Christ is better than anything that this world has to offer.  So much so that his righteousness and the immense value of knowing him make all things loss in comparison.

Knowing Christ Is Better Than Worldly Gain

Philippians 3:1-11

The message of Christianity is often confused for one of judgmental, hypocritical people, who run around condemning people to hell. In this passage, Paul gets at the very heart of Christianity, and what it is about. It is about the person of Jesus Christ. It is not a 5 step program to have your best life now, a set of morals for a behavior modification program or a bunch of rituals to please God. It is about the pursuit of an individual, of Jesus Christ.

In this passage Paul is going to share his experience living apart from Christ and working towards a righteousness that he could never attain. He then reveals to us the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus and how he has considered all things as loss in comparison of knowing Christ Jesus. Paul then again tells us the greatness of knowing Christ and having His righteousness.

To begin let’s look at Paul. He had been raised and trained not just as a normal Jew would, but above and beyond. He had the finest instructors in the law and he was well versed in Jewish theology and the Old Testament Law. He had much to boast in terms of his own ability to be righteous before God. That is how all of us thought of ourselves before coming to Christ. We are excited to boast in our worth and good deeds that we have done. But in the end they are only garbage that cannot earn for us our salvation. It is only through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Let’s look at how Paul viewed himself in the following verses (5-6):

V5 Circumcised the 8^th day of the nation of Israel. A Hebrew of Hebrews

Here Paul makes reference to His Jewish heritage. Many Jews thought that simply by their linage or Abrahamic descent that they would automatically be included in the blessings of eternal life, which they were simply born into.

This is common now days when people think that simply having believing parents is enough for them. Some believe that the faith that their parents had saves them from the wrath to come. This idea is simply not true. We do not inherit salvation, faith or righteousness from our parents or ancestors. It is each person’s responsibility to believe and trust God on their own. Each person will be responsible on the Day of Judgment for every thought, word and deed.

So although Paul had Jewish heritage and circumcision, it was still not enough to be right before God. Paul still needed more righteousness than that.

V6 as to the law a Pharisee

Since it was by strict obedience to the law that some Jews believed they were to earn favor before God, this would have revealed Paul’s level of obedience to the law. The Pharisee’s were strict keepers of the law. They wanted to be so righteous in fact that they added rules to the rules to try and increase their righteousness. This placed them in an elite class of Jews that few could attain to. To be in this class would have given Paul much confidence in the flesh.

Imagine being an “elite” Christian that very few could ever attain status to. Imagine you were like Paul and were on the top tier of Christians worldwide. You would have the confidence of being among the very best of the word. You are one among thousands, who others look up to you and respect what you have to say. To be thought much of and praised in the sight of man.

But it does not matter what man thinks of you. The real question that we have is to ask of ourselves is “what does God think?” God is not interested at our externals which can easily be faked and a false self can be presented. Others may think you are “super religious”, but it does not matter before God. Jesus condemned external works to that are only seen by men as worthless and only good for making others think you pious.

For any who think that it is by your rank or adherence to a bunch of rules that will get you into heaven. You are sadly mistaken. It did not work for the Jews and it will not work for us.

“as to zeal, a persecutor of the church”

While there were many Pharisees who were zealous to obey the Law and follow after it, few were as zealous to go after and destroy the lives of Christians. Paul was one of those people. He was zealous for the rules that him and his other religious folk had made. So much so, that they would destroy the lives of those who said that, this Jesus whom they crucified, God has made both Lord and Christ.

“As to the law blameless”

Paul thought that he could not be condemned on any account of the law. The problem with such a statement is that it does not consider the righteousness of God. When we look to see if we are truly righteous, we look at the person to our right and to our left and conclude that if we are better than they, we are righteous. Woe to the person who looks at his neighbor and considers himself more righteous than they! For it is not by your neighbor that you will be judged. It will be by God’s perfect standard of righteousness that you will be judged. To compare yourself with your neighbor and say I am a good person is terribly deceiving. Imaging a group of people covered from head to toe in mud after rolling around in the mud. Then one of them saying to the other, “You guys are so filthy! You see I have a clean spot on my shirt, but all of you are covered!” Such a statement would be ridiculous, because, in comparison to a clean person, all of them are a mess

The same is true for the person who boasts in comparison to his neighbor. The standard of perfection is so, righteous, so holy, so perfect, that in comparison to the perfection of God, all of us are 100 feet deep in mud and the word clean is a laughable joke. None is righteous, no, not even one.

“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”

Here Paul has just given us a huge resume as far as why He if anyone should be qualified to have confidence in his flesh. What he means by his flesh is that he has done so much in terms of obedience to the law, having excelled far beyond the typical Jew, surpassed even other Pharisees in terms of his righteousness and zeal, and done much for the advancement for Judaism. So if there were a list of people who should get into heaven by a list of their obedience and strictness to the law, Paul should be on that list.

