May 6 - Philippians 3:7-9

May 6 – Philippians 3:7-9

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, 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—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

All of those things that humans used to define Paul are nothing in Christ.  He once saw them as profitable.  They gained him more status and prominent positions within His faith.  He was able to move freely and do whatever it was he wanted because of who he was and who he had become.  All of those things he released when he met Christ.  In fact, as he reflected back on his life, he sees that losing them was far surpassed by the greatness of knowing Christ.

They’re rubbish … trash … things to be discarded.

I have to admit that I’ve grown to love Paul a bit more by reading this letter.  He had worked to become the man that he was before meeting Jesus on that road.  In one day, everything changed.  All of his need for the things of the flesh was gone.  These are things I can’t give up and I’ve called myself a Christian my entire life.  I will always struggle with pride, with trying to find my worth in the things that I do and the people that I know.  We want to be known, we want others to acknowledge the work that we do – even if it’s not out loud – we just want to have them know that we’re there and doing our best.

Paul simply wanted to gain Christ.  He wanted people to see Jesus in him.  His righteousness, the things of flesh, those things that he did every day to prove that he was worthwhile.  He sacrificed and did what was required in the temple.  He zealously stood for the Law.  He knew the rules of life – all of those things that would gte you in good with the right people.  He went to Temple each week and was there throughout the week.  He studied the Torah, He taught in the Temple. 

But that righteousness was something he earned on his own … it came from his obedience to the Law. 

Do you see how this translates into our lives today?  It is so easy to define the rules and regulations that we have to abide by to be good Christians.  We look down on those who only come to church when they feel like it and we feel so much more holy than them.  We judge those who live their lives in ways that we don’t approve.  We give our money to the church and wonder just how much someone else gives so that we can measure ourselves against them.  We’ve made our own Law – so that we can define our own righteousness.

We spend too much time with the rules and regulations – with the Law and forget that our righteousness is defined by our faith in Christ alone – it comes from God.  Paul didn’t forget it and took every opportunity to ensure that people understood it.