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Philippians 3:8-10 - All is worthless compared to knowing Christ.

Philippians 3:8-10 - All is worthless compared to knowing Christ.

Philippians 3:8-10 (NLT) Yes, everything else is worthless when 
compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his 
sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so 
that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count 
on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become 
righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with 
himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the 
mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, 
sharing in his death,  

Phil 3:8-10  (CWR)  Everything I did before and all the honors I 
received are worthless compared to the priceless treasure of having Jesus 
Christ as my Savior and Lord.  Whatever I had and did was nothing but 
rubbish in comparison to knowing Jesus Christ. 9 Now I have a 
righteousness which was given to me by Jesus Christ through faith in Him.  
This righteousness comes directly from God through faith, not through 
works. 10 All I want now is to know Jesus Christ better and to 
experience still more of the power of His resurrection in my life. 

WORD STUDY

Excellency. Paul realized that a personal knowledge of Christ 
surpassed in value all other attainments (John 17:3). [SDA Commentary] 

Excellence: The value of knowing Christ surpasses all else (2:3; 
4:7). [Nelson SB] 

Rubbish: All the things of this world are rubbish compared to 
Christ. Even "our righteousnesses are like filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6). 
[Nelson SB] 

By faith. Man can receive the righteousness that comes from God 
only by exercising faith in Jesus. [SDA Commentary] 

Know. The only way to gain this intimate knowledge of the Son of 
God was through union with Him (v. 9). [SDA Commentary] 

Knowledge Of Him. Paul indicates that he rejected his own 
righteousness in order to secure not merely an intellectual knowledge of 
Christ but also a relational knowledge, in fact, an intimate knowledge 
of Him. [Nelson SB] 

Power Of His Resurrection: Paul does not say the power "in" His 
resurrection, which would specify the power of the one-time event of His 
resurrection. Rather Paul seeks the ongoing power that is the day-to-day 
experience of being in Christ. [Nelson SB] 

APPLICATION COMMENTARY

KNOWING CHRIST

Dear Child,
Of what are you proudest in your life?  What pursuits bring you 
the most joy?  What things really define who you are? 
Whatever these things are (your family your career, your 
friendships, even your service to me), offer up thanks for them, for they are 
a gift.  And then, gratefully, move them into second place. 
Every good thing in your life must come second to the best thing 
in your life.  First place must be reserved for knowing me.  What 
you once considered profit, now consider loss compared to the joy of 
knowing me.  Whatever was valuable, now consider it trash compared to 
the joy of walking with me. 
I am speaking here of priorities.  I am not saying you should 
despise your family or your work or your ministry.  But I am saying that 
knowing me must mean more to you than any of these.  For I love you with 
a jealous love.  I will not share that prime place in your 
affection with anything, however good.  Loving me must be the passion that 
defines your life. 
Should you be asked, "Who are you, and what do you do?" what 
would you answer?  Would you say, "I am a mother," or "I am a computer 
analyst," or "I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ"?  All of these are 
second-place answers.  Instead, I would have you answer, "I am the beloved 
child of the most high God, whom I delight to know." Jealously yours, 
God [Postcards from Heaven by Claire Cloninger] 

Spiritual knowledge of Christ will be a personal knowledge. I 
cannot know Jesus through another person's acquaintance with him. No, I 
must know him myself; I must know him on my own account. It will be 
an intelligent knowledge--I must know him, not as the visionary 
dreams of him, but as the Word reveals him. I must know his natures, 
divine and human. I must know his offices--his attributes--his works--his 
shame--his glory. I must meditate upon him until I "comprehend with all 
saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and know 
the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." It will be an 
affectionate knowledge of him; indeed, if I know him at all, I must love him. 
An ounce of heart knowledge is worth a ton of head learning. Our 
knowledge of him will be a satisfying knowledge. When I know my Saviour, 
my mind will be full to the brim--I shall feel that I have that 
which my spirit panted after. "This is that bread whereof if a man eat 
he shall never hunger." At the same time it will be an exciting 
knowledge; the more I know of my Beloved, the more I shall want to know. 
The higher I climb the loftier will be the summits which invite my 
eager footsteps. I shall want the more as I get the more. Like the 
miser's treasure, my gold will make me covet more. To conclude; this 
knowledge of Christ Jesus will be a most happy one; in fact, so elevating, 
that sometimes it will completely bear me up above all trials, and 
doubts, and sorrows; and it will, while I enjoy it, make me something 
more than "Man that is born of woman, who is of few days, and full of 
trouble"; for it will fling about me the immortality of the ever living 
Saviour, and gird me with the golden girdle of his eternal joy. Come, my 
soul, sit at Jesus's feet and learn of him all this day. [Morning and 
Evening by Charles H. Spurgeon] 

