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In Philippians 3:8 Paul speaks of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. In verse 10 he says, “To know Him.” According to grammar, the phrase to know Him is an infinitive and needs to follow another word, but there is a question as to what word it follows. There are two possibilities: the first, that it follows be found in Him; and the second, that it follows the word faith. Scholars disagree with one another concerning this matter. According to our experience, I would say strongly that I do not agree with the first view but that I am absolutely for the second, that to know Him follows the modifying phrase ending with the word faith.
If this view is correct, then here the apostle Paul seems to be saying, “When I was Saul of Tarsus, everyone always found me in the law. Day and night I was in the law, and I was found by others in the law. Even the angels knew how much I was in the law. I was simply a man in the law. My heart, mind, emotion, and motive, thought, intention, and activity were altogether in the law. Because I was so much for the law, my whole being was in the law. But that day on the road to Damascus I was turned from the law to Christ. It pleased God to reveal His Son, Christ, in me, and I was willing to pay the price by selling my status in Judaism. I was of the race of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin, that lovable and honorable tribe. I was a Hebrew born of Hebrews and a Pharisee. I was zealous and blameless. I certainly had a superior status, but the heavenly vision turned me from the law to Jesus, the very One I had been persecuting. The heavenly vision was so strong and subduing that it defeated and conquered me.” Thus, Saul of Tarsus surrendered to the Lord and was willing to sell his status in Judaism. From that time onward, he began to count as loss all religious and natural gains, selling them for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, so that he might gain Christ and be found in Him. From the time of his vision on the way to Damascus, his whole life was changed. Neither the angels nor those around him could find him in the law any longer. No matter who found him, when he was found, he was found in Christ. No matter what he was doing, he was in Christ. While he was teaching, he was in Christ. While he was ministering, he was in Christ. While he was moving and acting, he was in Christ. Day and night he was a man in Christ. He was always found in Christ in a condition of having no righteousness of his own out of the law. This means that he did not do good according to the law by his natural life. He was found in Christ in a condition of having a righteousness that was the expression of God. Hence, he did not have the righteousness that was out of the law but the righteousness that was out of God. Therefore, he did not act, behave, perform, strive, or struggle; on the contrary, he simply believed, believing not by his own faith but by Jesus Christ as his faith.
Paul took Christ not only as his life but also as his faith. In Galatians 2:20 he says that he was crucified with Christ, that he lived no longer, and that Christ lived in him; he continues on to say that the life he lived was in the faith of the Son of God, who loved him and died for him. This verse reveals that Christ lived in Paul and that Paul lived not only by Christ’s life but also by Christ’s faith. In himself, Paul had no faith. Even the faith by which Paul lived was the faith of Christ. This means that Paul was found in Christ in the condition that he lived by Christ as his faith and thereby lived out God as his righteousness. His righteousness was not behavior or conduct; it was God Himself lived out of him as his righteousness by faith. It was in this condition that Paul sought to know Christ.
Since Paul already had the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, why was he still seeking to know Him? The excellency of the knowledge of Christ comes by revelation, but the knowing of Him spoken of in Philippians 3:10 comes not by revelation but by experience. According to my experience, the word know here is equal to experience. To know Him means to experience Him, to enjoy Him, to participate in Him, and to partake of Him. Take eating as an example. First you select certain groceries, you pay for them, and then you cook them. By eating what you have cooked, you come to know the food you have bought. In like manner we also need to pay the price to gain Christ and to be found in Him, not having the righteousness which is out of ourselves but the righteousness that is God Himself lived out of our being in faith. In such a condition we are to know Christ through experiencing Him a little at a time. It is not sufficient to listen to messages and to see Christ by revelation.
As one who was raised in Christianity, I heard the stories of Jesus from the time I was a little child. Both at home and in Sunday school, I was taught the stories in the Gospels concerning Christ. For a long time the Gospels were nothing more than stories to me. After I was saved, I no longer considered them as mere stories but viewed them as containing lessons for me to learn. Later, I changed my concept again, this time from lessons to teachings. Along with learning the teachings, I was also told to take Christ as my example, for, according to the lessons and teachings, Christ was to be our example and pattern. Many Christians today consider the four Gospels mainly as stories, lessons, teachings, and examples. However, twice the Lord Jesus said that He is life (John 11:25; 14:6). Thus, whatever is recorded in the Gospels is life, not merely stories, lessons, teachings, or examples.
