A Life Ruled by Love for Christ | Philippians 3:7–16

When Christ Becomes Our Greatest Treasure

Philippians 3:7–16

Opening: What Do You Reach For?

Men, what do you reach for when you’re tired?

When you’re mentally exhausted, emotionally drained, spiritually dry, and physically worn down, where do you go for relief?

I know where I tend to go.

Sometimes it’s my phone. Sometimes it’s food or entertainment. Sometimes it’s an easier task that lets me feel productive without facing the harder work in front of me.

Those choices reveal more than what comforts us.

They reveal what we trust to renew us.

Carrying More Than God Has Given Us

I can spend so much time helping people, fixing problems, and carrying responsibilities that I neglect my own soul and the people God has placed closest to me.

I can say that God is sovereign while living as though everything depends on me.

Before long, I’m exhausted from trying to do God’s work and too depleted to faithfully do the work He has actually given me.

That is when I reach for temporary relief.

The relief fades, guilt follows, and I promise myself I’ll try harder.

I tighten my schedule, add another routine, and tell myself, “This time will be different.”

But I’m treating an affection problem like a discipline problem.

Eventually, I burn out, and the cycle begins again.

The Cycle of Temporary Relief

Maybe you know that cycle.

The phone is in your hand before the Bible.

You’re on the couch when your wife needs your attention.

You’re scrolling while your children are sitting beside you.

You know what you should do, but the easier thing keeps winning.

We call that a discipline problem.

Discipline does matter. Scripture calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and obey Christ.

But discipline alone cannot create lasting love for Christ.

A Greater Affection

Thomas Chalmers, a Scottish preacher in the 1800s, described the answer as “the expulsive power of a new affection.”

His point was simple:

A lesser love is not permanently removed by force alone.

It must be replaced by a greater love.

Discipline matters, but discipline is the servant of affection, not its source.

I had to realize that I was trying to be faithful without first resting in Christ’s faithfulness.

Christ has already done what I could never do.

My identity is not found in how much I accomplish.

My identity is found in belonging to Him.

Faithful Service or Unhealthy Striving?

Faithful service obeys God and trusts Him with the results.

Unhealthy striving tries to control the results and lives as though everything depends on us.

I didn’t need to care less.

I needed to trust Christ more.

I didn’t need to carry more.

I needed to remember who was carrying me.

I didn’t need a more impressive life.

I needed Christ to become my greatest treasure again.

Succeeding at the Wrong Things

My greatest fear should not simply be failure.

It should be succeeding at things that matter far less than knowing Christ.

A man can succeed at work, appear effective in ministry, build a strong reputation, and stay constantly busy while becoming less attentive to Christ and less present with his family.

Busyness can make us feel faithful while hiding the disorder of our affections.

Before we can change what we run to, we need to remember who ran toward us.

Remember Who Ran Toward You

Consider what it cost Jesus to rescue you.

God is holy, righteous, sovereign, and worthy of all worship.

We were created in His image and for His glory, but we sinned against Him.

We turned from Him and looked to created things for identity, security, comfort, and satisfaction.

We could not discipline ourselves into righteousness.

We could not serve enough, lead enough, improve enough, or accomplish enough to make ourselves right with God.

Christ Came After Us

But Jesus Christ came after us.

He lived the righteous life we could never live.

He endured temptation, rejection, betrayal, injustice, suffering, and pain.

He willingly went to the cross and bore the judgment our sin deserved.

He died in the place of sinners, was buried, and rose in victory.

Through repentance and faith in Christ, sinners are forgiven, clothed in His righteousness, reconciled to God, and brought into a loving relationship with Him.

Men, does that still move you?

Have we become so familiar with the gospel that we can explain it without being amazed by it?

Is Christ Worth the Cost?

When I slow down and consider what Christ has done, it makes me ready to live for Him, suffer for Him, serve Him, and even die for Him.

That begins by dying to myself today.

Paul wrote Philippians from prison.

His freedom had been taken.

His comfort had been stripped away.

His future was uncertain.

Yet his affection for Christ remained strong.

Paul had less comfort but deeper affection.

We often have more comfort but a weaker pursuit.

