Knowing Christ

KNOWING CHRIST

An Exposition of Philippians 3:10

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date:   October 21, 2018

Series: Philippians: Gospel Partnership on Mission in the World

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked (NKJV) is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

The heart of Christianity is Christ. The heart of being a Christian is knowing Christ. Everything else – the forgiveness of sins, repentance and obedience, participation in the church’s fellowship and mission, love for one another, sound doctrine, Bible-reading and prayer, and all the rest – everything else finds its meaning and significance in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you take away Christ, what remains is just one more religious system for the dutiful and pious. But with Christ and in Christ, the whole thing pulsates with spiritual life and divine glory.

The centrality of Christ has been evident through the first two-and-a-half chapters of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. The letter is addressed: “To all the saints in Christ Jesus….” (Philippians 1:1) Paul yearns for the Philippian congregation “with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:8). Paul instructs us to “let [our] manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27). Paul says that the Philippians ought to honor Epaphroditus because “he nearly died for the work of Christ” (Philippians 2:30). Several other examples of Christ-centeredness can be seen in chapters 1-2.

When we open to chapter 3, the preeminence of Christ continues, beginning with a call to “rejoice in the Lord” (Philippians 3:1). Paul tells us that to be God’s holy people means that we “glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). We boast in Christ! All our confidence is in Him! Then in Philippians 3:7-9 we learn that Paul has renounced all other things as a basis for meaning and joy, he has renounced all other things as a basis for obtaining God’s favor, he has renounced all other things as a basis for personal identity and significance – and he gladly forsakes all these other things so that he can have the one reality worth having, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is not preoccupied with himself or with his religious activity, moral performance, educational attainments, social standing, and prospects for earthly comfort and wealth. Paul’s focus on self and a self-oriented, self-achieving life are long gone (you can’t even see them in the rear view mirror anymore!), and now he is preoccupied with the glory of Jesus Christ.

Such is the heart of every true Christian, for the heart of being a Christian is knowing Christ. Those who remain bound in their sin are preoccupied with false gods, material possessions, social status, appearing wise in accordance with worldly standards, living life on their own terms, and enjoying the goodness of earthly life without reference to God who made the earth and everything in it. At their best, sinners are idolaters fooling around with pseudo-spiritualities and vain attempts at righteousness. Those who devote themselves to religion without Christ or pursue morality without Christ or seek to do good without Christ are as spiritually lost as secular hedonists and greedy materialists. Christ is King, and knowing Him is the one necessary (and wonderfully glorious!) thing.

In Exodus 33, Moses said to the Lord, “Please show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18). In Psalm 23, David declared, “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). In Jeremiah 9, the Lord says, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:23-24). In terms of Philippians 3, Paul gladly forsakes all earthly wisdom and all earthly might and all earthly riches so that he can acquire and possess the far greater thing, which is knowing God and beholding His beauty and glory.

Where do we behold the beauty and glory of God? In the Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus “is the radiance of the glory of God” (Hebrews 1:3). The glory of Jesus is the “glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Paul described conversion as divine light shining into a darkened soul: “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

The tragedy of being an unbeliever is that you are blinded to this divine reality: “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). “[Those] who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 4:3) don’t behold the Father’s glory shining brightly in the face of His beloved Son. They don’t know Christ! Therefore they remain separated from God and destined for destruction. One day the Lord Jesus Christ will say to unrepentant sinners, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). All those who are unprepared for the Lord’s return will hear the Lord’s sobering words, “I do not know you” (Matthew 25:12) – in other words, I don’t recognize you as one of My own; I don’t recognize you as being part of My family. You’re an outsider, an evildoer; you’re not connected to Me and the life that I give; you are outside the sphere of God’s saving grace and you are destined for destruction.

Have you entered into a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? Does the Good Shepherd recognize you as a sheep who is part of His flock? Does He know you?

Do you know Him? Do you know by experience that knowing Him is of incomparable value – that knowing Him is worth more than knowing anyone else or knowing all other things put together? You may think you know a thing or two, but do you know the Lord of glory? Do you behold His glorious majesty, perceive His infinite worth, and seek to grow in your relationship with Him? Is knowing Christ the heartbeat of your life?

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

We will focus our attention especially upon verse 10, but for the sake of paying attention to the context, let me read verses 7-11.

