from God that depends on faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings becoming like him in his death that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Now before we get into the things that Paul gained notice that he emphatically boldly clearly states that all that he had gained in his previous life he counted those things as loss.

He emphatically boldly states that he had counted not just some of his religious inheritance and achievements as a loss but everything as a loss. Look back at the beginning of verse seven and the beginning of verse eight verse seven but whatever gain I had I counted as loss. Verse eight indeed I count everything as loss. Now Paul has already explained this transaction. This is a business like a business transaction. He's already explained this transaction in more detail in verses four to six but notice what he is repeating what he is emphatically saying. He is really bringing all of his losses to a crescendo.

He is saying that every gain that he had in the gain column of the spreadsheet of salvation he put all of those things in the loss column of the spreadsheet of salvation. He is saying that the transaction of his salvation on the road to Damascus cost him everything. But Paul does not stop with his losses. He also says that this transaction also brought five priceless privileges. So let's look at these privileges. We're going to look at two tonight. They're a little longer and then next week we will recap those two and we will cover the other three making that five. So number one the priceless privilege of knowing Christ.

The priceless privilege of knowing Christ. Now we see this in verse eight primarily but I'm going to reach back to verse seven a little but let's look at verse eight. Paul says indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and I count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Now here I want us to see that Paul was saying two big but basic things. These are basic and big. First he was expressing his great loss. Now the verb I counted in verse seven is in the perfect tense and the verb I count in verse eight is in the present tense.

Now this tells us that Paul was saying that he counted all his religious inheritance all of his religious accomplishments as a loss when he came to faith in Christ and he was continuing to count those things as a loss. You see he was saying that he was dying to those things every day since the day he put those things in the lost column of the spreadsheet of salvation when he came to faith in Christ on the road to Damascus and notice what he calls his religious inheritance and his religious accomplishments. In the English Standard Version in the New American we see that he counted those things as rubbish.

Now the King James says he counted them as dumb a little different. The amplified it uses the word garbage but what is it? In the original this is extremely strong language. This was a very strong word which spoke of dung, this spoke of manure, this spoke of waste. Strong says this is that which is thrown out to the dogs. This is refuse or dung. Thayer says this is any refuse and this is the excrement of animals, rubbish, the drags. So notice that Paul was highlighting how he saw all of his religious inheritance and all of his achievements. He counted them lost and continued to count them as lost every day.

He no longer saw those things as priceless privileges and performance that supposedly gave him a right standing with God. He saw all of those things as garbage but worse. He saw those things as animal manure, dung, excrement, that which should be thrown out. But notice one thing before we move on. Warren Wiersby points out that all this loss does not mean that Paul turned his back on his rich heritage, that he had as an Orthodox Jew and even a religious leader. In his letters, Paul's letters, we can see that he placed a great value on his religious heritage, his Jewish heritage, even his Roman citizenship.

Wiersby says, and I'm quoting, "Becoming a Christian did not make him less a Jew." You see? Continuing with the quote, "In fact, it made him a completed Jew, a true child of Abraham, both spiritually and physically." He's referring to Galatians 3, 6 to 9. Now what's my point here? And pointing that out. This is important and it has a great application for many of us in our day and our time. You see, we still live in the Bible belt, although that belt is becoming a little more loose. But in our culture, many grow up in the church with a great religious heritage.

Many grow up in the church and they even have a a lot of great religious accomplishments, quote unquote, to their credit. And for many to come to faith in Christ, just like Paul, they have to put their religious heritage and their religious accomplishments in the lost column of the spreadsheet of salvation. They even have to see those things as garbage and even dumb, just like Paul. But this does not mean that they should not treasure their past. Just like Paul, many today should treasure their religious heritage, their religious past, and even some of those efforts.

Many should treasure those things because those things can and do have a positive effect on the life. You see, I thought that was important for us to see. But then second, he was expressing his great gain. Look back at verse eight. "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ." Now here Paul makes two statements about Christ. They're easy to see. They're surpassing worth of knowing Christ and in order that I may gain Christ.

Now in saying the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, this means much, much more than correct information. Paul knew correct information about Christ before he came to faith in Christ. He even knew correct information. In other words, he knew about Christ before he met Christ. Here Paul was and is saying that he knew Christ personally. This knowing speaks of an experiential personal knowing. This speaks of a personal relationship which is how the New Testament speaks of true believers. The New Testament speaks of believers knowing Christ in so many places. I'll give you just one.

