Verse 8
Paul had regarded his advantages over other people as what put him in an especially good position with God. However, he had come to realize that absolutely nothing apart from Jesus Christ’s work on the cross was of any value in his gaining God’s acceptance. No good works improve our standing before God. They are all like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Consequently Paul came to regard them as "rubbish." From then on he continued to take this view of things.
The Greek word translated "rubbish" (skybalon) occurs only here in the New Testament. Its derivation is uncertain, but it appears to have referred to excrement, food gone bad, scraps left over after a meal, and refuse. In extrabiblical Greek it describes a half-eaten corpse and lumps of manure. [Note: Hawthorne, p. 139.] Thus Paul meant that his former advantages were not only worthless but strongly offensive and potentially dangerous.
What he had learned to value was Christ Jesus his Lord. Consequently coming to know Christ, entering into a deeper and fuller appreciation of His person and work, was of primary importance to Paul. This knowledge (Gr. gnosis) is the kind that one obtains only by personal relationship. It is different from the knowledge we gain through objective academic study (Gr. oida), though information is part of our growing personal knowledge of Christ. To gain this fuller knowledge of Christ Paul had let everything else in life go. To use the language of Philippians 2:6, Paul did not regard anything else in life worthy of retaining. All he wanted was a fuller and deeper experiential appreciation of his Savior.
"You and I know about many people, even people who lived centuries ago, but we know personally very few." [Note: Wiersbe, The Bible . . ., 2:86.]
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