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 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 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 – that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:7-11)

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO KNOW CHRIST?

It is clear that this passage is all about having and knowing Christ: “because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ” (v. 8), “that I may gain Christ and be found in him” (v. 8-9), “that I may know him” (v. 10). But what does it mean to know Christ? What is involved in knowing Christ? How would you know that you actually know Him and that you’re not just fooling around with religion clothed in Christianese language?

If knowing Christ truly is of “surpassing worth,” if beholding His divine glory is at the heart of true conversion, if gaining and possessing Christ is the only way to be saved and destined for glory, then wouldn’t it be worthwhile to take some time to clarify what it means to know Him? After all, it is probable in a gathering of this size that some of you do not know Him, which also means that it is probable that some of you are sitting beside someone who does not know Him. Further, you rub shoulders with all kinds of people who don’t know Him – this might include family members and friends and co-workers and neighbors – and it would be helpful if you could articulate to them what is involved in knowing Christ. If you are a parent or grandparent, it would be a very good thing if you could explain to your children or grandchildren what it means to know the Lord. So let’s tackle this question by paying attention to what Paul is telling us in Philippians.

As we shall see, knowing Christ involves at least four very significant and interrelated things.

KNOWING CHRIST INVOLVES KNOWING SOME THINGS ABOUT CHRIST

First, knowing Christ necessarily involves knowing some things about Christ. You don’t have to be a scholar, but understanding some basic theology is essential. Of course, knowing some things about Christ doesn’t mean that you know Him – just like knowing some things about Her Majesty the Queen of England doesn’t mean that you know her personally. But if you do know Christ personally, then you must know some things about Him. In keeping with what Paul tells us in Philippians,

• you must know that Christ is equal with God (Philippians 2:6);
• you must know that He who is forever God entered into our broken world as a Man (Philippians 2:7-8; John 1:1-14);
• you must know that this God-Man Jesus Christ lived and died as a humble and obedient servant of the Father (Philippians 2:7-8) – and, as other passages tell us, that He died for us as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10);
• you must know that though He died a shameful death upon the cross, the Father was not ashamed of His Son but was eminently pleased with His Son – so the Father raised Jesus from the dead and “highly exalted him” and seated Him on His right hand (Philippians 2:9);
• you must know that He alone is able to bring a sinner into a right relationship with God, which Paul emphasizes when he speaks of the righteousness “which comes through faith in Christ” (Philippians 3:9);
• and you must know that He is the sovereign Lord who brings the grace of God to those who are being saved : “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:2); “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit” (Philippians 4:23).

Mere agreement with these gospel facts won’t save anyone; mental ascent to right doctrine doesn’t mean that you know Him. But if you would know Christ savingly, then you must know these things about Him.

KNOWING CHRIST INVOLVES TRUSTING HIM

This knowing about must lead to trusting in. So the second aspect of knowing Christ is that knowing Christ involves trusting Him. To have “faith in Christ” (Philippians 3:9) – to “believe in him” (Philippians 1:29) – means that you have found Him worthy of your trust and you have proceeded to actually trust Him, rely on His work, and depend on His grace.

If you were to hand me a cup filled up with what appeared to be coffee, I might be willing to mentally affirm that you have indeed handed me a cup of coffee. But the question is: do I trust you and do I trust the looks-like-coffee substance in the cup? Do I trust you that in your great reliableness you have actually brought me a cup of richly brewed coffee and not a cup of dirty water? Only if I trust you will I put my life on the line by drinking that cup of apparent coffee.

To trust in Christ means that I am actually trusting Him to save me from my sins – I am not trusting myself, my performance, my smartness, my human connections – I am trusting Christ and Christ alone, I am trusting Christ crucified and Christ risen. To trust in Christ means that I am not living and not feeling as if it’s up to me, because I have come to know and understand that it's up to Him – and the believing heart loves it so! To believe Christianly means that your emotional weight has landed on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ. Those who trust in Christ know Him to be a reliable Rock and Redeemer, a strong and mighty Savior. But truly trusting in Christ is not the same thing as saying that you trust Him. So I hasten to call our attention to two other things that Philippians 3 teaches us about knowing Christ.  

