Would you please share your thoughts on Philippians 3:10?

Question

"That I may know him, and the power of his reserection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death". KJV

kingsdaughter: I really like the name you have chosen.Whenever I am being attacked by that snake, I will shout out "My Father is The King and you go back to your pit".

Answer 1

Paul gives a very different answer in 1st Corinthians 15: 17-19

"If Christ is not raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins . . . 19 we are of all men most to be pitied." (1 Cor 15:17,19)

Why does Paul say that?

Paul is reacting to those who say we must follow the Jewish law in order to be saved. In verses 4-9, Paul says, in paraphrase:

I followed the Law as well as anyone, and better than any of these false teachers. No one could have looked at any part of my life and accused me of breaking the Law. I was, on those terms, perfect. But now I consider all that I did, all my accomplishments, all that striving to prove to God that I was good -- I say, I consider all of that garbage, as worthless as manure, compared to the greatest thing of all: knowing Jesus Christ. Indeed, I have given up everything else so I might know him. Once I know him, I will be in him, I will be part of his body, and will be declared good by him, not because of anything I have done, but because I am identified with Christ Jesus.

Paul then writes the verse on which you are focused...

" 10.) I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11. ) and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:10,11)

Consider, for example, Jeremiah 9:23,24:

23 This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.

God says, through Jeremiah, that NONE of those are of great importance.

What matters more than anything else is understanding and knowing the Lord

Answer 2

I will reserve judgment on this idea until a later time. And the whole chapter here seems to point to Paul's guilt (or lack thereof, as 'blameless' seems to indicate...Php 3:6) for persecuting the followers of Jesus, and for doing what Paul believed was appropriate to atone for that...in the case of Paul's 'blamelessness'--nothing! (The Jerusalem council ruled otherwise!)
What I do not understand is the idea of conforming to Christ's 'death', rather than His 'life'. This seems to advocate subjection to Paul's doctrine, if nothing else. I don't see where being nailed to a cross will help anyone. I know there are people who actually try to do this, spikes and all, but that seems a bit absurd. That is why I say I reserve judgment; I guess I'll just have to wait and see about this one...

Although my answer may sound confused and disjointed, I only am answering some points of Paul's doctrine. Trying to follow his doctrine is at best exasperating, and consumes a good deal of time. For that reason I tend to avoid his letters and stick with the teachings of Jesus. And the Dead Sea Scrolls have shed light on what the 'cross' was: a little plus symbol circumscribed by a circle that was used to mark resurrection and messianic passages in the OT bible. These were found in the Isaiah scroll that was left in one of the caves.

Answer 3

Php 3:10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Your question of this passage has brought back to me many old memories as I looked at it. That unsatisfied zeal I should still be seeking daily, but as the years pass and heart-aches and trouble dim our views , sometimes we become complacent. I don't think this ever happened to Paul.
I understand what Paul is saying here.
We know that the Holy Spirit is given to us as a down payment for that glorious eternal life to come.
I Believe Paul never lost that zeal we have as new Christians, he was ever seeking to become like Christ in a way that his own life no longer mattered because Paul knew this glorious Resurrection he preached had an incredible reward with it, and he sought it whole heatedly.
He knew to die was to be present with the LORD and he would have the same glorified body as Jesus now has.
What a day that will be.

1John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

I think this is what Paul was looking for.

Answer 4

The anointed share in Christ’s sufferings and are willing to submit to a death like his. As one of that group, Paul stated that he was prepared to make any sacrifice so that he might “gain Christ, so as to know him and the power of his resurrection and a sharing in his sufferings.” Yes, Paul was willing to submit himself “to a death like his.” (Philippians 3:8, 10) Many anointed Christians have endured in their fleshly bodies “the death-dealing treatment given to Jesus.”

Answer 5

You have to put it in context to understand it.

ESV Philippians 3:7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 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-- 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Paul is writing about his future hope in Christ. As followers of Jesus, Christians can expect to be persecuted and are called to look ahead to the eternal glory that is waiting for them while they fore go the temporal praises of men and sinful pleasures that the unredeemed seek after to make this life bearable.

Answer 6

It always helps to read the whole passage and look at the context.

This thought starts out with
"...whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ...."

and goes on to say
"More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ."

Paul goes on to explain that his righteousness is through faith in Christ and then verse 10
(you could start it with SO THAT):
"that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering being conformed to His death;
in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."

My thoughts, in following Christ we can expect to participate in the same things He participated in, including suffering and death and resurrection.

Answer 7

One of the things that I have learned in my personal walk with Jesus, is that the Scriptures tell us how we can live in & thru Christ. This world offers us a lot of nothing, stuff that "looks" great,..but in the end of all things..that "stuff" really amounts to nada. However, thru faith & suffering & continuing to follow Christ regardless of what happens to our lives, now THAT is the "stuff" that REALLY counts! That is true Love..Devine.

Answer 8

It looks like you have to put it back in with other verses. In my opinion it looks like Paul is saying he has no confidence in himself but through faith in Christ. He wants to know Jesus better.

Answer 9

It's about growing and living our lives as followers of Christ so that we can be assured of our own resurrection.

Answer 10

All the laws and knowledge lead nowhere, except the knowledge, understanding, and faith in Christ; which, leads to eternal life.