In 1 John 5, 20, John says, "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him." You see? "So that we may know him personally and experientially, even intimately. And we are in him who is true in his son Christ Jesus. He is the true God in eternal life." But notice what Paul says about knowing Christ personally, experientially, even intimately. He says that this knowledge is of surpassing worth. The New American says this is of surpassing value and this surpassing value or worth speaks of something that is more excellent as compared to something else.

This speaks of something of incomparable worth. But the question compared to what? What is Paul comparing and contrasting? His religious heritage and his achievements. He was and he is saying that knowing Christ as compared to his past, knowing Christ is of incomparable worth of much, much more excellent value. You see the contrast in the comparison, contrast in comparison that he is making? And notice next he says, "In order that I may gain Christ." But a question here, have not Paul already come to know Christ? Had he not already come to saving faith in Christ? Therefore he could say that he gained Christ? Yes.

Even though it sounds like Paul was speaking of what was going on in his life at the time that he wrote the letter, actually he was reflecting back on what had happened in his life when he came to saving faith. He was speaking of the great transaction that took place when he met Christ on the road to Damascus. He was saying that, "In order that I may gain Christ, I put all my religious heritage, all of my achievements, into that lost column of the spreadsheet of salvation." William McDonald says of this gain and loss, and I'm quoting, "If he were to have Christ as his gain, he had to say goodbye to his mother's religion, his father's heritage, and his own personal attainments." And I add to that by saying that is exactly what Paul did.

So notice that Paul was highlighting how he saw all of his religious inheritance and his religious achievements. He counted them lost, he counted them lost, and he continued to count them as a loss every day. And he did so so as to gain Christ. Again, it was about losses and gains, losses and gains. And before I move on, think about your spreadsheet, your religious spreadsheet. What's in the lost column? What's in the gain column? We have to be careful that we don't have things in the gain column that should be in the lost column.

We have to make sure that there are things in the lost column that should be in the lost column, and we'll get to that. But hold on to that picture of the spreadsheet of salvation, because remember, Paul is using business and accounting language. So it's okay for me to use language like the spreadsheet of salvation. So in verse 8, we see that Paul was and is giving himself as an example to the Philippians. He was telling them that he had gained the priceless privilege of knowing Christ. And one more thing in application for us, you know, this should be our testimony. This should be our personal story.

You know, we do something a little bit different, which should be the norm. When folks come to join our church, they give a testimony of conversion to Christ and how God's worked in their life and how God led them. They stand up here and they tell their story. When people come to be baptized, they stand up here and they share their testimony about how they came to Christ. You see, in the New Testament, we see that baptism comes after a conversion to Christ. And baptism is really our true and legitimate profession of faith. But notice what I'm pointing out. Some have said that this is an unusual habit, but it shouldn't be.

When people come to faith in Christ and when they join our church, they come and they stand up and they give a testimony. They share their story. Paul's sharing his story. Shouldn't we be able to share ours? Some of you know that we have a men's prayer time on Tuesday morning, six o'clock. I have noticed that certain men in prayer have been using a particular phrase, the spot, the spot. Men have referred to the spot where people have given their conversion experience. I've heard people talk about the spot where so-and-so shared their testimony.

And I hear sometimes men pray, "Lord, I pray that so-and-so comes to faith in Christ so they can stand in the spot and share their story." You see, Paul was sharing of the priceless privilege of knowing Christ. And it's not just about sharing when you came to faith in Christ and how you came to faith in Christ, but that it is continual. It is ongoing. You didn't just gain Christ yesterday. You have continued to gain Christ because he is an everyday part of your life. So number two, the priceless privilege of righteousness which comes from faith. The priceless privilege of righteousness which comes from faith. Look at verse 9.

"And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith." Now before we get into the priceless privilege of righteousness, we need to understand what biblical righteousness is and what it is not. Paul was not speaking of a righteousness as he was compared to the Judaizers. Think about that. He'd been comparing himself all along and he was not comparing himself saying, "My righteousness compared to theirs." He was not speaking of a righteousness by man's standards or compared to man and their standards.