KNOWING CHRIST INVOLVES TREASURING HIM

Third, knowing Christ involves treasuring Him – loving Him more than anyone or anything else. As it happens, I esteem good coffee. Now if you hand me a cup of coffee, I may agree that it is indeed coffee that you have handed me; and then through faith in you and in the coffee-ness of the coffee, I may put my life on the line by drinking it. But then suppose as I drink in the first few sips of coffee, I turn away in disgust, spit it out of my mouth, and then I say to you, ‘That’s coffee all right, the worst I’ve ever had! No more of that!” I agree that the coffee is coffee, and I even had faith to the point of drinking it and even afterward am still persuaded that it meets the definition of coffee, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the worst coffee I’ve ever tasted and I won’t be drinking your coffee ever again. Let him who has ears to hear understand the point of the illustration! You cannot know and trust Christ in a saving way unless you have found Him to be wonderfully good – and not only wonderfully good, but the very best. 

It is simply impossible to have a true saving encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ and come to the conclusion that it’s not worthwhile to know Him in any kind of practical way, that it’s not worthwhile to give up all other things so that you can hold onto Him, that it’s not worthwhile to make it your life aim to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). If you say that you believe in Christ but in your actual experience you find Christ rather boring, then you have not believed in Christ rightly. To “glory in (or boast in) Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3) means that Christ is uppermost in your value system. To “count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8) means that Christ is more important to you, more precious to you, more delightful to you, than any other thing in the universe. 

In the words of one hymn, 

“Fair is the sunshine,

Fairer still the moonlight,

And all the twinkling starry host:

Jesus shines brighter,

Jesus shines purer

Than all the angels heaven can boast.”[1]

And in the words of another hymn,

“I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;

I’d rather be His than have riches untold;

I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands.

I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand

Than to be the king of a vast domain

Or be held in sin’s dread sway.

I’d rather have Jesus than anything

This world affords today.”[2]

Jesus is far better than the pipe dreams of this desperate world, far better than the transient pleasures of sin, far better than the best performances we can muster up in our own strength, far better than all the possessions and gadgets and toys that we are tempted to chase after and hold onto, far better than the volumes of knowledge contained in humanity’s finest libraries, far better than our best friends on earth. He alone is able to redeem us from the pit and bring us into His Father’s palace; He alone is able to restore our true humanity and make us vital participants in His everlasting kingdom. And at the heart of this redeeming and restoring grace is coming into relationship with Him and knowing Him. Jesus declared to the calloused church in Laodicea, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20) This is fellowship and relationship with the Lord!  

If you have found Christ to be the most valuable possession in the world, then your desire will be to know Him more. If we rewind a bit and you actually gave me a cup of coffee that was utterly delightful to my senses, then I will keep drinking it and I might even inquire as to how I can get more of this wonderful coffee into my life. More of that, please! How much more wonderful it is to know Christ! Knowing Christ is of such a nature that those who know Him want to know Him more. Paul’s desire to “gain Christ and be found in him” (Philippians 3:8-9) was not for the purpose of getting his eternal security papers in order, so that once they were in order he could get back to all the earthly pleasures and treasures that he really loved. No! Paul’s mindset – the true Christian’s mindset – is that Christ is the real deal, the bread of life, the pearl of great price embodied in a Person, and now you want to know more of this most excellent Person. Healthy spouses want to grow in their relationship with one another. Healthy parents want to grow in their relationship with their children. Healthy Christians want to grow in their relationship with Christ, because they love Him.

And those who love Him and treasure Him want to be with Him, want to be with His people, want to be involved in His mission, and want to honor Him in all of life. This is why we devote ourselves to Holy Scripture, this is why we are an active part of the church family, this is why we ought to walk in obedience 24/7 – not because they earn us points on a religious scorecard, but because they help to sustain and strengthen our fellowship with Christ. We want to behold more of His glory, grasp more of His goodness and mercy, understand more of His truth, and call to mind His faithfulness and trustworthiness over and over again. Christ is our life! (Colossians 3:4) And so we say with Paul, “For to me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21).

KNOWING CHRIST INVOLVES SHARING DEEPLY IN HIS WAY OF LIFE

So far we have said that knowing Christ involves knowing some very important things about Him, trusting Him, and treasuring Him. The fourth thing we must say is that knowing Christ involves sharing deeply in His way of life. In other words, knowing Christ involves walking with Christ in a Christ-shaped way of life.

