Philippians 3:1-11·~1 min

Righteousness through Faith in Christ

Paul begins by telling the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord and warning them against those who boast in the flesh. He says that believers are the true circumcision, worshiping by the Spirit and glorying in Christ, and then recounts his own former credentials under the law, which were as strong as anyone's.

F¹inally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. ²Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh! ³For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh — ⁴though I myself could have such confidence. ⁵If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.

Yet whatever once counted as gain, Paul now counts as loss because of Christ. He counts all things loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, seeking to be found in him not with a righteousness from the law but with the righteousness from God through faith, and longing to know Christ in resurrection power, suffering, conformity to his death, and the hope of resurrection.

⁷But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death, ¹¹and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Section summaryPaul tells the church to rejoice in the Lord while warning them against those who boast in the flesh. Though he himself once had every possible ground for such confidence, he now counts all of it as loss for Christ, seeking instead to gain Christ, to be found in him with righteousness by faith, and to know Christ in resurrection power, suffering, and final resurrection.

Role in the chapterThis opening section overturns every rival basis of confidence and places knowing Christ at the center. It gathers justification, union with Christ, and discipleship into one decisive revaluation of life.