Philippians 3:7–10

Context

Philippians is a letter that Paul wrote to the church at Philippi while he was imprisoned. Many scholars hold that he was imprisoned in Rome, though others propose Ephesus or Caesarea. In chapter 3 Paul warns against those who were requiring believers to be circumcised. Then, in verses 5–6, he lists his own credentials: he was circumcised on the eighth day, belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, was a Pharisee, persecuted the church, and was blameless "touching the righteousness which is in the law." Verses 7–10 overturn precisely these credentials. Paul says that "what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ," and that he counts all things "but dung." The underlying Greek word is a strong expression denoting refuse or filth. The sentence continues into the hope expressed in verse 11: "If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."

Interpretation

• The Reformation reading: The Lutheran and Reformed traditions read the contrast in verse 9 between "mine own righteousness, which is of the law" and "the righteousness which is of God by faith" as a central basis for the doctrine of justification by faith. On this reading, righteousness is not something a person accumulates through works but something given from outside.
• The Wesleyan-Holiness reading: This tradition emphasizes verse 10 alongside the justification described in verse 9. It presents the longing to "know him" and the life of "being made conformable unto his death" in verse 10 as the process of sanctification, in which the believer grows into the likeness of Christ.
• The union-with-Christ reading: Many commentators interpret the desire to "be found in him," "the power of his resurrection," and "the fellowship of his sufferings" as the language of union, in which the believer becomes one with Christ.

Debates and Controversies

• The translation of "faith of Christ": The Greek expression in verse 9 can be read in two ways: as the believer's "faith in Christ" or as "the faithfulness of Christ." The question has long been debated in scholarship.
• The New Perspective on Paul: Some New Testament scholars do not understand "righteousness which is of the law" as a righteousness of accumulated merit. Instead, they understand it as a status grounded in the marks of the covenant people, such as circumcision. Proponents of the traditional interpretation counter that this view weakens Paul's understanding of justification.

In the Korean Church

The phrase in verse 8, "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus," is frequently quoted in sermons and testimonies. It is used to express the confession that one has chosen Christ over worldly success, and it is often read on occasions when believers commit themselves to devotion and mission. The Korean Revised Version's older word for "fellowship" (chamyeham) in verse 10 was changed to chamyeoham ("participation") in the New Korean Revised Version.

Related Passages

• Galatians 2:16
• Romans 3:21–26
• Romans 6:3–6
• 2 Corinthians 5:21
• Galatians 6:14