Philippians 3:4-6 NLT
[4] “… I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! [5] I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. [6] I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.”

What Paul thought and what was the truth were poles apart. Until the moment that he met Jesus, he thought he was okay. He was doing well. He had every reason, so he decided, to be confident in his efforts to find favour with God. How deceived he was!

Paul had the right parents. He was born into the right family. His parents did the right thing to make him a part of God’s covenant with the Jews…took him to the rabbi to be circumcised on the eighth day…spot on! Tick that box!

Paul was born into the right tribe…Benjamin, one of Rachel’s sons, Jacob’s favourite wife. He was a descendant of a beloved and privileged group. There’s no question about his ancestry. Tick box number two!

Paul had the right career…a Pharisee, and an over-zealous one at that. He did his best, worked his hardest, outdid his peers in obedience to the law. He ticked every box in his effort to please God. Surely, he must be at the head of the queue when it comes to God’s approval.

To crown it all,  Paul thought he had the right attitude. He did everything he could to protect God’s commandment, “No other gods…” by trying to exterminate all the blasphemers who followed the Jesus who said He was God! This topped the list of his achievements!

Paul’s confidence in his flawless life was unshakeable until he came face-to-face with one he was up against. Suddenly, his pack of cards collapsed around him. His standard of judgment, himself, the measure he used to test himself, his achievements, didn’t work. Everything he hid behind fell apart and the real Paul was exposed, naked, defenseless. He had nothing to cover his pride…the thing Jesus hated most and the one thing of which he, Paul, was most guilty. His outside looked okay until his inside was exposed.

Paul had no option but to surrender. Since all his defenses were gone, he collapsed at Jesus feet, busted and finished, to bow to Jesus as Lord…and bow he did!

From that moment on, Paul took all the lies he had ever believed with such pride, and tossed them onto the garbage heap, his “righteousness… filthy rags, his” obedience”…dung, his “good works”…rotten, stinky self-effort, his pride…the stench of his very being. For the first time, he was honest with himself. He saw it all clearly, a package of lies he to which he had entrusted his eternal destiny.

Philippians 3:7 NLT
[7] “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.”

What did Paul see in that moment of revelation? Did he see, in the Spirit, a torn and bloodied figure hanging on a Roman cross? Did he have a flashback of a smashed and broken man, surrounded by an angry mob hurling stones at him? Did he hear him whisper with his final breath, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them”? Did he feel the pain of those he dragged back to Jerusalem to be tried and condemned for following the humble Nazarene?

Something inside turned him the right way up. At last, he knew the truth, deep in his soul. Jesus is Lord! From that moment, he bowed to a new Master. For the first time, he saw all the lies he ever believed, all the false ideas he tenaciously followed, all the  hypocrisy he had hidden behind, for what they were…the GREAT DECEPTION. He had fallen headlong into the devil’s trap.

All his life, he had been feeding and nuturing his pride. Self, with all its ugly tentacles, had captured his heart…self-worth, self-esteem, self satisfaction, self-effort, self-will…and all the other sins of selfishness, had turned him into a helpless slave to himself… until he met Jesus.

In the matchless words of Charles Wesley, Paul could sing…

1. And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me?

2. ‘Tis mystery all! Th’Immortal dies!
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine!
‘Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

3. He left His Father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race;
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.

4. Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth and followed Thee.

5. No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
(Author: Charles Wesley (1738)
https://hymnary.org)

Paul came alive, a new man!