Philippians 3:8

“Yea verily, and. count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom. suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that. may gain Christ”

“Yea verily”: “More than that” (NASV). “These two English words represent. series of Greek particles which indicate the most fervent emotion” (Erdman p. 117). “I count all things to be loss”: “I even reckon all things as pure loss” (Wey). “Position, wealth, reputation” (Jackson p. 66). “All that he had formerly prized and valued, all that the world had to offer, he counted ‘to be loss',. real liability, an actual disadvantage. if they stood between himself and Christ” (Erdman p. 117). “All things”: Whatever might compete with Christ for His allegiance. As previously noted, such external things as wealth, intelligence, education, noble-birth, and so on can become liabilities at the very moment that one trusts in them. instead of trusting in Christ. “For”: “In view of” (NASV). Here is the reason that such things had to be counted as. loss. “The excellency”: “The exceeding value” (TCNT). “Priceless privilege” (Wey). “The supreme advantage” (Gspd). “The ultimate value”. “At one time Paul surpassed all the young men of his age in Pharisaic zeal and false Jewish merit (Galatians 1:14); now he has found. far different ‘surpassingness'” (Lenski p. 836). “Of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord”: “Personal acquaintance of Jesus Christ” (Jackson p. 66). The knowledge that Jesus is in fact the Christ and the Lord, and the very fact that Jesus appeared to this successful Pharisee, was proof that all his great previous accomplishments had failed to atone for his sins (Acts 22:16). Paul is saying that what Jesus opened up his eyes to, is worth far more than anything he had previously attained.

“For whom. suffered the loss of all things”: “Even of esteem and friendship and enjoyment and rest and relations” (Muller p. 113). The above expression contains so much that is left unsaid by Paul. In becoming. Christian, he was accepting the fact that Jesus was the Lord and that salvation was not found in Judaism. Paul had probably lost friends, family members, wealth, prestige,. comfortable lifestyle and all the "perks" of being the pride and joy of the Jewish nation (2 Corinthians 11:22; 2 Corinthians 6:4). “And do count them but refuse”: “Think it rubbish” (Gspd). “It seems to have meant by usage either (1) ‘dung', ‘muck' both as excrement and as food gone bad, (2) ‘scraps', that is, ‘what is left after. meal', and (3) ‘refuse'” (Hawthorne p. 139). “That. may gain Christ”: “Paul has given up all other forms of ‘gain' in order that he might get the true ‘gain' which is Christ. Or in other words, were Paul to place the whole world with its wealth and power and advantages, its prestige and accolades and rewards in one scale-pan of the balance, and Christ in the other, Christ alone would overwhelming outweigh everything else in terms of real worth. Hence, from the standpoint of simple logic Paul cannot afford to gain the whole world if it means losing Christ (Mark 8:36; Matthew 16:26; Luke 9:25)” (Hawthorne p. 139).

The gaining here involves the present and future gaining of Christ, that is, “that road, from self to Christ, is. long one” (Hawthorne p. 140).