This is so important to emphasize because we don’t want anyone to think that knowing Christ is only a matter of your private inner experience and inner life. Obviously your inner life is foundational to your overall life: knowing some very important things about Christ relates to your understanding, trusting Christ relates to your capacity to exercise faith and to experience confidence and hope, and loving and treasuring Christ relates to your affections, delights, and motivations. But we must never think that one can fairly claim to know Christ in these ways if the inner life isn’t accompanied by a corresponding outer life that is itself shaped by Christ. This point should come as no surprise, because back in Philippians 1:27 we were instructed to “let [our] manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ,” and then in Philippians 2 we were instructed to love one another and walk in obedience to the Lord. Of course, this manner of life is only possible because – do you remember? – because God works in us “both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

In Philippians 3 Paul revisits these earlier themes and helps us to see that all this is part of what it means to know Christ. Look again at Philippians 3:10. Paul begins: “that I may know him,” and I want you to notice something important about the way that Paul has structured his statement. The verb “know” in verse 10 actually governs the first three objects that are mentioned.[3] This isn’t clear in the English Standard Version, but it is clear in some other versions, such as the New King James Version, which says: “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings” (NKJV).[4] Paul eagerly desires to know Christ and Paul desires to know the power of Christ and Paul desires to know the fellowship – the koinonia! – of Christ. Do you see? All this fits together as a unified experience in the believer’s life. This is what it means to know Christ!

That I May Know Christ

When Paul says that he desires to know Christ, he is telling us that knowing Christ is personal. We know a Person, not a philosophy or program. And yet, a personal relationship with Christ is not some open-ended thing that you and your feelings are in charge of. The individual believer doesn’t set the parameters of fellowship with Christ. Christ is Lord! Christ is the One who initiates, defines, and guides the relationship, and He does so through His Word.

That I Know Christ’s Power

When Paul says that he desires to know the power of Christ, he is telling us that knowing Christ is transformative. The one who knows Christ is transformed in the depths of his being by the power of Christ. Notice how Paul describes this power: “that I may know… the power of His resurrection.” God the Father put His almighty power on display when He raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus is the living one (Revelation 1:18), alive from the dead (Revelation 1:18, 2:8), conqueror of the grave, and He lives forever (Hebrews 7:17, 21, 24, 25) in “the power of an indestructible life” (Hebrews 7:16). Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life…. Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). Every sinner who repents of his sin and believes in Jesus becomes a participant in the indestructible, spiritual, and eternal life that Jesus is and has.

For us who believe, Christ’s power is not a theoretical force that we observe from a distance; Christ’s power is not a mere idea that we learn about in a book. Instead, Christ’s power is actually at work in our lives, both in our initial conversion and in our ongoing walk with the Lord. Ephesians 2 describes conversion in terms of resurrection: “when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ… and raised us up with him” (Ephesians 2:5-6). We who have been “made… alive” and “raised up” thereafter learn that Christ’s resurrection power is actually the transformation dynamic of the entire Christian life.

Listen to part of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1: he prays “that you may know” – sound familiar? – “that you may know… what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead” (Ephesians 1:18-20). Do you hear the similarity between Philippians 3 and Ephesians 1? The same power by which the Father raised His Son from the dead is at work in you believers. How can anyone claim to have encountered God and His saving power without being profoundly transformed? God is powerfully at work in His people – renewing our minds, making us strong in His grace, filling us with hope, binding our hearts to each other in Christian love, breaking the power of sin, propelling us forward on the path of holiness, deepening our communion with the Lord Jesus Christ.

That I May Know Christ’s Fellowship

Even so, we must not miss the edge of Philippians 3:10, in which Paul indicates the very particular purpose of knowing Christ’s resurrection power in our lives. What is this particular purpose? Notice the flow of thought. After speaking of his desire to know Christ’s power, Paul immediately continues by telling us that he desires to know Christ’s fellowship: “That I may know… the fellowship of His sufferings” (NKJV), or – as the ESV says – “that I may… share his sufferings.” The fellowship of Christ is a fellowship that is oriented around humble service, self-sacrifice, suffering, and death: “that I… may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10).

