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 refuse, in order that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is 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 if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. [Phil 3:7-11, NRSV]
The Pauline spirituality on Christian conversion is formidable.
Like Jesus, Paul was born and bred a Jew and he died a Jew. He did not “convert” from one religion to another. And yet, Paul had a profound conversion experience – one which we must cipher at a deeper level, where it really matters. His autobiographical sketch in Phil 3:4-11 offers a glimpse of something very revealing in what conversion to a faith in Christ means. This may be rather discomfiting for many of us.
There was no rule-book to guide Paul when he fell on Damascus road, no set rules to compel compliance. All he had was a life-changing encounter-experience with the Risen Christ that threw him into a deep tunnel of darkness. Profoundly self-absorbed while on mission to Damascus, Paul was struck down, blinded, and had to be led by the hand into the city. He then spent the next three days of what must have been an excruciating time, “without sight and neither ate nor drank” (Acts 9:9), mulling over what happened on the road, what the Risen Lord said to him, and what the reality of a Crucified and yet Risen Messiah could possibly mean to the Jewish (Pharisaic) religious system which drove his entire life up to that point. From hating Jesus intensely to loving him so deeply that he would dedicate his entire life serving Jesus’ cause, Paul’s conversion was truly miraculous and terribly challenging.
His brief biographical sketch gives us a stunning two-part narrative that features a “before” and “after” his Damascus experience.
Before Paul Encountered the Risen Christ
Take a look at his condition before that life-changing encounter.
4 If any other man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:
5 circumcised on the eighth day,
of the people of Israel,
of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew born of Hebrews;
as to the law a Pharisee,
6 as to zeal a persecutor of the church,
as to righteousness under the law blameless. (Phil 3:4-6; // Acts 26:1-11)
Already in this rhetoric, written by Paul on hindsight, one cannot fail to hear a sense of the burden of success, a gnawing sense that all is not well. The problem lies in what the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen said in a priest-retreat:
“Keep too much flesh to yourself, and it goes bad.”
Sheen provokes thought on many things, as good speakers do.
- First is a strong link to “ego” and what people do with it. A well-balanced ego is essential for self-awareness and self-esteem. It is the engine that drives us to get things done, to achieve the longings in our heart, the goals in our life. On the other hand, an unsupervised ego may have low concern for others and may cause suffering for the individual who has it. A bloated ego overfeeds a self-centeredness which creates a kind of labyrinth that has no exit.
- Second is the ultimate emptiness of worldly longings. The world is filled with good things and sensory delights that make the flesh happy. But over time, all triumphs and sensory pleasures, victory and attainment, and great moments in life fade away. St Augustine in his piercing insight knows that nothing in this world finally satisfies the deepest longing of our heart where the hunger is for something that transcends the world. Ultimately, the transitory nature of all worldly things fail to satisfy. Our wandering hearts will know no rest until they rest in God who makes and transcends the world.
This second link is closer to what Paul is saying here. By “confidence in the flesh (the Greek word is “sarx”), Paul refers to human achievements or, as the New English Translation has it, “human credentials” in his privileged position:
- circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, as the Law of Moses prescribed (Lev 12:3);
- an Israelite by birth, a distinct physical pedigree, not a Gentile proselyte to Judaism;
- of the great tribe of Benjamin who had the first Jewish king;
- brought up by parents who obeyed the strict Jewish laws and customs and not some syncretic religion;
- a member of the party of the Pharisees, the most orthodox sect within Judaism in his day;
- a zealous promoter of Judaism even to the point of persecuting Christians to death.
He had been an outstanding Pharisee and, by virtue of his strict observance of the Law, considered himself righteous before God. His birth, his parents, his tribe had ensured the glories of his pedigree. Later, his purpose-driven work had solidified a stature worthy of acclaim. But, conspicuously absent in all those descriptions are two things – dependence on the Holy Spirit and glory to Christ Jesus. He prided himself on human achievement; he forgot about divine grace.
So in three verses, Paul gives us an impressive bio-data, a perfect pedigree, a brilliant résumé. In plain language, he points out how successful he was among the elites of the Jewish society and, in their social ladder, he was still on the ascent.
The message is clear: intensely intelligent and driven by a massive ego, Paul was doing great. He had wind in his sails, the world under his feet. With those details “before” conversion, Paul is setting the readers up for a shock for what comes next.
After Paul Had Encountered the Risen Christ
And then Paul had a harsh reality check: he encountered the Risen Christ. That encounter yielded shocking discoveries for Paul that did not just cause some minor changes to his lifestyle, but a stunning inversion of values and a systemic change. Paul would undergo such a fundamental, transformative shift within his Jewish system of beliefs and practices, that his previous conviction on core structures and even the underlying mindsets and power dynamics would be overturned. In the process, the most ferocious enemy of the Church became its most zealous son and missionary. In overcoming himself and his false sense of ethnic superiority, Paul overcame his bloated ego and his idolatrous preoccupation. This is disturbing stuff for people who think they are “Christian” and are willing to undertake critical reevaluation of what that means in all aspects of Christian living.
Little did Paul know that he was heading towards perdition as he, armed with letters of authorization from top religious leaders in Jerusalem, was Damascus-bound with the singular aim of decimating the lot of Jesus-followers in that city. As he was throwing his life away, Jesus intervened and pulled him back from the precipice. The encounter had to be rough and traumatic. He went to Damascus breathing hell-fire; he ended up completely neutralized and totally humbled. His ego was quashed and replaced by a whole new surrender and trust – to none other than the one he was persecuting – the Crucified and Risen Lord. He would later articulate his spiritual turn-around in terms that guide all the saints: it is “when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10), a spirituality not unlike John the Baptist’s “he must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
Now, his entire energy and power come from faithful surrender to Christ, to such a point that he could say:
“I have been crucified with Christ;
it is no longer I who live,
but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).
This biblical revelation is decisive, for only with this, could Paul have taken up a ministry of the cross and truly followed Christ. This spiritual surrender is also the acid test for assessing authentic ministry of any kind today, consecrated, ordained or otherwise.
So we now turn to what his autobiography says happened to him after the encounter.
We suggest you mind the language he uses, feel the power of his conversion, of metanoia, the new orientation, the intense energy, and let it affect and change you.
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 refuse, in order that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is 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 if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. [Phil 3:7-11]
In two verses (7 and 8), Paul thrice refers to his “loss”.
Every past achievement, everything that he strove for [his credentials!], is now counted as garbage. The least likely candidate had become a servant of Christ Jesus for life. And this service is a complete change in life in order to:
- serve Christ (not his own mistaken, death-dealing, agenda);
- suffer in service, and
- make immense sacrifices willingly.
These are three essential elements, among other elements, observable in Paul’s authentic ministry of the cross!
In a word, Paul was willing to be a fool – a “fool for Christ’s sake” (1 Cor 4:10). Now, that’s Pauline conversion!
- When a friend holding a well-paid job was wrestling for years with the idea of taking up the priesthood, we knew what he lacked was an encounter-experience with the Risen Christ. Purchasing Christian books and attending daily Mass were mere compensatory moves. He would come to the house and chat with us till late at night when we were back for summer breaks from theological studies in Belgium. “Why is it that you could just decide to drop everything and go, but I can’t?” he would repeatedly ask. This went on for a while, until one day a different email came from him. Its brevity, in contrast to his regular action-deficit blabber, carried a clean and crisp message: resignation tendered, table cleared, “I’m going in.” We wrote back: “Another fool for Christ!”
Copyright © Dr. Jeffrey & Angie Goh, July 2025. All rights reserved.
To comment, email jeffangiegoh@gmail.com.