All but Christ is Rubbish
Philippians 3v4-9
8th May 2026
Last time, we read:
Philippians 3v2-3
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who
mutilate the flesh.
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in
Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh
We saw that heretics were seeking to persuade Christians that they must be circumcised, that they must be converted to Judaism as well as to Christ. We saw that Paul opposed that idea with great passion and clarity in several of his letters. We also saw that we, the church, made up of Jewish and Gentile Christians, are the true circumcision, and looked at the three marks of the true Christian that Paul lists. The last of these is that we put no confidence in the flesh. Paul, the great Apostle to the Gentiles, continues:
Philippians 3v4-6
though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone
else thinks he has reason 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;
as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law,
blameless.
According to the flesh, according to external things, Paul had more reason to trust in himself than any of us do. Nevertheless, he came to understand that trusting in himself did him no good at all.
Perhaps you have a 100% record of church attendance. Perhaps you tithe regularly, and give above the tithe. Perhaps you come from a long line of evangelical Christians. Perhaps your great-great grandfather was a pastor or a missionary. Perhaps you were well educated and raised to appreciate high moral standards. Perhaps you work for a charity. None of this gives you any good standing before God.
Perhaps, like Paul, your good opinion of yourself, and your zeal for whatever cause you espouse, has led you into great sin, as Paul experienced when his Judaism led him into persecuting the church. Paul called himself the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1v15). The blood of Christ bought him forgiveness and set him free from condemnation. Paul had an impressive religious C.V. but he says:
Philippians 3v7
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Paul knew what he was talking about when he said that we Christians worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. Paul knew that all that religious observance cannot save anybody. It actually led him astray. He needed Jesus to pay for his sins by dying on the cross. Now, Paul was happy to disregard all his personal history, all that he'd thought of as his accomplishments, for Christ's sake. As we sometimes sing, "All to Jesus I surrender. All to Him I freely give." That's easy to say, and perhaps we say it carelessly or dishonestly, but Paul meant it! He gave up everything, including his way of life and his home, for Jesus. He goes on to say:
Philippians 3v8a
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
More clearly than most of us, Paul understood that riches, reputation, good standing in the community, friends, even health, are much less valuable than a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. The man who has God and nothing else has infinitely more than the man who has everything else but doesn't have Jesus. Paul says:
Philippians 3v8b
For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as
rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
We can't say that, I suspect. We understand, at least intellectually, that if we had to sacrifice absolutely everything we have in order to become a child of God, united with Him through Christ, that would still be the wise thing to do. But most of us haven't been put to that test. Many of us, me included, are more prosperous than we were when God saved us. But the day may come, through persecution or for some other reason, when we have the choice to hold on to God, or to hold onto all the stuff, all the possessions, all the friendships, all the respect, that we like so much. I wonder how we would fare if that happened.
Paul was willing to sacrifice everything to:
Philippians 3v9a
… be found in him [Christ], not having a righteousness of my own that comes
from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ
Many people will protest that they're good people. "Righteous" is not a word you'll hear in the High Street very often, but that's what people mean. Many non-Christians who believe in an afterlife think that God would never condemn them because they're good. Paul knew he wasn't a good person. He's already talked about putting no confidence in the flesh. He didn't trust himself to be good enough to stand on the Day of Judgement. He's already said that he was as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But he knew that outward observance of the Law of Moses, no matter how thoroughly he'd sought to obey it, wasn't enough.
Paul knew he was unclean on the inside, as are we all. He knew that trying to be a good person isn't enough. He knew this because he'd tried harder than most of us to live that way. He knew he needed something better. He knew he needed a righteousness… that… comes through faith in Christ. And he was willing to sacrifice everything he had to get that righteousness. Paul described this righteousness as:
Philippians 3v9b
the righteousness from God that depends on faith
This righteousness is not ours. We didn't create it. We didn't achieve it. We never deserved it. It comes from God. It's a gift from Him. We appropriate it by faith, and even that faith is also a gift from God.
Jesus said:
Matthew 13v44
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found
and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys
that field."
How blessed we are when we find that treasure! Compared to Jesus Christ, and His righteousness, compared to the kingdom of God, all else is rubbish.