A STUDY OF PHILIPPIANS 3:8-10

4. Paul’s Present Values—Phil. 3:7-11 (Continued)

At this point, let me point out that verse 8 is part of one large sentence (verses 8-11). The sentence turns on the conjunction “so that” of verse 8. The conjunction hina (that) indicates purpose of counting things lost. From this point on Paul is indicating what gain entails. Hawthorne points out that this phrase points to the motives for counting everything as loss (3:8-10): “They are (1) that he might “gain Christ,” (2) “that he might be found in Christ,” and (3) “that he might know Christ and the power of his resurrection.”[1] Notice that these are progressive in nature.

The reason and purpose of his conversion is in order to gain Christ (Phil 3:8c). This is Christ Himself, not merely the favor of Christ.[2] On the road to Damascus he realized that Christ was the pearl of great price. He could gain the whole world but never find such value (cf. Matthew 16:26). Everything else is rubbish in relation to gaining Christ. Paul goes on to explain what it means to gain Christ. This is shown by the connector and (kai), which goes on to expand and explain what it means to gain Christ; it is to be found in Him (Phil. 3:9). It is in the aorist passive subjunctive, which indicates that by faith he is already found in Christ. It speaks of our position in Christ as well as our fulfilled expectation and reality in the future. “There is also in this construction the idea of the future, the sense that Paul has both gained Christ and is yet to gain Christ.”[3]

Being found in Him involves righteousness. Paul now contrasts two types of righteousness and their sources and the channel by which true righteousness comes. One is what I term negative righteousness, the other is positive righteousness. Verse 9 breaks down this way:

            Not having      

                 My 

                      Righteousness   

                        The one out of the law

                                  But the one through faith in Christ

                        The one out of God    

                       Righteousness

                   Upon faith[4]

The desire to be found in Him is followed by long phrases of contrast. It is a contrast between righteousness through the law and righteousness through faith. The first I call negative righteousness or righteousness because it has no real value. It is righteousness that comes out of the law. This type of righteousness has as its source the Law. Scripture makes clear: “Because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20 cf. Galatians 3:11). In the book of Galatians, Paul makes clear what the Law cannot do:

·         The Law cannot justify (Gal. 2:16)

·         The Law cannot make righteous (Gal. 2:21)

·         The Law cannot give the Spirit (Gal. 3:2)

·         The Law cannot give an inheritance (Gal. 3:18)

·         The Law cannot impart life (Gal. 3:21)

·         The Law cannot give freedom (Gal. 5:1)

·         The Law cannot give grace (Gal. 5:4)

“Not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law” (Phil. 3:9). Yet, in verse 6 he declared “as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.” What gives here? There is righteousness in the Law, however it is not sufficient. It is righteousness of reformation; not redemption. All the Law can do is reform us; it cannot redeem us. That is why Paul counted it as loss. It is insufficient to make us righteous before God, for it has no power to change us. It is not an instrument of inward change, but of condemnation. The phrase “derived from the law” points to the Law as the source or origin of this type of righteousness. Works is the means of this righteousness. The grammar focus is on the quality of this righteousness, i.e. it is Paul’s own.[5] Eadie notes: “His own righteousness was out of the law, or originated by the law, and it was through his own effort that he obtained it.”[6]

“But” is a vital word in this text. It is a word of contrast. It reveals or leads us to the channel of positive righteousness in contrast to the negative righteousness of the law. This righteousness comes not out of the law, but “that which is through faith in Christ” (Phil 3:9b). It is in contrast to the righteousness that comes out of the Law. Righteousness in this text is two different types. These two are mutually exclusive. The first is that of moral righteousness achieved by Paul out of obedience to the Law. The second is “out of God,” which comes through the channel of “faith in Christ.” There is some debate as to how to understand this phrase. Is it the “faith of Christ” (KJV) or “faith in Christ.” The Greek phrase is ambiguous.[7] How the phrase pisteos Christou should be translated is one of “the most debated”[8] as to taking it as an objective or subjective genitive. Most take it as an objective genitive, making Christ the object of faith.[9] It is the faith of the believer in Christ. Others argue for it being a subjective genitive,[10] thereby making this reference to Christ’s faith or faithfulness. Wallace makes a worthwhile observation that should be pointed out: “the faith/faithfulness of Christ is not a denial of faith in Christ as a Pauline concept…, but implies that the object of faith is a worthy object, for He Himself is faithful.”[11] However, the debate continues but because of the ambiguity of the phrase it may not be settled by grammar alone. Both views are grammatically are equally possible. At this point, my view is that it is best to uphold the objective genitive view. I agree with Silva that, “Ambiguous grammatical forms should be interpreted in the light of unambiguous ones, and the very repetition of Gal. 2:16 (‘faith in Christ’ twice; ‘we believe in Christ Jesus’ once) support the traditional understanding.”[12]

This kind of righteousness has a different origin (from God), basis (the basis of faith), and means of reception (though faith), than the righteousness that comes out of the Law. The “righteousness that comes from God” is the central driving force of the verse. It is a righteousness that God provides. It is an imputed righteousness because we are “made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21). It is by God’s doing that we are “in Christ” who “has became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). The essence of verse 9 is that true righteousness comes not by our own effort but by exercising “faith in Christ.” Faith is not simply intellectual assent about Christ, but the act of personal trust alone in the person and work in Christ. This verse gives us the essence of justification by faith alone.