In the Gospels we see that life is a person, not a thing, condition, or situation. Paul says in Philippians 3 that he wanted to gain Christ and be found in Him. The One whom he wanted to gain and in whom he wanted to be found was Christ Jesus as his life. This means that Paul wanted to be found in life, in the person who was his life. Furthermore, as we have pointed out, Paul wanted to be found in Him in a condition of not having the righteousness that was out of himself according to the law but of having the righteousness that was God lived out of him in faith. Therefore, Paul could say, “I want to be found in the One who is my life, in such a condition that I have nothing out of myself but only the living God lived out of me as my righteousness by the faith of Christ.” The condition in which Paul desired to be found was a condition according to faith, not according to work. Paul could be in such a condition only by believing, not by doing or struggling. He wanted to be in this condition so that he might know Christ, that is, so that he might experience, enjoy, participate in, and partake of all that Christ was to him.
At this point we need to consider the book of 2 Corinthians, which may be considered Paul’s autobiography. Brother Nee once pointed out that the book of Deuteronomy is the autobiography of Moses. If you want to know the kind of person Moses was, you need to study this book. Likewise, if you want to know the kind of person the apostle Paul was, you need to read 2 Corinthians. In this book Paul wrote of his personal life.
Second Corinthians 2:10 says, “Whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for also what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, it is for your sake in the person of Christ.” What does it mean to say that Paul forgave in the person of Christ? I spent a long time studying this verse before I came to realize Paul’s meaning. My understanding of this is best expressed through an illustration. Once, I was invited to a brother’s home for dinner. At a certain point I asked the brother a question, and then I turned the question to his wife. Before she answered me, she first looked at her husband, and he looked at her. Learning from the look in her husband’s eyes what to say, she proceeded to answer me in the person of her husband. Many husbands and wives relate to one another in this way. If a wife does not know how to behave in the person of her husband, she is independent. A wife should always speak in the person of her husband. Any wife who speaks according to the person of her husband is a very good wife, for she lives not by herself but by her husband. Although she has her own personality, she does not live by her personality but by the person of her husband. How wonderful this is!
All the young people need to learn how to live in the person of Christ. The way to experience Christ is to live in the person of Christ. We need to do everything in the person of Christ. For example, if you can watch television in the person of Christ, go ahead and do it. But if you honestly cannot watch it in the person of Christ, you should not do it. If you look at the Lord as you are watching television, He may tell you to shut it off. Furthermore, a married brother must learn to speak to his wife in the person of Christ. If he lives in the person of Christ with his wife, he will not argue with her. If he checks with the Lord as he is about to exchange words with her, the Lord will tell him to stop. What a wonderful life we would have if we lived in the person of Christ!
Paul was one who lived in the person of Christ. According to 2 Corinthians 2:10, he forgave in the person of Christ. Paul did not do anything according to his choice, taste, or preference. Instead, he did everything according to the taste of Christ. The best wife is one who lives by taking her husband as her person. The husbands also need to live in the person of their wives, but with discernment. This is according to God’s economy. According to God’s household arrangement, the headship is not with the wife but with the husband. Nevertheless, both the wife and the husband need to live in the person of the other party. Then their married life will be sweet and pleasant. What a wonderful experience it is to live in the person of Christ!
According to the Greek text, the Greek word rendered “person” in 2 Corinthians 2:10 is the same as the word translated “face” in 2 Corinthians 4:6, the verse which says that the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ. This indicates that when Paul lived in the person of Christ, he lived in the face of Christ. He was a man in Christ, who was found in Christ in a condition based on faith and conditioned by faith. In order to know Christ in his daily experience, Paul did everything in the person of Christ. Christ and he were not two but one. Therefore, in Philippians 1:21 he could say, “To me, to live is Christ.” He lived in the person of Christ and was one with Christ. Two persons, Paul and Christ, lived as one. We need such a life as this.
Second Corinthians 10:1 says, “I myself, Paul, entreat you through the meekness and gentleness of Christ.” This verse does not mean, however, that Paul was imitating Christ. No, because he lived by Christ, Christ’s meekness became his. Hence, he could beseech the Corinthians through the meekness of the Christ by whom he lived. Paul was meek not in himself but in Christ. Whatever he expressed as meekness was Christ’s meekness, not his own.
