Jesus was worth the loss of all things

JESUS WAS WORTH THE LOSS OF ALL THINGS
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Philippians3:7-8 7But whatever were gains to me I
now considerloss for the sake of Christ. 8Whatis
more, I considereverything a loss because of the
surpassingworth of knowing ChristJesus my LORD,
for whose sake I have lost all things. I considerthem
garbage, that I may gain Christ
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
All Loss ForChrist Is Gain
Philippians 3:7, 8
V. Hutton
No one of the early Christians was favoredwith richer religious endowments
or with higher rank than those enjoyed by St. Paul, and no one was calledto
make more heavy socialand ecclesiasticalsacrifices in entering the Church.
Yet the apostle regardedhis former wealth of privileges as so much loss
because it was a hindrance to his receiving true wealth in Christ, and the
winning of Christ as not simply a balance of profit, but as wholly a gain; so
that, though in the eyes of the world he had made an astounding sacrifice, in

his ownestimation he had made no sacrifice atall, but had gota pure and
simple advantage from the exchange.
I. RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES MAY BECOME RELIGIOUS
HINDRANCES. In their origin and primary purpose, of course, they could
not be so, or they would never be privileges. But changing circumstances and
abuse of them may make them of more harm than good. A pure Jewishbirth,
Pharisaism, and the Law were once all good. But in St. Paul's day and in
relation to Christianity they became positively injurious. So now a man's
position and educationin religion may be convertedinto a hindrance to his
real Christian life.
1. We may be satisfiedwith these privileges and so not care to go on to the
higher blessings. The self-complacentPharisee does notask for and therefore
misses the grace which the penitent publican seeksandtherefore finds. The
religious possessionsofthe former result in his poverty, the poverty of the
latter in his wealth.
2. We may be prejudiced by the nature of these privileges or by our
experience of them. An imperfect religion is in itself better than no religion,
but it becomes worsewhenit prejudices us againsta higher faith.
II. THE GREATEST RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES ARE OF NO USE
WITHOUT CHRIST. St. Paul courts them as "but dung." To be born of
Christian parents, to be educatedin Christian truths, to be associatedin
Christian fellowship, and to be zealous in Christian work, - all these things
will count as nothing for our soul's profit if we do not know, trust, love, and
follow Christ. It is true that they who have not an opportunity of knowing
Christ may be benefited by other religious aids. But when Christ is accessible
a higher standard is setbefore us, and to live in the beggarly elements is worse
than foolish - it is fatal.

III. WE MAY HAVE TO MAKE GREAT SACRIFICES IN ORDER TO
RECEIVE CHRIST. We may have to give up worldly position, pleasantsocial
connections, etc. We shall have to renounce all our Pharisaic righteousness.
That structure which we have been building with so much care and admiring
so devoutly must be razed to the ground. Let us count the cost.
IV. TO GAIN CHRIST IS SO PROFITABLE THAT THE LOSS OF ALL
THINGS ELSE COUNTS AS NOTHING IN COMPARISON. Itis not simply
that the scale dips. It is that the weighton the other side is not felt; nay, that
the value of the things given up is convertedinto its opposite, because they
hindered the receptionof Christ. In the great equation, all earthly things that
stayed us from seeking Christ are lumped togetherand a minus sign affixed to
the whole. If we have truly won Christ at the greatestcostwe are conscious of
no sacrifice. It is all infinite gain. - W.F.A.
What things were gain to me those I countedloss for Christ
Philippians 3:7-9
The Christian's accounts
DeanVaughan.
The Christian keeps an accurate accountbook. He reckons up with an
enlightened judgment his gains and losses.And most important is it that he
should: for the question of questions is, What is gain to me and what is loss?
I. The ANSWER GIVEN BY THE WORLD. Examine the accounts of nine-
tenths and you will find —

1. Health and money enteredas cleargains, comfort, ease, tranquillity,
prosperity, carried to the side of profit.
2. Sickness, disappointment, contractionof the means of pleasure, decayof
trade, sorrow, bereavement, enteredas unmixed loss.
3. And when we come to matters bearing on the interest of the soul we find
that the natural heart has entered on the side of eternal gain, goodcharacter,
punctuality of attendance at Christian ordinances, a consciencesilentas to
definite injuries againstneighbours. And gain it is in a sense, for it is better to
have a goodconsciencethan a bad one, to be moral than immoral. St. Paul
says no word about morality being a loss, or that he would have valued Christ
more had he been a greatersinner.
II. THE CHRISTIAN'S ANSWER. ForChrist's sake Paulnow accounts as
loss all that he had once accountedgain. He was an Israelite of direct descent.
Would he have been a better man had he been born a Gentile and an idolater?
He had been blameless in his observance of the ceremonial, and, as he
understood it, of the moral law — does he regret that he had not habitually
broken it? None of these things. The loss was that he had trusted in these
things, and lookedto them for salvation. He thought that Godmust be
satisfiedwith so unexceptionable a genealogy, so diligent a worshipper.
2. In this point of view many of us need instruction and warning. What are we
trusting in?(1) Some of us are putting off the question altogetherand saying,
"I will live while I can and die when I must; I will not torment myself before
the time — many years hence I hope."(2)But this childish and suicidal
infatuation is not in all of us. There are those who have religion. What is it? Is
it more than a moral life, a Sunday worship, a trusting in God's mercy? But
where is Christ in all this? What know you of the thought, "What things were

gain to me," etc? What of your own are you discarding in order to restin
Christ alone? Where are your transfers from one side of your reckoning to the
other because ofChrist? And many of us die in the strength of a gospelwhich
has no Christ in it; no demolition of self, either of self-confidence or seeking,
and no exaltation of Christ on the ruins of self, either as Saviour or Lord. We
are at best what St. Paul was before his conversion — alas, without his good
conscienceorscrupulous obedience.
(DeanVaughan.)
A business-like account
C. H. Spurgeon.
Our Saviour's advice to those who wished to be His servants was to count the
cost. He did not wish to enlist any one by keeping him in ignorance of the
requirements of His service. The exercise of our judgments in the gospelis
required. Do not imagine that religion consists in wild fanaticismwhich never
considers. The apostle here gives us the word "count" three times over. He
was skilledin spiritual arithmetic and very careful in his reckoning. He seems
here to be in a mercantile frame of mind, adding and subtracting and
balancing.
I. THE APOSTLE'S CALCULATIONS.
1. His counting at the outset of his Christian life "What things were gain,"
etc.(1)He dwelt on the severalitems, noting eachwith greatdistinctness. The
list reads like a catalogue. His Jewishadvantages had been as precious pearls
to him once.(2)What is there per contra. Nothing on the other side but one
item; but that one outweighedthe many. That one was not Christianity, the
Church, or the orthodox faith, but Christ.(3) Not only after putting the one
under the other and making a subtraction did he find that his earthly
advantages were less than Christ; he found these gains transformed into a

loss. There was not a plus on that side to stand in proportion to a plus on this;
they were turned into a minus of actualdeficit. Notthat he meant that to be a
"Hebrew of the Hebrews," etc., was in itself a loss — the advantage was
"much every way;" but he meant that with respectto Christ those things
became a disadvantage, becausetheir tendency had been to keephim from
trusting Christ. It is a grand thing to have led a virtuous life; but this blessing
may, by our own folly, become a curse, if we place it in opposition to the
righteousness ofChrist, and dream that we have no need of a Saviour.
2. His estimate for the time then present. We are always anxious to hear what
a man has to sayabout a thing after he has tried it. After twenty years of
experience Paul had an opportunity of revising his balance sheet;and makes
the strong affirmation — "Yea, doubtless I count," etc. He has made the
original summary even more comprehensive, but he stands to the same
estimate and uses not barely the word "Christ," but the fuller expression,
"the excellencyof the knowledge,"etc. Now he has come to know the Christ in
whom before he had trusted. Christ is better loved as he is better known.(1)
The words show the points upon which he had fullest knowledge.He knew the
Lord as —
(a)Christ, the Messiahanointed and sentof the Father.
(b)Jesus, the anointed and actual Saviour.
(c)My Lord. His was an appropriating knowledge.(2)The text implies that he
knew Christ by faith. He believed, and hence he knew.(3)He knew Him by
experience, "and the power of His resurrection." This is excellentknowledge
when the powerof a fact is realized within and shownin the life.(4) More than
that Paul aimed to know more by a growing likeness to Him.(5) There is no
knowledge in this world comparable to this, for it concerns the highest

conceivable object, and no man hath it but by the Holy Ghost.(6)If you would
see its excellencylook at its effects — it makes us humble, delivers us from the
powerof sin, elevates the motives, sweetensthe feelings, gives nobility to the
life, and will continue to progress whenevery other knowledge is laid aside.
3. His third counting may be regardedas his life estimate. "Forwhom I
have," etc. Here his estimate sets out with actual testand practicalproof. He
is a prisoner, with nothing in the world; he has lost caste, has no longerhis
own righteousness:Christ is his all and nothing else. Does he regretthe loss of
all things? No, he counts it an actualdeliverance to have lost them.(1) In his
first and secondcountings these things were "loss," now they are "dung."(2)
In his secondestimate he spoke of"knowing" Christ, but now he speaks of
"winning" Him, or rather "gaining," for he keeps to the mercantile figure all
through.(3) Further, his aim is to be "found in Him," as a bird in the air, a
fish in the sea, a member in the body — as a fugitive shelters himself in his
hiding place;so in Christ as never to come out of Him, so that whenever any
one looks forhim he may find him in Jesus.(4)Notice how Paulkeeps to what
he began with, viz., his unrobing himself of his boastings in the flesh, and his
arraying himself with Christ — "not having mine own righteousness,"etc.
II. OUR OWN CALCULATIONS.
1. Do we join in Paul's earlier estimate. You will never be savedtill you lose all
your legalhopes.
2. After many years of professiondo you still continue in the same mind and
make the same estimate? Notif you have settleddown on something other
than Christ.

