Addition by Subtraction

Introduction

Have you ever experienced addition by subtraction? Have you ever experienced a loss that made your life better? All of us dread the thought of loss — the loss of a job or a friendship or a responsibility — and we fight as hard as possible to prevent experiencing any of these losses. But, what’s ironic is that many of us find ourselves fighting to keep the very ambition or friendship or house that is making us miserable. So, there are times in which a loss ends up as a positive, even if when we are trying to fight it off. It’s addition by subtraction. It’s a loss that adds value and adds joy to your life.

You see, we are trained from a young age to always to seek to add more — more money, more possessions, more relationships, more lines to our resume. And, what’s happened to so many of us is that we’ve become so obsessed with adding more that adding more has become aim of our lives, adding more has become our reason for living. Of course, we’d never say that out loud, but, functionally, it’s how we live. And, this is how we’ve come to think of Jesus. We think of Jesus like a luxury add-on that adds a bit of spirituality, a bit of grounded-ness to our lives. We are willing to follow Jesus insofar as there are additional gains, additional add-ons like eternal life, forgiveness, and peace, but we stop at the point where the costs begin to accrue. We can’t reconcile the thought that Jesus would introduce loss into our lives. But, with Christ, as we’ll see, every subtraction ends up an addition.

God’s Word

Read (focusing on verses 7-11)

To Experience Christ in All of Life (Headline)

Our lives are a collection of our experiences. Some of those experiences are wonderful, the day we get our license or the day we get engaged or married or the day that our first child is born. And, some of those experiences are the fulfillment of our very worst nightmares coming true, our spouse betrays us or someone we trusted abuses us or the job we thought we’d retire from is jerked out from under us. And, in the midst of these collected experiences, there is a wonderful, beautiful promise that is offered to all who are in Christ. Jesus says, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” But, how often in your life does it feel as though He couldn’t be farther away? How often does it feel like we know Christ in concept but not through experience? This is the matter being addressed in our text. We’re seeing from Paul how we might have a moment-by-moment, second-by-second experience with Christ.

“Treasure” Jesus Above All “Gains.”

v. 7 “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.” First, to experience Christ in all of life “Treasure” Jesus above all “Gains”. Paul had spent his life trying to make something of himself. He had been well-educated, focused, and dedicated to turning his life into a successful one. It’s clear by reading the list of Paul’s achievements that he was a driven and ambitious man. In discovering Christ, Paul realized how worthless all of these ambitions had really been. Every decision that had been made before had been how he might further prove himself, further advance himself, further increase his own prestige. Before, the world was there as a ladder to climb, an obstacle course to conquer so that he might elevate himself as being a cut above the rest. But now, the world wasn’t a ladder to climb but rather an altar upon which he was to offer himself so that he might be received by God forever. He says, “Whatever credentials I had, whatever rank I had, whatever affluence I had, whatever admiration I had, whatever achievement I had, whatever future I had, I count it all as loss for the sake of Christ.”

Values Rearranged

v. 8 “because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus MY Lord.” Paul lost every, single thing he treasured. He lost his very future, a future that likely included a ranked position on the Sanhedrin, a future that included standing so significant that it would have set his family apart forever. And, he forfeited it every bit of it. Why? Why would a man forsake a future so bright? Why would he abandon a career so illustrious? Why would he willingly give up every relationship, every position, every status that he had ever treasured? He found a greater Treasure. He found One who was far greater than the sum every treasured thing in his life added together. “Because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,” he says. Paul realizes that in Christ he has gained the mint so that he is able to stop chasing all of the pennies. His whole value system had been rearranged.

