To me, to live is Christ.
—Philippians 1:21
Living a good life. Attending church. Knowing the right doctrines. All are important, but do they capture what Paul meant when he wrote, “To me, to live is Christ”?
In Philippians 3, Paul draws up his profit-and-loss account.
In one column, he lists the things that make up his résumé (vv. 4–6):
- Ancestry
- Parentage
- Education
- Hebrew culture
- Religious zeal
- Legalistic righteousness
In the other column, he writes one word:
- Christ
Paul would have justifiable bragging rights based on the first list.
But according to his calculation, “Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss . . . I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ . . . not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ” (vv. 7–9).
Take the world,
but give me Jesus.