3. You cannotjoin Paul in the lastcalculation — "I have suffered the loss of
all things," but do you think you could have done so if required for Christ's
sake? Yourfore. fathers did so.
4. Seeing Godhas left you your worldly comforts have you used all things for
His sake.
5. If Christ be to you so that all things are dung and dross in comparison, do
you not want Him for your children, your friends, etc. What a man values for
himself he values for others.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ is true gain
J. Lyth, D. D.
Earthly good—
I.BRINGS NO PEACE, Christ does.
II.CAN GIVE NO SATISFACTION, Christcan.
III.LOSES ITS POWER TO GRATIFY, Christ never.
IV.IS ATTENDED WITHCARE AND TROUBLE. Christ is full of
consolation.

V.AT BEST OF THE EARTH EARTHLY. Christ opens heaven.
VI.HAS ITS LIMIT. In Christ all fulness dwells.
VII.MUST HAVE ITS PERIOD. Christlives forever.
(J. Lyth, D. D.)
Life for Christ
J. Vaughan, M. A.
The life which we owe to Christ and hold in Christ we are bound by the
strongestclaims to use for Christ. Life is a thing to be used. And if you admit
that it was once forfeited, but that Christ has bought it back for you by His
death, and that you keepit only by your connectionwith Him, then you hold it
on false pretences if you use it in any other way but for Him. There are two
ways in which "life for Christ" may be understood.(1) In order to obtain Him
— "that I may win Christ," i.e., finally enjoy Him; or(2) as the Masterputs it,
"for My sake." We take it in the latter sense. A man may live a very goodlife
— he may have a natural tendency towards it, or a conscientious feeling may
lead him to it; but all the while he may fall short of this — that it is not for
Christ. The motive is diluted by worldly motives and is very feeble, while God
measures everything by the loving standard of the one motive — was it for
Christ? This life for Christ —
I. MUST NOT BE AN UNCERTAIN THING. Takenup and laid down at
pleasure, by fits and starts, remembered and forgotten, but must be the result
of deep conviction. To this end —

1. Consecrate your life to Christ in the most express and solemn way you can,
on your knees. Lay the sacrifice upon the altar. Invest it with the sacrednessof
an irrevocable pledge.
2. Renew that act of self-dedicationat not very long intervals.
3. Write it on everything you have and are, body, soul, time, talents, business,
family, etc.
II. MUST ENTER INTO YOUR TRIALS. When you are in bodily or mental
distress, and when you are going through the discipline of bitter daily friction,
think thus — "I will sanctifyand ennoble this suffering by bearing it for
Christ." He bore much more for me, and these are the "marks of the Lord
Jesus" now laid upon me.
III. MUST EATER INTO YOUR HAPPINESS. Christ is happy in your
happiness and for His sake youmust be happy: and your happiness must not
fail to make others happy.
IV. MUST BE A LIFE OF MINISTRY.
1. In defence of Christ.
2. In the extensionof His cause.
3. In having some positive work to do for Him.

(J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The importance of spiritual accounts
J. Hutchison, D. D.
Turning to the mercantile figure we are reminded of the paramount
importance of having the record books of our inner life rightly kept. The great
German satirist, Heinrich Heine, has scornfully depicted the mere worldling
thus: "Business men have the same religion throughout the whole world. They
find in their office their church, in their desk their prayer cushion, in their
ledgertheir Bible. The warehouse is their inner sanctuary; the exchange bell
is their summons to prayer; their God is their gold; their faith is their credit."
The apostle was never so low in the scale as these words represent justly the
mere worldling to be. He was, even as Saul the persecutor, of a very different
and a far higher type. None the less these scathing words describe too closely
the characterand conduct of countless thousands, who all the time are not
ashamedand not afraid to bear the name of Christian. But in contrastto such
a picture we have the new man, renewedin heart and life; he, too, has his all-
engrossing concerns. He, too, has his books, recording the transactions which
take place in his inmost soul. He keeps them rightly. No false entries are seen
there. The things of the world, whatevertheir value in themselves may be, are,
as related to the soul's interests, entered as loss. The things of the kingdom
alone appear as gain. True wealth — that which alone can claim the name of
sub stance — is summed up in righteousness:life in Christ Jesus — life which
in Him is everlasting.
(J. Hutchison, D. D.)
The gain of loss
L'Estrange.

He who loses anything and gets wisdom by it is a gainerby the toss.
(L'Estrange.)
Loss for gain
C. H. Spurgeon.
When the captain leaves the harbour he has a cargo onboard of which he
takes greatcare, but when a tremendous wind is blowing and the ship labours,
being too heavily laden, and there is greatfearthat she will not outride the
storm, see how eagerlythe sailors lighten the ship. They bring up from the
hold with all diligence the very things which before they prized, and they seem
rejoicedto heave them into the sea. Nevermen more eagerto get than these
are to throw away. There go the casks offlour, the bars of iron, the
manufactured goods:overboard go valuable bales of merchandise;nothing
seems to be worth keeping. How is this? Are not these things good? Yes, but
nor goodto a sinking ship. Anything must go to save life, anything to outride
the storm. And so the apostle says that in order to win Christ and to be found
in Him he flung the whole cargo ofhis beloved confidences over, and was as
glad to get rid of them as if they were only dung. This he did to win Christ,
and that factsuggests anotherpicture: an English warship of the olden times
is cruising the ocean, andshe spies a Spanish galleonin the distance laden
with gold from the Indies. Captain and men are determined to overtake and
capture her, for they have a relish for prize money; but their vesselsails
heavily. What then? If she will not move because ofher load they fling into the
sea everything they can lay their hands on, knowing that if they can capture
the Spanish vesselthe booty will make amends for all they lose and vastly
more. Do you wonder at their eagernessto lose the little to gain the great?
Sailor, why castoverboardthose useful things? "Oh," says he, "they are
nothing comparedwith that prize over yonder. If we can but getside by side
and board her we will soonmake up for all that we now throw into the sea."
And so it is with the man who is in earnestto win Christ and to be found in
Him. Overboardgo circumcisionand Phariseeism, and the blamelessness
touching the law, and all that, for he knows that he will find a better

righteousness in Christ than any which he foregoes, yea, find everything in
Christ which he now, for his Lord's sake, counts but as the slag of the furnace.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Self-renunciation for Christ not to be regretted
J. F. B. Tinling., Sunday at Home.
The poet George Herbertwas so highly connected, and in such favour at
court, that at one time a secretaryshipof state seemedto him not unattainable.
But he gave up all such prospects for the work of a humble clergyman, and in
looking back upon the time he made his choice, he could say, "I think myself
more happy than if I had attained what then I had so ambitiously thirsted for.
And I can now behold the court with an impartial eye, and see plainly that it is
made up of frauds and bitters, and flattery, and many other such empty
imaginary and painted pleasures — pleasures which are so empty as not to
satisfy when they are enjoyed. But in God and His service is a fulness of all joy
and pleasure and no satiety."
(J. F. B. Tinling.)Raymond Lully, or Lullius, to whom the Arabic
professorshipat Oxford owes its origin, was the first Christian missionaryto
the Moslems. WhenshipwreckednearPisa, after many years of missionary
labour, though upwards of seventy, his ardour was unabated. "Once," he
wrote, "I was fairly rich; once I had a wife and children; once I tastedfreely
of the pleasures ofthis life. But all these things I gladly resigned that I might
spread abroada knowledge ofthe truth. I studied Arabic, and severaltimes
went forth to preach the gospelto the Saracens. I have been in prison, I have
been scourged, foryears I have striven to persuade the princes of
Christendom to befriend the common cause of converting the Mohammedans.
Now, though old and poor, I do not despair; I am ready, if it be God's will, to
persevere unto death." And he did so, being stonedto death at Bergia, in
Africa, in 1314, aftergathering a little flock of converts.

(Sunday at Home.)
Worldly honour consecratedto Christ
J. F. B. Tinling.
T.A. Ragland, an eminent mathematician, and a devotedChristian, gainedthe
silver cup at Corpus Christi College,Cambridge, four years in succession.
One of these was dedicatedto God for the communion service of a small
native Church, mainly gatheredby him in Southern India, and all were set
apart for the same purpose in connectionwith his itinerating missionary
service.
(J. F. B. Tinling.)
Diverse estimates ofPaul's sacrifices
J. Trapp.
Porphyry, the philosopher, said that it was a pity that such a man as Paul was
thrown awayupon our religion. And the monarch of Morocco toldthe English
ambassadorin King John's time that he had lately read Paul's Epistles, which
he liked so well that were he now to choose his religion, he would before any
other embrace Christianity. "But every one ought," saidhe, "to die in his own
religion";and the leaving of the faith in which he was born was the only thing
he disliked in that apostle.
(J. Trapp.)
The Costand the Value of PersonalChristianity
D. Thomas
Philippians 3:4-8

Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinks that
he has whereofhe might trust in the flesh, I more:…
Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, etc. Notice -
I. THE COST WHICH THE APOSTLE PAID FOR HIS CHRISTIANITY.
Metaphoricallyhe sold a property that he at one time valued beyond, all price,
and that his countrymen regarded as the wealthiestinheritance. Here he gives
a summary of the distinguished privileges which belongedto him.
1. He refers to his Church status. "Circumcisedthe eighth day." Therefore
not a proselyte, but a Jew. By this rite he became a member of the great
Jewishcommonwealth, or, as some callit, the JewishChurch.
2. He refers to his illustrious ancestry. "Ofthe stock ofIsrael." A true scionof
the royal race. "Ofthe tribe of Benjamin." The tribe from whence came many
of their distinguished monarchs, and the tribe to whom belongedthe holy city.
3. He refers to his religious persuasion. "An Hebrew of the Hebrews."
Elsewhere he says, "I truly am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet
brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the
perfect manner of the Law of the fathers, and was zealous before God" (Acts
22:3, 4). A thorough Hebrew. Paul had something to boastof here. In his veins
ran the blood which had quivered amid Egyptian plagues and rushed to the
hearts of those that heard the voice of Sinai's trumpet.
4. He refers to his zealous devotedness. "Concerning zeal, persecuting the
Church." He carried out his religious convictions with such zeal that he

persecutedall who differed from him. Which is the worse - enthusiasm in a
bad cause orlazy professionin a goodone?
5. He refers to his ceremonialrighteousness. "Touching the righteousness
which is in the Law, blameless." All the commandments he kept "from his
youth up." Such were the privileges that Paul enjoyed, and to him, as well as
to his countrymen, they were beyond all price.
II. THE VALUE WHICH THE APOSTLE ATTACHED TO HIS
CHRISTIANITY. He gave up Judaism with its gorgeousritual and mighty
memories and matchless histories, and does this for Christianity. Does he
regretthe loss, deplore the costlysacrifice? No. "Whatthings were gain to me,
those I counted loss for Christ." When he practicallyacceptedthe religion of
Jesus, allthat he once gloried in became contemptible. "Yea doubtless, and I
count all things but loss for the excellencyofthe knowledge ofChrist Jesus."
Christianity is the science ofsciences. Three remarks will illustrate the
incalculable value of this science.
1. It accords with all true sciences.
2. It encouragesalltrue sciences.
3. It transcends all true sciences.
Chrysostomsays, "Whenthe sun doth appearit is loss to sit by a candle." -
D.T.

COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(7) I counted loss . . .—Notmerely worthless, but worse than worthless;
because preventing the sense of spiritual need and helplessnesswhichshould
bring to Christ, and so, while “gaining all the world,” tending to the “loss of
his ownsoul.” St. Paul first applies this declarationto the Jewishprivilege and
dignity of which he had spoken. Then, not content with this, he extends it to
“all things” which were his to sacrifice forChrist.
BensonCommentary
Php 3:7. But what things — Of this nature; were once reputed gainto me —
Which I valued myself upon, and confided in for acceptancewith God,
supposing them to constitute a righteousness sufficientto justify me in his
sight; those, ever since I was made acquainted with the truth as it is in Jesus,
and embracedthe gospel, I have accountedloss — Things of no value; things
which ought to be readily foregone for Christ, in order that, placing all my
dependance on him for justification, I might through him be acceptedofGod,
and be saved. The word ζημια, here used by the apostle, and rendered loss,
properly signifies loss incurred in trade: and especiallythat kind of loss which
is sustained at sea in a storm, when goods are thrown overboard for the sake
of saving the ship and the people on board: in which sense the word is used
Acts 27:10;Acts 27:21. To understand the term thus, gives greatforce and
beauty to the passage.It is as if the apostle said, In making the voyage of life,
for the purpose of gaining salvation, I proposedto purchase it with my
circumcision, and my care in observing the ritual and moral precepts of the
law; and I put a greatvalue on these things, on accountof the gain or
advantage I was to make by them. But when I became a Christian, I willingly
threw them all overboard, as of no value in purchasing salvation. And this I
did for the sake ofgaining salvationthrough faith in Christ as my only
Saviour.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
3:1-11 Sincere Christians rejoice in Christ Jesus. The prophet calls the false
prophets dumb dogs, Isa 56:10;to which the apostle seems to refer. Dogs, for
their malice againstfaithful professors ofthe gospelofChrist, barking at
them and biting them. They urged human works in opposition to the faith of
Christ; but Paul calls them evil-workers. He calls them the concision;as they
rent the church of Christ, and cut it to pieces. The work of religion is to no
purpose, unless the heart is in it, and we must worship God in the strength
and grace ofthe Divine Spirit. They rejoice in Christ Jesus, notin mere
outward enjoyments and performances. Norcan we too earnestlyguard
againstthose who oppose or abuse the doctrine of free salvation. If the apostle
would have gloried and trusted in the flesh, he had as much cause as any man.
But the things which he countedgain while a Pharisee, andhad reckonedup,
those he countedloss for Christ. The apostle did not persuade them to do any
thing but what he himself did; or to venture on any thing but that on which he
himself ventured his never-dying soul. He deemed all these things to be but
loss, comparedwith the knowledge ofChrist, by faith in his personand
salvation. He speaks ofall worldly enjoyments and outward privileges which
sought a place with Christ in his heart, or could pretend to any merit and
desert, and counted them but loss;but it might be said, It is easyto say so;but
what would he do when he came to the trial? He had suffered the loss of all for
the privileges of a Christian. Nay, he not only counted them loss, but the vilest
refuse, offals thrown to dogs; not only less valuable than Christ, but in the
highest degree contemptible, when setup as againsthim. True knowledge of
Christ alters and changes men, their judgments and manners, and makes
them as if made againanew. The believer prefers Christ, knowing that it is
better for us to be without all worldly riches, than without Christ and his
word. Let us see whatthe apostle resolvedto cleave to, and that was Christ
and heaven. We are undone, without righteousness whereinto appearbefore
God, for we are guilty. There is a righteousness providedfor us in Jesus
Christ, and it is a complete and perfect righteousness.None canhave benefit
by it, who trust in themselves. Faith is the appointed means of applying the
saving benefit. It is by faith in Christ's blood. We are made conformable to
Christ's death, when we die to sin, as he died for sin; and the world is

crucified to us, and we to the world, by the cross of Christ. The apostle was
willing to do or to suffer any thing, to attain the glorious resurrectionof
saints. This hope and prospectcarried him through all difficulties in his work.
He did not hope to attain it through his own merit and righteousness,but
through the merit and righteousnessofJesus Christ.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
But what things were gain to me - The advantages ofbirth, of education, and
of external conformity to the law. "I thought these to be gain - that is, to be of
vast advantage in the matter of salvation. I valued myself on these things, and
supposedthat I was rich in all that pertained to moral characterand to
religion." Perhaps, also, he refers to these things as laying the foundation of a
hope of future advancementin honor and in wealthin this world. They
commended him to the rulers of the nation; they openedbefore him a brilliant
prospectof distinction; they made it certainthat he could rise to posts of
honor and of office, and could easily gratify all the aspirings of his ambition.
Those I counted loss - "I now regard them all as so much loss. They were
really a disadvantage - a hindrance - an injury. I look upon them, not as gain
or an advantage, but as an obstacle to my salvation." He had relied on them.
He had been led by these things to an improper estimate of his owncharacter,
and he had been thus hindered from embracing the true religion. He says,
therefore, that he now renounced all dependence on them; that he esteemed
them not as contributing to his salvation, but, so far as any reliance should be
placed on them, as in fact so much loss.
For Christ - Greek, "Onaccountof Christ." That is, so far as Christ and his
religion were concerned, they were to be regardedas worthless. In order to
obtain salvationby him, it was necessaryto renounce all dependence on these
things.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary

7. gain—ratheras Greek, "gains";including all possible advantages of
outward status, which he had heretofore enjoyed.
I counted—Greek,"Ihave counted for Christ's sake loss." He no longer uses
the plural as in "gains";for he counts them all but one great"loss" (Mt
16:26;Lu 9:25).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Having arguedhow he might have had as greata plea for confidence of his
acceptancewith God as any, if it would have held from the recitedparticulars,
he now shows, how advantageous soeverthey had, in the judgment of others
as well as himself, been reckonedto be, before he was effectually called, yet,
since the scalesfell off his eyes, that he could discern the truth, he was so far
from accounting them profitable, that indeed he accountedthem prejudicial;
so far from an advantage, that they were a damage to him, looking for
salvationby Christ alone, Matthew 21:31 Romans 9:30. They were but as
pebbles that hide the Pearlof price, Matthew 13:46;as ciphers to this figure,
that can make any thing valuable, therefore by Paul preferred to all before.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
But what things were gain to me,.... As circumcision, and the observance of
the ceremoniallaw, which he thought were necessaryto salvation; and his
natural and lineal descentfrom Abraham, which he supposedentitled him to
the favour of God, and eternallife, as well as to outward privileges; and his
being of that strict sectof religion, a Pharisee, whichhe doubted not, being
brought up and continued in, would secure to him everlasting happiness;and
his zealin persecuting the church of Christ, in which he thought he did God
goodservice, and merited heaven for himself; and his legalrighteousness,
which he fancied was perfect, and so justified him in the sight of God, and
rendered him acceptable to him: for the apostle's meaning is, not only that
these things were judged by him, while in an unconverted state, goodin
themselves, and in some respects useful, but that they were really gainful, and

meritorious of happiness in another world. But being converted, he saw all
those things in a different light, and had a different opinion of them:
those I counted loss for Christ; circumcisionhe saw was now abolished, and
was nothing, and that the circumcisionof the heart was the main thing; and
that the other was so far from being useful and necessaryto salvation, that it
was hurtful, was a yoke of bondage, bound men over to keepthe whole law,
and made Christ of none effectto them; and the same opinion he had of the
whole ceremoniallaw: as for natural descent, which he once valued and
trusted in, he now rejectedit, wellknowing it signified not whether a man was
a Greek, ora Jew, a Barbarian, or Scythian, provided he was but a believer in
Christ, Colossians3:11;and as for any outward form or sectof religion, he
knew there was no salvationin it, nor in any other name but that of Christ,
Acts 4:12; and he was so far from thinking, that on accountof his zeal in
persecuting the church he was deserving of heaven, that for that reasonhe
was not worthy to be calledan apostle of Christ; and as for his legal
righteousness, he now saw it to be as filthy rags, Isaiah64:6; that many things
in it were really evil in themselves, suchas his observance ofthe traditions of
the elders, whereby the commands of God were transgressed, andhis mad
zeal in persecuting the followers ofChrist; and other things, which had the
appearance ofgoodworks, were not truly so, did not spring from love, were
not done in faith, and with a view to the glory of God; and that the best of
them were very imperfect, and exceeding blamable; yea, that if they had been
perfect, they could not have been meritorious of eternal life, as he once
thought them to be; he saw now they were of no use in justification and
salvation;nay, that they were hurtful and pernicious, being trusted to, as
keeping persons off from Christ, and his righteousness:wherefore, he gladly
suffered the loss of all his legalrighteousness, andrenounced and disclaimed
it, and all pretensions to justification and salvationby it, for the sake of
Christ; of life and salvation by him, and in comparisonof him; of the
knowledge ofhim, and of his justifying righteousness, as the following verses
show. Hence, what before he pleasedhimself much with, and promised
himself much from, he could not now reflectupon with any pleasure and
satisfactionofmind; which is the sense ofthis phrase with Jewishwriters (x):
so it is observed of a drunken man, when he comes to himself; and it is told

