Philippians 3:1-9

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1Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you. 2Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; 3for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, 4although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: 5circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. 7But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8More 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, 9and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,

This is one of Paul's most profound writings. He is sharing His experience, strength and hope in finding Jesus. He sets forth a biographical sketch of his religious life and it is impressive! He did everything just right, keeping every last letter of the law as he understood it and was most zealous about it. What he is saying is "There is no one you can find who had better religious credentials than I have." But he views all of these accomplishments as a pile of manure when compared to knowing Jesus as Messiah and Lord. You heard it right. MANURE. That's the word used for what is translated "rubbish" here and "dung" elsewhere.

Paul was doing his best to be righteous before God-to do, do, do! But when he found Jesus (or, when Jesus found him on the road to Damascus), he came to realize that Messiah Jesus has already done all that is needed to be done to be righteous before God and invites all those who are 'weary and heavy-laden' with do, do, do, to come to Him and He will give you rest. Like Paul we tend to want to do, do, do, but with Jesus it is DONE. Through His righteousness we can become righteous by faith.

In Paul's zeal to be righteous, he was a good religious Jew who was looking for God's Messiah (God's Christ) to show up someday. He can be truly called a follower and seeker of the Messiah or you might even say that PAUL WAS A CHRISTIAN. THEN JESUS APPREHENDED HIM! Think of it! Paul, being a seeker and follower of the Christ could have been called a Messianic or a Christian, then he met Jesus who claimed to be the Christ he was looking for all along.

This is why I shy away from being called a "Christian" or putting myself in the position of defending the religious system called Christianity. My own experience is that I was a Christian, having grown up in the culture and faith of Christianity, yet that was not transforming in my life. I did not experience spiritual transformation until Jesus apprehended me. Then I became a follower of Jesus. This would be no different than a Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Jew, Mormon or agnostic. These are all cultural traditions and faiths. No matter what cultural background you find yourself, you can be a follower of Jesus. Once Jesus gets hold of your heart (apprehends you), you are transformed and become a new person. HOWEVER, YOU DON'T NEED TO BE CONVERTED OUT OF YOUR CULTURAL BACKGROUND. I know many Jewish followers of Jesus or Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Catholic, Baptist or whatever followers of Jesus. Once you see Jesus in this way, you don't have to argue and debate religion with anybody. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. There is no one who ever lived to be compared with Jesus! You don't have to feel compelled to "convert" someone from one religious system to another. If you are going to do anything, introduce people to Jesus. Lift Him up and all men will be drawn to Him. I have come to realize that even Jesus doesn't want to become a Christian. He wants to be Lord, Savior and friend. You see, it really is JESUS PLUS NOTHING.