Philippians 3:10-11

The Pulpit Commentary - Philippians 3:8-11

The enthusiast. Paul now exhibits himself to us in the light of an enthusiast in whose eyes the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ is all and in all. He regrets that so many fruitless years were spent away from Christ, and now he shows us all he hopes from him. He has surrendered everything for the sake of his Lord and Master. He has put away the thought of what he might have been had he remained a Jewish partisan. There was nothing beyond the ambition of Saul the persecutor had he... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Philippians 3:8-11

Phases of Christ. "I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." Paul presents Christ in four aspects. I. As A PRIZE . "That I may win Christ." What is it to win Christ? It is something more than to become acquainted with his biography , something more than to understand the doctrines he taught or the theory of his life and mission. To gain him is to gain his moral spirit. His moral spirit is himself—that which marked him off... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Philippians 3:10

That I may know him ( τοῦ γνῶναι αὐτόν ). For the grammatical construction, see Winer, sect. 44:b. For the sense, comp. John 17:3 , where Dr. Westcott notes, "In such a connection, Knowledge expresses the apprehension of the truth by the whole nature of man. It is not an acquaintance with facts as external, nor an intellectual conviction of their reality, but an appropriation of them (so to speak) as an influencing power into the very being of him who knows them." γινώσκειν ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Philippians 3:10

"The fellowship of his sufferings." I. THE CHRISTIAN IS CALLED INTO FELLOWSHIP OF HIS LORD 'S SUFFERINGS . 1 . He is called into fellowship with Christ. This is further implied by the clause, "becoming conformed unto his death." It is St. Paul's conception of the heart and essence of the Christian life. He constantly describes the process of our union with Christ as involving our repetition of Christ's experience of life, suffering, death, resurrection, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Philippians 3:10-11

The knowledge of Christ: its degrees and its purpose. I. THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS PERSON . This is the initiatory step. We must first recognize him to be our own God and Savior, and One who is to be altogether longed for. Nathanael thus knew him ( John 1:49 ), and St. Peter ( Matthew 16:16 ). II. THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION . This is a step beyond the simple knowledge of his person. It can be found only in our own spiritual experience when... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Philippians 3:11

If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead . The apostle uses the language of humble expectation. For the particles, "if by any means" ( εἴ πως ), comp. Acts 27:12 ; Romans 1:10 ; Romans 11:14 . The verb "attain" means to arrive at the end of a journey; it presents the figure of a pilgrimage. Read, with R.V. and the best manuscripts, the resurrection from the dead. This phrase (used also in Luke 20:35 and Acts 4:2 ) means the resurrection of the blessed... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Philippians 3:10

That I may know him - That I may be fully acquainted with his nature, his character, his work, and with the salvation which he has worked out. It is one of the highest objects of desire in the mind of the Christian to know Christ; see the notes at Ephesians 3:19.And the power of his resurrection - That is, that I may understand and experience the proper influence which the fact of his resurrection should have on the mind. That influence would he felt in imparting the hope of immortality; in... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Philippians 3:11

If by any means - Implying, that he meant to make use of the most strenuous exertions to obtain the object.I might attain unto - I may come to, or may secure this object.The resurrection of the dead - Paul believed that all the dead would be raised Acts 24:15; Acts 26:6-8; and in this respect he would certainly attain to the resurrection of the dead, in common with all mankind. But the phrase, “the resurrection of the dead,” also might be used, in a more limited sense, to denote the... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Philippians 3:8-11

Philippians 3:8-11. Yea doubtless Not only when I was first converted, but I still account both these and all things else, how valuable soever, to be but loss. Having said, in the preceding verse, that he counted his privileges as a Jew, and his righteousness by the law, to be loss, or things to be thrown away, he here adds, that he viewed in the same light all the things which men value themselves upon, and on which they build their hope of salvation: such as their natural and... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Philippians 3:1-16

3:1-21 THE WAY TO PERFECTIONPaul’s testimony (3:1-16)At this point Paul repeats warnings that he gave the Philippian church some time earlier concerning Judaisers. He calls the Judaisers ‘dogs’ because they like to ‘cut the flesh’ of people; that is, they insist that they must circumcise Gentiles before those Gentiles can be saved. The true people of God, whom Paul calls the ‘true circumcision’, are not those who have carried out a ceremony to put a mark in their bodies, but those who have... read more

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