I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.
Parallel translations
- WEB However, I consider those things that were gain to me as a loss for Christ.
- KJV But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
- BSB But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.
- NKJV But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
- NASB But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Whatever gains Paul once prized he now counts as loss for Christ's sake. Knowing Christ outweighs every former advantage.
Overview
Paul reverses his ledger: the credentials he just listed are reclassified from assets to losses. The turning point is Christ, whose surpassing worth changes everything. This is the great exchange at the heart of the gospel, trading self-righteousness for Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Luke 14:33So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple.
- Matt 16:26For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?
- Matt 13:44–46“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.
- Luke 14:26“If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple.
- Prov 13:8The ransom of a man’s life is his riches, but the poor hear no threats.
- Phil 3:8–10Yes most certainly, and I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ
- Luke 17:31–33In that day, he who will be on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away. Let him who is in the field likewise not turn back.
- Gen 19:17It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!”
- Gal 2:15–16“We, being Jews by nature, and not Gentile sinners,
- Job 2:4Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
- Gal 5:2–5Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.
- Luke 16:8“His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light.
- Gen 19:26But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
- Phil 3:4–6though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If any other man thinks that he has confidence in the flesh, I yet more:
- Prov 23:23Buy the truth, and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
- Acts 27:38When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
- Acts 27:18–19As we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw things overboard.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The one who, being in the form of God, emptied himself to the point of death on a cross and was exalted to the name above every name — the joy and prize of the believer.
How Philippians 3:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.