For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

3:6   as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Paul continues with his listing of reasons he had confidence in the flesh prior to meeting Christ. As we saw in our previous post, many of his reasons for boasting in the flesh were conditions he was born into, such as of the bloodline of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Eventually he begins to write of his own efforts in the competition game of getting right with God, for it had become something he trusted in, something he could compare with others and feel he was on the right side of the curve. Of course, after having met Jesus, this desire to find worth in comparing himself with others was jettisoned into the dustbin.

2 Corinthians 10:12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

The only One we can rightly compare ourselves with is the One who is incomparable. We are simply (redeemed) sinners, those who are unworthy of His grace, mercy and love.

The last two descriptors of Paul’s efforts to find worth in the eyes of God, through his own efforts are as follows

Zeal

His claim to fame in the zeal department included murder. Wait – What?? He was a persecutor of those who worshipped God in the Spirit, and his desire to chase down, persecute and haul to prison was a mark of zeal that few if any had in Jerusalem.

Imagine, the mental gymnastics Paul must have had to go through to chase fellow Israelites down, in foreign lands and haul them back to Jerusalem.

His zeal was unaccounted for. The church was growing exponentially and the more he persecuted, the stronger it seemed to be getting. Frustration level for this poor man must have been off the chart! Without this zeal, this desire to “keep the faith pure” by rooting out this heresy, Paul would have simply been a general fanatic for the Pharisaical branch of Judaism.

Righteous

Paul has mentioned the law in the previous verse, speaking of his chosen branch of dedication in relation to the law. He wasn’t a Sadducee, or heaven forbid an Essene, like John the Baptist. In this reference to the law, Paul speak of not his association, but of his righteousness under the law, and that he was blameless in this law.

Come on Paul, how can you say that?

No one is sinless, and your obedience to the law in which you trust speaks over and over again of the sinfulness of even the best of the faithful. But my friend, let us not read into this verse something that is not there. He states he was blameless, not sinless. There is a difference, and we have discussed this topic in earlier posts. An example post for my reader to consider may be Psalms for Psome – Ps 41.04.

In Paul’s listing of attributes that he was either granted or that he “worked” at, he surely had the right stuff to go up against any of the flesh mutilators that were troubling the Philippians. He had authority to have influence based on his person, his lineage and efforts that lifted him above others! Yet in comparing himself with the Christ, he simply bent the knee.

My friend, if you find yourself comparing yourself with anyone other than the Christ, take a lesson from Paul. It is a fools errand to chase self worth, to be in competition with those we ought to simply love and serve.

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