Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Philippians 3:8

"Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ," — Philippians 3:8 (ASV)

“What is more” introduces a clause stressing that Paul’s experience on the Damascus road had produced a strong and lasting impression. The merits of Christ counted for everything. Paul now broadens his thought from his Jewish advantages to include “all things” that might conceivably be a rival to his total trust in Christ. The “surpassing greatness” can be understood of Christ in an absolute sense, though it likely includes at least a sidelong glance at the list of supposed advantages he had once trusted in. Christ is far superior to them in every respect—so much so that Paul had cast them away as nothing but “rubbish.” For Paul, the knowledge of Christ Jesus as his Lord meant the intimate communion with Christ that began at his conversion and had been his experience all the years since then. It was not limited to the past (as v.10 shows), but was a growing relationship in which there was blessed enjoyment in the present and the challenge and excitement of increasing comprehension of Christ in personal fellowship. Although at regeneration a person receives Christ, this is only the beginning of one’s discovery of what riches this entails. In Christ all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden (Colossians 2:3), but to search them out and appropriate them personally requires a lifetime.