Day 15 – Philippians 3:9-11

Wed 27^th May                        Read Philippians 3:9-11

 V9: Now his whole life, his  very identity, is ” in Christ”. He knows he can plead no righteousness of his own, he has none, a sinner before a holy God ( Romans 3:10-12 ) The law can only condemn him, not save him. Christ is the only source of righteousness for him or any human being, Whose righteousness is given to our account, as He bore our sins ( 2 Corinthians 5:21). We receive this through faith alone.

V10: Now all his desire is to “know Christ” – to know Him better, more and more each day ( for there is always more to learn of Him, from His Word and as we walk with Him by faith ), to know increasingly “the power of His resurrection”, the power of God which raised Christ from the dead, and is the source of our new life in Christ- and the only enabling for our own Christian lives and witness, and to know the privilege of ” sharing His sufferings” – surely, to suffer in His service, following him, even to the point of dying for Him. Paul already knows much of these things, but longs to know more!  Do we, and do we count it a privilege to suffer for Christ? ( see Acts 5:41 )

V11: And  he wants to have the living hope of the resurrection, in and through Christ’s redeeming death alone. None of this is or can be by his own efforts . Once he believed he could earn it, but that is the very position he has rejected, since knowing Christ, Rather when he speaks of ” attaining it by any means possible” he  means that he would do anything to gain it if it depended on Him, and indeed he will strive as if it did, but thank God, its been done and achieved by Christ for him – and for us. All these verses continue to refute the false teaching he referred to in Philippians 3:2.