He was speaking of a righteousness before God. Biblical righteousness is simply a right standing before God. Biblical righteousness is a person standing before God, being accepted by God as righteous and in a right standing before God. The New American commentary says, and I'm quoting, "In scripture, righteousness is often a legal term and it is not a moral one. It means that a judge would pronounce someone righteous and I add to that by asking a question. Who is the judge here in this righteousness?

Well, the judge is God." Now that we understand what kind of righteousness Paul was talking about, I want us to see what Paul is saying and he's given us two big and basic things here as well. First, he was exposing his past righteousness of works. Simply all of Paul's life, primarily all of his adult life, he had worked his fingers to the bone to somehow gain a righteousness before God by keeping the law, by keeping all of the Old Testament rights and rituals and even those other laws that the Jewish leaders had given. And this righteousness was bound up in his own self-effort.

This righteousness was all centered on keeping the Old Testament rights and rituals. This was all bound up in an external obedience to the law and an external morality that came out of all of these things. But Paul came to understand that none of those things worked. Even though Paul was advancing in Judaism beyond many of his own age, among his own people, Galatians 1.14, he was a failure because none of those things gained him a right standing with God. Paul later said in Galatians 2.16, "Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law because by works of the law no one will be justified." But what happened to Paul?

And what happened to his righteousness attained from keeping the law? And all of these externals, what happened to all of that? You see folks, at his conversion, Christ revealed himself to Paul and Christ revealed Paul to Paul. You see, at his conversion, Christ revealed himself to Paul and Christ revealed to Paul who and what Paul truly was. And there is when he saw the futility of his righteousness of works. So Paul willingly, remember this is a business transaction. Paul's using that kind of language.

Paul willingly exchanged any so-called righteousness which came from a righteousness from outward obedience to the law and encountered all those things as laws. Remember? The lost column of the spreadsheet of salvation. So Paul was exposing his past religious, his past righteousness of works in any person's righteousness of works. Now think about it. Think about it. We all have or had some system of righteousness that we believed would gain us a right standing with God. Think about it. We all have or we had some system that we believed would gain us a right standing before God.

If you would have come to me before I met Christ, you'd have asked me how would I be right with God? How would I get to heaven? Those kinds of questions. I would have had some very weak system of right and wrong performance being good. Oh it would have been weak now. I mean it just would have been some weak system of man's goodness but I had some kind of a system. And think about it. Everybody has some kind of a system. Think about the many systems of righteousness that we can encounter today. And again we live in the Bible Belt although that belt is loosening rather quickly.

Even in our culture today many people have a quote unquote Christian religious system. A lot of times it's about works. Well I'm a member of the church. Well I've been baptized or I teach Sunday school. Well I was raised in the church. I know all of the Bible answers and a lot of times you'll hear it if you'll listen and it'll be about some system of works. But then second he was explaining that true righteousness comes by faith. Look back at verse nine. Look back at verse nine. And be found in him having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law. But let me back up because I missed a word.

And to be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from God that depends on faith. Here Paul was explaining that he willingly exchanged his external righteousness that comes from an adherence to the law for a much different righteousness. The righteousness that he left came from self-effort. The righteousness that he accepted came through faith in Christ. Notice faith is used twice in the verse. Simply he exchanged his self-righteousness for a righteousness that comes from God and it depends on faith. And notice how this takes place.

This is a righteousness from God. Look at the verse. This means that this is a righteousness that is even given to the believer by God. Think about it. Men and man need righteousness to be able to stand before God and a right standing before God. Right? But man cannot achieve nor can he produce this kind of righteousness. Galatians 2 16 I read it earlier. Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law because by works of the law no one will be justified. So by God's grace God gives men and man a righteousness that comes from him that comes by faith.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5 21 for our sake he thus God made him that's Christ to be sin who knew no sin. Folks do you realize that that's what was happening or one of the things that was happening on the cross? Christ was becoming sin. God imparted our sin to Christ on the cross. For our sake he thus God made him that's Christ to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. John MacArthur says righteousness is right standing with God and acceptance by him. That's true. The repentant sinners have their sin imputed to Christ.

In other words put on Christ and his righteousness the righteousness of Christ is imputed or put on them. That's the heart of the gospel. So Paul was saying that he had exchanged his righteousness based on self-effort and self-righteousness for a righteousness that comes from God that comes by faith. But how is all this possible? By faith. Look back at verse 9. See how many times Paul says that? And be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from God that depends on what? Faith. We see this in Ephesians 2.8.

