Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; (10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,  (11) if, by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

(12)  Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.  (13)  Brethren I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.  (14) I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

The Epistle to the Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul during the time of his first imprisonment in Rome.  This very personal letter was written in a joyful spirit, thanking the faithful in Philippi for send a “gift” and it does not seem that he felt it was necessary to address any  serious underlying problems in that Church.  Paul expands on his relationship to Christ as a model for the faithful – and the warnings he mentions are of a  more cautionary and preventative nature than a rebuke.

The very important message that the Apostle Paul want to convey is that he is a new man in Christ – that what her formerly felt made him a righteousness man with God actually accounted for nothing.  Paul is saying that the acts that men perform – compliance with what the Mosaic law demanded – are meaningless without faith in Christ.  Man’s acts are nothing for salvation.  Man cannot earn salvation.

Using bookkeeping terms, Paul is saying that those things that would count as a gain – obeying the law and practising good works – he now knows that these are a loss.  The Law actually kept him from gaining knowledge of Christ and justification through faith in Christ.  Christ alone is our treasure.  Paul’s previous gain was only on a human plane and in the eyes of men – with his conversion his world was turned upside down and what was gain is shown to be loss – or rubbish.  Personal uprightness means nothing.  God’s righteousness is offered by God’s unmerited grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

The gain that Paul writes of is the gain of our soul – to gain spiritual knowledge of Christ is our foundation and is life transforming.  Paul urges  seeking an ongoing personal relationship with Christ and deems all meaning for this life in Christ.  Paul’s union with Christ was possible only because God imputed Christ’s righteousness to him (Paul) so that it was reckoned by God as Paul’s own.

It is impossible to have this right standing with God on our own.  God is totally righteous and all that he commands, demands, approves and all that He provides is through Christ.  Acceptance with God cannot be accomplished by man’s own supposed merits.  Faith in Christ sets us free from this onerous and useless task.  What Paul wants is not self realization but growing knowledge of Jesus Christ – and that leads to every phase of his life being Christ centered.  There should be a break with our old worldly life – a finality – a new life has been given us as we have been justified by a risen Saviour.  Paul has expectation and hope of attainment of the goal of salvation although he is absolutely certain about our future resurrection.  He does not want any misunderstanding by the Philippians when he states that “I have not attained it.”  Paul is stating that he is working on progression with the goal of sanctification.  Again Paul uses the metaphor of the Greek runner of the early Olympic games.  He urges us to repent, confess our sins and make a break with the past but to keep our eyes steadily on the goal and the prize which is the upward call of God in Christ.  This call is the invitation from God to accept this salvation.