him what he did when in liquor, he grieves at it, , "and counts all loss and not
gain"; i.e. can take no pleasure in a reflection on it,
(x) Sepher Cosri, p. 3, sect. 16. fol. 152. 1.
Geneva Study Bible
But what things were {d} gain to me, those I countedloss for Christ.
(d) Which I consideredas gain.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Php 3:7. Now, with the antithetic ἀλλά, the apostle comes againto his real
standpoint, far transcending any πεποιθέναι ἐν σαρκί, and says:No!
everything that was gainto me, etc.
ἅτινα]quaecunque, the categoryofthe matters specifiedin Php 3:5-6. [157]
The emphasis is to be placedon this word; comp. ταῦτα subsequently.
ἮΝ ΜΟΙ ΚΈΡΔΗ] is not the dative of opinion (Erasmus, Beza, and many
others, including Heinrichs, Rheinwald, Hoelemann, Matthies, de Wette,
Hofmann; comp. van Hengel, who takes κέρδη as lucra opinata); but such
things were to the apostle in his pre-Christian state really gain (κατὰ σάρκα).
By means of them he was within the old theocracy put upon a path which had
already brought him repute and influence, and promised to him yet far
greaterhonours, power, and wealth in the future; a careerrich in gain was
opened up to him. The plural κέρδη denotes the various advantages

dependent on such things as have been mentioned. Frequently used also in the
classicalwriters.
ΤΑῦΤΑ] emphatically: these very things.
διὰ τὸν Χ.] for the sake ofChrist, who had become the highest interest of my
life. Paul explains himself more particularly in Php 3:8-9, explanations which
are not to be here anticipated.
ζημίαν]as harm, that is, as disadvantageous (the contrastto κέρδος;comp.
Plat, de lucri cup. p. 226 E, Leg. viii. p. 835 B), because,namely, they had been
impediments to the conversionto Christ, and that owing to the false moral
judgment and confidence attaching to them. Comp. Form. Conc. p. 708;
Calvin on Php 3:8. This one disadvantage he has seenin everything of which
he is speaking;hence the plural is not againused here as previously in κέρδη.
The ἭΓΗΜΑΙ (perfect), however, has occurred, and is an accomplishedfact
since his conversion, to which the apostle here glances back. Onἡγεῖσθαι
ζημίαν, comp. Sturz, Lex. Xen. II. p. 454;Lucian, Lexiph. 24;on the relation
of the singular to the plural κέρδη, Eur. Cycl. 311:πολλοῖσι κέρδη πονηρὰ
ζημίανἠμείψατο.
[157]The later hereticalenemies of the law appealed to this passage, in which
also, in their view, the law was meant to be included. On the other hand,
Chrysostomand his successorsassertedthat the law was meant only in
comparisonwith Christ. Estius, however, justly observes:“non de ipsa lege
loquitur, sedde justitia, quae in lege est.”
Expositor's Greek Testament
Php 3:7-9. EARTHLY GAINS COUNTED LOSS THAT HE MIGHT WIN
CHRIST.

Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
7. what things] The Greek might almost be paraphrased, “the kind or class of
things which”; including anything and everything, as ground of reliance,
other than Christ. So more fully, Php 3:8.
gain] Lit. and better, gains. The plural suggests the proud and jealous care
with which the religionistwould count over the items of his merit and hope.
One by one he had found them, or had won them; eachwith its separate value
in the eyes of the old self.
those]There is emphasis and deliberation in the pronoun.
I counted] Lit. and better, I have counted. The perfecttense indicates not only
the decisive conviction, but its lifelong permanence.
loss]A singular noun. The separate and carefully counted gains are heaped
now into one ruthless estimate of loss. From the new point of view, they all
sink together.
He does not mean that he discoveredhis circumcision, ancestry, energy,
diligence, exactness,to be in themselves evil things. But he found them evil in
respectof his having used them to shut out the true Messiahfrom his
obedience, faith, and love. As substitutes for Him they were not only
worthless, but positive loss. Everyday of reliance on them had been a day of
delay and deprivation in regard of the supreme blessing.
Wyclif’s word here is “apeiryngis,” and just below “peirement”; i.e.
impairings, losses.

for Christ] Lit. and better, on accountof the Christ; because ofthe discovery
of Jesus as the true Messiah, and of the true Messiahas no mere supreme
supernatural JewishDeliverer, but as Son of God, Lamb of God, Lord of Life.
He castawayentirely all the old reliance, but, observe, for something
infinitely more than equivalent.
Bengel's Gnomen
Php 3:7. Ἅτινα, those things which) Referring to the things just now
enumerated.—κέρδη, gains)A very comprehensive plural.—ἥγημαι, I
counted) A most Christian professionrespecting the past, present, and future;
extending as far as the 14th verse.—διὰ τὸνΧριστὸν, for the sake ofChrist)
To these words are to be referred the words following in Php 3:8-9, ἵνα, κ.τ.λ.,
that, etc.—ζημίαν)loss.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 7. - But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ;
literally, but such things as used to be gains to me, those I have counted as loss
for Christ's sake. He used to regardthese outward privileges, one by one, as so
many items of gain; now he has learned to regardthem, all in the aggregate,
as so much loss because ofChrist. They were loss because confidence in
outward things tends to keepthe soulfrom Christ. Τοῦ γὰρ ἡλίου φανέτος,
says Chrysostom, προσκαθῆσθαι τῷ λύχνῳ ζημία.
Vincent's Word Studies
What things (ἅτινα)
The double relative classifies;things which came under the categoryof gain.
Compare Galatians 4:24; Colossians 2:23.
Gain (κέρδη)

Lit., gains. So Rev., in margin, and better. The various items of privilege are
regardedseparately.
I counted loss (ἥγημαι ζημίαν)
Better, as Rev., have counted. The perfect tense implies that he still counts
them as loss. See on Philippians 3:8. Notice the singular number loss, and the
plural gains. The various gains are all counted as one loss.
STUDYLIGHTRESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
But what things were gain - The credit and respectwhich I had, as being
zealouslyattachedto the law, and to the traditions of the elders, I counted loss
for Christ - I saw that this could stand me in no stead;that all my acts of
righteousness were nothing on which I could depend for salvation;and that
Christ crucified could alone profit me; for I found that it is impossible that the
blood of bulls and goats could take awaysin.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography

Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/philippians-3.html. 1832.
Return to Jump List return to 'Jump List'
Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
But what things were gain to me - The advantages ofbirth, of education, and
of external conformity to the law. “I thought these to be gain - that is, to be of
vast advantage in the matter of salvation. I valued myself on these things, and
supposedthat I was rich in all that pertained to moral characterand to
religion.” Perhaps, also, he refers to these things as laying the foundation of a
hope of future advancementin honor and in wealthin this world. They
commended him to the rulers of the nation; they openedbefore him a brilliant
prospectof distinction; they made it certainthat he could rise to posts of
honor and of office, and could easily gratify all the aspirings of his ambition.
Those I counted loss - “I now regard them all as so much loss. They were
really a disadvantage - a hindrance - an injury. I look upon them, not as gain
or an advantage, but as an obstacle to my salvation.” He had relied on them.
He had been led by these things to an improper estimate of his owncharacter,
and he had been thus hindered from embracing the true religion. He says,
therefore, that he now renounced all dependence on them; that he esteemed
them not as contributing to his salvation, but, so far as any reliance should be
placed on them, as in fact so much loss.
For Christ - Greek, “Onaccountof Christ.” That is, so far as Christ and his
religion were concerned, they were to be regardedas worthless. In order to
obtain salvationby him, it was necessaryto renounce all dependence on these
things.

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Barnes, Albert. "Commentaryon Philippians 3:7". "Barnes'Notes onthe
Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/philippians-3.html. 1870.
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ.
Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellencyof the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ.
No earthly honor, or preferment, no mortal achievement, no wealth, social
standing or earthly glory would the great apostle exchange forthe knowledge
of Christ.
The loss of all things ... It cannot be known what all this might have included.
Was his wife, or family, included in the things he lost? No one can say, but the
haunting possibility exists. Whateverhe lostfor the sake of gaining Christ,
Paul consideredhis status as a child of God far above and beyond any
privilege he might have lost.
Copyright Statement

James Burton Coffman Commentaries reproduced by permission of Abilene
Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. All other rights reserved.
Bibliography
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "Coffman
Commentaries on the Old and New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/philippians-3.html.
Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
But what things were gain to me,.... As circumcision, and the observance of
the ceremoniallaw, which he thought were necessaryto salvation; and his
natural and lineal descentfrom Abraham, which he supposedentitled him to
the favour of God, and eternallife, as well as to outward privileges; and his
being of that strict sectof religion, a Pharisee, whichhe doubted not, being
brought up and continued in, would secure to him everlasting happiness;and
his zealin persecuting the church of Christ, in which he thought he did God
goodservice, and merited heaven for himself; and his legalrighteousness,
which he fancied was perfect, and so justified him in the sight of God, and
rendered him acceptable to him: for the apostle's meaning is, not only that
these things were judged by him, while in an unconverted state, goodin
themselves, and in some respects useful, but that they were really gainful, and
meritorious of happiness in another world. But being converted, he saw all
those things in a different light, and had a different opinion of them:
those I counted loss for Christ; circumcisionhe saw was now abolished, and
was nothing, and that the circumcisionof the heart was the main thing; and
that the other was so far from being useful and necessaryto salvation, that it
was hurtful, was a yoke of bondage, bound men over to keepthe whole law,

and made Christ of none effectto them; and the same opinion he had of the
whole ceremoniallaw: as for natural descent, which he once valued and
trusted in, he now rejectedit, wellknowing it signified not whether a man was
a Greek, ora Jew, a Barbarian, or Scythian, provided he was but a believer in
Christ, Colossians3:11;and as for any outward form or sectof religion, he
knew there was no salvationin it, nor in any other name but that of Christ,
Acts 4:12; and he was so far from thinking, that on accountof his zeal in
persecuting the church he was deserving of heaven, that for that reasonhe
was not worthy to be calledan apostle of Christ; and as for his legal
righteousness, he now saw it to be as filthy rags, Isaiah64:6; that many things
in it were really evil in themselves, suchas his observance ofthe traditions of
the elders, whereby the commands of God were transgressed, andhis mad
zeal in persecuting the followers ofChrist; and other things, which had the
appearance ofgoodworks, were not truly so, did not spring from love, were
not done in faith, and with a view to the glory of God; and that the best of
them were very imperfect, and exceeding blamable; yea, that if they had been
perfect, they could not have been meritorious of eternal life, as he once
thought them to be; he saw now they were of no use in justification and
salvation;nay, that they were hurtful and pernicious, being trusted to, as
keeping persons off from Christ, and his righteousness:wherefore, he gladly
suffered the loss of all his legalrighteousness, andrenounced and disclaimed
it, and all pretensions to justification and salvationby it, for the sake of
Christ; of life and salvation by him, and in comparisonof him; of the
knowledge ofhim, and of his justifying righteousness, as the following verses
show. Hence, what before he pleasedhimself much with, and promised
himself much from, he could not now reflectupon with any pleasure and
satisfactionofmind; which is the sense ofthis phrase with JewishwritersF24:
so it is observed of a drunken man, when he comes to himself; and it is told
him what he did when in liquor, he grieves at it, ‫בשחיו‬ ‫לכה‬ ‫דספה‬ ‫אלו‬ ‫,חויר‬ "and
counts all loss and not gain"; i.e. can take no pleasure in a reflection on it,
Copyright Statement

