Looking to Christ in Philippians 3: Christ Our Assured Recompense

It would be a challenging question for any believer in Christ to be asked, “What would I be prepared to give up in my life for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord?”  Philippians 3:4-8 is the apostle Paul’s answer to that question, causing us to look to Christ as our assured recompense, and see Him as the One for whom it is worth losing everything else there is in this world, in order that we might win Christ, through an increasing knowledge of Himself.

Saul of Tarsus After the Flesh

In verses 4-6, Paul speaks about himself before conversion as the prime example of one who did place confidence in what he was in the flesh and in all his human attainments. If it were possible for the religious flesh to produce something acceptable to God, then Saul of Tarsus had more to boast in than anyone else in the world of Judaism.

The first four things listed in verse 5 were all inherited advantages – what Saul of Tarsus was by reason of his birth and family privilege. He had ceremonial advantage over any proselytes to Judaism; he was “circumcised the eighth day.” He was of pure Jewish ancestry, and nationally, “of the stock of Israel.” His ancestral advantage linked him with the loyal “tribe of Benjamin” that stayed with Judah and the line of David when the kingdom was divided. His parental advantage as “an Hebrew of Hebrews” meant he was nurtured from birth in the Hebrew language and educated perfectly in the Jewish Law.

We would appreciate the privilege to grow up in countries where there is freedom for the gospel of Christ to be preached publicly, liberty for Christians to gather and the Word of God to be taught unhindered. Likewise, it is a tremendous privilege if we have been raised in a God-fearing Christian family and heard the Word of God taught from earliest days. But ultimately, as members of the Church, there should be no national superiorities, no ancestral or family-related advantages or disadvantages. All local assembly matters should be judged with complete impartiality. In the Church, “ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).1

The further three statements in verses 5-6 about Saul’s life before his conversion were things he attained by personal ambition, for which he could claim personal credit. He had attained the rank of a Pharisee and scrupulously kept all the demands and man-made traditions of that position. Yet, that pharisaic zeal made him a murderous persecutor of Christians, clearly demonstrating that while he appeared “blameless” as to all external appearances and ceremonial aspects of law-keeping, he was inwardly a wicked sinner. He always knew that “in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing” (Rom 7:18). The religious flesh in Saul made him a ferocious enemy of those who were most precious to God and the Lord Jesus – “who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious” (1Ti 1:13).

Counting All Loss for Christ

The word “But” at the start of Philippians 3:7 is referencing Paul from the moment of his conversion when he met the risen Christ on the Damascus Road. He immediately was brought to realise that everything he was as a man in the flesh and all those attainments in Judaism gave Him no standing before the risen, exalted Christ. All those things he had gloried in and thought were to his credit for acceptance before God, “what things were gain to me,” from that day forward he had to put on the debit side and write off as a singular loss – “those I counted loss for Christ.” With salvation, we recognise that, compared with the glorified and exalted Christ, everything of this world’s attractions or attainments pale into temporal insignificance.

In verse 8, Paul changes to the present tense, writing now 25-30 years after his conversion to Christ: “Yea doubtless, and I [do still] count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”  He is saying, “I still feel the same way now as when I was first saved. I didn’t make any miscalculations; I am not changing my assessment other than reinforcing it even more.” Everything he now had in Christ and that intimate knowledge of Him as personal Lord and Saviour fully compensated Paul in this lifetime for all that he had written off as loss when he came to Christ for salvation. Knowing Christ as his own personal Lord and appreciating His surpassing excellence was the apostle’s assured recompense.

As to his present Christian experience, and writing even now as the prisoner of Christ, Paul says that he has suffered the loss of all things on account of his Saviour. He did indeed lose much of this world the day he came to Christ. His stellar academic career in Judaism was finished, and he likely lost all his earthly inheritance. But he gained immense spiritual blessings and a heavenly inheritance that is eternally secure in Christ. Everything of this world he now counted as “dung” (offal), what could be thrown to the dogs; all else was utterly worthless compared with knowing experientially the risen Christ. If we embrace the spirit of the apostle, we will readily accept that Christ is the One who must take away any attraction we might have for this world. Paul is content to say, “that I may win Christ,” i.e., “that I might have Christ for my gain” (JND).

As believers in the Lord Jesus, we should be making the same kind of evaluation regarding the things of this world. The recompense in knowing more of Christ is not just in view of that future, glorious inheritance that we will share with Him when He is reigning over this world. It is to be our recompense now while we are still moving down here in this world that has rejected our Saviour. This is the essence of laying hold of the gift of eternal life that we have received: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (Joh 17:3).

To truly acknowledge Christ as our gain and have a growing appreciation of Him, we will not prioritize the comparatively worthless and temporal things of this world. Rather, let us go in for gaining more of Christ and make the increasing knowledge of His blessed Person in all His glory and beauty our absolute priority day by day, for He will always be our full recompense.


1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV unless otherwise noted.