Philippians 3:8, commentary and pictures

To know Christ Jesus as Lord is of such surpassing worth that every former gain and all things beside it are counted as loss, even as refuse, in order to win Him. Being found in Him means giving up one's own righteousness from the law as worthless and receiving the righteousness from God through faith in Christ. This knowledge is the highest science any person can attain and the sum of all true science, for it is eternal life to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. It demands one ruling purpose of wholehearted devotion, surrendering heart, soul, strength, mind and body with self-denial and counting the loss of wealth, honor, comfort and every competing attachment as true gain. Winning Christ in this way leads to knowing Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, pressing forward forgetting what is behind toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul's Past and Conversion

Before his conversion he trusted in the flesh as a circumcised Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew Pharisee blameless in legal righteousness, valuing heritage, religious standing and credentials, zeal, ceremonies, worldly wisdom, birth, reputation, wealth, talent, virtue, charitable work, personal achievement and church standing. His keeping of the letter of the law gave him a false hope, for his obedience was separated from faith in Christ and his own righteousness was unrighteousness, and by rejecting Christ he refused the One who gave the law its value. His persecution of the church was sincere yet greatly deceived and rooted in ignorance, breathing threats against the disciples while confident he was justified by good works.

On the way to Damascus to persecute followers, Christ revealed Himself to him, arresting him in his course. He was blinded in eyesight but enlightened in spiritual understanding to know God and Jesus Christ, convicted with remorse that he had persecuted Christ. When the Holy Spirit convicted him he saw his unworthiness and the far-reaching claims of God's law, and pleaded for acceptance through the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour. In heartfelt repentance, thorough confession and earnest longing for pardon he abhorred himself as chief of sinners for the suffering he brought on the disciples, bowed with the humility and simplicity of a little child, yielded fully to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, and his sin-corrupted heart with its inmost thoughts and emotions was transformed by divine grace and its nobler faculties brought into harmony with the eternal purposes of God and into communion with the Father and the Son.

Afterward he joined the people he had tried to destroy, taught and lived for Christ and suffered for His sake, even to scourging and the inner prison dungeon with feet in stocks, counting life itself not dear and rejoicing to be counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. He gave up the advantages of wealth and honor among his people for a life of burden-bearing in service, counting his former Pharisaism, honorable position and ambitious prospects as no real sacrifice. What to many appears renunciation and sacrifice was really not so, because the knowledge of Christ is truly greater, and he was satisfied with his choice.

He kept one unchangeable resolution and one great purpose amid many responsibilities as teacher, tentmaker earning daily bread by his own labor, and burden-bearer for the churches. Amid difficulties, conflicts, discouragements, opposition and devisings against him he made Jesus his dependence and did not lose trust and confidence in God, constrained by the constant sense of God's presence to keep the eye ever looking unto Jesus. Under the special tuition of the Holy Spirit his judgment was purified, refined, elevated and sanctified through many revelations from God, so that his decided judgment is reliable and the knowledge he imparts is pure, elevating and ennobling, enriching the garden of the soul to produce most precious fruit.

Counting All as Loss

Knowing Christ Jesus as Lord is of such surpassing excellence that every former gain and all things beside it are counted as loss in comparison. This wholehearted valuing belongs to the pursuit of holiness, for the counting continues in pressing forward rather than claiming perfection already attained. It is wholehearted commitment to Christ that lays aside worldly attractions and every weight and every competing thing through self-denial and willingness to sacrifice, in wholehearted obedience to all God's requirements. The hope held out is worth all the effort and sacrifice its attainment demands, to gain Christ and be found in Him day by day.

The estimate is put in the strongest terms, counting all things as refuse and dung and dross and worthless, and suffering the loss of all things to make the valuation real. No treasure equals the value of the gift of the knowledge of Christ, so the righteousness once thought so valuable becomes worthless in sight beside it. To gain Christ as the greatest treasure is the one ruling purpose that allows nothing to divert from pressing toward the prize.

All things in this reckoning includes wealth and honor and rank, possessions and status, pleasures and amusements, ambitions and comforts, earthly attractions and possessions, idols and every competing attachment or pursuit. The young must be undeceived to awaken spiritual desire so they can value Christ above amusement and pleasure, for without this wholehearted choice they are unworthy of Him and will miss everlasting life. When His love melts the selfish heart, a person stops treating possessions as his own and gladly serves others as a steward of God's grace, willing to give up worldly advantages, comforts and possessions rather than let them outweigh obedience to God and His favor.