The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernisedand adapted
for the computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes Reserved,
Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard
Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography
Gill, John. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "The New John Gill Exposition
of the Entire Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/philippians-3.html. 1999.
Geneva Study Bible
But what things were d gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
(d) Which I consideredas gain.
Copyright Statement
Text Courtesyof BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Beza, Theodore. "Commentaryon Philippians 3:7". "The 1599 Geneva Study
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsb/philippians-
3.html. 1599-1645.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
gain — rather as Greek, “gains”;including all possible advantages ofoutward
status, which he had heretofore enjoyed.
I counted — Greek, “I have counted for Christ‘s sake loss.”He no longeruses
the plural as in “gains”;for he counts them all but one great“loss” (Matthew
16:26;Luke 9:25).
Copyright Statement
These files are a derivative of an electronic edition prepared from text
scannedby Woodside Bible Fellowship.
This expanded edition of the Jameison-Faussett-BrownCommentary is in the
public domain and may be freely used and distributed.
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.;Fausset,A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on
Philippians 3:7". "CommentaryCritical and Explanatory on the Whole
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfb/philippians-3.html.
1871-8.
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
Were gain to me (εν μοι κερδη — en moi kerdē). “Were gains (plural, see note
on Phlippians 1:21) to me (ethical dative).” Paul had natural pride in his
Jewishattainments. He was the star of hope for Gamalieland the Sanhedrin.

Have I counted (ηγημαι — hēgēmai). Perfectmiddle indicative, state of
completion and still true.
Loss (ζημιαν— zēmian). Old word for damage, loss. In N.T. only in Phil. and
Acts 27:10, Acts 27:21. Debit side of the ledger, not credit.
Copyright Statement
The Robertson's WordPictures of the New Testament. Copyright �
Broadman Press 1932,33,Renewal1960. All rights reserved. Used by
permission of Broadman Press (Southern BaptistSunday SchoolBoard)
Bibliography
Robertson, A.T. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "Robertson's Word
Pictures of the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/rwp/philippians-3.html.
Broadman Press 1932,33.Renewal1960.
Vincent's Word Studies
What things ( ἅτινα )
The double relative classifies;things which came under the categoryof gain.
Compare Galatians 4:24; Colossians 2:23.
Gain ( κέρδη )
Lit., gains. So Rev., in margin, and better. The various items of privilege are
regardedseparately.

I counted loss ( ἥγημαι ζημίαν)
Better, as Rev., have counted. The perfect tense implies that he still counts
them as loss. See on Phlippians 3:8. Notice the singular number loss, and the
plural gains. The various gains are all counted as one loss.
Copyright Statement
The text of this work is public domain.
Bibliography
Vincent, Marvin R. DD. "Commentaryon Philippians 3:7". "Vincent's Word
Studies in the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/vnt/philippians-3.html.
Charles Schribner's Sons. New York, USA. 1887.
Wesley's ExplanatoryNotes
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
But all these things, which I then accountedgain, which were once my
confidence, my glory, and joy, those, ever since I have believed, I have
accountedloss, nothing worth in comparisonof Christ.
Copyright Statement

These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available on the Christian ClassicsEtherealLibrary Website.
Bibliography
Wesley, John. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "JohnWesley's
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wen/philippians-3.html. 1765.
Abbott's Illustrated New Testament
Were gain to me; were prized and valued.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Abbott, John S. C. & Abbott, Jacob. "Commentaryon Philippians 3:7".
"Abbott's Illustrated New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ain/philippians-3.html. 1878.
Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
7.Whatthings were gain to me He says, that those things were gain to him, for
ignorance of Christ is the sole reasonwhy we are puffed up with a vain
confidence. Hence, where we see a false estimate of one’s own excellence,

where we see arrogance, where we see pride, there let us be assuredthat
Christ is not known. On the other hand, so soonas Christ shines forth all
those things that formerly dazzled our eyes with a false splendor instantly
vanish, or at leastare disesteemed. Those things, accordingly, which had been
gain to Paul when he was as yet blind, or rather had imposed upon him under
an appearance of gain, he acknowledges to have been loss to him, when he has
been enlightened. Why loss? Becausethey were hinderances in the way of his
coming to Christ. What is more hurtful than anything that keeps us back
from drawing near to Christ? Now he speakschiefly of his own righteousness,
for we are not receivedby Christ, exceptas nakedand emptied of our own
righteousness. Paul, accordingly, acknowledges thatnothing was so injurious
to him as his own righteousness,inasmuchas he was by means of it shut out
from Christ.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Calvin, John. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "Calvin's Commentary on
the Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/philippians-
3.html. 1840-57.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Ver. 7. Loss for Christ] Christ is to be soughtand bought at any hand, at any
rate. This is to play the wise merchant, Matthew 13:44-46. {See Trappon
"Matthew 13:44"}{See Trapp on "Matthew 13:45"}{See Trapp on
"Matthew 13:46"}Esteemwe Christ, as the people did David, 2 Samuel 18:3,
more worth than ten thousand; as Naomi did Ruth, better than seven sons,
Ruth 4:15; as Pharaohdid Joseph, There is none so wise and worthy as thou,
said he, Genesis 41:39. Letburning, hanging, all the torments of hell befall
me, tantummodo ut Iesum nansciscar, so that I may getmy Jesus, said
Ignatius. None but Christ, none but Christ, saidLambert, lifting up such
hands as he had, and his fingers’ ends flaming. We cannotbuy this gold too
dear. Paul is well contentto part with a sky full of stars for one Sun of
righteousness. Nazianzenput this price upon his Athenian learning (wherein
he was very famous), that he had something of value to part with for Christ.
So did Galeacius Caraeciolus abandonall to enjoy the pure ordinances of
Christ at Geneva. See that famous epistle written to him by Mr Calvin,
prefixed before his Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Trapp, John. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". John Trapp Complete
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jtc/philippians-
3.html. 1865-1868.
Sermon Bible Commentary
Philippians 3:7

The Christian Estimate of Gain and Loss.
The Christian man keeps an accurate account-book;he reckons up with an
intelligent and enlightened judgment his gains and his losses. And most
important is it that those who would be Christian men should be rightly
informed and rightly minded upon this great question, this question which
takes precedenceofother questions, inasmuch as it is preliminary and
introductory to all.
I. I need not say what answerthe world would return to this inquiry, and I
need not saywhat answerthe natural heart would return to this inquiry, and I
need not saywhat answerthe religion of many persons would return to this
inquiry. You will find health entered as a cleargain, and money as a clear
gain; comfort, ease, tranquillity of mind and life, prosperity in business, a
sufficient and growing income, all these things will be found at once carried to
the side of profit, and no hesitation, and no further question askedconcerning
them. And you will as surely find sickness, disappointment, contractionof the
means of pleasure, sorrow, pain, bereavement, enteredin the same reckoning
as an undoubted and unmixed loss.
II. St. Paul says that for Christ's sake he now accounts as loss all that he had
once accountedgain. The reasonwhy he calls his apparent gains a loss is that
they had too greata tendency to make him trust in them; to make him look to
outward things as his passport to heaven; to make him build on a foundation
of his own, and not upon the rock of another's righteousness. Whatdo we
know of the thought, Things which were gain to me, these I have accounted
for Christ's sake loss? Isay it sorrowfully, but with deep truth, that many of
us live and die on the strength of a gospelwhichhas no Christ in it, no
demolition of self, whether in the form of self-confidence or self-seeking, and

no exaltation of Christ upon the ruins of selfeither as our Saviour or as our
Lord.
C. J. Vaughan, Lectures on Philippians, p. 183.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Nicoll, William R. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "SermonBible
Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/sbc/philippians-3.html.
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible
Philippians 3:7. Those I counted loss for Christ.— That is, "I threw them
away, as mariners do their goods, onwhich they before seta value, lest they
should endangertheir lives:" in which sensethe wordζημια is used, Acts
27:21. We may observe, that St. Paul in this and the following verses carries
on an agreeable allegory;in which all the metaphors are taken from traders
or merchants. The first metaphors that he uses are profit and loss. The next
lies in the words castaway;and the last in the word arrive or attain.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Coke, Thomas. "Commentaryon Philippians 3:7". Thomas Coke
Commentary on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tcc/philippians-3.html. 1801-
1803.
Expository Notes with PracticalObservations onthe New Testament
That is, the fore-mentioned privileges, which heretofore he accountedgain,
and thought to gain justification and salvationby, now, since his illumination,
he counted them all loss;he saw he had lost his soul for ever, had he trusted to
these;but Christ being made known to him as the only way to gainpardon of
sin, and acceptancewith God, he renounces all his former privileges, his
former legalrighteousness,he durst not lean upon these broken reeds, he
would have no more confidence in the flesh, but in Christ only: What things
were reputed gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ's sake.
And he repeats the words over againwith confidence and assurance,that he
might not be thought to speak unadvisedlly, and in a hear; Yea, doubtless, and
I count all things but loss. He did not only count them but loss, but he had
actually renounced them as such; an illusion to a merchant, who is content to
suffer the loss of all his goods to save his life.
But how did St. Paul suffer the loss of them?