Paul had already settled the question of whether Christ was worth the cost.

Many of us are still bargaining with obedience.

You already know what to do.

You’re just still negotiating with comfort.

Philippians 3 shows us what happens when Christ becomes our greatest treasure.

Scripture Reading

Listen to Paul’s words in Philippians 3:7–16:

“But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.

My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.”

Main Idea

When Christ becomes our greatest treasure, every other part of life finds its proper place.

1. What We Count as Gain

Paul’s Former Confidence

In verses 7 through 9, Paul says that everything he once considered gain, he now considers loss because of Christ.

Paul had heritage, education, discipline, reputation, religious achievement, and zeal.

He had succeeded in the world he knew.

But when Paul encountered Christ, Jesus changed the value of everything on the list.

Paul did not discover that every created thing was evil.

He discovered that nothing could compare with Christ.

Good Things Becoming Ultimate Things

Tim Keller often described idolatry as taking a good thing and making it an ultimate thing.

Idolatry is not only bowing before a statue.

It is asking a created thing to give us what only God can give.

Work is good, but it cannot be your identity.

Marriage is good, but your wife cannot carry the weight of being your savior.

Children are a gift, but their success cannot determine your worth.

Ministry is noble, but ministry success cannot replace communion with Christ.

Rest, food, hobbies, and entertainment can be good gifts from God.

But they become false refuges when we ask them to restore what only Christ can restore.

Questions That Reveal Our Affections

So ask yourself:

What are you most afraid to lose?

What do you believe you must have to be happy?

What receives your best time, attention, and energy?

What causes you to neglect obedience when it is threatened?

Christ Is Better

The answer to idolatry is not simply removing an idol.

It is seeing that Christ is better than what the idol promises.

Comfort promises rest.

Christ gives rest for the soul.

Success promises worth.

Christ gives us His righteousness.

Money promises security.

Christ holds us eternally.

Reputation promises significance.

Christ knows us, loves us, and makes us His own.

Found in Christ

In verse 9, Paul says he no longer wants a righteousness of his own.

He wants the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ.

Striving says, “I have to prove that I’m enough.”

Faith says, “Christ is enough, and I belong to Him.”

Brother, your value is not found in how much you accomplish, how many people need you, or how strong you appear.

Your hope is that you are found in Christ.

That truth frees you.

You can work without worshiping your work.

You can lead without pretending to control everything.

You can serve without needing applause.

You can repent without protecting your image.

2. Who We Seek to Know

The Heartbeat of the Passage

Verse 10 is the heartbeat of this passage.

Paul says:

“My goal is to know him.”

Paul is not merely talking about knowing facts about Jesus.

He is talking about knowing Christ personally in a saving, loving, and living relationship.

The goal of the Christian life is not simply to become more disciplined, respected, or productive.

The goal is Christ.

Resurrection Power

Paul wants to know the power of Christ’s resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.

The resurrection means that sin, shame, failure, and the past do not have the final word.

Christ makes new life possible.

The Fellowship of His Sufferings

But knowing Christ also includes sharing in His sufferings.

One of the greatest lies we believe when we’re hurting is this:

“Jesus doesn’t understand.”

But Jesus understands rejection, betrayal, grief, injustice, temptation, loneliness, suffering, and physical agony.

He knows what it means to obey the Father when obedience is costly.

Jesus does not call us to walk a road He refused to walk Himself.

His suffering assures us that we are not alone.

His resurrection assures us that suffering is not the end.

Christ Understands

When leadership is hard, Christ understands.

When loving your wife requires sacrifice, Christ understands.

When fatherhood exposes your weakness, Christ understands.

When your service goes unnoticed, Christ understands.

When obedience costs you something, Christ understands.

The more clearly we see Christ and the more deeply we know Him, the less valuable everything else becomes by comparison.

That does not make our families, work, or churches less important.

It allows us to love them rightly because we no longer ask them to be ultimate.

Taken Hold of by Christ

In verse 12, Paul admits that he has not arrived.

He has not reached perfection.

But he presses on because Christ Jesus has taken hold of him.

That order matters.

Paul does not pursue Christ so that Christ will accept him.

