“though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:4–11 ESV)

Of all people, Paul had reason to place his confidence (faith, trust, reliance) in his own spiritual accomplishments and heritage, but he exchanges it all for a righteousness that is through faith (v9).  Paul’s pedigree was perfect and his ability to execute external religion was pristine.  Most of Paul’s resume falls on deaf ears to us.  Imagine the person who was born into a family with godly parents, who prayed a prayer to receive Christ as a youngster, attended church every time the doors were open, went to every youth camp and was practically perfect in executing all of the “externals” of Christianity.  They tithed, had a quiet time regularly, memorized scripture, went on mission trips, fed the poor and served dutifully.  Their identity, like Paul’s, is in where they came from and what they did instead of whose they were.  This was Paul, tirelessly attempting to earn a righteousness that was freely offered through faith.

Don’t brush over this.  Is this you?  Are you trying to do all the right things in lieu of completely relying on the finished work of Christ on your behalf?  Do you feel as though you need to obey flawlessly for God to love & approve of you?  Do you think that you need to add something to the righteousness that Jesus has given you in order to be pleasing to God?  Whenever we offer up our goodness to God as a reason for Him to love and approve of us, it evokes a repulsive action from the Creator of the cosmos (Isaiah 64:6).  Relying on our own righteousness is repulsive to a holy God who freely offers a righteousness that is by faith alone

Paul had a shift in what he relied upon to please God.  He now considered all of those externally “good things” as rubbish when compared to knowing God.  All things – religious performance, family heritage, moral striving, his own goodness – are now considered loss, indeed more than loss they are now rubbish, trash or dung when laid against the requirements of God.  This is the only appearance of this Greek word (skubalon) in the New Testament – it is dung or excrement – which is more than just worthless, it is repulsive.  Paul had shifted his reliance from himself & his ability to obey to Jesus and His perfectly obedient life & sacrificial death.

Paul says that all of his previous striving and pedigree were now loss.  But this is really no loss when compared with the gain that we have in Jesus:  right standing before God not based upon our abilities, heritage or performance, but by trusting solely in the finished work of Jesus.  The goal of this great exchange is to know God.  We get reconciled into a FAMILY relationship with the Creator!  Paul wants to follow Christ and taste what He tasted so that he can know the Savior more intimately v10-11.  This is the beauty of the Gospel, a good, holy and sovereign God has made a way to redeem His children to Himself – and this not based upon anything that we do, but on the undeserved favor of God.  If you’re a Christian, then you are forgiven, adopted and loved – not because of where you come from or what you do, but because of your older brother who has freely provided God’s forgiveness and approval for you.

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11–13 ESV)

Paul is grateful for the Philippians’ gift to him & for their partnership in the gospel (1:5), but he has learned a contentment that transcends his external circumstances.  To be content means to be OK with the lot that we have in life or with the means that have been afforded to us, regardless of whether they are slim or plentiful.  However, we normally associate lacking contentment with being in need.  For most that are reading this, that is not the case – we have more than enough.  Paul said that he had learned the secret of finding contentment whether in abundance or in need.  So why is contentment, even when all of our basic needs are met, so difficult to obtain & experience?

Contentment looks different in abundance and in need.  When in need, there must be an abiding trust that God will provide all that is required for life.  This is a trust issue in the sovereign goodness of God.  When living in abundance, contentment is also difficult; it involves seeing Christ as more beautiful than anything else that is vying for our attention.  Becoming content is tied back to abiding in Christ and thinking on things that stir worship in our souls (4:4-7, see here & here).

When in abundance the risk is to treasure and look to created things as objects of our worship.  When we worship created things, we are looking for them to satisfy the deepest longings of our soul – something that they are incapable of doing because they were not designed to hold the weight of our worship.  Contentment, at its root is a worship problem.  When we have abundance in our lives – there are many shiny, new things to distract us from Ultimate realities.  When we latch on to all of the things around us as “necessary” things to make our lives worth living then we will never find contentment.  We will always be looking for the next gadget, car, house, spouse, accomplishment, pay raise, toy, relationship, experience or whatever.  But, the man who can learn to not place his trust in worldly wealth and can enjoy all things as a gift from God is a fortunate man: “as for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17 ESV).

We might think that the remedy to our discontentment is to sell all of our worldly possessions and move over seas to serve God.  This is not the remedy, this is just transferring the problem to a different venue.  You trusting in created things more than the Creator of all things is not a function of what you have, it is a function of what you believe is most worthy of your worship, praise & adoration.

So how did the apostle become content in all things?  Paul saw Christ as more glorious, more worthy, more spectacular than anything else the world had to offer (3:7-11).  The work is not to lower the value or allure of the things that compete for our affections – this will prove a fools errand as most can attest to.  The real secret of contentment is not in lowering other things, but in seeing Christ more clearly – seeing Him as so far above anything else that we are willing to joyfully exchange all things to have Him.

We need a yearning in our soul (like Paul had) that considers everything as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus.  This is a supernatural act, this is not something that we muster up, this is something that is Holy Spirit wrought.  This puts us in a place of utter dependance upon God to do what only He can do in our souls.  This goes back to a place where we intentionally quiet ourselves and pray desperate prayers like, “enlighten the eyes of my heart, quicken my mind, help me to see things as they really are, make your kingdom come in ME, I do believe – help me with my unbelief.  Help me to taste and see that you are good, that in your presence is deepest satisfaction and that your steadfast love is better than life.”  Contentment is not the goal, it is a byproduct of the goal – which is to know the good, sovereign, Lord of the universe.  To lack contentment in one’s life is merely symptomatic of a deeper, heart problem; contentment is not the problem, the object of our worship is the problem.