But now because of Christ, how does Paul view those things? As a loss! Why? All of the deeds done in the flesh by which he would have confidence were not enough before God. As Jesus Himself said our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. He needed the very righteousness of God. But the righteousness of God cannot be earned by a sinful creature. It cannot be merited on our own because the debt that way owe is too great to pay back.

Imagine a man that goes out for a ride in a canoe. He rows out to a middle of a giant lake. He is proud of his rowing and leans back in his boat to take a nap. He awakes to the terror that his boat has somehow sprung a leak. He sees that the water is coming in fast and his canoe will soon be sunk. Suddenly he says to himself, “A ha! I have a spoon! I will use this to empty my boat of the water.” He takes his spoon and frantically tries to empty the boat of water. He sees that he is getting nowhere and grabs a cup and tries all the more to get the water out. It is of no use, there is too much water and it is coming in too fast for him to empty it out. He is unable to save himself!

This is the point that Paul is trying to make. He was in a situation where whatever he would do, it would not be enough. He simply could not save himself on his own and everything that he could do would be done in vain. Everything that he did was a loss.

But what was Paul’s Gain? Christ.

Paul had found something that was far more valuable that all of his works. Something of which, has a beauty that cannot be matched; a splendor and a glory of which the eyes of this world cannot see. What Paul had found was Christ. Paul takes this next verse as a statement in which he cannot hold back. He is speaking about the righteousness of Christ. But he gets stuck, he takes a moment here to glory in Christ.

Let’s look at verse 8.

V8 – More 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

“More than that, I count all things to be loss”

Paul had just finished saying that all of his good works were as a loss and a detriment upon him because of Christ. Be he just couldn’t stop there he goes on. He counts “All things” to be loss. This includes not only his self-righteous works, but everything else.

Let’s try to get in Paul’s mind. Think about everything that you have. Some of you may not think you have much. What do you have? A car? A house? A dog? A cat? Shoes? Jeans? Clothes? Friends? Reputation? Knowledge? Wisdom? Respect? Fun? Recreation? Whatever it may be think about it. Everything that you have. Are you ready? It is Loss. That is Paul’s mind. Loss. Not good, detriment. Such a strong statement, we must ask Paul why. Why Paul, why is it loss?

Because:

in view of the surpassing value ofknowing Christ Jesus my Lord

Paul views all things as loss, because he is comparing it with knowing Christ Jesus. Does that compute in your mind? Because of the value of knowing Christ all things have been loss.

If I had such a thing as a million dollar bill machine, besides Ray Comforts, would it make any since for me to work hard somewhere else and earn a quarter a day? I could spend a day earning millions and millions of dollars with my magical machine or I could go into a pit and dig a ditch for a quarter a day? Would take make any since? No, it would be a loss of a day to work in a pit because of the value that could be achieved with my million dollar bill machine.

It is because of Christ’s value that Paul looks at everything else and says it is loss.

For those who do not know Christ, they do not see His value. He is just some Jewish rabbi with a bunch of moral principles. Before Paul came to truly know Christ, he was a persecutor of His believers. He was attacking the very person he would soon come to know.

What makes Christ more valuable than all worldly things you ask? Or what makes this Christ so valuable? Because it is He in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The Author of life, through whom the world was created. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The one by which the universe is upheld by the power of His word. The sovereign Lord over all things. The one by whom will judge the living and the dead. The beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega.

To quote John Flavel, this is one of the most beautiful descriptions of Christ I have ever heard:
And what fairer things than Christ! O fair sun, and fair moon, and fair stars, and fair flowers, and fair roses, and fair lilies, and fair creatures! But, O ten thousand, thousand times fairer Lord Jesus! Alas, I wronged Him in making the comparison this way. O black sun and moon; but O fair Lord Jesus! O black flowers, and black lilies and roses; but O fair fair, ever fair Lord Jesus! O all fair things, black, deformed, and without beauty, when ye are set beside the fairest Lord Jesus! O black heaven, but O fair Christ! O black angels, but O surpassingly fair Lord Jesus.

Christ is simply not just a person, He is The Person. It is for Him who Paul had counted all things as loss. He knew that Christ was greater than all things.

But what does it mean to “know Christ”? It is not merely a head or intellectual knowledge of Christ. It is far more than that. The idea being conveyed is a personal and experiential knowledge. Paul knew about Christ before he knew Christ. It is a relational knowledge.

Consider if you say that you “know” president Obama. What would that convey? That there is a relationship that exists between both of you. That you know him and he knows you. This is the idea that Paul is getting across, notice he uses the term “my Lord”, Paul is intimately connected with Christ, he wants to know Christ, more and more.

Christianity is not about rules or a “to do list” that we have. It is primarily about a person and that person is Christ. To know Christ is to walk with Him. We obey His rules, not out of dead religion, but out of love for Him.

1 John 2:-5 3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.

for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ

Because of who Paul understood Christ to be, he had one solitary goal in his mind, Christ. Gaining Christ was his goal. Because of this Paul set out on a die-hard pursuit of gaining Christ at the expensive of everything that he had.