Paul says for by grace you've been saved through faith and this is not your own doing. There you go he's touching works again. It is a gift from God. But again how is this possible? By being found in him. I kind of skipped over this part of verse 9. Look at the beginning of verse 9. And be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from God that depends on faith. We see the same thing in 2 Corinthians 5.21. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him in him we might become the righteousness of God.

So Paul was explaining that true righteousness the righteousness that the only righteousness that God will accept comes by faith in Christ by faith in Christ. And right here think back again to your own system of righteousness. Think back to when your system of righteousness was exposed as false. Think back to when you exchanged your false system of righteousness for the righteousness that can only come from God. You see there's a when and a how. When that took place for you and how. I have shared with you many times when I came to faith in Christ and how people had come to faith in Christ and my family and began to witness to me.

Of course I had this weak system of works being good wasn't much to it. You didn't really have to convince me that I was a sinner folks. I didn't have a bunch of religious pride. That God began to work, God began to work and God brought me to that place when I exchanged that for the righteousness of Christ and how that took place that miracle of miracles. Now what good does it do for me to relive all that? Every time I relive it I rejoice in it. I worship Christ and I praise God because he's the one that devised all these things.

But then notice even though how and when those things took place in all of our lives, even though all of that may be different for us, we all possess the same thing. You see we all possess a righteousness that came from God. If you came to faith in Christ at 8 or 18, if you were very religious or non-religious, if you came from a pagan background or outwardly you were just as clean as a whistle, it doesn't matter. We all came to acquire righteousness that came from God and so in many ways we all worship the same way. We rejoice in a righteousness that comes from God. We worship and we praise Him.

But I want to come in on one more thing here before I move on. I work proof, a word evidence. The proof of the evidence that we have accepted God's righteousness found in Christ by faith is if we are in Him. Let me say that again. The proof of the evidence that we have accepted God's righteousness found in Christ by faith is if we are in Him. Look, for all around us, we all live different lives. The people we come in contact with in our neighborhoods, our family, the workplace, we all come in contact with all kinds of people. They all should see that we are in Christ. If that is not evident then something may be wrong.

If it's not evident that you are in Christ then something is wrong. You see? So the priceless privilege of a righteousness that comes from faith. Now as I begin to close, notice that we have three more lessons to cover. I'll go ahead or excuse me, notice that we have three more priceless privileges to cover. I'll go ahead and give them to you. Verse 10, the priceless privilege of the power of this resurrection. Verse 10 again, the priceless privilege of the fellowship of his suffering. And then verse 11, the priceless privilege of the glory that is to come. So we've covered the first two. We'll cover the last three next week.

Now as I close, look at what we were seeing here. Paul's example. I mean he is just putting himself out there as an example and a great example. The priceless privileges from knowing Christ. You know I kind of honed in on that word privilege and privileges and the more I did the more I felt like it was good. You know we live in a day where many talk about privilege and privileges. You got the privileged and the non-privileged. That's kind of a hot word, isn't it right? I have shared this with you before. I grew up very privileged. Some of you can identify with this. I had at my disposal my granddad's old farm 450 acres.

I enjoyed fishing there, hunting there, walking the creeks there. I mean some of that dirt still in my blood I know. But I have said this before jokingly. I was privileged. My grandfather would shake the vines. I shot the squirrels. My grandfather skinned the squirrels, granny fried them, and all I did was eat them. So I shot them, picked them up, and then I ate them. Some of you don't think that's very privileged. But you know folks, I can explain to you lots of common grace gifts, lots of privileges that I have had and do have in my life. I talked about some of those from Thanksgiving. But the greatest privilege is knowing Christ.

The greatest privilege I have is knowing Christ and right behind that the privilege of having a righteousness that comes from Christ because other than that I'm just like you. I don't have anything. So Paul's example, the priceless privileges because there are quite a few here of knowing Christ. Let's pray. Let's commit this to the Lord and let's look forward to how this will all come together next week. I pray that you would reflect on these privileges that you see in your life and worship Him and serve Him and love Him. If you don't have these, you need them. Just come to that place.

We'll help you where you can trust Christ for a righteousness that comes from Him.