Ans. He did not make shipwreck of holy duties, and castoff the performance
of them, but he castoff all dependence upon them, and castawayall
expectationof happiness and salvationfrom them, which he had before.
Observe farther, He did not only count them loss, but castthem away as dung,
as filthy carrion, as garbage castto dogs, as the word signifies. Such things as
these the false teachers (whomhe calleddogs)might delight in; but as for
himself, he could relish and savour nothing in them, in comparisonof Jesus
Christ.
In these words, observe, 1. The low esteemand mean accountwhich St. Paul
had, and every enlightened Christian has, of the greatestadvantageswhich
this world doth or can afford: In comparisonof Jesus Christ, and him
crucified, I count all things but loss;all my spiritual privileges, with all my
worldly advantages, Ido, upon the greatestdeliberationand thought,
undervalue them all for the sake ofChrist and his grace.
Observe, 2. The high and honourable esteemwhich he had of the knowledge
of Jesus Christ; he declares there was a transcendent excellencyin it: For the
excellencyof the knowledge ofChrist Jesus my Lord.
The knowledge ofour Lord Jesus Christ, and of the wayand method of
salvationby and through him, is an excelling knowledge:every thing of Jesus
Christ is excellentand worthy to be known; the dignity of his person, as God,
as Man, as God-man, or MediatorbetweenGod and man; the dignity of his
offices, as the greatKing, Priest, and Prophet of his church; the eminency of
his example, the depth of his humiliation, the height of his exaltation, the
transcendencyof his love in all his undertakings for us, and the way and
method of his justification of us by faith in his blood.

We may conclude of the actby the object; Christ is the most excellentobject,
therefore the knowledge ofChrist is and must be the most excellent
knowledge;not only all the excellences ofthe creatures are found in him in the
most excelling manner, but all the excellences ofthe Godhead, dwell in him
bodily, that is, personallyand substantially.
Observe, 3. The effectwhich this knowledge ofChrist had upon our apostle:it
enabled him to suffer the loss of all things. Those that have attained the
excellentknowledge ofJesus Christ, will not think much to suffer the loss of
any thing; yea, of all things, for the obtaining of him, and salvationby him.
Observe, 4. The end and designof St. Paul, in parting with all for Christ, or
the motive and encouragementwhichinduced him thereunto, namely, that he
might win Christ; that is, that he might obtain an interest in him, and the
blessings purchasedby him; for this was he willing to part with all his
privileges, all his accomplishments, all his enjoyments, all his own
righteousness, his exactnessin the outward observationof the law; he
renounced all, not in point of performance, but in point of dependence; he
renounced all confidence in it for his justification before God: Yea, doubtless,
I count all things but loss.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Burkitt, William. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". Expository Notes with
PracticalObservations onthe New Testament.

https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wbc/philippians-3.html. 1700-
1703.
Greek TestamentCriticalExegeticalCommentary
7.] But whatsoeverthings (emphatic (cf. ταῦτα below)and general:these
above mentioned, and all others. The law itself is not included among them,
but only his κέρδη from this and other sources)were to me gains (different
kinds of gain: cf. Herod. iii. 71, περιβαλλόμενος ἑωυτῷ κέρδεα, these
(emphatic) I have esteemed, forChrist’s sake (see it explained below,
Philippians 3:8-9), as loss (“this one LOSS he saw in all of which he speaks:
hence no longerthe plural, as before κέρδη.” Meyer. Ellicottremarks that the
singular is regularly used in this formula, referring to Kypke and Elsner in
loc. But the reasonof this usage in analogousto that given above, and not
surely lest ζημίαι should be mistakento mean “punishments.” Thus, in the
instance from Xen. in Kypke, ἐπὶ μὲν τοῖς οἰκέταις ἀχθομένουςκαὶ ζημίαν
ἡγουμένους, the separate deaths of the servants are all massedtogether, and
the loss thought of as one).
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Bibliography
Alford, Henry. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". Greek TestamentCritical
ExegeticalCommentary.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hac/philippians-3.html. 1863-
1878.

Heinrich Meyer's Critical and ExegeticalCommentaryon the New Testament
Philippians 3:7. Now, with the antithetic ἀλλά, the apostle comes againto his
real standpoint, far transcending any πεποιθέναι ἐν σαρκί, and says:No!
everything that was gainto me, etc.
ἅτινα]quaecunque, the categoryofthe matters specifiedin Philippians 3:5-6.
(157)The emphasis is to be placed on this word; comp. ταῦτα subsequently.
ἦν ΄οι κέρδη]is not the dative of opinion (Erasmus, Beza, and many others,
including Heinrichs, Rheinwald, Hoelemann, Matthies, de Wette, Hofmann;
comp. van Hengel, who takes κέρδη as lucra opinata); but such things were to
the apostle in his pre-Christian state really gain ( κατὰ σάρκα). By means of
them he was within the old theocracyput upon a path which had already
brought him repute and influence, and promised to him yet far greater
honours, power, and wealthin the future; a careerrich in gain was opened up
to him. The plural κέρδη denotes the various advantages dependent on such
things as have been mentioned. Frequently used also in the classicalwriters.
ταῦτα]emphatically: these very things.
διὰ τὸν χ.] for the sake ofChrist, who had become the highest interest of my
life. Paul explains himself more particularly in Philippians 3:8-9, explanations
which are not to be here anticipated.
ζημίαν]as harm, that is, as disadvantageous (the contrastto κέρδος;comp.
Plat, de lucri cup. p. 226 E, Leg. viii. p. 835 B), because,namely, they had been

impediments to the conversionto Christ, and that owing to the false moral
judgment and confidence attaching to them. Comp. Form. Conc. p. 708;
Calvin on Philippians 3:8. This one disadvantage he has seenin everything of
which he is speaking;hence the plural is not again used here as previously in
κέρδη. The ἥγη΄αι (perfect), however, has occurred, and is an accomplished
fact since his conversion, to which the apostle here glances back.On ἡγεῖσθαι
ζημίαν, comp. Sturz, Lex. Xen. II. p. 454;Lucian, Lexiph. 24;on the relation
of the singular to the plural κέρδη, Eur. Cycl. 311:πολλοῖσι κέρδη πονηρὰ
ζημίανἠμείψατο.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Meyer, Heinrich. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". Heinrich Meyer's
Critical and ExegeticalCommentary on the New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hmc/philippians-3.html. 1832.
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament
Philippians 3:7. ἅτινα, those things which) Referring to the things just now
enumerated.— κέρδη, gains) A very comprehensive plural.— ἥγημαι, I
counted) A most Christian professionrespecting the past, present, and future;
extending as far as the 14th verse.— διὰ τὸν χριστὸν, for the sake of Christ)
To these words are to be referred the words following in Philippians 3:8-9,
ἵνα, κ. τ. λ., that, etc.— ζημίαν)loss.

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Bengel, JohannAlbrecht. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". Johann
Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jab/philippians-3.html. 1897.
Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible
Having arguedhow he might have had as greata plea for confidence of his
acceptancewith God as any, if it would have held from the recitedparticulars,
he now shows, how advantageous soeverthey had, in the judgment of others
as well as himself, been reckonedto be, before he was effectually called, yet,
since the scalesfell off his eyes, that he could discern the truth, he was so far
from accounting them profitable, that indeed he accountedthem prejudicial;
so far from an advantage, that they were a damage to him, looking for
salvationby Christ alone, Matthew 21:31 Romans 9:30. They were but as
pebbles that hide the Pearlof price, Matthew 13:46;as ciphers to this figure,
that can make any thing valuable, therefore by Paul preferred to all before.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography

Poole, Matthew, "Commentaryon Philippians 3:7". Matthew Poole's English
Annotations on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/philippians-3.html. 1685.
Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament
What things were gain; those by which he once had hoped to gain eternallife.
Loss;he renouncedall dependence on them, sensible that dependence on
them, should it continue, would cause the loss of his soul.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Edwards, Justin. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "Family Bible New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/fam/philippians-
3.html. American TractSociety. 1851.
Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges
7. ἀλλὰ ἅτινα. Almost, “But the kind of things which.” Ἅτινα is just more than
ἅ. He thinks not only of the things as things, but of their class and
character.—Onthe reading ἀλλὰ, see criticalnote.

κέρδη. Observe the plural. He had counted over his items of privilege and
pride, like a miser with his bags of gold.
ἥγημαι. “Ihave accounted”;we may say, “I have come to reckon.”
διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν. “On accountof the” (almost, “our”) “Christ”;not “forHis
sake” (ὑπὲρτοῦ Χ.) but “because ofthe fact of Him”; because ofthe
discovery, in Him, of the infinitely more than equivalent of the κέρδη of the
past. MESSIAH, found out in His true glory, was cause enoughfor the change
of view.
ζημίαν. Observe the singular. The κέρδη are all fused now into one
undistinguished ζημία. And ζημία imports not only “no gain,” but a positive
detriment. True, some of the κέρδη at leastwere in themselves goodthings;
pedigree, covenant-connexion, zeal, exactitude, self-discipline. But as a fact,
viewed as he had viewed them, they had been shutting out Christ from his
soul, and so every day of reliance on them was a day of deprivation of the
supreme Blessing.
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"Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools
and Colleges".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cgt/philippians-3.html. 1896.
John Eadie's Commentary on Galatians, Ephesians, Colossiansand
Philippians
(Philippians 3:7.) ᾿αλλ᾿ ἅτινα ἦν μοι κέρδη, ταῦτα ἥγημαι διὰ τὸνχριστὸν
ζημίαν—“Butwhateverthings were gains to me, these I have reckonedloss
for Christ.” The conjunction ἀλλά introduces a striking and earnestcontrast.
In the use of ἅτινα, which is placed emphatically, the apostle refers to these
previous things enumerated as a class-thatclass ofthings which were objects
of gain; the plural κέρδη intimating their quantity and variety, and not simply
corresponding in number with the plural ἅτινα. Krüger, § 44, 3, Anmerk 5.
The dative μοι is that of “profit,” and not that of opinion, as is supposedby
Erasmus, Beza, Rheinwald, De Wette, and Hoelemann. The apostle still
speaks from his old standpoint -they were objects of gain, inasmuch as and so
long as they were believed to secure acceptancewith God. The ζημία is
opposedto κέρδη, and is used in its literal sense in Acts 27:10; Acts 27:21. The
ταῦτα is emphatic-these, yes these, I have reckonedloss;and the κέρδη is not,
as van Hengel makes it -non vera lucra, sed opinata. The perfect tense may
bear the meaning of the present-Buttmann, § 113, 7-yet the use of the present
immediately after confines us to the past signification. These things I have set
down as loss, and do so still. He had come to form a very opposite opinion of
them. It is needless to take ζημία in the sense ofmulcta, or στέρησις. It stands
simply in unity, opposedto κέρδη in plurality-many gains as one loss-denoting
the total revolution in the apostle's mind and opinions. Theophylactadds
ἀπεβαλόμην—“andhave castthem away,” but not correctly, or in strict
unison with the previous declaration, for the apostle still had them, and says
that he still had them- ἔχων πεποίθησιν. Nor is there more propriety in
Calvin's figure, virtually adopted and deterioratedby Macknight, takenfrom
navigation, when men make loss of the cargo to lighten the ship, and save

