Yesterday, we saw Paul pointing to the persecution he experienced as his greatest credential for preaching the gospel. In today’s passage, he goes further. He says that knowing Christ, even if it involves such suffering, is more valuable than anything else he could have in his life.

And make no mistake – Paul had a lot going for him before he became a Christian. He had checked all the boxes of his Jewish faith. He could boast of the right family history. He honestly tried to keep the Law of God – at least the way the Pharisees told him to. In fact, he took his faith so seriously that he became a persecutor of those who believed in Jesus.

And then Jesus revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus and rocked his world off of its foundations. After that, in verses 7 and 8, Paul says that he not only began to consider Jesus as more important than all those beliefs and relationships and genealogies he had taken so much pride in. No, compared to knowing Christ, he saw all those things as no better than trash.

Yes, instead of trying to earn his own salvation through keeping the Law or by going through ceremonies like circumcision, verse 9 says that all he wanted was to have the righteousness of Christ credited to his account. And verse 10 affirms that he would choose Christ over everything else, even if that meant sharing in His suffering and death.

So, can we take another look at our own priorities? Are we still trying to earn God’s favor by what we do or what we leave undone? Are we still digging in the garbage, thinking that’s where we’ll find eternal, resurrection life? Or are we resting in only thing of real value in this world, the righteousness of Christ? Do we cherish our relationship with Him more than anyone or anything else?

Philippians 3:1-11 (NAS)

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.
2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision;
3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,
4 although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:
5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;
6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.
7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 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 in order that I may gain Christ,
9 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,
10 that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.