3:9
This verse sums up the fundamental difference between the gospel and Judaism. Judaism, indeed all other religions, seek to earn righteousness, there needs to be something about us that makes us righteous, With the gospel, on the other hand, all our righteousness is found in Christ. Paul wants to be “found in Christ”. If we are relying on anything else then we are not “found in Christ”. There can be times in life when God seems to be taking everything away. These times can be very testing, but we should not fear, what God is doing is working to get us to trust more in Him, to rely more on Him. When we do this we find a far greater peace, joy and security than we ever imagined possible. Righteousness comes through faith in Christ, not from the law.
3:10
The focus for Paul is knowing Christ, knowing the power of the resurrection, and participating in His sufferings, to become like Him in His death. What does Paul mean by all this? On the cross all our sins were placed on Christ and were paid for on the cross. Jesus was raised from the dead, showing that all our sins had been paid for and that death had been defeated. The resurrection brings new life to us. In Eph 1:19,20 Paul says that the same power that God exerted to raise Christ from the dead is at work in us. But note that there is also a sharing in His sufferings. Paul was going through this at the time of writing, and had done so many times in his life. Indeed, when God called him He told him that he would suffer many things (Acts 9:16).
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