Jesus changes your “values” by changing your “vantage” point. That’s the only way that gains become losses and losses become gains. That’s the only way that a person can at one point live for money and then at another point reject money as a source of happiness. It’s the only way that a person can seek their value in the opinion of another person or community and later come to realize that their value is found only in Christ. It’s the only way that a person can say that I once treasured sex and career advancement and athletic success, but, today, I only treasure Jesus. It’s by Jesus changing the way that you see the world. It’s by a shift in your value system. And, this is the storyline to every gospel story. It’s the same story that Jesus tells in . A man finds a treasure in a field that is the most precious and breathtaking treasure he’s ever beheld. In an instant, he reconciles it in his mind and knows that this one treasure is worth far more than every other treasured thing in his life. That is, everything that he’s been living his life for in an instant is rendered utterly pointless. So, he sells it all that he has, and he sells it not begrudgingly, not in misery, but he sells it in his joy that might purchase the field with the only Treasure that he needs. His vantage point changed, and his value system changed with it. When you have Christ, there’s nothing else that you need.

With Christ, Everything is an Acceptable Loss

APPLICATION: Our lives are ultimately the accumulation of our values. And, Paul sees his in two lights. Before Christ, he had a life that everyone else wanted. Yet, when he reconciles the account of his life, he adds in all that he has achieved and all the status that he has earned and all the privileges that it had provided, and he reconciles it at a loss. Soberly, he realizes that he’s wasted that part of his life. And, since Christ, though he’s in chains, though he’s penniless, though he’s homeless, though he’s been betrayed and beaten and exiled, he adds up all of his losses then looks to Jesus, and says, “Profit! Gains! Success! I have Christ, and Christ is all I want!” So long as you have “Christ”, everything else is an acceptable “loss” — not enjoyable, but acceptable. Because, with Christ, your joy is not contingent upon any other factor. With Christ, never marrying is an acceptable loss because marriage doesn’t determine your value. Never having children is an acceptable loss because children aren’t your source of joy. Not getting to travel or being physically healthy or attaining a certain income bracket are all acceptable losses when your treasure is secure. In fact, if they’re not, if you’re living for those as treasures, you’ll come to the end of your life and see the accumulation of your values and realize that you’ve wasted your life. But, once you’ve reached a place where everything but Christ is an acceptable loss then you are set free by God to actually enjoy the many blessings that you have, whatever shape they take. Treasure Jesus above all gains!

“Live” for Jesus at All “Costs”

v. 8b “For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him” You’ll see there’s a progression in the mind of Paul as he continues on, and it’s the same progression that we must see in our lives if we are to experience Christ in all of life. Values are good, but they aren’t enough. We must move past alleged values into the practical application of those values. So, to experience Christ in all of life “Live” for Jesus at all “costs.” Paul understands the gravity of what he’s saying. He’s not teaching something difficult and then living something easy. This is where your values really come to bear. This is where the rubber really meets the world. How will you actually live? Will what you see you believe actually affect what you do? Will what you say you believe actually affect your decisions? Paul says, “For his sake, I HAVE suffered the loss of all things.” He had lost his birthright. He had lost his friends. He had lost his standing in the community. He had lost his reputation. Do you want to know what you love above all else? Do you want to know what you value as the supreme priority of your life? What are you willing to ruin your reputation over? What are you willing to lose a friendship over? What is so essential to your life, to your joy, to your identity that you would assume lose everything else so long as you have it?

Present Loss in Light of Future Gain

v. 8c-9 “in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” Notice the verb tense that Paul uses to describe this. He says, “I have suffered.” That has happened in the past, and it’s happening right now in the present. Every day, he’s living with the reality of his losses. And, he dealing with these losses why? “That I MAY gain Christ...that I MAY BE found in him.” That’s future. Our “present” loss in light of a “future” gain. Right now, there is pain involved. Right now, there’s loss in spades. Right now, it feels like sacrifice. But, the confidence is in what is to come. It’s faith that the Christ who was raised is the Christ who is reigning and the Christ who will return. It’s already living for the Kingdom as though the Kingdom had already fully come, but it hasn’t yet fully come. And, that’s faith. That’s saving, justifying faith. It’s interesting that Paul connects his life of loss right now to his justification in Christ. He’s doing all of this so that he might ‘be found’ one day in Christ even though we all know that he was justified, saved, declared righteous at the very instance of his salvation. What gives?

