THE PRICE OF EXCELLENCE

"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ" (Phil 3:8).

SOME THINGS ARE "LOST" because they are taken away by someone else. Scripture calls this "the spoiling of your goods" (Heb 10:34). It is when a person is plundered or robbed, when possessions are forcefully taken from him against his will. Still others have experienced the Lord leaving them, and they did not even know it – like Samson: "And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him" (Judg 16:20).

BUT THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF LOSS to which our text refers. Here, things were "counted" or "considered" a loss. These things were actually still available to Paul, but he forfeited them in preference of something else. He lost them by choice. He chose to take hold of something else. Some people may be willing to forsake the quest for something they are not able to acquire in the first place. Paul, however, not only forsook what could be possessed, he left what was already in his hand, casting it aside because he saw something better.

THE WORD "LOSS" also carries the thought or disadvantage, of something that worsens our situation. In this text, however, Paul takes "everything" apart from Christ, regardless of its seeming value, and considers it a loss, disadvantage, and something potentially damaging. To keep such things constituted a liability. While having them, it was quite possible to lose access to the things he now preferred. He sensed that he could not hold them both in his hands, so he discarded the things that put him in jeopardy, keeping the things that brought the greater benefit.

THIS IS NOT INTENDED to be an academic definition. Rather, it is a comparison; a judgment made when "everything" is laid along side "the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." Paul had already declared this was his manner of thinking in the past: "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ" (verse 7). Now he tells us it is still the way he thinks.

IN THE WORLD, it is possible to get swept up in momentary pleasures, forgetting essential and profitable things. When we come to our senses, we regret that we were so distracted as to forget important matters – matters having to do with our eternal destiny. But this is not the situation in this text. The things counted loss were REALLY inferior and unworthy of being at the center of Paul's thinking. He was not being robbed in this forfeiture. Something better in every sense of the word had been found. In this regard, Paul was a sort of template of real Kingdom experience.

AND WHAT IS THIS BETTER THING? It is "the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." It is "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord" (KJV). This "knowledge" is not surpassing (or more excellent) in outward appearance, but in ultimate reality – reality that will survive the end of the world and the day of judgment! It is a superior knowledge and experience with which nothing can favorably compare.

HERE WE SEE A PERSON – even Paul – can be in Christ, and acknowledge Him as Lord, yet be lacking in a fuller and personal acquaintance with Him. In salvation, we do not perceive the fulness of Christ's person at the first, nor do we come into possession of the experiential fulness of the blessing He brings. All of the "spiritual blessing" (Eph 1:3) are within our reach when we are raised up and made to sit together with Christ in heavenly places (Eph 2:6). However, they are personally appropriated in the process of spiritual growth. Further, that growth involves the willing forfeiture of inferior things in favor of the superior.

REDEMPTION HAS MADE JESUS MORE ACCESSIBLE to the saved than ordinarily perceived. Far too much contemporary religion allows the individual to remain at a comfortable distance from Christ, not coming into the greatness of the knowledge and experience that is available to those who are "new creatures.

"THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST JESUS" is not academic knowledge or erudition. Such knowledge is of the earth, and does not satiate, or satisfy, the soul or gladden the heart. This is the fellowship with Christ, into which we have been called (1 Cor 1:9). It speaks of a relationship where Christ "manifests" Himself to the individual (John 14:21). It is where the person actually "learns" from Christ (Matt 11:29) and is "taught by Him" (Eph 4:21). These are Scriptural expressions that should produce no questions among those who wear His name.

THERE IS A SATISFACTION in this knowledge that brings great peace, joy, and stability to the soul. It equips the person to live triumphantly in this world, serving the Lord with gladness and singleness of heart. This knowledge is, in fact, nothing less than "eternal life" (John 17:3; 1 John 5:20). It is confirmed to be the superior knowledge by experience alone. The heart can be satisfied with nothing less. This is the knowledge referenced in Ephesians 3:19: "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." It is the experience of Christ's love, care, tutelage, and protection.

– Given O. Blakely