Philippians 3:8-10 - All is worthless compared to knowing Christ.
Philippians 3:8-10 - All is worthless compared to knowing Christ.
Philippians 3:8-10 (NLT) Yes, everything else is worthless when
compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his
sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so
that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count
on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become
righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with
himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the
mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him,
sharing in his death,
Phil 3:8-10 (CWR) Everything I did before and all the honors I
received are worthless compared to the priceless treasure of having Jesus
Christ as my Savior and Lord. Whatever I had and did was nothing but
rubbish in comparison to knowing Jesus Christ. 9 Now I have a
righteousness which was given to me by Jesus Christ through faith in Him.
This righteousness comes directly from God through faith, not through
works. 10 All I want now is to know Jesus Christ better and to
experience still more of the power of His resurrection in my life.
WORD STUDY
Excellency. Paul realized that a personal knowledge of Christ
surpassed in value all other attainments (John 17:3). [SDA Commentary]
Excellence: The value of knowing Christ surpasses all else (2:3;
4:7). [Nelson SB]
Rubbish: All the things of this world are rubbish compared to
Christ. Even "our righteousnesses are like filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6).
[Nelson SB]
By faith. Man can receive the righteousness that comes from God
only by exercising faith in Jesus. [SDA Commentary]
Know. The only way to gain this intimate knowledge of the Son of
God was through union with Him (v. 9). [SDA Commentary]
Knowledge Of Him. Paul indicates that he rejected his own
righteousness in order to secure not merely an intellectual knowledge of
Christ but also a relational knowledge, in fact, an intimate knowledge
of Him. [Nelson SB]
Power Of His Resurrection: Paul does not say the power "in" His
resurrection, which would specify the power of the one-time event of His
resurrection. Rather Paul seeks the ongoing power that is the day-to-day
experience of being in Christ. [Nelson SB]
APPLICATION COMMENTARY
KNOWING CHRIST
Dear Child,
Of what are you proudest in your life? What pursuits bring you
the most joy? What things really define who you are?
Whatever these things are (your family your career, your
friendships, even your service to me), offer up thanks for them, for they are
a gift. And then, gratefully, move them into second place.
Every good thing in your life must come second to the best thing
in your life. First place must be reserved for knowing me. What
you once considered profit, now consider loss compared to the joy of
knowing me. Whatever was valuable, now consider it trash compared to
the joy of walking with me.
I am speaking here of priorities. I am not saying you should
despise your family or your work or your ministry. But I am saying that
knowing me must mean more to you than any of these. For I love you with
a jealous love. I will not share that prime place in your
affection with anything, however good. Loving me must be the passion that
defines your life.
Should you be asked, "Who are you, and what do you do?" what
would you answer? Would you say, "I am a mother," or "I am a computer
analyst," or "I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ"? All of these are
second-place answers. Instead, I would have you answer, "I am the beloved
child of the most high God, whom I delight to know." Jealously yours,
God [Postcards from Heaven by Claire Cloninger]
Spiritual knowledge of Christ will be a personal knowledge. I
cannot know Jesus through another person's acquaintance with him. No, I
must know him myself; I must know him on my own account. It will be
an intelligent knowledge--I must know him, not as the visionary
dreams of him, but as the Word reveals him. I must know his natures,
divine and human. I must know his offices--his attributes--his works--his
shame--his glory. I must meditate upon him until I "comprehend with all
saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and know
the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." It will be an
affectionate knowledge of him; indeed, if I know him at all, I must love him.
An ounce of heart knowledge is worth a ton of head learning. Our
knowledge of him will be a satisfying knowledge. When I know my Saviour,
my mind will be full to the brim--I shall feel that I have that
which my spirit panted after. "This is that bread whereof if a man eat
he shall never hunger." At the same time it will be an exciting
knowledge; the more I know of my Beloved, the more I shall want to know.
