Scripture Reading: Phil. 3:9-11
Ⅰ
"Be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is out of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith"—Phil. 3:9:
A
Paul aspired to be found in Christ by all who observed him; this indicates that he aspired to have his whole being immersed in and saturated with Christ so that all who observed him might find him fully in Christ.
B
Paul wanted to be found in Christ in the condition of the righteousness of God, taking Christ as his subjective, lived-out righteousness—v. 9:
１
There are two aspects of Christ being righteousness to the believers:
ａ
The first aspect is for Christ to be the believers' righteousness for them to be justified before God objectively—Rom. 3:24-26; Acts 13:39; Gal. 3:24b, 27.
ｂ
The second aspect is for Christ to be the believers' righteousness lived out of them as the manifestation of God, who is the righteousness in Christ given to the believers for them to be justified by God subjectively— Rom. 4:25; 1 Pet. 2:24a; Matt. 5:20; Rev. 19:8.
２
The subjective righteousness of God in Philippians 3:9 is actually God Him-self becoming our daily living, a living that is right with God and man:
ａ
Paul did not want to live in his own righteousness; our own righteous-ness is the expression of ourselves, the living out of ourselves.
ｂ
If we would be found in Christ, we must be in such a condition that God is expressed through us and becomes our daily living.
Ⅱ
"To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death"—v. 10:
A
Paul aspired to know Christ:
１
To have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ in verse 8 is by revela-tion, but to know Him in verse 10 is by experience.
２
Paul sought to know and enjoy Christ in an experiential way.
３
To know Christ is not merely to have knowledge concerning Him but to gain His very person—2 Cor. 2:10; Phil. 3:12.
B
Paul aspired to know the power of Christ's resurrection—v. 10:
１
The power of Christ's resurrection is His resurrection life, which raised Him from the dead—John 11:25; Eph. 1:19-20.
２
The Spirit is the reality of Christ's resurrection and its power—Rom. 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 1 John 5:6.
３
Christ's resurrection with its power in the life-giving Spirit is the sufficient grace of the processed and consummated Triune God—2 Cor. 12:9; 1 Cor. 15:10, 45b, 58.
C
Paul aspired to know the fellowship of Christ's sufferings and to be conformed to His death—Phil. 3:10:
１
In our experience the power of Christ's resurrection comes first, followed by participation in His sufferings and conformity to His death.
２
We may take part in the sufferings of Christ for the producing and building up of His Body—Col. 1:24.
３
Having the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, counting all things as loss, gaining Christ, being found in Him, knowing Him and the power of His resurrection, and knowing the fellowship of His sufferings all issue in one thing—being conformed to Christ's death—Phil. 3:7-10.
４
Christ's death is a mold to which we are being conformed; being conformed to the mold of Christ's death is the base of the experience of Christ—1:20-21a; 3:9-10.
Ⅲ
"If perhaps I may attain to the out-resurrection from the dead"—v. 11:
A
The result of being conformed to Christ's death is that we may attain to, or arrive at, the out-resurrection from the dead—vv. 10-11.
B
The out-resurrection is the outstanding resurrection, which will be a prize to the overcoming saints—Rev. 20:4, 6.
C
To attain to the outstanding resurrection means that our entire being is grad-ually and continually resurrected—1 Thes. 5:23:
１
God first resurrected our deadened spirit; He proceeds to resurrect our soul and our mortal body until our whole being—spirit, soul, and body—is fully resurrected out of our old being by His life and with His life—Eph. 2:5-6; Rom. 8:6, 10-11.
２
If we are conformed to Christ's death, every part of our being will be grad-ually resurrected; thus, the Christian life is a process of resurrection.
D
The out-resurrection is resurrection out of the old creation into the new crea-tion—2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15.
E
We need to be conformed to Christ's death so that we may arrive at the outstand-ing resurrection; this is the only way for the Lord to go on in His recovery, the only way for the Lord to build up His church, the only way for the Lord to prepare the bride, and the only way for us to bring the Lord back—Phil. 3:10-11; Matt. 16:18; Rev. 19:7-9a; 22:14, 20.