In Philippians 3, Paul wrote to warn Christians that they will have to confront false teachers. These individuals would teach the Gentile Christians that they must be circumcised to be Christians. They also probably taught that some of the other rules and regulations from the Old Testament needed to be followed. Paul told Christians that such teaching is wrong.
Paul told them that no one was more Jewish than he was. In verse 5, he itemized things to prove without a shadow of a doubt that he knew exactly what it meant to be a Jew under the Old Law. He was not an Ishmaelite; he was circumcised as an infant. He was not a Hellenized Jew; he spoke Hebrew. He was not just from any tribe, but from Benjamin—the same tribe as Saul, Mordecai and some other famous individuals. He had been one of the 6,000 or fewer Pharisees whose whole intent was to keep all Jewish laws and regulations. He had been so devout that he formerly persecuted Christians.
In verse 7, Paul said, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” He had given up all of those prestigious things about his life for his new life in Christ. He no longer thought they were important or binding. The word “gain” is actually in the plural in the Greek. The word “loss” is singular. This gives an even more impressive picture of what Paul said. He considered each prestigious item as an important gain in his life. Each thing was something that he felt great privilege in having. Each thing was something that others would look upon as important. Yet, when Paul became a Christian, he did not look at each item and decide to give it up. He did not hesitate more on one thing than he did on another. He grouped all the ‘gains’ into a singular “loss.”
By stating it as plural gains but a singular loss, Paul was telling the Philippians that the gain of blessings in Christ made all of those things under the Old Law look like almost nothing. When added together, they came to no more than one thing when compared to life in Christ.
Study your Bible. Learn all you can about the wonderful life in Christ. If any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.
