Philippians 3:7-11

 

 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Many have called the Christian life difficult, and indeed, loving with everything we have is hardly described by “difficult”. Yet, this is the minimum expectation, since God’s grace affords us so much more than only our will can. The question remains, what is a fallen creature to do to make this happen at all times, in all circumstances, no matter how difficult? In truth, even where healing is concerned, we often fail to receive the grace of God and to will even our own salvation, which ipso facto means we have failed in loving God, others, and/or ourselves. In this passage, it seems we see something of an answer i.e. the “how” of becoming willing to live a life in Christ, the nature of conversion, the necessity/meaning of suffering and accepting it, and something of how a Christian ought to regard anything else than Christ as lesser than Christ.

First, we must see it as it derives from the preceding verses. Thomas Aquinas begins his commentary on Philippians 3 by describing Paul’s direction. Paul, as Aquinas summarizes, mentions 1) whom they should avoid (the reason he says so, the purpose in writing, and why it is necessary), 2) the example the saints gave in avoiding, and 3) instructs them to avoid those they felt they should imitate.[1] It is clear that Paul intends to encourage the Church in Philippi from an easy digression from a certain doctrine, and writes for the sake of a reminder as he says, “To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you, it is a safeguard” (Philippians 3:1). In other words, the content of this chapter was spoken/written on before and yet Paul does not find discussing it again troublesome. His use of derogatory titles, “dogs… men who do evil … mutilators of the flesh”, is interesting. Ralph Martin understands this to be a reference to a particular group of people: gentiles/heretics, a generic combined reference, and either Jews or Jewish Christians, in particular.[2] Martin connects this strong statement to 2 Corinthians 11:13-14, 22, when Paul considers them workers of the devil, sowing falsehood and those concerned were Jewish (concerning the doctrine of circumcision with regard to Christian conversion i.e. that it is not anything like a legal requirement).[3] When Paul uses “circumcision” in the third verse, he is clearly using the term analogically, referring to spiritual conversion, as evidenced by the reference made to spiritual worship.[4] He, then, teaches more directly against reference to Old Testament methods and interpretations of where the good is found with regard to the relationship with God. What is translated as “boast” or “glory” is from the Greek “kauchomenoi”, and it is even evident after translation that this is a favorite word of Paul since he uses it with great frequency i.e. thirty-five times and it is only twice elsewhere in the New Testament.[5] It is used paradoxically to describe, as it seems to in this context, both self-confident pride and humble acceptance of the cross.[6] This seems to demonstrate how we “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, [and] rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 28:10). Paul, here, cautions against a particular expression of the former part of the definition in the passage preceding the subject passage of this paper and exhorts the Philippians to embrace more of the latter part of the definition i.e. Christ and the cross. In verses 4 through 6, Paul cites everything he could “boast in” that a Jew may find relevant, and notably, none of them are relevant to a Christian. He “boasted in” living perfectly according to the law, having a great zeal for his Jewish faith to the point of persecuting others, and being a pure-bred descendant of Abraham. Aquinas explains that Judah, Levi, and Benjamin remained faithful to God when the other nine tribes gave in to paganism.[7]

