Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Philippians 3:7

"Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ." — Philippians 3:7 (ASV)

Through his conversion on the Damascus road, Paul had learned to count such “advantages” as liabilities because of Christ. “Whatever” indicates that the previous listing was not exhaustive but illustrative. He once had regarded such things as “profit” (or “gains”; GK 3046) toward his goal of achieving righteousness by the law, but now he has come to the conviction that they were actually a detriment and did not provide him with true righteousness at all. By trusting in human performance, he had not only failed to make any progress toward the righteousness God requires but had also let his Jewish “advantages” drive him to persecute the church, which proclaimed the message of the righteousness of God that is received by faith.