Paul is taking things up a notch in this verse.
- Not only are his assets liabilities when put side by side with Christ,
- Not only are what he taught advantages actually disadvantages when it comes to Christ,
- Not only are what he regarded as helpful, actually a weight on him,
- Not only are the things he puts his trust in offer only empty promises,
He actually wants to put distance between himself and those things.
- He does not just regard them as unhelpful but actually harmful,
- And not just bad in a general neutral sense, but bad in a smelly sense, and that fuels his pursuit of Christ in the opposite direction of what they represent.
Now he is the apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13) because of Christ, in whom Jews and Gentiles are one. That idea, before then, would have been noxious to him.
That was something he would not have been able to countenance before, but now it is what he embraces wholeheartedly because whatever his past represents is now a foul smell and a bad look for him, and he runs in the opposite direction.
Before, he recognized the partition between Jews and Gentiles; now, he actively worked against anything of the sort.
When Peter was muddying up the water of truth, refusing to eat with Gentiles when some people from Jerusalem came around, Paul, regarding whatever he stood and fought for in his Jewish life as dung, rebuked him publicly (Galatians 2:11-14).
That was a test for Paul, as much as anything else, whether he would speak out in defense of truth . It was a test of his own conviction and commitment.
And a test does not automatically mean God is doubting you; but the proof of your genuineness (James 1:2-4, 12) needs to be displayed to principalities and powers, just as Job's temptation.
The question was: Was Paul paying lip service to truth, or can he pay a price for it, even the cost of being seen as opposing the famous apostle Peter?
Christ and his truth meant more to Paul than being in Peter's good book. He was fearless.
- While before he was a persecutor of the church, now he worries about the church's flourishing and fights against the pollution of truth.
- Before, he was a blasphemer (that is, clearly something dung-like); now he uses every opportunity he has to praise Jesus, and the persecutor has become the persecuted, willing to take the pain he inflicted on others.
- While before he aligned himself with the social religious powers of the day to harm the church and suppress it, now he spent his life teaching people to be like Christ in gentleness and humility, contemplating the ultimate humility displaced on the cross, and that blessed are the persecuted because they're is the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:10).
There is the liability of his human credentials, and there is the greater value of knowing Christ Jesus, his Lord. And to really drive that home, so that you don't think he now has a neutral stance to those human credentials, he regarded them as dung.
He wants you to feel what he feels, not just intellectually grasp what he is saying, hence the choice of that word - dung, meaning he disavows them, and that word itself (disavow) is not strong enough.
Now he said he has suffered the loss of all things. That is a fantastic thing to say, because what some people would tell you is that if you come to Jesus, you will gain all manner of things in this world. But no.
Paul said he suffered the loss of not just some things, but all things, just as Jesus said that we need to carry our cross and follow him (Mark 8:34). And the loss is not regarded by Paul as loss in the ultimate sense, because on the other side of that loss is "far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus," and "gaining Christ."
He is telling us that it is not just about the correct information, but a life transformation. And he did not show you anything he has to gain for being a Christian in the natural realm, to display a sharp focus on the spiritual side of things.
Remember, he said he suffered the loss of all things. But he did not regard them as a loss, but as the removal of feces. He feels he's better off now than before those losses. Why? Christ! May we gain such spiritual perspective in Jesus' name?
But people looking at Paul may want to pity him. But he regards them as people to be pitied because they have not gained Christ, they have not known Christ Jesus as Lord.
He is not just Christ, he is also Jesus, he is not just Jesus, but also Lord.
- "Christ" links back to the promises of the Old Testament, the embodiment of Jewish hope and God's promises, and the renewal and restart of man's relationship with the divine.
- "Jesus" points to the invalidation of the whole sacrificial system for gaining favor with God.
- "Lord" points to the future, when Christ has total domination in the eyes of all and in all realms, and also reward for his servants.
What else is not covered? Nothing. Paul found Christ attractive and for good reasons, and every other thing not only pales, but is actually ugly and smells bad and even germ-infected when compared to Him.
He flees everything else to gain Christ and encourages/commands others to do so. What about you?
From Addiction to Freedom by Favour Oyinloye
