«　WEEK 5　DAY 5　»

　　Gal. 1:15-16 But when it pleased God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me that I might announce Him as the gospel among the Gentiles, immediately I did not confer with flesh and blood.

　　Many readers of Philippians take the word excellency [in 3:8] to refer not to the knowledge of Christ but to Christ Himself. However, Paul specifically and definitely speaks of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.

　　In verse 7 Paul says “on account of Christ,” but in verse 8 he goes further and says “on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” The addition of the words my Lord indicates that as Paul was writing, he was filled with intimate, tender feelings concerning Christ. Tender feelings concerning the preciousness of the Lord Jesus rose up within him, causing him to speak of “Christ Jesus my Lord.” Paul placed great value on the excellency of the knowledge of his dear Lord Jesus Christ. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 156-157)

　　We still hold on to our national philosophy and domestic logic. Those from one part of the country hold to their logic, and those from another region cling to their philosophy. Holding to our domestic logic and national philosophy deprives us of Christ. In a sense, this drives Christ away from us in our experience. In a subtle, secret, and hidden way, the religious, philosophical, and cultural things occupy the believers, even the best of Christians, and keep them from the experience of Christ. Wherever you may go in the world today, you will find that Christ simply does not have a way with any nationality or group of people. In every part of the world, the national philosophy and the domestic logic are so strong that there is little ground in the believers for Christ.

　　If we would get into the depths of Paul's thought in Philippians 3:7 and 8, we would realize that Paul was very concerned about the matters of religion, philosophy, and culture. His word about the dogs, the evil workers, and the concision in verse 2 confirms this. The concision, a contemptuous term for circumcision, is a matter not only related to religion, but is a matter especially related to Jewish culture. Moreover, Jewish culture is based upon Jewish philosophy and logic. In verse 3 Paul says that we are the circumcision, who serve by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Then he goes on to give the reasons he once had for confidence in the flesh, listing seven items related to Jewish religion, philosophy, and culture. These are the very things Paul counted as loss on account of Christ. Do you know why he counted them loss? It is because they were all substitutes for Christ, hooks used by Satan to keep people from Christ and from the experience of Christ. How subtle is the enemy in keeping us from the experience of Christ! Oh, the subtlety of the enemy needs to be exposed! To some extent at least, we still have within us certain things which are a substitute for Christ in a subtle, secret way. These substitutes mainly involve religion, philosophy, and culture. As a result, we still are not fully and thoroughly occupied by Christ. We have not yet counted all things loss on account of Christ.

　　We cannot experience Christ if we only drop the worldly, material things. If this is our understanding of all things in 3:8, we are far from the experience of Christ revealed here. These verses are not shallow. According to the context, Paul is not speaking of superficial, outward things. He is not concerned mainly with material things. His concept is much deeper and is related to religious, philosophical, and cultural things, even to our domestic logic and national philosophy, things hidden deep within us.... It is very difficult for us to set aside these things in order to give ground to Christ and experience Him. During my lifetime I have met many Christians. But I do not know many who have been able to drop their national philosophy and domestic logic in favor of the experience of Christ. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 150-152)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Philippians, msgs. 18-19