Furthermore, Paul also besought the Corinthians by the gentleness of Christ. Other versions render the Greek word here as “lenience.” This means that Paul was not legal but was flexible and lenient. Like his meekness, his lenience was not of himself; it was of Christ. Paul experienced Christ as the One who was kind, gentle, and flexible. Because he lived by Christ, Christ’s lenience was his. Because Paul lived by Christ, he had the virtues of Christ, including the virtues of meekness and gentleness. In his ministry, writing, and speaking, Paul was in Christ. Everything he did was done by the virtues of Christ. In everything we do, we need to be found in Christ. Oh, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him in a condition that is based on faith! I do not want to do anything by my struggling or endeavoring. Rather, I want to do everything by living in Christ so that His virtues may be spontaneously expressed in my living.
In 2 Corinthians 11:10 Paul says, “The truthfulness of Christ is in me.” The truthfulness of Christ was in Paul because Christ Himself was in him. Christ is the truth. This is a further proof that Paul lived by Christ. Otherwise, he could not have had the truthfulness of Christ.
In chapter 12 Paul prayed three times that the thorn in his flesh would depart from him. Verse 9 says, “He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me.” The power of Christ overshadowed Paul, tabernacling over him. This also is the experience of Christ. Paul did not do anything on his own, nor did he insist upon his preference. He simply looked to Christ, trusted in Christ, lived by Christ, and learned to enjoy Christ’s overshadowing. To him, Christ was a tabernacle overshadowing him, no matter what difficulties he was experiencing. Under this overshadowing, Paul enjoyed God’s sufficient grace. Therefore, little by little and step by step he came to know Christ, not only by revelation but through his personal experience. He could testify and boast that the grace of Christ was sufficient. He knew that when he was weak, he was powerful, because in his weakness the power of Christ was made perfect. This is the living out of Christ. What an experience of Christ the apostle Paul had!
In 2 Corinthians 12:2 Paul says, “I know a man in Christ.” Paul refers to himself as a man in Christ. What a marvelous designation! I hope that we all will be able to refer to ourselves in this way. I hope after some years you will be able to look back and say, referring to yourself, “Seven years ago, I knew a man in Christ.”
Let us consider the four Gospels once again. I have already pointed out that it is possible to take the Gospels as stories, lessons, teachings, and examples. But the primary thing about the Gospels is that they present a person who is life. I am still coming to know the Lord as He is revealed in the Gospels. How sweet is the record in the Gospels of the One who is my life! To me, the Gospels are no longer books of stories, lessons, teachings, or examples; they are the revelation of a wonderful person. This person is the very God who created all things. In Him was life. One day He became flesh, full of glory, grace, and reality; and of His fullness we have received grace upon grace. This One lived on earth until He was betrayed, arrested, condemned, and crucified. Then He was buried. On the third day He was resurrected to become the heavenly pneuma breathed into His disciples (John 20:22). From that time onward, He was in the disciples. However, He is also the One who has ascended into the heavens.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He always lived a life under the death of the cross that dealt with His natural life. Even before He was put on the cross, He lived under the cross by denying His natural life so that His divine life could be released in the power of resurrection. Realizing this has changed my view of the Gospels. It has helped me to know Christ not simply by revelation but by daily experience. Day by day I experience a little more of Him. Now whenever I open any page of the Gospels, I see this wonderful person and experience Him. This means that I taste Him, enjoy Him, and partake of Him. In eternity I will still be enjoying Him and partaking of Him. The very Jesus Christ revealed in the four Gospels is our life; we need to know Him in this way.
First, God has been pleased to reveal Christ into us. Second, we must all be willing to pay the price to receive this revelation so that we may gain Christ. Third, we need not only to gain Him but also to live in Him and be found in Him by angels and by all those around us. In Him we live in a situation that is regulated and conditioned by faith. Little by little we need to know Him experientially. This is the way to experience Christ and to know Christ.
After we receive the divine revelation, we have the experience of Christ as life. In this way we know Christ not in theory but in our daily experience, and His virtues are lived out in our humanity. If we need meekness, He is our meekness. If we need truthfulness, He is our truthfulness. He even becomes our very person. Thus, we live in Him by taking Him as our person and by doing everything in the person of Christ. This is the proper and normal Christian life. The normal Christian life is not good behavior or improved conduct. The one who lives a normal Christian life lives in the person of Christ to live out God as his righteousness without struggling or striving but with rest and enjoyment. What a life of enjoyment this is! Such a life is our daily salvation.