themselves. The apostle now states the grand reasonfor his change of
estimate-
διὰ τὸν χριστόν—“onaccountof Christ.” Not “in respectof Christ,” as
Heinrichs; nor specially to enjoy fellowship with Him, as van Hengel. “On
accountof Christ”-that is to say, what was once gain was now reckonedloss,
either because it did not commend him to Christ, or what was held as
something won was regardednow as loss, for it did not enable to win Christ,
nay, kept him from winning Christ. When he won, he was losing;nay, the
more he won, the more he must lose. All his advantages in birth, privilege,
sect, earnestness,and obedience, were not only profitless, but productive of
positive loss, as they prevented the gaining of Christ, and of justification
through the faith of Christ.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Eadie, John. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". John Eadie's Commentary
on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jec/philippians-3.html.
PeterPett's Commentary on the Bible
‘Howbeit what things were gains to me, these have I counted loss for Christ.’

The things that he has described were the things that he had treasuredand
relied on. They had been his life. They had meant everything to him, and he
had hoped that eventually they might result in him finding eternal life. He saw
them as his greatassets,his ‘gains’, assiduouslybuilt up bit by bit. But then he
had facedup to Jesus Christand had recognisedtheir folly. From then on he
had seenall his gains as simply one greatloss. In the face of Jesus Christ all
else fell awayas dross. He had recognisedthatall that his actions could do
before God was leave him bankrupt, and that his only hope of eternallife was
through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23). And so he had turned from all that he
had treasuredin the past, to Christ. He had counted his past activities to be
what they were, fictitious and worthless assets.As a result of responding to
Christ he had lookedon them as a ‘loss’.
This language of‘gain’ and ‘loss’was typically Rabbinic and so would be
recognisedby his opponents. It was also typical of the teaching of Jesus
Christ. ‘He who will save his life will lose it. He who will lose his life for My
sake and the Gospel’s (by yielding all to Christ) will gain it’ (Mark 8:35;
Matthew 16:25; Luke 9:24; John 12:24-25). ‘Forwhat will it profit a man if he
gain the whole world and lose his life?’ (Mark 8:36; Matthew 16:26; Luke
9:25). Paul had takenJesus atHis word. He had forfeited his whole religious
world for Christ’s sake, andhad thereby found eternal life.
The verb for ‘counted’ is in the perfecttense indicating something done in the
past the effect of which continued to the presenttime. He had renounced his
past once and for all.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Pett, Peter. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "PeterPett's Commentary on
the Bible ". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pet/philippians-
3.html. 2013.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
7. What things were gain—The whole class ofthings above-mentioned, which
he had once deemed of greatadvantage, and upon which he had relied for
acceptancewith God, he had come to consideras of no real worth in that
respect, but rather as injurious, for they shut him off from Christ.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Whedon, Daniel. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "Whedon's Commentary
on the Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/whe/philippians-3.html. 1874-
1909.
Expository Notes ofDr. Thomas Constable
Paul"s self-humbling3:7

Paul formerly regardedall these things that he possessedand others as
contributing to God"s acceptanceofhim. Yet he had come to learn on the
Damascus roadand since then that such fleshly "advantages" did not improve
his positionwith God. Rather they constitutedhindrances because the more of
them that Paul had the more convinced he was that God would accept him for
his works" sake.Eachofhis fleshly advantages strengthenedhis false hope of
salvation.
"While Christ did not considerGod-likenessto accrue to his ownadvantage,
but "made himself nothing," so Paul now considers his former "gain" as
"loss" forthe surpassing worth of knowing Christ. As Christ was "found" in
"human likeness,"Paulis now "found in Christ," knowing whom means to be
"conformed" (echoing the morphe of a slave, Philippians 2:7) to his death (
Philippians 2:8). Finally, as Christ"s humiliation was followedby God"s
"glorious" vindication of him, so present"suffering" for Christ"s sake will be
followedby "glory" in the form of resurrection. As he has appealedto the
Philippians to do, Paul thus exemplifies Christ"s "mindset," embracing
suffering and death. This is what it means "to know Christ," to be "found in
him" by means of his gift of righteousness;and as he was raisedand exalted to
the highestplace, so Paul and the Philippian believers, because they are now
"conformedto Christ" in his death, will also be "conformed" to his glory."
[Note:Fee, Paul"s Letter . . ., p315.]
Copyright Statement
Bibliography

Constable, Thomas. DD. "Commentaryon Philippians 3:7". "Expository
Notes ofDr. Thomas Constable".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dcc/philippians-3.html. 2012.
Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Philippians 3:7. Howbeit what things were gain to me. In the days of his
persecuting zeal, he like the Judaizers had counted all these distinctive marks
of the pure and exclusive Jew as so many advantages. And in the original this
is expressedsomewhatmore fully, for the word is really ‘gains,’as though he
had felt the total sum in his early days to be very great, and had been
consequentlyproud of them.
these have I counted loss for Christ. In these, like the rest of his nation, he had
been putting his trust. Now he has learnt that in Christ alone is salvation, and
that so long as Jewishobservancesare cherishedside by side with a half-
acceptanceofHim, these legalmerits, howevercomplete, bar the way
effectually to a full and saving faith. They had been gains in his eyes, but now
he sees that to cling to them is ruin, and therefore he resigns them as one
entire loss. This he has done for the sake ofChrist, whom he has found to be
far more precious than all beside. The tense, which is scarcelyexpressedin the
Authorised Version, tells of that sacrifice which followedclose upon the vision
at his conversion. The words from heaven, and the three days’ spiritual
enlightenment while his bodily eye was quenched, gave time for the full
comprehensionof the worthlessnessofall that he had prized before.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Schaff, Philip. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "Schaff's Popular
Commentary on the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/scn/philippians-3.html. 1879-
90.
The Expositor's Greek Testament
Philippians 3:7. ἀλλʼ ἅτινα. Although in later Greek ὅστις had lost almost all
its peculiar force and become simply = ὅς (e.g., Matthew 22:2, etc. Cf. Jebb in
Vincent and Dickson’s Handbook, p. 302), one feels that something of that
force is present here. “But these things, although they were of a class that was
really gain to me.” Non de ipsa lege loquitur, sedde justitia quae in lege est
(Estius). The prerogatives mentioned above were realprivileges viewed from
his old Jewishstandpoint, might even be justly regardedas paving the way to
salvation.— κέρδη. In the plural it usually refers to money (see Jebb on Soph.,
Antig., 1326). Perhaps the idea of separate items of profit is before the
Apostle’s mind (so also Vaughan). For the antithesis betweenκέρδη and
ζημίανcf. Aristotle, Eth. Nicom., 5, 4, 6, τὸ μὲν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ πλέοντοῦ κακοῦ
δὲ ἔλαττονκέρδος, τὸ δὲ ἐναντίον ζημία.— ἥγημαι … ζημ. “I have considered
and still consider.” Tersely, Thdrt(40)., περιττὸς … ὁ λύχνος, τοῦ ἡλίου
φανέντος.
On Philippians 3:8-11 see Rainy’s admirable exposition in Expos. Bible, pp.
200–256.
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Bibliography
Nicol, W. Robertson, M.A., L.L.D. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". The
Expositor's Greek Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/egt/philippians-3.html. 1897-
1910.
JosephBenson's Commentaryof the Old and New Testaments
Philippians 3:7. But what things — Of this nature; were once reputed gain to
me — Which I valued myself upon, and confided in for acceptancewith God,
supposing them to constitute a righteousness sufficientto justify me in his
sight; those, ever since I was made acquainted with the truth as it is in Jesus,
and embracedthe gospel, I have accountedloss — Things of no value; things
which ought to be readily foregone for Christ, in order that, placing all my
dependance on him for justification, I might through him be acceptedofGod,
and be saved. The word ζημια, here used by the apostle, and rendered loss,
properly signifies loss incurred in trade: and especiallythat kind of loss which
is sustained at sea in a storm, when goods are thrown overboard for the sake
of saving the ship and the people on board: in which sense the word is used
Acts 27:10;Acts 27:21. To understand the term thus, gives greatforce and
beauty to the passage.It is as if the apostle said, In making the voyage of life,
for the purpose of gaining salvation, I proposedto purchase it with my
circumcision, and my care in observing the ritual and moral precepts of the
law; and I put a greatvalue on these things, on accountof the gain or
advantage I was to make by them. But when I became a Christian, I willingly
threw them all overboard, as of no value in purchasing salvation. And this I
did for the sake ofgaining salvationthrough faith in Christ as my only
Saviour.

