Letters from Paul

A taste of the study room coming with Paul — pull open whatever you'd like to sit with.

The reading — Philippians 3:1-11

¹Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not tiresome, but for you it is safe. ²Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision. ³For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh; ⁴though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If any other man thinks that he has confidence in the flesh, I yet more: ⁵circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; ⁶concerning zeal, persecuting the assembly; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. ⁷However, I consider those things that were gain to me as a loss for Christ. ⁸Yes most certainly, and I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; ¹⁰that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death; ¹¹if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

World English Bible

The words behind the words

When I say I count all things "loss" for the sake of Christ, the word is a merchant's word — what you write in the column of debit, what has to be thrown overboard in a storm to save the ship. And the word I use next is coarser still: I count them skubala, refuse, dung — what you scrape off and discard. I do not mean these things were evil; my pedigree, my zeal, my keeping of the law were good things. I mean that beside the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, they weigh as nothing, and I let them go without grief (Philippians 3:8).

Where else you say this

I take up this same thread wherever men would build their standing before God on their own doing. I told the Romans that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law (Romans 3:28), and that Abraham's faith, not his works, was counted to him as righteousness (Romans 4:3). I pleaded it hardest with the Galatians, that I might be found not with a righteousness of my own but with the righteousness of God (Galatians 2:16). And I confessed to Timothy the same mercy shown to the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15).

The situation

I wrote to the Philippians from chains, and I loved them dearly — they had sent me help by Epaphroditus. But there were men who followed my churches teaching that Gentile believers must be circumcised and take up the law to be truly saved. These I call, sharply, the "mutilation" (Philippians 3:2), for they would cut the flesh and cut the cross short of its sufficiency. So I lay my own credentials on the table — circumcised the eighth day, a Hebrew of Hebrews, blameless under the law (Philippians 3:5-6) — precisely to throw them all away before their eyes.

The hard question

You may ask: if I count my law-keeping as dung, do I then despise the good gifts of God — my heritage, my learning, my earnest striving? No. The difficulty is real, so weigh the words: I do not say these things are worthless in themselves, but that they are loss for the sake of Christ, refuse compared to knowing him (Philippians 3:8). The danger was never in having them; it was in resting on them, trusting them to make me right before God. Look again at what I long for — "that I may know him and the power of his resurrection" (Philippians 3:10). Everything is set aside not because it is filth, but because he is worth more.

This is a small window into what a study room with Paul will hold — word by word, letter by letter, and the maps and journeys behind them. Get notified when it opens →

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