Paul had not been searching for this treasure until its invaluable loveliness flashed before him to attract his attention, yet when he discerned Christ's worth he willingly sold all to buy the pearl of great price because Christ and His righteousness became to him more than the whole world. Those who find Jesus recognize His value without being told and willingly give up all they have to possess Him, finding in Him peace and rest and fulfillment of need. What to many appears renunciation and sacrifice was really not so, for he was satisfied with his choice, just as Moses counted the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt because it was so.

Gaining Christ and Righteousness

Counting all as loss has its purpose in gaining Christ and being found in him, not at a single moment only but day by day under every trial, difficulty and temptation. To have Christ is to have everything, for fellowship with him and reception of his grace enables mind and heart and soul to triumph over the lower nature, drawing near to him and living his life. That life must be brought into the chambers of the mind and into the practical life, practiced and taught and enforced in a sound, intelligent manner with simple faith that talks faith, acts faith, and lives by every word proceeding from the mouth of God. It belongs to walking the one strait and narrow path to heaven as his witnesses by loving God supremely and neighbor as self, following Christ in everything and conforming life to his teachings, pressing toward the light with his perfection in view, whose words and works bear the impress of divinity, to be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect. True religion, free and undefiled, is to know God and Jesus Christ whom he sent, demonstrated by love as in Mary's act of anointing Christ, kept as one unchangeable resolution and one great purpose amid many responsibilities as teacher, tentmaker earning daily bread, and burden-bearer for the churches, constrained by the constant sense of God's presence to keep the eye ever looking unto Jesus. It sets the one ruling purpose of life, allowing nothing to divert from pressing on toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, being faithful to Christ and serving him and winning souls to him, consecrating oneself wholly to God's service, laying aside worldly attractions and every weight, showing that the hope of seeing the face of God is worth all the effort and sacrifice its attainment demands.

Being found in him means not having one's own righteousness which is of the law but having the righteousness which is of God by faith through faith in Christ. This aim of gaining Christ leads into being found in him, with righteousness not earned by keeping the law but received from God through faith in Christ, and this purpose sustained him through opposition and hardship as he sought to win souls to the Saviour.

The righteousness once thought worth so much became worthless in his sight, for one's own righteousness is unrighteousness. Before, he trusted in the flesh and tried to keep the letter of the law perfectly as a circumcised Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew Pharisee blameless in legal righteousness, trusting his good works and his standing as a Pharisee. His former zeal and claim to be blameless had given him a false hope because his obedience was separated from faith in Christ, and by rejecting Christ he had refused the One who gave the law its value. When the Holy Spirit convicted him, he saw his unworthiness and pleaded for acceptance through the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour, trusting Christ's power to save even him who had persecuted the church that he might know for himself the power of the Saviour's grace, until Christ and his righteousness became more valuable to him than the whole world. No birth, reputation, wealth, talent, virtue, religious devotion, charitable work, ceremonies, reasoning or standing in the church can unite a person to Christ. Union with him depends on acknowledging one's sin and helplessness and relying wholly on his saving grace, rather than exalting oneself or merely believing facts about him, surrendering self-righteousness and laying all gifts and abilities at the foot of the cross with the meekness and humility of a little child and receiving God's saving word.

Winning Christ is having the unsearchable riches of Christ so presented before the mind that the heart is attracted to accept them, not gaining thrones and lands and bank stocks in this world. Christ is the priceless treasure in whom are found all that satisfies the soul, and his righteousness is perfect, without flaw or stain, and no human work can improve this gift. It requires willingness to accept less prosperous temporal and financial prospects in order to move to localities where the truth has not yet been proclaimed or where there has been only a glimmer of light, doing just the work Jesus did to save sinners. Jesus did not leave the royal throne, the royal crown, and his high command and live in a world seared and marred with the curse to please himself, but that humanity might touch humanity to save souls from eternal ruin.

Knowing Christ and Pressing Onward

Gaining Christ leads on to being found in him day by day under trial, difficulty and temptation, not with a righteousness of one's own from the law but with the righteousness from God through faith in Christ, in order to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death, that he might attain the resurrection of the dead. To have Christ in this way is to have everything, for fellowship with him and receiving his grace enables mind and heart and soul to triumph over the lower nature, drawing nigh to him and living his life, bringing that life into the chambers of the mind and into the practical life to be practiced and taught and enforced with simple faith that talks faith and acts faith and lives by every word proceeding from the mouth of God. This is true religion, free and undefiled, which is to know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, demonstrated by love as in Mary's act of anointing Christ, and it belongs to one unchangeable resolution and one great purpose kept amid many responsibilities as teacher, tentmaker earning daily bread and burden-bearer for the churches, constrained by the constant sense of God's presence to keep the eye ever looking unto Jesus, laying aside worldly attractions and every weight, consecrating oneself wholly to God's service to be faithful to Christ and serve him and win souls to him. Counting status, religious credentials and righteousness based on the law as worthless beside gaining Christ became the purpose toward which he pressed on, showing that the hope of seeing the face of God is worth all the effort and sacrifice its attainment demands.

