“But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss, for the sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7).
An acquaintance of mine was very active in community service. He had achieved some significant things in working for causes he believed in. When I asked him what motivated him, he said he was doing what he did for God. I learned in that conversation that he hoped to gain heaven by his good deeds.
Until the apostle Paul met the Lord Jesus that was his motivation, too. He told the story in Philippians 3:1-9. He wrote about how proud he had been of his ancestral heritage, and of his achievements in the strictest traditions of his religion. He was trying, he said, to attain a reputation for being “faultless” in the eyes of people, and in the eyes of God.
Paul was proud of these apparent advantages. Using accounting terminology, he had considered them spiritual assets. He had been trying to save himself by keeping the law of God. He discovered it cannot be done. What he had once considered “profit” was really “loss.” What he had once thought to be to his credit, was really a deficit. He had been trying to make himself righteous by self-effort and it cannot be done. His religious works were actually coming between him and salvation.
Paul learned there are two kinds of righteousness, God’s righteousness and human righteousness. Human righteousness is putting one’s confidence in the flesh, a do-it-yourself religion. The accumulation of human religion and good deeds, no matter how sincere and diligent, can never take a person to heaven. God’s righteousness is a gift of grace, and is not based upon good works or trying to keep the laws of God.
Paul wrote, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith” (Philippians 3:8-9).
A friend told me about a hot dog stand in the Bahamas. It had a sign on the side that said, “Your pastor can’t get you to heaven. Your priest can’t get you to heaven. Your rabbi can’t get you to heaven. Only Jesus can get you to heaven.”
That was Paul’s message: righteousness comes through faith in Christ alone. The good news in the Christian gospel is that we may be declared righteous, not on the basis of what we do for God, but on the basis of what Christ has done for us. It is through faith in his death and resurrection. Jesus bore our sins and offers us his righteousness in exchange.
Is your righteousness an asset, or a liability? Paul said that if it is anything other than Christ, it is no better than “rubbish.”
“Not the labors of my hands can fulfill thy law’s demands. / Could my zeal no respite know; could my tears forever flow, / all for sin could not atone. Thou must save, and thou alone.
“Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to thy cross I cling. / Naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace. / Foul, I to thy fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.” (“Rock of Ages” by A. M. Toplady).
Pastor Randy Faulkner