Think about it: if you’re going to pour out your life in service to Christ and know in an ever-deepening way “the fellowship of His sufferings,” then you’re going to need a continual supply of spiritual empowerment – empowerment for humble service, empowerment for dying to self so that you can effectively serve others for Jesus’ sake, empowerment for obedience especially when it is uncomfortable or inconvenient, empowerment for saying “No” to a thousand trivial pursuits so that you can say “Yes” to faithful participation in Jesus’ mission, empowerment for perseverance amid suffering and persecution, empowerment to keep on going when you’ve given so much and feel like you have nothing left to give, empowerment for putting it all on the line for the glory of Jesus Christ, which will mean “becoming like him in his death.”

So here’s the deal: you cannot know someone that you refuse to spend time with. If you would know someone, you must meet with that person where that person can be found. Of course, Jesus isn’t just anyone, but the Lord of the universe who is worthy of your complete devotion. You cannot know Him unless you meet with Him and spend time with Him, not a little bit here and there, but always. And you must meet Him in the place where He can be found! And where is Jesus found according to Philippians 3:10? It is the path that He walked, the path of suffering. Our Lord Jesus Christ has walked a path and completed a race, and when He says Follow Me and Walk with Me and Abide in Me, one of the things that He means is that you must join Him (and remain with Him!) on the path that He walked. That path is the place of fellowship – “the fellowship of His sufferings.” That path is the place where His power will meet you in order to sanctify you and sustain you.

The path that Jesus walked is, according to Philippians 3:10, the path of suffering and death – by which we are to understand not just any kind of suffering and death, but suffering and death that accompanies a life of humble obedience to the will of God. Jesus, the Lord of glory, humbled Himself by becoming a Man and lived as a faithful servant of the Father (Philippians 2:6-8). Jesus “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). Jesus suffered and died in order to do the Father’s will, glorify His Father’s name, and build His Father’s kingdom. Jesus suffered and died, not only in an attitude of worship to His Father but also in an attitude of love to sinners like us – indeed, Jesus suffered and died in order to purchase His bride and make atonement for the sins of His people. The path that Jesus walked is the path of obedience, suffering, and death, followed by resurrection and glory.

Right after Jesus told the disciples about His suffering, death, and resurrection in Mark 8, He immediately told the disciples and the crowd that was gathered around that anyone who would follow Him must follow Him on this path: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35) You cannot know Christ unless you walk with Him on the path that He walked – the path of saying “not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42), the path of laying it all on the line because of the glory of Christ and the Good News of His everlasting kingdom.

In Philippians 3 Paul is saying ‘Yes and Amen’ to the truth of Mark 8: Yes, “I have suffered the loss of all things” (Philippians 3:8); yes, I have lost my life and continue to lose my life for the sake of knowing Jesus and advancing His gospel; yes, my uppermost desire is to know Christ and thus I will rely upon His transforming power so that I can share more fully in His suffering and cross-bearing and thereby come to know Him even more.

Jesus suffered, died, and rose again, and we who walk with Him on the path that He walked have confidence not only that we will know His transformative power now in a life of suffering for His sake, but also that after we have suffered and died we will know His transformative power in bodily resurrection: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11).

DO YOU KNOW HIM?

Some people want to come to Christ with a ‘grab and go’ mentality: grab the offer of salvation, go on your merry way, do your own thing, chart your own course. But Christ is over here – having fulfilled the Father’s mission by way of humble service, obedience, and suffering unto death; and you’re over there, preferring your own agenda, your own comfort, your own self-shaped life. And if you’re over there – and He’s over here –  how can you know Him? In the words of the apostle John: “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments…. By this we may now that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” (1 John 2:3, 5-6).

Knowing Christ involves knowing about Him, trusting Him, treasuring Him, and walking with Him on the path that He walked. It is only on this path that you will find His transformative power, His life-giving fellowship, and His promise of future glory.

Do you know Him?             

Let us pray.

ENDNOTES

[1] From the hymn “Fairest Lord Jesus.”

[2] From the hymn “I’d Rather Have Jesus” by Rhea F. Miller. According to The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration (Waco, Texas: Word Music, 1986, Hymn 517), the words to this hymn were copyrighted originally in 1922 and subsequently renewed in 1950.

[3] See the interlinear (Greek and English) format of Philippians 3 at Bible Hub’s Interlinear Bible: https://biblehub.com/interlinear/philippians/3.htm.

[4] In addition to the NKJV, the KJV, NASB, HCSB, CSB, and NIV also capture the connection between “know” and the first three objects (Christ, Christ’s power, Christ’s fellowship) in Philippians 3:10.