Main Idea

Nobody runs back into a fire for their résumé, yet we live off it all week. Paul lost everything Rome could take and was still the happiest man in prison. What did he know that we don’t?

Scripture

Philippians 3:1-14 1 Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. 3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! 5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. 7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! 12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Philippians 1:21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 4 Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. 5 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

Acts 7:58 and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Acts 8:3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.

Philippians 2:6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

Hebrews 12:2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Discovery Bible Study (DBS) Questions

Read Philippians 3:4-14 out loud together. Then have someone retell it in their own words.

Look Back

1. What are you thankful for this week?
2. What has been stressing you out or weighing on you?
3. Last time, what did you say you would do or share? How did it go?

Look Up

1. What does this passage say about God and about Jesus?
2. What does it say about people, about us?
3. Paul lists seven things on his résumé (v. 5-6). Which ones was he born with, and which did he earn? Why do you think he was so confident in them?
4. Paul says “consider” three times in verses 7-8. What did he weigh, and what did he decide? Why does it matter that he was still deciding it years later, in chains?
5. In verse 10, Paul puts both the power of the resurrection and sharing in Christ’s sufferings in what he wants. Why would someone want suffering in that list?
6. “Forgetting the past” (v. 13) could mean both Paul’s trophies and his shame (Acts 8:3). Which one is harder for you to let go of, and why?