FAITH AND RESURRECTION POWER

The doctrine of a risen Saviour is exceedingly precious. The 
resurrection is the corner-stone of the entire building of Christianity. It 
is the key-stone of the arch of our salvation. It would take a 
volume to set forth all the streams of living water which flow from 
this one sacred source, the resurrection of our dear Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ; but to know that he has risen, and to have fellowship 
with him as such--communing with the risen Saviour by possessing a 
risen life--seeing him leave the tomb by leaving the tomb of 
worldliness ourselves, this is even still more precious. The doctrine is the 
basis of the experience, but as the flower is more lovely than the 
root, so is the experience of fellowship with the risen Saviour more 
lovely than the doctrine itself. I would have you believe that Christ 
rose from the dead so as to sing of it, and derive all the 
consolation which it is possible for you to extract from this 
well-ascertained and well-witnessed fact; but I beseech you, rest not contented 
even there. Though you cannot, like the disciples, see him visibly, 
yet I bid you aspire to see Christ Jesus by the eye of faith; and 
though, like Mary Magdalene, you may not "touch" him, yet may you be 
privileged to converse with him, and to know that he is risen, you 
yourselves being risen in him to newness of life. To know a crucified 
Saviour as having crucified all my sins, is a high degree of knowledge; 
but to know a risen Saviour as having justified me, and to realize 
that he has bestowed upon me new life, having given me to be a new 
creature through his own newness of life, this is a noble style of 
experience: short of it, none ought to rest satisfied. May you both "know 
him, and the power of his resurrection." Why should souls who are 
quickened with Jesus, wear the grave-clothes of worldliness and unbelief? 
Rise, for the Lord is risen. [Morning and Evening by Charles H. 
Spurgeon] 

Salvation is personal knowledge of Jesus Christ through daily 
relationship and commitment. Such knowledge is powerful enough to change a 
life, for it means the resurrected Christ will be at work in the life. 
[Disciple SB] 

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

She was an older lady, well-dressed, clearly upper class. She'd 
stopped to watch as I stood on a street evangelist's stepladder outside 
St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York to give my "word of testimony." 
Perhaps it was the novelty of seeing one of Uncle Sam's sailors, in 
uniform, preaching on the street. Perhaps it was just curiosity. 
After I got down I talked with her. She thought that Jesus was 
all right for some people. Certainly the bums on the bowery needed 
something. But she was not only religious, she was a truly good person. She 
had never done anything mean or petty, and while others might need 
Jesus, she most assuredly did not. 
Often the hardest people to reach with the Gospel are those who 
truly have tried to live good lives, and by all appearances have 
succeeded! Paul was one of those people, and his credentials were far 
superior to any you or I might muster. Or even that lady I met so briefly 
on the street over 35 years ago. 
But Paul did something with his credentials that you and I must 
do with ours. We have to recognize them not as advantages, but 
liabilities! If we for a moment rely on them, or think that they commend us 
to God, they replace to that extent our confidence in Christ, and 
thus weaken us spiritually. 
It may seem strange, but the truly wicked have a great advantage 
over the good when they become Christians. John Newton, for instance, 
had a great advantage over you and me. He went to sea early in life, 
and quickly became a vile, drunken, blasphemous, and violent man. 
And a slave trader. Later, when Newton was converted, he never lost 
his sense of the dark pit from which he had been rescued, or an 
awareness of his own corrupt nature. 
So don't take comfort in the "good" life you may have lived 
before your conversion. Or even in your honest efforts to do well 
since. Like the Apostle Paul, consider such advantages to be 
liabilities. Let your heart be filled with the "surpassing greatness of 
knowing Christ Jesus." Cloak yourself in the righteousness that comes 
from Him by faith, and rely on His resurrection power to express 
itself through you and your life. [The 365-Day Devotional Commentary] 

After Paul considered everything he had accomplished in his 
life, he said that it was all "a loss" when compared with the 
greatness of knowing Christ. This is a profound statement about values: a 
person's relationship with Christ is more important than anything else. 
To know Christ should be our ultimate goal. Consider your values. 
Do you place anything above your relationship with Christ? If your 
priorities are wrong, how will you reorder them?  [Life Application SB] 

Paul gave up everything--family, friendship, and freedom--in 
order to know Christ and his resurrection power. We too have access to 
this knowledge and this power, but we may have to make sacrifices to 
enjoy it fully. What are you willing to give up in order to know 
Christ? A crowded schedule in order to set aside a few minutes each day 
for prayer and Bible study? Your friend's approval? Some of your 
plans or pleasures? Whatever it is, knowing Christ is more than worth 
the sacrifice.  [Life Application SB] 

When we are united with Christ by trusting in him, we experience 
the power that raised him from the dead. That same mighty power will 
help us live morally renewed and regenerated lives. But before we can 
walk in newness of life, we must also die to sin. Just as the 
resurrection gives us Christ's power to live for him, his crucifixion marks 
the death of our old sinful nature. We can't know the victory of the 
resurrection without personally applying the crucifixion.  [Life Application 
SB] 

The Christian life is resurrection life. But before you can rise 
again, you must die to self. [The 365-Day Devotional Commentary] 

In Christian work our initiative and motivation are too often 
simply the result of realizing that there is work to be done and that 
we must do it. Yet that is never the attitude of a spiritually 
vigorous saint. His aim is to achieve the realization of Jesus Christ in 
every set of circumstances. [In His Time; My Utmost For His Highest re 
vs. 10]