It is one thing for a perishing man to be saved by another, but it is something further for him to know the one who saved him. So also it is one thing for a perishing sinner to be saved by Christ, and another thing to go on to know Christ when saved.
Before he was saved, Paul, as Saul of Tarsus, had distinguished himself among his fellows by his persistent hatred of the name of Jesus and his determined persecution of those who followed Him. He refers to this period of his life a number of times in his ministry: in Acts 26:9-11, when defending himself in the presence of Porcius Festus and King Agrippa; in Galatians 1:13-14, when he is about to show that a believer does not live by the law; in 1 Timothy 1:13, when he rehearses his earlier life to his “son in the faith”; and also in Acts 22:19-20, where he repeats what he had already confessed to the Lord. He was a man of good position and careful in his outward observance of the law of God, but instead of these things producing true subjection and love to God, he had become Satan’s stoutest champion in seeking to overthrow the truth.
But in course of time, on the road to Damascus, he saw a light “above the brightness of the sun” shining suddenly round about him, and he falls to the earth. But richly as he deserved judgment, it was as his Savior that the Lord stopped him that day, and from that time forth Saul of Tarsus (whose name is changed to Paul), forgiven and saved, leads in heralding the gospel of the grace of God.
What Was Gain and Loss
And now in Philippians 3:4-7, we may learn from his own pen the wonderful effect produced upon his soul by this mighty change: “If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more ... but what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” How mighty indeed the power of divine grace! He was a man so strict in his observance of the law of God that he walked without blame in the midst of his fellows. Note well these words: “loss for Christ.” Many slur over it as though it read “gave up for Christ,” but that was not how Paul reckoned. He counted himself a gainer, not a loser; he would have been a loser to go on with these things when he had Christ.
And now, how is it with us? Is Christ my Savior? If so, how are we looking upon the things that are a gain to us after the flesh? Do we begrudge giving them up and retain them with a bad conscience? Surely if we know a Savior in glory and rightly value Him, it ought not to be so. There was no effort on Paul’s part. Blinded at his conversion for three days, his eyes were again opened to be fixed upon a new object — a Savior in glory who had saved him. Oh that we, like him, may be able to say in the sight of God, “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.”
The Excellency of Knowledge
But there is something more. In the next verse (vs. 8) we read: “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” What we have been dwelling upon was the effect produced upon Paul at his conversion, but he is here writing to the saints at Philippi some 30 years or so afterward. In verse 7 he speaks of having counted loss for Christ things which were a gain to him. This was when he first knew Christ as his Savior, but now he adds, “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss.” For some 30 years he had pursued his undeviating course toward the goal that he had before him. Was he weary and full of regret on account of his self-sacrifice? No; he was occupied with Christ, and superior to those things his heart naturally would have sought after and turned back to.
The Knowledge of Christ Jesus
Now he counts all things loss, but for what? For Christ as a Savior? Yes, but more than that. Christ was his Savior still, but he is not satisfied with that, for he says, “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” His heart is ravished with the Person who had saved him, and this is true devotedness. Men around him might boast of the knowledge of natural things. The arts and sciences, literature, astronomy, or geology (things right enough in their place) might attract many, but Paul has an object before him infinitely superior to them all. He is enraptured with the Person of the Christ; he would learn Him, become more intimately acquainted with Him, know more of His excellent moral glories, enjoy still deeper and sweeter communion with Jesus, the Son of God’s love.
Christ Jesus My Lord
How many thousands know Christ as their Savior, but stop there, satisfied apparently with His finished work, and perhaps rejoicing, too, to speak about salvation to others, and yet have no relish in their souls to progress in the knowledge of the One who saved them! They are thankful to know Him as a Savior, but shrink from saying, “Christ Jesus my Lord.” The will is more or less active, and the world is more or less attractive. To own the Lordship of Christ means a broken will, henceforth subject to Him, and the world as a worthless thing beneath our feet. Are we prepared for this?
That I May Win Christ
And note also now in closing what the Apostle adds: “For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3:9). Christ was no mere doctrine to him, but a living Person in glory, that engrossed his soul and more than satisfied his heart. For the knowledge of Him he had suffered the loss of everything that the flesh values, and he was enabled, after 30 years’ experience in the path of faith without it, to count it as so much filth, that he might win Christ. In this he is an example to every believer in Jesus. Such knowledge of Christ, instead of leading to carelessness and license, becomes a true preservative against evil. And the more we know of Him, the more earnest will be the desire that our whole manner of life should be conformed in every detail to Him. And the more truly too we shall be enabled to say with the Apostle, “To me to live is Christ.”
E. H. Chater (adapted)