Next, in the subject (succeeding) verses, Paul concludes the syllogistic structure of this passage with a certain fervor. Jac Mueller points out that verses 4 through 11 describe Paul’s “Umwertung aller Werte” i.e. revaluing of all values.[8] As mentioned above, this shift in perspective proper to conversion allows one to realize what is harmful, unhelpful, and/or irrelevant to one’s relationship with the one true God from the preceding life.[9] Moreover, he did indeed value (as it was culturally valued) those things, referring to them as “gains”, before the moment Christ appeared to him. Although those supposed “gains” still have cultural references, he claims to despise them or “regard them as loss[es]” with respect to Christ. This resonates with the sentiment of Luke 14:26 and John 12:25 which requires the followers of Jesus to prioritize the good of following Christ over the goods of this life, and even, other gifts from God. This again is the nature of conversion toward well-ordered love and worship of God and from more rash interpretations of the God-man relationship and/or those of the Old Testament. He used what is translated “I now consider” or “I have come to regard” suggesting a protracting change from a particular moment in his life, a “conscious and personal decision which he made in response to the grace of God and the call of Christ”. [10]In verse 8, he reinforces his assertion so to say not only the goods valued in Judaism but all goods are subordinated to the knowledge of Christ. This is not because of the lack of value those things have or that they are simply lesser on account of Christ but rather only in comparison to the “surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord”. He continues to enlighten the nature of this newly-defined value structure, including all things and not only the aforementioned, in the following sentences, as evidenced by what is translated as “What is more” or “More than that”(Philippians 3:8).[11] Aquinas sees the logic Paul uses as follows: how he desires to gain Christ through justice (showing the “justice” he leaves behind and the one he takes up) and through the endurance of sufferings.[12] Paul said, “ I have suffered the loss of all things”, this and the rest of the sentence can be understood as that necessary detachment to the world and what one held dear, that permits being attached to Christ. Martin qualifies this as a gift of the illuminative way of conversion and part of having intimacy with Christ.[13] In the following sentence, he emphasizes that the locus of righteousness is neither found in him nor the law, but in Christ and received through faith. This shifts the passage to be increasingly eschatological and defines what it means to be in Christ.[14] After having made a comparative description of his longing for Christ, he reinforces/reemphasizes in a very precise way his point by saying yet in a different and more direct way, “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection” (Philippians 3:10-11). He even expresses the desire to suffer, knowing that it means being joined to/“sharing of” Christ’s sufferings and thereby becoming like Him. The next point he makes is that if he is to hope in the resurrection of Christ, he must first “like Him in His death” (Philippians 3:11).[15] This participation is a reoccurring concept in Paul’s writings (2 Corinthians 4:10; Colossians 1:24; cf. Romans 8:36).[16] For Paul, “Death … is the gateway to life”.[17]

In conclusion, this passage is a very broad-reaching verse, encompassing much of the Christian eschatological vision, the nature of conversion, and the meaning of suffering. Every Christian, in baptism, is baptized into the whole Christ, historical and eternal, past, present, and future. In the Christian life, Paul makes it clear that the life, death, and resurrection of Christ may be experienced on Earth all at once and in particular ways, each of them at different times. To be like Christ is to participate in Heaven i.e. the kingdom He opened for us in His Baptism. Everything that Christ did we are called to as well, not in ourselves, but in Christ. To be like Christ is also to suffer out of love, taking in some analogical fashion the passion, crucifixion, and death upon oneself and yet not without Christ’s presence and grace. Teaching, loving, and witnessing each require participating in Christ. It is clear by this passage and the others it resonates with that there is no life without the death of renouncing the goods of this world, to take up Christ. As in many of his writings, Paul speaks to his longing for Christ as being synonymous with suffering in/with/for Him and hoping for the resurrection. The Catechism summarizes these ideas by saying: 

Whoever is called “to teach Christ” must first seek “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus”; he must suffer "the loss of all things. . .” in order to “gain Christ and be found in him”, and “to know him and the power of his resurrection, and [to] share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible [he] may attain the resurrection from the dead”.[18]

Written by Carter Carruthers & also available soon at Missio Dei

FN:

1. Thomas Aquinas, trans. F. R. Larcher, "COMMENTARY ON SAINT PAUL’S LETTER TO THE PHILIPPIANS," at CalibreLibrary, (1 January 1969), at https://isidore.co/aquinas/.
2. Ralph P Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. (England: IVP Academic, 1987), 145.
3. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary, 145.
4. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary, 147-148.
5. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary, 148.
6. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary, 148.
7. Aquinas, “COMMENTARY ON SAINT PAUL’S LETTER TO THE PHILIPPIANS”.
8. Jac J. Müller, The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991), 112.
9. Martin 152
10. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary, 153
11. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary, 153
12. Aquinas, “COMMENTARY ON SAINT PAUL’S LETTER TO THE PHILIPPIANS”.
13. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary, 154
14. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary, 156
15. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2^nd ed. (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 989, 1006, 648.
16. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary, 157
17. Martin, Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary, 157
18. CCC, 428.