Philippianschapter 3
21 verses · BSBPhilippians book hub →
Speaks with:Philippians 4×22 Corinthians 11×2Colossians 2×2Romans 8×2Galatians 2×21 Peter 5×2
Summary
Chapter summary
Beware of dogs, of evil workers, of the concision. What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. Forgetting those things which are behind, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. JFB reads the chapter as the apostle's running testimony.
Context
Epistle · Paul — Philippians overview
- A. 1–11 Everything I Gained, Counted as Refuse
- B. 12–16 Forgetting What Is Behind, Pressing Toward the Prize
- C. 17–21 Their God Is the Belly; Our Citizenship Is Heaven
The outline
A.Everything I Gained, Counted as Refusevv. 1 to 11
Read vv. 1 to 11 →B.Forgetting What Is Behind, Pressing Toward the Prizevv. 12 to 16
Read vv. 12 to 16 →C.Their God Is the Belly; Our Citizenship Is Heavenvv. 17 to 21
Read vv. 17 to 21 →
The world behind this chapter
Philippians 3The history
The credentials Paul lists are a Jewish pedigree of the highest order: circumcised on the eighth day, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, blameless as to righteousness under the law. Every item would have counted for something in the circles he came from.
His word for what he now considers them is deliberately coarse — refuse, what gets thrown out or worse. Ancient readers would have felt the vulgarity. He is not saying his heritage was mildly overrated.
The line "our citizenship is in heaven" was aimed at people who knew exactly what citizenship was worth. Philippi's colonists held Roman rights in a provincial world, exempt from certain taxes and protected in law, and they never forgot it. Paul tells them their real registry is elsewhere and their Saviour is coming from there — the word used for an emperor's ceremonial arrival at a colony.
The athletic image of straining forward and pressing toward the goal for the prize fits a culture of games and public contests, where the prize was awarded from a raised platform at the end of the race.
What it meant to them
For believers being pressed to add credentials, the argument was personal rather than technical. The man with the best possible pedigree had counted it all as loss for the sake of knowing Christ.
And his refusal to claim arrival — not that I have already obtained this, or am already perfect — gave a congregation permission to still be running. He forgets what lies behind and presses on, and tells them to hold true to what they have attained.
Sources cited
- F. F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Philippians 3. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
Connections from this chapter
v. 7 · Written to them
What things were gain to me, I counted loss for Christ
topics/loss→MannaFest topical index
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.