This knowledge is learned in his school and is life-giving, strengthening and blessing the soul when oppressed as it draws near to God. It was his greatest treasure, whose power to save even him who had persecuted the church he trusted that he might know for himself the power of the Saviour's grace. Christ remains the believer's Saviour whether life brings recovery or death, and knowing him includes trusting his saving grace in suffering, seeking to know the power of his resurrection, sharing in his sufferings and becoming like him in his death. That likeness is gained by copying his exact, upright, temptation-resisting example, which teaches vigilance against temptation and meek, upright conduct, giving peace and joy and the riches of his love even in sickness and uncertainty about recovery, with assurance of belonging to the Lord as his child whether living or dying.

He had not already attained perfection or the resurrection, but forgetting what is behind and reaching forward he pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, thirsting for greater knowledge and laying hold of power outside self. This wholehearted valuing of Christ belongs to the pursuit of holiness and to walking the one strait and narrow path to heaven as his witnesses by loving God supremely and neighbor as self, following Christ in everything and conforming life to his teachings, pressing toward the light with his perfection in view, whose words and works bear the impress of divinity, to be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect. The lessons of the chapter are to be carefully studied and practiced as part of keeping the soul healthy.

Pressing on means those who are perfect being thus minded, walking by the same rule and minding the same thing, following Paul and those who walk as his example, and giving no encouragement to enemies of the cross who mind earthly things and whose end is destruction. It means having citizenship in heaven, looking for the Saviour to change the lowly body to be like his glorious body by his power to subdue all things, and standing fast in the Lord in watchful readiness for his coming. When the eye is fixed upon the immortal charms of the heavenly land, the eternal substance and immortal inheritance, a person becomes willing to make any sacrifice and count all else but loss for Christ. This counting all things loss is glorying only in the cross, bearing cheerfully the cross instead of shunning every cross, imitating his life of self-denial and sacrifice, and doing good to others, that at last there may be partaking of his glory and a crown to be cast at his feet in adoration.

Knowledge as Highest Science

The surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord makes every other gain count as loss beside it, for this knowledge is the highest science any person can attain and the sum of all true science, which is eternal life to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. Every other kind of knowledge is subordinate, and unless joined with this knowledge and woven into the life it has no value in God's sight, while joined with it this knowledge prepares a person for heaven.

Christ Himself teaches this knowledge, showing by His wisdom and by His obedience to the law of God that it is the sum of all science by which human beings are molded into His own image, because in Him all fullness dwells. Repentance for sin as the first working of the Holy Spirit is the only way infinite purity reproduces the image of Christ in the redeemed. Christ is the pearl of great price and priceless treasure in whom is found all that satisfies the soul, the truth itself and salvation itself, the same yesterday, today and forever. Those who find Him recognize His value without being told and willingly give up all they have to possess Him, finding in Him peace, rest and fulfillment of need, for His righteousness is perfect without flaw or stain and no human work can improve this gift.

The Holy Spirit reveals Christ in His fullness and leads people to this valuation, and the outpouring at Pentecost was the former rain while the latter rain will be more abundant. Christ is the great pattern in whom is all excellence, and His character must become ours, for turning from man and every other model, believers with open face behold Jesus in all His glory until their minds are filled with grand and overpowering ideas of His excellency so that every other object sinks into insignificance. Every part of moral discipline that does not promote likeness to His image is counted as loss, while as the believer beholds the Redeemer faith, adoration and love awaken and the believer grows into the likeness of the One adored. This knowing includes knowing the power of His resurrection and sharing in His sufferings, giving an earnest steadfast purpose that makes every earthly gain seem worthless and shapes the character toward His image in self-denial, sacrifice and willing service for the cause of truth.

Wholehearted Surrender in Service

Philippians 3:8 sets the one ruling purpose of life, singleness of purpose and wholehearted devotion to God that allows nothing to divert from pressing toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It is the language of the heart when all compromise with sin is at an end, with sincere and unwavering purpose to discern truth and obey it at whatever cost. Counting all things as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord in order to win Christ brings divine enlightenment, and this is where real piety begins. To live it is to be faithful to Christ and serve Him wholly and win souls to Him, consecrating self wholly to God's service, laying aside worldly attractions and every weight, because the hope of seeing the face of God is worth all the effort and sacrifice its attainment demands.