Live and Die with Jesus

I think this is the game-changer for how many of us grew up relating to Jesus. Many of us grew up relating to Jesus as an incredible Savior that will save you if you find it mentally agreeable that He is the Son of God who died on the cross for your sins and was raised from the dead. Like, hopefully you’ll want to do some things for him one day, but if not, just be sure that you at least agree with that sentiment. But, I think what Paul is showing here in the latter part of his life is that this is an incomplete view of what it means to be saved by Jesus. He is living this life of incredible cost as an offering to Jesus so that ‘he MAY gain Christ’ and so ‘he MAY be found in him.’ For Paul it isn’t enough that he might mentally agree that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus is the awaited Messiah. What’s required is a faith is that is activated in his life so that his whole life, his whole well-being, his whole identity lives and dies with the truthfulness of Jesus. This is the picture of saving faith. This is the picture of following Christ. If Jesus is proven false, you’re proven a fool. If Jesus is proven true, you’re proven saved. You have to decide what is rubbish and what is real, and then you have to live like it. Is everything that you can gain here rubbish? Or, is living for a God you’ve never seen and glory you’ve never owned rubbish? This is the dividing edge of salvation, and this is the determining factor for the rest of your life. Those who gain Christ will live like Christ is their only gain. So, he isn’t living with these losses because these losses earn him Jesus or buy him salvation in some way. These losses are simply the evidence that his faith is squarely upon what Christ has done and will do. His faith is not in his righteousness, but in Jesus’ righteousness, and a faith like that can’t simply carry on with business as usual.

This is the game-changer for how many of us grew up relating to Jesus. Many of us grew up relating to Jesus as an incredible Savior that will save you if you find it mentally agreeable that He is the Son of God who died on the cross for your sins and was raised from the dead. Like, hopefully you’ll want to do some things for him one day, but if not, just be sure that you at least agree with that sentiment. But, I think what Paul is showing here in the latter part of his life is that this is an incomplete view of what it means to be saved by Jesus. He is living this life of incredible cost as an offering to Jesus so that ‘he MAY gain Christ’ and so ‘he MAY be found in him.’ For Paul it isn’t enough that he might mentally agree that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus is the awaited Messiah. What’s required is a faith is that is activated in his life so that his whole life, his whole well-being, his whole identity lives and dies with the truthfulness of Jesus. This is the picture of saving faith. This is the picture of following Christ. If Jesus is proven false, you’re proven a fool. If Jesus is proven true, you’re proven saved. You have to decide what is rubbish and what is real, and then you have to live like it. Is everything that you can gain here rubbish? Or, is living for a God you’ve never seen and glory you’ve never owned rubbish? This is the dividing edge of salvation, and this is the determining factor for the rest of your life. Those who “gain” Christ will live like Christ is their only “gain”. So, he isn’t living with these losses because these losses earn him Jesus or buy him salvation in some way. He’s living for ‘a righteousness FROM GOD that DEPENDS on faith.’ If he’s wrong, it’s condemnation. If he’s right, nothing matters but Jesus. He’s hinged it all on Jesus. It’s all DEPENDent upon him. All of his faith is in Christ.

APPLICATION: Jesus is not an “addition” to your life; He’s the whole “equation”. He won’t settle for being part of your treasure; He is your treasure. Is you whole life staked on Jesus? Does your life require faith in Jesus to make sense? Live like Christ is your only gain! Live for Jesus at the cost of friendship and at the cost of romance and at the cost of affluence and at the cost of comfort, and you won’t be proven a fool. Live for Jesus at all costs, and you’ll find that all costs are ultimately addition by subtraction so long as you have Christ, for every cost you’ve paid will be turned to glory by our sovereign Lord. It’s a present loss in light of a future gain.

