In this post, I want to correct something that Paul said…but is mistranslated and misunderstood…because most people believe what he did not say. Let me explain…

“…I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The words “I want to know Christ”  are not in the text. They are translated to express a desire in verse 10 which the text does not mean… whereas the Greek word “hina”, which follows “faith” at the end of verse 8, and includes verse 10, meaning ”in order that I may know Christ”, expresses the purpose of faith rather than the desire to know Christ.  Again, let me explain. 

“The word hina (ἵνα) does not actually appear in Philippians 3:10; instead, it is found right before it in Philippians 3:8, where it means “so that” or “in order that” to express purpose. 

(Note: If you are looking at verse 10 itself, the Greek text uses a different grammatical form—an articular infinitive, tou gnonai (τοῦ γνῶναι), which also continues that same statement of purpose: “to know him”.) (Google AI)

Paul was not expressing a desire to know Christ. He was stating the purpose of his faith, ie, to know Christ, which followed the righteousness that came by faith. 

Do you get the point? Paul was not saying that he longed to know Jesus…ie., something he was not sure about. He was declaring a fact…that the righteousness he had received by faith had led to his knowing Jesus and participating in His suffering and death as a way to arrive at resurrection from the dead. 

Eugene Peterson, in his rendering of this passage in “The Message” paraphrase, captured this thought in a roundabout way…

“I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Now, let’s gather our thoughts from Paul’s testimony. 

Paul had learned, through his dramatic encounter with Jesus, that all his credentials, including his birth, his lineage, his training, and his zeal for keeping the law of Moses, amounted to exactly nothing in God’s sight. He had to abandon everything he had counted on for acceptance with God, and receive the gift of Christ’s righteousness by faith. 

The outcome was a new life…lived in union with and by faith in Jesus. This life was going somewhere…towards the resurrection of his body if he stayed on course. His union with Jesus by faith would include suffering with Jesus, relying on His power to overcome sin, right through to the day when his body would rise again, exactly like the body of Jesus. 

This corrected understanding of what Paul meant gives us hope that, if we focus on what Paul had in mind, and kept in view, we can also anticipate the completion of our salvation…the resurrection of our bodies…just as Paul did. 

To be continued