The higher I climb the loftier will be the summits which invite my
eager footsteps. I shall want the more as I get the more. Like the
miser's treasure, my gold will make me covet more. To conclude; this
knowledge of Christ Jesus will be a most happy one; in fact, so elevating,
that sometimes it will completely bear me up above all trials, and
doubts, and sorrows; and it will, while I enjoy it, make me something
more than "Man that is born of woman, who is of few days, and full of
trouble"; for it will fling about me the immortality of the ever living
Saviour, and gird me with the golden girdle of his eternal joy. Come, my
soul, sit at Jesus's feet and learn of him all this day. [Morning and
Evening by Charles H. Spurgeon]
FAITH AND RESURRECTION POWER
The doctrine of a risen Saviour is exceedingly precious. The
resurrection is the corner-stone of the entire building of Christianity. It
is the key-stone of the arch of our salvation. It would take a
volume to set forth all the streams of living water which flow from
this one sacred source, the resurrection of our dear Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ; but to know that he has risen, and to have fellowship
with him as such--communing with the risen Saviour by possessing a
risen life--seeing him leave the tomb by leaving the tomb of
worldliness ourselves, this is even still more precious. The doctrine is the
basis of the experience, but as the flower is more lovely than the
root, so is the experience of fellowship with the risen Saviour more
lovely than the doctrine itself. I would have you believe that Christ
rose from the dead so as to sing of it, and derive all the
consolation which it is possible for you to extract from this
well-ascertained and well-witnessed fact; but I beseech you, rest not contented
even there. Though you cannot, like the disciples, see him visibly,
yet I bid you aspire to see Christ Jesus by the eye of faith; and
though, like Mary Magdalene, you may not "touch" him, yet may you be
privileged to converse with him, and to know that he is risen, you
yourselves being risen in him to newness of life. To know a crucified
Saviour as having crucified all my sins, is a high degree of knowledge;
but to know a risen Saviour as having justified me, and to realize
that he has bestowed upon me new life, having given me to be a new
creature through his own newness of life, this is a noble style of
experience: short of it, none ought to rest satisfied. May you both "know
him, and the power of his resurrection." Why should souls who are
quickened with Jesus, wear the grave-clothes of worldliness and unbelief?
Rise, for the Lord is risen. [Morning and Evening by Charles H.
Spurgeon]
Salvation is personal knowledge of Jesus Christ through daily
relationship and commitment. Such knowledge is powerful enough to change a
life, for it means the resurrected Christ will be at work in the life.
[Disciple SB]
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
She was an older lady, well-dressed, clearly upper class. She'd
stopped to watch as I stood on a street evangelist's stepladder outside
St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York to give my "word of testimony."
Perhaps it was the novelty of seeing one of Uncle Sam's sailors, in
uniform, preaching on the street. Perhaps it was just curiosity.
After I got down I talked with her. She thought that Jesus was
all right for some people. Certainly the bums on the bowery needed
something. But she was not only religious, she was a truly good person. She
had never done anything mean or petty, and while others might need
Jesus, she most assuredly did not.
Often the hardest people to reach with the Gospel are those who
truly have tried to live good lives, and by all appearances have
succeeded! Paul was one of those people, and his credentials were far
superior to any you or I might muster. Or even that lady I met so briefly
on the street over 35 years ago.
But Paul did something with his credentials that you and I must
do with ours. We have to recognize them not as advantages, but
liabilities! If we for a moment rely on them, or think that they commend us
to God, they replace to that extent our confidence in Christ, and
thus weaken us spiritually.
It may seem strange, but the truly wicked have a great advantage
over the good when they become Christians. John Newton, for instance,
had a great advantage over you and me. He went to sea early in life,
and quickly became a vile, drunken, blasphemous, and violent man.
And a slave trader. Later, when Newton was converted, he never lost
his sense of the dark pit from which he had been rescued, or an
awareness of his own corrupt nature.
So don't take comfort in the "good" life you may have lived
before your conversion. Or even in your honest efforts to do well
since. Like the Apostle Paul, consider such advantages to be
liabilities. Let your heart be filled with the "surpassing greatness of
knowing Christ Jesus." Cloak yourself in the righteousness that comes
from Him by faith, and rely on His resurrection power to express
itself through you and your life. [The 365-Day Devotional Commentary]
After Paul considered everything he had accomplished in his
life, he said that it was all "a loss" when compared with the
greatness of knowing Christ. This is a profound statement about values: a
person's relationship with Christ is more important than anything else.
To know Christ should be our ultimate goal. Consider your values.
Do you place anything above your relationship with Christ? If your
priorities are wrong, how will you reorder them? [Life Application SB]
Paul gave up everything--family, friendship, and freedom--in
order to know Christ and his resurrection power. We too have access to
this knowledge and this power, but we may have to make sacrifices to
enjoy it fully. What are you willing to give up in order to know
Christ? A crowded schedule in order to set aside a few minutes each day
for prayer and Bible study? Your friend's approval? Some of your
plans or pleasures? Whatever it is, knowing Christ is more than worth
the sacrifice. [Life Application SB]
When we are united with Christ by trusting in him, we experience
the power that raised him from the dead. That same mighty power will
help us live morally renewed and regenerated lives. But before we can
walk in newness of life, we must also die to sin. Just as the
resurrection gives us Christ's power to live for him, his crucifixion marks
the death of our old sinful nature. We can't know the victory of the
resurrection without personally applying the crucifixion. [Life Application
SB]
The Christian life is resurrection life. But before you can rise
again, you must die to self. [The 365-Day Devotional Commentary]
In Christian work our initiative and motivation are too often
simply the result of realizing that there is work to be done and that
we must do it. Yet that is never the attitude of a spiritually
vigorous saint. His aim is to achieve the realization of Jesus Christ in
every set of circumstances. [In His Time; My Utmost For His Highest re
vs. 10]
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