Verse 10 refers back to verse 8, and gives the next aim of Paul in his relation to Christ. In verses 8-9 his aim was to gain Christ and speaks of salvation. The Second aspect of his aim is to know or experience Christ. The emphasis is on the phrase “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Phil 3:10). Paul moves from the essence of justification (verse 9) to sanctification (verse 10). Tou gnonai (I may know) is an infinitive indicating purpose, which is to have a personal relationship, experiential knowledge. This is more than just knowing about someone or having an acquaintance; that knowledge is just factual. Paul is speaking of a knowledge that comes from a personal relationship. There are three elements to this:

• (1) To know Him. Gromacki states that “Paul knew that he had salvation; now he wanted to know the Savior.”[13] He is speaking of a deeper growing knowledge. Included in this deeper knowledge is further explained by the next two elements: the power of His resurrection and fellowship of His sufferings. O’Brien clearly indicates the apostle intends to explain what is meant by knowing Christ through resurrection power and fellowship of suffering. They are no suggestion of temporal distinction as to time or sequence.[14] Both are equally a part of knowing Christ better.
• (2) The power of His resurrection. This speaks of experiential power of the resurrection in the life of the believer. Paul continually shows it is an element of Christian living. In Ephesians 1:18-19 he tells that “the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe” is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. The power of the resurrection is so we could “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4-5). Morris comments on Romans 6:5—“Paul is primarily concerned with the present moral life of the believer; this is part of his argument that we should not continue in sin so that grace may abound. He is emphasizing that the believer has already risen to new life.”[15]
• (3) The fellowship of His sufferings. To know Christ better involves not only being resurrected in newness of life, but sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Paul knew what it was to share Christ’s suffering (cf. Romans 8:17; 1 Cor. 2:10-11; 2 Cor.1:5). In Colossians Paul states: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part what which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church” (Colossians 1:24). By this, Paul does not mean that the suffering of Christ was insufficient nor that he could add to the merit of Christ’s suffering. But rather it is fellowship of suffering with and for Christ. The idea of fellowship is joint participation. “No believer can die for sins as Christ did, but he can suffer for the sake of righteousness as he permits Christ to live out His life through him” notes Gromacki. Peter notes that this suffering involves: [a] Suffering for doing well (1 Peter 2:20); [b] for righteousness (1 Peter 3:14); [c] for the name of Christ (1 Peter 4:16); [d] and is according to the will of God (1 Peter 4:19). As we grow in our knowledge of Christ and the power of His resurrection, so will the fellowship of His sufferings.

 “Being conformed to His death” (Phil. 3:10) modifies the fellowship of His sufferings. Eadie says, “This conformity to His death accompanies the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.”[16] The present tense of the word conform indicates continuity of a process, which will not be completed until the final day of his life.[17] Conforming to His death is a process which suffering brings to the believer. The suffering and death of Christ was a continual process which was inseparable from the Cross. Some indicate that the conforming to death indicates martyrdom. However, that does not seem to be the case for two reasons: First, this is not indicated in the text. Second, that is hard to fit in with the present tense. O’Brien’s view of it being a metaphor of incorporation is a better view. It is a part of Paul teaching of our identification with Christ and our union with His death and resurrection. “Paul who was united with Christ in his death on the cross is continually being conformed to that death as he shares in Christ’s sufferings.”[18] The incorporation is clearly indicated in Romans 6:5-6. It’s putting into action our position (Romans 6:11). Silva observes: “The participation of believers in Christ’s death includes not only their definitive breach with sin, but also those sufferings they undergo by virtue of their union with Christ.”[19]

To be continued…

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[1]  Hawthorne, WBC:PHILIPPIANS, 139.

[2]  Ibid, 139.

[3]  Ibid, 140.

[4]  Silva, PHILIPPIANS 185; O’Brien, NIGTC: PHILIPPIANS, 394.

[5]  O’Brien, NIGTC: PHILIPPIANS, 394.

[6]  Eadie, PHILIPPIANS, 3:9.

[7]  Loh and Nida, TRANSLATORS HANDBOOK: PHILIPPIANS, 102.

[8]  Wallace, BEYOND THE BASICS, 114. See his discussion on pages 114-116.

[9]  These include Lenski, Loh and Nida, Kent, Gromacki, Muller, and Hawthorne.

[10]  These include the Companion Bible; Wallace, Wuest, and O’Brien. O’Brien makes a case for this, see his discussion in WBC: PHILIPPIANS, 398-400.

[11]  Wallace, BEYOND THE BASICS, 116.

[12]  Silva, PHILIPPIANS, 187.

[13]  Gromacki, STAND UNITED, 150.

[14]  O’Brien, 403.

[15]  Leon Morris, PNTC: ROMANS, 250.

[16]  Eadie, PHILIPPIANS, 3:10.

[17]  O’Brien, NIGTC: PHILIPPIANS, 408.

[18]  Ibid, 410.

[19]  Silva, PHILIPPIANS, 191.