To Paul he could see two different sets of things. On one side, there was everything that he had achieved, influence, prestige money, possessions, a righteousness of his own, a confidence in himself and a number of other things. The word “rubbish”, “refuse”, “dung” or whatever your translation has, all carry the same idea, it could simply be translated, “poop.” So all of these things to Paul’s, were simply poo in comparison with gaining Christ. Christ was so superior and glorious to anything that he had or could gain, that the loss of any worldly thing was no loss at all if it could gain him Christ.

Some people might think Paul was crazy, to lose all that he had for Christ. Maybe he should have been a little more conservative with his pursuit?

There often hear stories of people who get caught up in certain additions. They get addicted to drugs, work, alcohol, sex, gambling etc. These people will destroy their lives for these the additions that they have. For the gambler they will sell all that they have in order to try for just one more chance to get back the money. Or for a drug addict, they will steal from friends and family to get more money for another fix. They will lose friends, relationships, jobs, marriages, children all for their addiction. It is because these people have seen something that they consider beautiful and they are willing to forsake all for this simple thing that gives them pleasure.

Now if those of the world go after and pursue such things with a passion, how much more should we who have the very treasure of Heaven, Christ the Lord make such a pursuit of Him! Should we too consider all things as loss in comparison of knowing Christ our Lord?

—

Pearl of great price

Paul then after having been compelled to declare the glories of Christ, returns back to his point of the need for trusting in Christ as far as his righteousness is concerned.

V9 – and 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,

This is Paul’s reason for the loss of all his self-righteousness and Judaism. It did not give him a righteousness of his own and we do not have any righteousness of our own. Like the man in the canoe, we cannot escape by ourselves. The point is simply this, we need a savior. We cannot attain to any measure of goodness on our own.

The joy of Paul’s letter is that there is hope for us who are not righteous. We can receive the very righteousness of God. This righteousness which we cannot earn is given on the basis of faith in Christ. Through knowing Christ and trusting in Him.

The solution for our righteousness is the person of Jesus Christ, who had lived a perfect and sinless life upon earth. Who fulfilled the requirements of the law perfectly, in a way that no other human had ever done. Who was crucified upon the cross, to take the punishment of our sins upon himself. So that God might be the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ Jesus.

There are two major points that Paul brings out in this passage which have great application. This first of which the righteousness of God and the second being the knowledge of Christ.

Of the righteousness of God without which no one will see God. Do you have it? Or a better question might be do you know Him? We saw how all of Paul’s self-righteous pursuits ended in vanity. Everything he did in pursuit of being righteous with God did him no good. Dear hearer do not let the same be true of you. There is nothing that you can do to make ourselves yourself right with God. Your boat is sunk, every effort is in vain, and every hope in yourself is without hope. You are dead in your trespasses and sins. You will drown away in your sins if you do not call out for a savior. Do you not see that your iniquities are over your head and they are too heavy for you to handle?

I ask with the same exhortation that Paul gave church in Corinth. “Be ye reconciled to God.” What are you hoping to achieve on your own? There is nothing that you can do for yourself. If Paul one of the most religious people we know could not attain salvation on his efforts alone, what chance do you think that you have? You are lost without Christ! You will drown without Him!

Run to the savior, every sin that you bear, He is able to pay. He is able to pull you out of the iniquities that you consume you. Oh that you would run to Christ! Do not trust yourself, but trust in Him who is true, trust in the one who beckons you come!

The second point of which Paul has made is that of the Knowledge of Christ. Is there no more beautiful thing than the darling of heaven? We ought to ask of God, that we may know Him more and more; to behold more of His beauty. Did you see that because Paul knew something of the Glory of Christ that he was willing to count it out all loss? If you can see and know the wonder of this Christ, it will propel you through life with a passion and zeal of knowing the King of Kings. The encouragement for you is to know Him and not just merely facts or have knowledge of Him, but to be in a fruitful relationship with Him.

Let me give an example. After World War 2, there was a great influx of prosperity into this country. People began to have a surplus of income. People wanted to give their kids the kind of things that they never had. They didn’t want their kids to be poor or have to live with less. They would give their kids nice things and would work hard to provide the style of life that they never had. But you see the problem was this, they gave their kids lots of nice stuff at the expense of the more valuable thing a relationship. Eventually parents had sacrificed the relationship with their kids for a nicer lifestyle. Many people do the same thing with God. They work hard to give God stuff and labor diligently to bless Him at the expensive of their relationship with Him and to quote CS Lewis, God doesn’t want something from you, He wants you.

Do not waist your life on the pursuit of worthless things. Pursue Christ, pursue Him with all of your might. Leave no stone unturned, dig for the treasure of Christ of whom there is no equal. The question we need to ask , is not what does it cost me, but do I gain Christ?

I close with a quote from the missionary Jim Elliot, who gave up his life for the cause of Christ – “He is no fool to give what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

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