In movies, in literature, in life, we hear people at the height of crisis say things like, “But I have always tried to do what is right” or “I have been a good person” or “I didn’t hurt people.” They don’t, in their eyes, deserve what they are getting.
The Jewish people had similar sentiments in regards to their laws and customs. And Paul responds to them.
Philippians 3:4-6
If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
As most of us who are familiar with this verse know, Paul doesn’t stop there with his boasting. He continues in verses 7 and 8 to explain that whatever was to his gain in his flesh is of no ultimate worth. It is unreliable.
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
We are not the first ones to assess the things our culture views as noble and elevate them beyond their appointed place. To do those things and pat ourselves on the back. Even become angry when we do not receive what we feel we deserve thanks to those things.
Like most of us know, and Paul reminds, those things which, in our minds, may lift us above those around us, are really of little worth at all—especially in the harsh light of Christ and the free grace that he offers to each of us, if we would only stop relying on those things.