Paul pursues Christ because Christ has already made him His own.

We do not obey so that God will love us.

We obey because, in Christ, God has already loved us.

Grace does not eliminate effort.

Grace gives effort a new foundation and direction.

Forgetting What Is Behind

Paul then says he forgets what is behind and reaches forward to what is ahead.

One of the most damaging lies a man can believe is this:

“I’ve always been this way, so I can’t change.”

Sometimes we remain in compromise because repentance would require us to admit we were wrong.

We fear the embarrassment of failure more than we desire the freedom of doing what is right.

But grace frees us to stop defending the man we were and begin becoming the man Christ is calling us to be.

Forgetting what is behind does not mean pretending the past never happened.

It means refusing to let past sin, shame, suffering, or success have greater authority over your future than Christ does.

Repentance says:

“I was wrong, but by the grace of God, I do not have to remain wrong.”

Press On

Do not protect the image of the man you were at the cost of becoming the man Christ is calling you to be.

Press on.

The prize is Christ Himself.

Not merely information about Him.

Christ Himself.

To know Him.

To be known by Him.

To be loved by Him.

And one day, to be brought into perfect fellowship with Him.

We press on to know Christ because Christ has already known us, loved us, and made us His own.

3. How We Live Before Others

Maturity Is a Direction

In verses 15 and 16, Paul calls mature believers to think this way and live according to the truth they have received.

Maturity is not perfection.

Maturity is a settled direction toward Christ.

A mature man is not a man who never fails.

He is a man who repents, obeys, humbles himself, and keeps pressing forward.

A Life Worth Following

That kind of life should be visible to other men.

Every Christian man, pastor and layman alike, should pursue Christ so faithfully that he can say:

“Imitate me as I imitate Christ.”

That does not mean, “I have arrived.”

It means, “Walk with me as I keep pressing toward Christ.”

Who Are You Helping?

So let me ask you directly:

Who are you intentionally helping take his next step toward Christ?

Does your life give that man a faithful pattern to follow?

How many of us are intentionally and regularly equipping other faithful men?

Discipleship Is More Than Information

Discipleship is more than transferring information.

It means allowing another man to get close enough to see your repentance, obedience, humility, perseverance, and affection for Christ.

Your wife should see that pursuit.

Your children should see that pursuit.

The men in your church should see that pursuit.

Not perfection.

Faithfulness.

A man who admits when he is wrong.

A man who asks for forgiveness.

A man who opens his Bible and prays.

A man who serves when it is costly.

A man who keeps pressing toward Christ.

Conclusion

The Answer Is Christ

The Christian life is not simply the rejection of lesser loves.

It is the pursuit of the surpassing worth of Christ.

The answer is not merely a stricter routine.

The answer is seeing that Christ is better.

Remember the Gospel

So begin there.

Consider what Christ has saved you from and what He has saved you for.

Remember who God is.

Remember who you are apart from Christ.

Remember what your sin deserves.

Remember the distance Jesus traveled to rescue you.

Ask God to deepen your gratitude, strengthen your hatred of sin, stir your affection for Christ, and make you faithful in every area of life.

Do Not Pursue Christ Alone

Do not pursue Christ in isolation.

Find one trusted man who can encourage you, challenge you, and help you keep pursuing Christ.

If you do not have that man, come find me.

But do not leave here merely convicted.

Make a decision.

You already know what to do.

You’re just still negotiating with comfort.

Christ Is Worthy

Christ is worthy of your marriage.

He is worthy of your fatherhood.

He is worthy of your work.

He is worthy of your church membership.

He is worthy of your service.

He is worthy of your suffering.

He is worthy of every ordinary day He gives you.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray.

Lord, may I never get over the fact that You saved a wretched sinner like me.

May I never get over the fact that You have allowed me to see another day.

May I never get over Your patience and long-suffering toward me.

May I never forget that there is nothing in me that could satisfy Your righteous standard.

May I never stop being broken over my sin.

May I never become complacent.

May I never stop recognizing the incredible distance between me and my Jesus, because only then can I truly appreciate the distance He traveled to make me Your child.

In Jesus’s name, amen.