Philippians 3:7

Textus Receptus:
αλλ ατινα ην μοι κερδη ταυτα ηγημαι δια τον χριστον ζημιαν

King James:
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Comments:
gain...loss: Jesus uses the same two words in Matthew 16:26 when he contends that a man gets nothing if he "gains" the whole world and "loses" his own soul. Instead of losing his soul for the gain of the world, Paul chooses to lose the gain of the world to gain (same word, translated "win" in the next verse) Christ.

Expanded Paraphrase:
However, all those things I did and had, all the things I used to believe made me complete--through Christ I learned to regard them as useless and maybe even detrimental.

Philippians 3:6

Textus Receptus:
κατα ζηλον διωκων την εκκλησιαν κατα δικαιοσυνην την εν νομω γενομενος αμεμπτος

Kings James:
Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

Comments:
This verse creates a parallel between "zeal" and "righteousness". Since the law is negative in nature, the highest description of its keeper is necessarily negative as well. He is not "just" or "holy", but "blameless." So it is no surprise that the highest praise for "zeal" is in the negative content of "trying" or "persecuting" the church. Christ not only enfolds all the negative content of the law (through, for instance, conviction of sin) but also the positive content of actual justification and holiness. Life for the Christian is no longer about what he does not do, but what the Spirit does through him--the point of passages like Galatians 5:14-23.

Expanded Paraphrase:
My zeal was so great that I pushed and punished those who stood for anything other my Judaism, especially persecuting Christians wherever I found them meeting together and gathering strength. And when people examined my obedience to the law, they could find no fault with me whatsoever.

Philippians 3:5

Textus Receptus:
περιτομη οκταημερος εκ γενους ισραηλ φυλης βενιαμιν εβραιος εξ εβραιων κατα νομον φαρισαιος

King James:
Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

Comments:
Circumcised the eighth day: Paul puts himself in the category of those he condemned in verse 2. His obedience to the law was complete, beginning with Leviticus 12:1-3.

Israel...Benjamin...Hebrew: Since the Israelites saw themselves as the people of God because of their political and ancestral identity, Paul points out that he was in the center of that identity long before he was in God's family. In Romans 9:1-5, Paul laments other Israelites who do not yet know Christ.

a Pharisee: As Jesus proves with His statement in Matthew 5:20, no one was closer to the perfection of the law than the Pharisees, but even they could not achieve the righteousness of God.

Expanded Paraphrase:
From the time that I was eight days old my life already exemplified the law--that's when I received the sign of the covenant, circumcision. I was born of Israel, in the tribe of Benjamin. Other Hebrews looked at me to know what it is to be Hebrew. No one kept the law more stringently than I did. I was a Pharisee.

Philippians 3:4

Textus Receptus:
καιπερ εγω εχων πεποιθησιν και εν σαρκι ει τις δοκει αλλος πεποιθεναι εν σαρκι εγω μαλλον

King James:
Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:

Comments:
I more: While Paul's comment could be taken as braggadocio, it obviously is not since he does not value the thing he says he used to possess to such a great extent--hence the "no confidence in the flesh" at the end of the previous verse. Paul establishes the contrast between those whose confidence (trust, persuasion) is in the wrong thing (the flesh) and those whose confidence is in the right thing throughout this book, particularly in chapter 1:6 and chapter 1:14 as well as these two verses (chapter 3:3-4).

Expanded Paraphrase:
Although, as far as having confidence in the flesh goes, if there is anyone who thinks that he has reason to trust in his flesh, I have more.

Philippians 3:3

Textus Receptus:
ημεις γαρ εσμεν η περιτομη οι πνευματι θεω λατρευοντες και καυχωμενοι εν χριστω ιησου και ουκ εν σαρκι πεποιθοτες

King James:
For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Comments:
we are...worship...rejoice...have no confidence: Three participles describe those who belong to God. All three may relate not only the attitude emerging out of salvation, but also the attitude that would bring a person to Christ to begin with.

circumcision: Paul is claiming that those who have faith in Christ rather than the flesh are the children of God's covenant. So the circumcision of the flesh is of no spiritual value while the circumcision of the heart (having been changed by faith), without a sign in the flesh, is of real spiritual value.

rejoice: This word also means "boast" and "glory" and is used by Paul in Galatians 6:13-14, where the contrast is between those who "glory" in the works of men and Paul's commitment to "glory" in nothing less than the cross of Christ.

worship: This "worship" is "service," the kind that would be performed by a Levite in the Temple, for instance. It implies not only an attitude of reverence toward the object of worship, but also an act of contrition on the part of the worshipper.

have no confidence: This word is translated as "trust" in Luke 18:9, where some trust that they themselves are righteous while despising others. Paul uses the word positively in this book in, for example, chapter 1:6.

Expanded Paraphrase:
The sign of the covenant is no longer a change of the flesh--as in the old circumcision. Our change took place in the heart. Through the Spirit of God we humbly serve and commit to Him. In Christ Jesus we glory and boast. But in the flesh we place no trust whatsoever.