Bible study, Philippians 3.9ff

But we are not done with the good stuff.

Going back further into the passage, we examine how we can come to be found in Christ.

By allowing God's words to teach us we can see how we lose our righteousness to gain the righteousness of God.

We backtrack to verses seven and eight.

Phil 3:7 ¶ But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Phil 3:8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,

What does it say? Whatever things were gain to me – count as loss for the sake of Christ.
More than that – count all things loss in view of surpassing value of knowing Christ.

I believe verses one through six teach us the point Paul is trying to get across and summarizes in verses seven and eight.

3.2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!

3.3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,

1) We are to have no confidence in ourselves as we seek to know God in a greater way.

2) Nothing compares to the value of knowing Jesus Christ.

Paul had lost everything and said good riddance so that he might gain Christ.

Now we're cookin' with gas.

Paul set out losing everything and counting it as rubbish and found himself in Christ and in the righteousness that comes from God.

There is so much more here but can you see God's process. Why would we ever jump to six other passages to prove our point when we have all this and we are just scratching the surface.

Please turn to Page Four.

So what do we need to have in order to know the power of Christ's resurrection?

"That" points us back to verse nine.

Phil 3:9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from {the} Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which {comes} from God on the basis of faith,

3.10 that I may know. . .

What is the prerequisite?

To be found "in Him (Christ)," not with a righteousness of my own but the righteousness which comes from God by faith.

We gotta' have the verse nine stuff to be able to approach verse ten.

Now we are getting somewhere.

When I come knocking on the door asking to know the power of the resurrection, I first need to examine myself to see:

1) If I am in found Christ.
2) Do I have the right "righteousness."
3) Is my approach based on faith.

This identifies a struggle common to the Church, not only in the first century, but a very real struggle today, i.e. Whose righteousness are we in possession of? Are we are found in our own righteousness which by default is "derived from the Law"? Or as we approach God to know about his power are we found in Christ, having the righteousness of God?

Question: If it is our own righteousness, then isn't it self-righteousness? And if it is our own righteousness, then isn't it filthy rags?

But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6 NKJV)

The text speaks for itself. Before we truly know the power of the resurrection we must be found in the righteousness which comes from God.

So this is a very big question that we need to bring before the Holy Spirit. Whose righteousness am I found in possession of? My own or God's?