“Know” Jesus Through All “Experiences”

v. 10a “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection” And, that brings us to what I believe is the main point of all that Paul has been saying. This is why he’s lived this way. This is why he’s embraced loss in his life. This is why he’s viewed all of the subtractions in his life as additions. It’s where we’ve been trying to get all morning long. Treasure Jesus above all gains, and live for Jesus at all costs that you might “Know” Jesus through all “experiences.” It’s this aim that changed the course of Paul’s life, and it’s this aim that will change your life if you will give yourself over to it. He says, ‘that I may know him.’ Whatever I gained, I counted as loss ‘that I may know him.’ I have suffered the loss of all things ‘that I may know him.’ I’ve counted the loss of friends and family and affluence and rank as rubbish ‘that I may know him.’ I have hinged it all on Jesus ‘that I may know him.’ This isn’t ‘knowing him’ like I know Tua Tagoviloa. I know more things about Tua than I should probably admit to. I know a lot of facts about him. I know he’s from Hawaii. I know he’s 6’1”. I know he’s a true sophomore. I even know that he’s pentecostal, but I don’t actually know him. I’ve not experienced his character. I don’t know whether he is there for his friends or if he’s selfish. I don’t know what he’s afraid of or what he’s passionate about. He’s talking about knowing Christ through experiencing Christ. That’s what ‘know’ means here. It’s knowledge that gained through experience. It’s knowing Jesus is faithful because you’ve experienced his faithfulness. It’s knowing that Jesus is forgiving because you’ve experienced his forgiveness. It’s knowing that Jesus is patient because He has been patient with you.

“that I may know him and the power of his resurrection....that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection of the dead” There’s two great experiences that we will have with Jesus as a result of our justification, and one is pointing to the other. And, both of these experiences find their hope and their power in the resurrection. The first is in our sanctification. This is our experience with Christ right now as we seek to grow in Christ and mature in Christ. Every “step” that you take toward Jesus you take through the power of the “resurrection”. There’s nothing natural in you that seeks the way of Christ; so, every step that you take toward him in passion and love and desire is a step filled with the supernatural power of the resurrection applied through the Spirit. The truth of the resurrection is empowering you and emboldening you to keep walking, keep moving, keep growing, not just in spite of all of the losses that you know, but THROUGH the very losses that you know. So, that you lose a friend, and it sanctifies you. You lose your job, and it sanctifies you. You get cancer, and it sanctifies you. So, you aren’t gaining knowledge in spite of your hardship; you’re gaining knowledge of Christ through your hardship. You are gaining your knowledge through the costs and through the pain of the faithfulness of Jesus and the steadfastness of Jesus and the kindness of Jesus. And, this present experience with Christ is pointing you forward to your future experience with Christ. In verse 9, Paul anchors his life in his justification. In verse 10, he is assured that it is working toward his sanctification, and in verse 11, he is thankful that is will ultimately culminate in his glorification. Right now, he knows what it is to face sickness and loss and sadness through the power of the resurrection. He knows what it is to experience Jesus in a moment-by-moment relationship of dependence where Christ has to come through for him again and again. But, one day soon, he will be resurrected himself, and in that resurrection there will be the full experience of Christ’s presence and Christ’s power and Christ’s glory.

APPLICATION: The more you live by “faith” the more you will know by experience Jesus’ “faithfulness”. Suffering is normative in the Christian life, but experiencing Christ’s sustaining hand, Christ’s assurance of hope, Christ’s present power is just as normative. Following Christ will require a cruciform life in the shape of Jesus’ cross. But, just as you are buried in his likeness so will you be raised to newness of life in him. So, brothers and sisters, bank it all on Jesus, and get to really know Jesus. Hang yourself out to dry with Jesus, and experience firsthand the faithfulness of his provision. Go where your uncomfortable to go with Jesus and know firsthand the sustaining, life-giving power of his resurrection, and all of your loss will ultimately culminate into a net gain on the day of your resurrection so you might know that this life is addition by subtraction.