“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. 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.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Something happened to Paul that made him do an about-turn. He was forced to retrace his steps…to make a 180 degree turn in his thinking, believing, and doing. What happened?

In his mad march to Damascus…to do another clean-up job of rounding up the “traitors”…these Jesus freaks…and take them back to Jerusalem for processing, Paul met someone who shocked him right off his horse…onto the ground…with his face in the dirt. That “someone” knew his name…knew where he was going…and knew what he was planning to do. That would be enough to shock anyone!

“As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!”

‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭9‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The voice from the light did one simple thing…He took control…and gave one simple instruction…”Do why I tell you!” That was all! But, in those few seconds it took to speak to Paul, Paul’s life changed forever. 

All the hard work Paul has done, from when he could first remember, to score points with God, was gone. It had all collapsed into nothing. It had evaporated like the hot air inside him. He was empty, deflated, and ready for a new assignment. He asked one simple question…

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.”

…and got one simple answer, but with a voice full of knowledge and authority…

“And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!”

‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭9‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT

…and that was all Paul needed to set him on a new course. 

“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭9‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Now let’s go back to our text. 

Paul’s encounter with Jesus transformed his perspective. 

From thinking that acceptance with God was all up to him, to letting go of every last privilege,  advantage, and effort…and, most of all, killing the pride that drove his self-righteousness…Paul was undone. He lay before Jesus Christ…the one he had scorned as a fake and an imposter…face down…in the dirt…before Him. 

Then Paul stood up, blind, but changed. Not only did he open his hands and let go of everything he had trusted in, he also dumped his own righteousness into the trash can as worthless and an insult to God. 

“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Everything he had counted on as his passport to the Father lay in tatters. He could use nothing he had achieved in his entire life to impress God. 

The one who demanded spotless and flawless perfection as the way to reconciliation, now offered him what He demanded…as a gift. 

What Jesus required of…then Saul, now Paul…, perfect righteousness… He  had earned Himself by His perfect life…as a man… and then freely gave it away. All Paul needed to stand before God, whole and perfectly holy, was to believe in the one who offered him the gift…to receive the gift of righteousness, and to relinquish all rights to himself. 

That’s it? That’s it! Not working? Yes! Not working…just resting in the one who did all the work. There would still be work to do…not to impress God…but to work with Him. What would that work look like? It would be real work to stay dead to the self that keeps demanding its own way…and to humbly submit to his new owner…the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Paul discovered…and so must we…. That God’s work is to recreate us into His image…the image He gave Adam before Adam sinned. We inherited from Adam his spoiled image which is rebellion and enmity against God. Our “work” is to believe in Him and to work with Him to restore His image by resting in what He has done for us. 

To be continued

Philippians 3:7-9 NLT
[7] “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. [8] Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ [9] and become one with him. 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.”

In Paul’s great “light bulb moment”, he made the exchange, Jesus for himself, grace for self-effort, surrender for pride, Christ’s righteousness for his “filthy rags”. He saw his heart for what it was, “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.”

Paul’s “old self” died, and a new man rose through the power of God’s Spirit, a new creation, to a new life. Jesus Himself confirmed Paul’s transformation in unusual words to Ananias…

Acts 9:11 NIV
[11] “The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for HE IS PRAYING”.

Praying? Yes, for the first time in his  life, Paul was really praying.

Do you remember Jesus’ story about the Pharisee and the tax collector?

Luke 18:9-14 NIV
[9] “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: [10] “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. [11] The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. [12] I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ [13]  “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ [14]  “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Jesus could have been telling Paul’s story.

What kept Paul so steadfastly on  track with his new life? Was it that moment when the whole sand castle of his life crumbled around him? He saw Jesus! Never would he forget the instant when the True Light pierced his darkness. Every word he preached thereafter, every thought he write, hinged on that second when Jesus crashed into his life and took over.

Faith! That was the key. Not faith itself but faith in the authentic the real, the true. His faith had been firmly embedded in what he could do, what he had achieved, what he thought was the real thing. Jesus showed him that his misplaced faith was leading him to destruction. Faith wasn’t the problem. The object of his faith was his error. He believed in himself…and he was not authentic. He was as fickle as the wind.

Paul’s great discovery…Jesus, the only real, true-blue object of faith, took him in the opposite direction. From that moment, Paul engaged in a lifelong partnership of faith in a faithful Saviour. Everything in his life flowed from faith in that union. What Jesus said about Himself and Paul was true, and he believed it!

Paul was saved by faith, made righteous by faith, reconciled to the Father by faith, knew Jesus by faith, walked in the Word by faith, suffered with Jesus by faith, anticipated glory by faith…by faith…by faith alone.

Romans 5:1-2 NIV
[1] “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, [2] through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.”

No more going it alone for Paul! No more self-effort. Paul had been “born again”. He had become like a little child, no longer dependant on himself but on the Father through Jesus, the Son.

What dominated his life? Let him tell it in his own words…

Galatians 2:19-20 NIV
[19] “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. [20] I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

That’s it! Implicit, childlike, unwavering trust in the trustworthiness of the Son of God…all solidly based on a broken figure on a Roman cross and an empty tomb, the most timelessly true fact of human history.

Let this old hymn tell the story.

1. In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.

2. When the woes of life o’ertake me,
Hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me.
Lo! it glows with peace and joy.

3. When the sun of bliss is beaming
Light and love upon my way,
From the cross the radiance streaming
Adds more luster to the day.

4. Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure,
By the cross are sanctified;
Peace is there that knows no measure,
Joys that through all time abide.

5. In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.

(Author: John Bowring b.1792
https://hymnary.org)