Young People's Group

That I May Gain Christ

by Mitchell Tan
December 12, 2018

PLAN A – PAST CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH

At the recent Youth Conference, Pastor spoke on the first night concerning plan A and plan C. Plan A was Paul’s past endeavours in wanting to achieve things in life. His confidence in the past was in himself and in what he had attained. He wrongly thought that this was what gain was in life. He was one who had earned a “wonderful set of credentials” from the world’s standpoint.

“If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so”
Philippians 3:4

Paul considered himself as one who was “exemplary” when it came to having confidence in the “flesh”. He was able to trace his Jewish roots without difficulty. He considered himself as a “true blue” Hebrew. He was trained as a Pharisee and sought to uphold all the laws of the Jewish religion. He persecuted the church with zeal and saw himself as blameless in keeping all the laws of the commandments. He took pride in all that he achieved as a Pharisee (Philippians 3:4-6). This was Paul’s plan A. He was blinded by his ignorance, caught up with his fervour and harmed many Christians along the way. This was totally wrong. Young people, we too can take pride in all that we have achieved. We can feel that we are somebody because we have had human achievements in life. This could cause us to do that which is wrong in God’s sight. Our focus should not be on ourselves but on the Lord and His word.

PLAN C – FINDING CONFIDENCE SOLELY IN KNOWING THE LORD JESUS

Paul moved from plan A to plan C. Plan B was Paul seeking to be a tent-maker by occupation (Acts 18:3). But he went beyond that. Plan C was his true calling in life. He found faith in the Lord Jesus as his Saviour and became His anointed servant. His confidence was no longer in himself but in knowing the Lord Jesus. He did not take anything for granted. He was constantly geared towards learning and knowing about Christ. He sought to have confidence solely in knowing Christ. This was now what true gain to him was.

1. COUNTING ALL WORLDLY GAINS AS LOSS

“But what things were gain to me these I have counted loss for Christ.”
Philippians 3:7

“Yet indeed I also count all things loss”
Philippians 3:8

“For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish”
Philippians 3:8

The phrase “have counted” is in the perfect tense. It means that Paul had already considered the worldly things that he had gained as nothing. His decision to do this had a profound effect on him. He did this solely for the sake of Christ. The apostle Paul was able to purposefully set aside everything about himself and his achievements with no doubt in his heart. He also saw how he was willing to lose and forfeit all worldly things because he considered them as truly refuse or rubbish. They were totally worthless compared to all that was of Christ.

2. COMMITTING FULLY TO KNOWING CHRIST

“For Christ”
Philippians 3:7

“For the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord”
Philippians 3:8

“That I may gain Christ”
Philippians 3:8

The Lord Jesus had become so real and precious to Paul. He was now focused solely on the Lord Jesus because of the true worth and value of knowing Christ. His focus was on the excellence of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as His Lord. Paul humbly used the basic Greek word “gnosis” to describe his level of knowledge even though he already had very deep knowledge. Knowing the Lord was to him far more superior in value than any earthly thing he had gained. This had become his mindset. He did this so that he could gain further in terms of his relationship with the Lord Jesus. This was true gain. This type of gain will last forever. Paul saw how important it was to have confidence in the Lord and one’s relationship with Him. Let’s also learn to focus on gaining Christ with reference to our faith and love for Him. Let’s learn to set aside all our human achievements that we may constantly learn and develop a deeper relationship with Christ. This is true gain.

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