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Benson, Joseph. "Commentaryon Philippians 3:7". JosephBenson's
Commentary.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/rbc/philippians-3.html. 1857.
Mark Dunagan Commentary on the Bible
Philippians 3:7 “Howbeitwhat things were gainto me, these have I counted
loss for Christ”
“Howbeitwhat things were gain to me”: “All the things which I once held to
be gains” (TCNT). “Gain”:“Lit., gains. The various items of privilege are
regardedseparately” (Vincent p. 446). “Paulhad natural pride in his Jewish
attainments” (Robertsonp. 453). This tells us that Paul was not a dissatisfied
Jew, who was simply looking for a change. He was completelysatisfiedwith
his Jewishlife and extremely proud of the above attainments, right up until
the time that he encounteredJesus. “These”:These very same attainments
that he had once consideredso valuable and essential. “Counted”:“Perfect
tense, to reacha state that remained with him even now; hence, no regrets”
(Jacksonp. 66). He still counts them as a loss. “Loss”:Notice the singular use
of the word "loss".Paulnow counts the above "gains" as one big loss.

Paul did see the advantage of being raiseda Jew (Romans 3:1; Romans 9:4-5),
yet if such advantages keepone from becoming a Christian, they are a big
loss. “If one"s observanceofreligious ritual, one"s status due to birth, one"s
outstanding accomplishments due to innate intelligence or sustained effort,
and so on, should ever make that personproud or self-reliant, unaware of his
need of God...Paulhad to abandon his past advantages preciselybecausethey
were the very things that kept him from coming to God. They kept him from
surrendering to Christ” (Hawthorne p. 136). “In Paul"s thinking, the decision
he had made was not the decisionto go from goodto better, nor was it the
surrender of a valued possession. It was an abandoning of a loss he perceived
with horror that the things he had hitherto viewedas benefiting him had in
reality been working to destroy him because they were blinding him to his
need for the real righteousness whichGod required” (Hawthorne pp. 135-
136). “ForChrist”: In order to really acceptthe fact that one needs Jesus
Christ, one must realize that everything one has been previously trusting in, is
not only vain, it will equally keepone from heaven.
Erdman makes the following point: “The conversionof Saul of Tarsus and his
sudden transformation forms, indeed, one of the strongestarguments in
support of belief in the supreme miracle, namely, the resurrectionof Jesus
Christ. Unless on the way to Damascus,Saulmet this living Lord, it is
impossible to give a rational explanation of so sudden a change in all his views
of life and its values” (p. 112). It is a point well-takenand not to be casually
dismissed. How did such a content and self-sufficient Pharisee make sucha
radical change? Remember, this change didn"t take years, but only days and
weeks (Acts 9:9-20).
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Dunagan, Mark. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "Mark Dunagan
Commentaries on the Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dun/philippians-3.html. 1999-
2014.
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
gain. Greek. kerdos.See Philippians 1:21. Note the sevengains in verses:
Philippians 3:5, Philippians 3:6
counted. Same as "esteem",Philippians 2:3.
loss. Greek. zemia. See Acts 27:10.
for. App-104. Philippians 3:2.
Christ. App-98.
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Bibliography

Bullinger, Ethelbert William. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "E.W.
Bullinger's Companion bible Notes".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bul/philippians-3.html. 1909-
1922.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged
Gain , [ kerdee (Greek #2771)] - 'gains:' all possible advantages of outward
status which he heretofore enjoyed.
I counted , [ heegeemai(Greek #2233)]- 'I have counted for Christ's sake
loss.'Notplural, as 'gains;' for he counts them all but one great"loss"
(Matthew 16:26; Luke 9:25).
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.;Fausset,A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on
Philippians 3:7". "CommentaryCritical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
- Unabridged".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfu/philippians-3.html. 1871-
8.

The Bible Study New Testament
But all those things. "I could be very proud of my ancestors and my Jewish
background. But now they are just things to be thrown away, because they
have no value in Christ!" Johnsonsays:"Instead of saving him, a trust in
them would have been eternalruin."
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Ice, Rhoderick D. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "The Bible Study New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ice/philippians-
3.html. College Press, Joplin, MO. 1974.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(7) I counted loss . . .—Notmerely worthless, but worse than worthless;
because preventing the sense of spiritual need and helplessnesswhichshould
bring to Christ, and so, while “gaining all the world,” tending to the “loss of
his ownsoul.” St. Paul first applies this declarationto the Jewishprivilege and
dignity of which he had spoken. Then, not content with this, he extends it to
“all things” which were his to sacrifice forChrist.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on Philippians 3:7". "Ellicott's
Commentary for English Readers".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ebc/philippians-3.html. 1905.
Treasuryof Scripture Knowledge
4-6,8-10;Genesis 19:17,26;Job 2:4; Proverbs 13:8; 23:23; Matthew 13:44-46;
16:26;Luke 14:26,33;16:8; 17:31-33;Acts 27:18,19,38;Galatians 2:15,16;
5:2-5
STUDYLIGHT ON VERSE 8
Adam Clarke Commentary
I count all things but loss - Not only my Jewishprivileges, but all others of
every kind; with every thing that men count valuable or gainful, or on which
they usually depend for salvation.

The excellencyof the knowledge ofChrist - That superior light, information,
and blessednesswhichcome through the Gospelof Jesus Christ; justification
through his blood, sanctificationby his Spirit, and eternalglory through his
merits and intercession. These are the blessings held out to us by the Gospel,
of which, and the law, Jesus Christ is the sum and substance.
I have suffered the loss ofall things - Some translate δι 'ον τα παντα
εζημιωθην, for whom I have thrown awayall things - I have made a voluntary
choice of Christ, his cross, his poverty, and his reproach; and for these I have
freely sacrificedall I had from the world, and all I could expectfrom it.
And do count them but dung - The word σκυβαλα means the vilest dross or
refuse of any thing; the worst excrement. The word shows how utterly
insignificant and unavailing, in point of salvation, the apostle esteemedevery
thing but the Gospelof Jesus. With his best things he freely parted, judging
them all loss while put in the place of Christ crucified; and Christ crucified he
esteemedinfinite gain, when comparedwith all the rest. Of the utter
unavailableness ofany thing but Christ to save the soul the Apostle Paul
stands as an incontrovertible proof. Could the law have done any thing, the
apostle must have knownit. He tried, and found it vanity; he tried the Gospel
system, and found it the power of God to his salvation. By losing all that the
world calls excellent, he gained Christ, and endless salvationthrough him. Of
the glorious influence of the Gospelhe is an unimpeachable witness. See the
concluding observations on the 9th chapter of the Acts, ( Acts 9:43; (note)) on
the characterofSt. Paul.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography

Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on Philippians 3:8". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/philippians-3.html. 1832.
Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss - Notonly those things which he
had just specified, and which he had himself possessed, he says he would be
willing to renounce in order to obtain an interest in the Saviour, but
everything which could be imagined. Were all the wealthand honor which
could be conceivedofhis, he would be willing to renounce them in order that
he might obtain the knowledge ofthe Redeemer. He would be a gainerwho
should sacrifice everything in order to win Christ. Paul had not only acted on
this principle when he became a Christian, but had ever afterwardcontinued
to be ready to give up everything in order that he might obtain an interest in
the Saviour. He uses here the same word - ζημίανzēmian- which he does in
the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 27:21, when speaking of the loss which had been
sustainedby loosing from Crete, contrary to his advice, on the voyage to
Rome. The idea here seems to be, “What I might obtain, or did possess, I
regard as loss in comparisonwith the knowledge ofChrist, even as seamendo
the goods onwhich they seta high value, in comparisonwith their lives.
Valuable as they may be, they are willing to throw them all overboardin
order to save themselves.” Burder, in Ros. Alt. u. neu. Morgenland, in loc.
For the excellencyof the knowledge -A Hebrew expressionto denote excellent
knowledge. The idea is, that he held everything else to be worthless in
comparisonwith that knowledge, andhe was willing to sacrifice everything
else in order to obtain it. On the value of this knowledge ofthe Saviour, see
the notes at Ephesians 3:19.

For whom I have suffered the loss of all things - Paul, when he became a
Christian, gave up his brilliant prospects in regardto this life, and everything
indeed on which his heart had been placed. He abandoned the hope of honor
and distinction; he sacrificedevery prospectof gain or ease;and he gave up
his dearestfriends and separatedhimself from those whom he tenderly loved.
He might have risen to the highestposts of honor in his native land, and the
path which an ambitious young man desires was fully open before him. But all
this had been cheerfully sacrificedin order that he might obtain an interest in
the Saviour, and partake of the blessings ofhis religion. He has not, indeed,
informed us of the exact extent of his loss in becoming a Christian. It is by no
means improbable that he had been excommunicatedby the Jews;and that he
had been disownedby his own family.
And do count them but dung - The word used here - σκύβαλονskubalon-
occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It means, properly, dregs;refuse;
what is thrown awayas worthless;chaff; offal, or the refuse of a table or of
slaughteredanimals, and then filth of any kind. No language could express a
more deep sense of the utter worthlessnessofall that external advantages can
conferin the matter of salvation. In the question of justification before God,
all reliance on birth, and blood, and external morality, and forms of religion,
and prayers, and alms, is to be renounced, and, in comparisonwith the merits
of the greatRedeemer, to be esteemedas vile. Such were Paul‘s views, and we
may remark that if this was so in his case, it should he in ours. Such things can
no more avail for our salvationthan they could for his. We canno more be
justified by them than he could. Nor will they do anything more in our case to
commend us to God than they did in his.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography

Barnes, Albert. "Commentaryon Philippians 3:8". "Barnes'Notes onthe
Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/philippians-3.html. 1870.
The Biblical Illustrator
Philippians 3:8
Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellencyof the
knowledge ofChrist Jesus my Lord--These words are added by way of
amplification.
1. To show his perseverance inthe contempt of all outward advantages. “I
have counted,” and “do still count.” He had not repented of his choice.
2. To comprehend all other things besides Jewishprivileges. A Christian can
deny anything for Christ’s sake.
3. To show the reality of his assertion--“Yea,doubtless.” Itwas not pretension,
or naked approbation, or speculation, but practicalesteem.
(a) in its vehemence and greatness, “loss,”“dung;”
(b) in its reality and sincerity. Men approve things that are excellent(Romans
2:18), yet have no mind to embrace them, because they cannotdeny
temptations--but St. Paul says, “I have suffered,” etc.

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