It is a searching test of Christian life and whether the heart is renewed. The question is whether a person values Christ above all and gives self to Christ's service as His purchased possession, consecrating every hour to Him. Those who do show transforming grace has molded the character, sins repented of, confessed and forgiven, oneness with Christ as He is one with the Father, hating what was once loved and loving what was once hated, and walking according to truth and not in sparks of one's own kindling. Profession alone is no guarantee, and this self-examination matters in the great day of atonement, where a cleansed heart and true devotion reveal the soul's condition, while to know truth without this estimate of Christ brings heavier condemnation.

Following Christ costs all there is of the man, demanding heart, soul, strength, mind, body and spirit with absolute surrender of self. To count all things loss and refuse for the excellency of knowing Him means receiving all the conditions and requirements of the gospel, making the kingdom of God first in everything, hiding self in Christ, and refusing a half-converted state that carries along natural temperaments and ways of unrenewed men. It costs self-humiliation, self-denial, self-sacrifice, and constant conflict with human passions, including sacrificing personal ideas and will and giving up all selfishness to be one with Christ in God, and without that surrender the contest is hopeless. Unreserved surrender now brings an entirely different experience in which knowledge of Christ is desired above everything and all other things are let go for His sake, turning away from influences that have controlled a person to use abilities in God's service.

When a soul falls in love with Jesus and is truly converted, every other affection is placed in subservience to pure, refining heavenly love. Pride, passion and ambition that held sway over the natural heart are surrendered to Jesus Christ, what were gain counted loss, and all things counted loss and refuse to win Christ. Eyes then open to see worldly, selfish enjoyments and pleasures as they really are, giving up what was once valued to pursue heavenly things. Those who count all things loss for Christ cannot be bribed or seduced by worldly attractions, nor overcome by threats and terrors or Satan's devices.

This purpose sustained Paul through opposition and hardship as he sought to win souls to the Saviour, giving himself wholly to Christ and remaining faithful. Knowing Jesus gives a new life from God and moves those who have God's love in their hearts to proclaim the crucified and risen Saviour and work earnestly with earnest effort to save souls. To gain Christ is to be found in Him with righteousness received from God through faith rather than earned by keeping the law, and to give self without reserve to urgent work for the salvation of others.

Its examples include Matthew, wealthy, and Andrew and Peter, poor, facing the same test when called to leave former lives for gospel work, showing fellowship with Christ must outweigh desire for material security and requires the whole heart. Mark learned that following Christ meant toil, anxiety, self-denial and no release from spiritual conflict, yet gaining Christ at any cost was infinite gain compared with gaining the world and losing a soul redeemed by Christ's blood. One called to God's service like Elisha must be willing to give up worldly advantages, comforts and possessions rather than let them outweigh obedience to God and God's favor. Love and zeal for Christ leads to great denial and sacrifice even risking life and giving up everything for truth, as when men went everywhere preaching the word and raising new churches, and as when those faithful to the gospel gave up possessions, rank, political power and even life rather than accept teachings contrary to it.

To suffer the loss of all things for Christ is true gain and discerns mercy in misery, for losses for Him are not true losses. Faith discerns wisdom and success in apparent failure, gain in loss, privilege in hardship, order in confusion, and peace, joy, light, freedom and power even in sickness and uncertainty whether living or dying, with assurance of belonging to the Lord as His child through trust in Jesus as Saviour. Those whose hearts and lives are controlled by truth can count suffering for it as joy, because love for Christ is deeper than fear of prison, shame or death.

Christ works through those who live this, humble beginners with little self-confidence who give God all the glory. With rough and unskilled hands but hearts susceptible to pity and filled with earnest desire to relieve abundant woe, they enter barren unworked fields and rough places to help the poor and needy, the ignorant and those out of the way, through medical missionary work. He gives them the burden of work for the poor and needy in the rough places of the earth, teaches them how to meet those He wishes them to help, encourages them as doors open, and is present to help them. When Christ the Light of the world passes by, privileges appear in all hardships, order in confusion, and the success and wisdom of God in that which seemed failure.

Applied, the verse calls to consecrate life with its privileges, endowments, talents and gifts wholly and freely to God from whom all comes, laying all a person has and is at Christ's feet and at the foot of the cross. This valuing of Christ belongs to continual growth under the law of progression, moving step by step from spiritual infancy through childhood toward the full stature of Christ, making advancement proportionate to opportunities and privileges, making best use of entrusted talents as one bought with a price, and working as a laborer together with God in cooperation with Christ. It calls for the meekness and humility of a little child, receiving God's saving Word, honoring God above even family ties, moving if needed to places where truth has not been proclaimed, denying self and accepting the cross in earnest unselfish work that keeps the soul alive and gathers people for Jesus, and daily dying to self.