Philippians - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

WHO Philippians 3:7 avlla. a[tina h=n moi ke,rdh tau/ta h[ghmai dia. to.n Cristo.n zhmi,an
VUL Philippians 3:7 sed quae mihi fuerunt lucra haec arbitratus sum propter Christum detrimenta
LWB Philp. 3:8 Indeed, and I cannot emphasize this enough, I myself also conclude the all
things [my former human celebrityship] to be loss [a hindrance to the spiritual life]
compared to the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of [intimate fellowship with] Christ
Jesus my Lord, for Whom I have been caused to suffer the loss of all things [human status:
money, family, friends, easy living]. In fact, I myself conclude [after mature consideration,
all these things to be] piles of excrement, in order that I may gain Christ [appropriate His
spiritual life and perfections as my own],
KW Philp. 3:8 Yes, indeed, therefore, at least, even I am still setting all things down to be a loss
for the sake of that which excels all others, my knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord which I have
gained through experience, for whose sake I have been caused to forfeit all things, and I am still
counting them dung, in order that Christ I might gain,
KJV Philippians 3:8 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,
TRANSLATION HIGHLIGHTS
Paul elaborates on his rejection of his former fleshly resume with the most emphatic terms
possible. He cannot emphasize his negative evaluation of his own celebrityship enough, so he
uses some extremely graphic terms to do so. After mature consideration of the differences
between legalism and grace, he concludes (Perfective Present tense) that all his former efforts at
keeping the law and persecuting Christians to be a great loss of time and effort (Latin:
detriment). If he held them up to the world now, they would actually damage his spiritual life;
they are completely outside the domain of the protocol plan of God for the Church Age and
unworthy of the glory of knowing Christ (Latin: eminence). This should be the perspective of all
believers, and it will be for those who have arrived at spiritual self-esteem.
So is there no benefit at all in Paul’s good deeds and adherence to the demands of the law? There
is, of course, nothing wrong with doing good deeds or living according to establishment
principles that are contained in the law. But Paul is comparing his fleshly attainments to the
surpassing greatness (Descriptive Present tense) of the knowledge of Christ Jesus. In and of
themselves they are noble, but compared to divine norms and standards and his intimate
fellowship with the Lord, they pale into insignificance. The use of the passive voice means Paul
was caused to suffer the loss of all his earthly accomplishments (Ingressive Aorist tense) because
of his desire to know the Lord. Because he was obedient to divine protocol, he forfeited family,
friends, money and an easy living as a great religious Jewish leader. He was never satisfied with
what he knew about the Lord and always wanted to have deeper fellowship with Him, no matter