More from Philippians!

Philippians, chapter three, gives me the clearest identity of who the Apostle Paul is, and the value that we should place on the meaning of knowing Jesus. The early believers of Christ did not accept, nor recognize Paul’s authority as a leader in the Church. Remember that the Apostle was a very dedicated and zealous Pharisee, and in his enthusiasm he persecuted the converted Christians, he thought they were abandoning the faith of their fathers, and he went around rounding them up for execution. When he met Jesus on the road to Damascus his dedication to the faith remained the same, but his new realization of Jesus opened his blind eyes spiritually and physically as well.

The conversion of Paul has to be the most dramatic and most effective in the history of the Christian Church. He went from a persecutor of the faithful to a persecuted believer. After his conversion, without hesitation, he used everything he had learned for the benefit of spreading the Gospel. I can tell that Paul was a very learned individual in all that pertains to religion and godliness. He graduated from the Harvard and Princeton of his day. He learned from Gamaliel, the best teacher there was in Palestine! Paul stated, “But what things were gain to me, I count as loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (verse 7,8).

The Apostle is saying all his learning, his influence, and authority are trash compared to serving Jesus. Not only did he say it, but he lived it every day of his Christian life. Remember that he served The Lord well to the end; he was beheaded in Rome for his faith. Here is what he said, “For now I am ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2Timothy 2:6,7). This is Paul, clear in his faith and belief in Jesus, unwavering to the end. What an example he sets for us. I can say that millions and millions of followers of Jesus have come to know Jesus and have been saved as a result of The Apostle Paul’s writings and witness. He alone could tell us to follow his example as he followed the Lord’s example.

I will continue this chapter in the next post. God bless you as you begin to value your salvation. It is the apex for any human being in every respect. Thank Christ for His work on the cross to save us, Amen.