Philippians 3:4

Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:

Though confidence in the flesh could justify a person, Paul declares that he had more ground for such confidence than any other who trusted in it, meaning trust in human credentials, status, achievements and effort, measured even by Jewish standards. His claim sets up the contrast between reliance on those advantages and the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Christ.

Those grounds were circumcision on the eighth day, descent from the stock of Israel, belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew heritage and hereditary piety, and standing as a Pharisee with strict religious training. They included observance of the law, including the ceremonial law, zeal shown in persecuting the church, outward blamelessness in keeping the letter and requirements of the law, and reliance on religious standing and good works.

He once counted that legal righteousness as valuable and tried to keep the letter of the law perfectly. Yet it was a false hope that could not justify him before God, because it rested on forms and ceremonies rather than faith in Christ. By rejecting Christ, who gave the law its value, his zeal and law-keeping were of no avail.

The change came when Christ revealed Himself to him on his way to Damascus to persecute the followers of Christ. Afterward he counted all those former credentials and righteousness as loss and worthless beside knowing Christ. That former righteousness became in his sight even as unrighteousness.

Seeing the claims of God's law, he humbled himself, confessed his unworthiness, and pleaded for acceptance through the merits of the crucified and risen Christ. He sought instead the righteousness received from God through faith in Christ, counting Christ and His righteousness as more valuable than everything else.

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