Everything Counted Loss

I begin here where I told you to begin: "Rejoice in the Lord" (Philippians 3:1). It is no burden to me to write it again, and it is safe for you to hear it again — for joy in Christ is the wall that keeps out the enemies I must next name.

And I name them sharply: "Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh" (Philippians 3:2). These were men who followed my work and told the churches that faith in Christ was not enough — that they must be circumcised, must take up the law, must add their flesh to the finished work of the cross. Do not hear this as a quarrel long dead. In every age the same voice returns, whispering that grace must be topped up with your own performance. It is a lie, and it robs Christ of his glory. The true circumcision, I said, are those "who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh" (Philippians 3:3).

Then I laid my own record on the table, for if anyone could boast in the flesh, I could: circumcised the eighth day, of Israel, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, blameless under the law (Philippians 3:4-6). It was a full ledger. And I tore it up. "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ" (Philippians 3:7). More than that — I count it all loss, even rubbish, refuse to be thrown out, next to "the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:8). Understand what I am saying: it is not that my achievements were small. They were real. But set beside Christ they became worse than nothing, because I had leaned on them instead of on him.

Here is the heart of it, and I ask you to weigh every word: I longed to be found in him, "not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith" (Philippians 3:9). There are only two coats to stand before God in — one you sew yourself from your own doing, and one God gives you in Christ. The first will not cover you. The second covers you entirely. Lay down the needle.

And what is all this loss for? Not for empty hands, but "that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:10-11). This is what I traded for my ledger — to know him: his risen power holding me now, his sufferings shaping me now, his resurrection waiting for me then. I write to you in chains, and I tell you the trade was worth everything.

So look today at what you are leaning on — your record, your reputation, your discipline, your goodness — and count it loss. Not because it is nothing, but because he is everything. Grace and peace to you.