Monday: Paul’s “Past Life”
Daily Lesson for Monday 2nd of February 2026
It is a common experience for Christian converts to think of their lives in terms of before they accepted Jesus and after, just as Paul does in Philippians 3:1-21. Nevertheless, rightly or wrongly, we sometimes speak of those who are not Christians as being “good people,” and, at least according to the world’s standards, many indeed are. In contrast, compared to God’s standards, no one is, not even Christians.
In Philippians 3:4-6, Paul points to many things in his life of which he had once been proud. What are they? How would you describe the “good” in your own life (past and present)?
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
Paul makes an implicit contrast between believing Jews who are spreading false doctrine and uncircumcised believers who rely fully on Christ for their salvation and put no confidence in mere human works such as circumcision (see Hebrews 6:1, Hebrews 9:14; compare Romans 2:25-29). Even though Paul’s past life and pedigree would have been quite impressive to his fellow Jews, none of these things contributed to his salvation. In fact, they actually hindered it because they blinded him for a while to his need of Christ.
Paul was not just circumcised—he was an “eighth day-er,” meaning he, an Israelite by birth and belonging to the people of the covenant, was circumcised on the eighth day. Furthermore, he was from the tribe of Benjamin, whose territory included some of the most important cities of Israel. Paul not only knew Hebrew but, as a student of Gamaliel the Elder (Acts 22:3, Acts 26:4-5) and a Pharisee, he would have been steeped in knowledge of the law and how it was, at least according to tradition, to be applied.
Paul was so zealous for the law that he persecuted the church because of its perceived threat to the Jewish way of life, which he thought the law prescribed. Interestingly, though “blameless” in terms of that human-originated “righteousness,” Paul realized the law was actually far deeper and more demanding than he could imagine, and that without Christ he stood before it condemned.
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Compare Romans 7:7-12 with Matthew 5:21-22,27-28. What crucial point do both Jesus and Paul make about the law, and why is “faith in Christ” (Philippians 3:9, NKJV), rather than the law, the only source of righteousness? Look at it this way: How well do you keep the law, at least in the way Jesus said we should? |
We need to remember the early Christian Church was considered a sect of the Jewish religion. And the rite of circumcision was not just an optional extra. For a man to convert to Judaism, circumcision was still necessary. It was the law! God had required it of Abraham and every male descendent of Abraham since. And even if you were a convert who had been circumcised before you had to go through the motions because it would not have been ritually pure.
The problem for the early Christian Church is they actively evangelised the Gentiles and consequently many Jewish Christians expected them to be circumcised as well. And without too much detail, circumcision for an adult male is more complicated than it is for an 8-day-old baby. [edited]
So, circumcision was not a little issue in the early church and there were conferences and compromises. The Council of Jerusalem decided that converts didn’t have to be circumcised, but then Paul, controversially circumcises Timothy (Acts 16:1-3). However, Titus was not required to be circumcised (Gal 2:3). The concerned brethren of the day must have had a field day.
And now Paul, in his letter to the Philippians is essentially saying that in Christ there is no need to keep the law of circumcision. That was a big deal. It was a break with what was considered “the law” for Jews.
I have been reading Seventh-day Adventist church history focussed on the 1890s, when the idea gained traction that we are save by grace and not by our own effort in keeping the law. It was a big deal for Adventism. So much so that Ellen White was sent to Australia for ten years. Significantly, in that time she wrote Desire of Ages, bringing back the focus of Adventist Christians to the centrality of grace and faith in/of Jesus to our spiritual journey.
Do we have a Judaistic approach about Adventism? Are we preaching prophecy to the extent we are leaving Jesus on the sidelines?
Eight-day-old?
Thanks Dana. Poor eyesight!
Yes, the text does say that Timothy was circumcised…it also says that his mother was Jewish and his father was Greek. Likely on account of his father being Greek, he was not circumcised as a baby, however, his ministry among Jews might have had greater acceptance if through circumcision he was recognized as a “true Jew” and not “half-and-half”, whereas Titus may have been a gentile from both parents
Before Paul was converted into Christianity he embodied the very essence of “success” and status in the Jewish society. Examining his own testimonies (Philippians 3:4–11, Galatians 1:13–16, 1 Corinthians 1:26–31), one can easily feel his exuberance and pride of who he was. Before his conversion from Saul to Paul, he considered himsef as a pure Hebrew specimen in terms of religion, ethinicity, morally and as the custodian of God’s law. He held himself as the purest gold standard upon which all the heathens world should emulate. Paul as a case study before conversion is a true representation of who we are without Christ. The case study goes on to warn us that the so called earthly achievements and status are deadly distractions to our spiritual lives. Paul showcases his previous achievements and social status as a living testimony to those who take pride on transient things which are nothing but an illusion. After his conversion, Paul describes his previous achievements as “a loss”. They were a hinrance because they created a false sense of comfort, security, self-justifucation and self-worth.
When Jesus confronted Paul during one of his evil errands, his emptyness was exposed. His eyes were opened to the real thing worth to fight and dies for. Paul refers all that he had worked to achieve as “loss” and “rubbish” (Philippians 3:8). It is fair to note that earthly achievements are not evil intrinsically, but when they control our identity, they become idols and death traps. These earthly accomplishments promise temporary value but cannot provide salvation.
What spiritual lessons can we learn from the case study about “Paul’s past life”?
1. If earthly “successes” are not spiritually handled, they easily and quickly because death traps.
2. Spritual pride and arrogancy are as deadly and evil as Satan himself.
3. Earthly loss can can be a spiritual blessing in kind. Paul lost his earthly gains in order to achieve heavenly blessing.
4. Godly obedience is far greater spiritually that earthly identity and recognition.
5. Our spiritual life is more sustatined by our relationships with others than our earthly positions and accomplishments.
“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith” (Philippians 3:7-9, NLT).
Perhaps we have forgotten that Paul was once called Saul, here is a quick reminder of his conversion experience:
Two important questions we need to look into going forward;
1. Should we wait till we have the same conversion experience as Paul, before we drop our unholy zeal which, have hindered the spread of the gospel in our communities, and discouraged genuine zeal among members willing to make mission? Or
2. Selflessly yield to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and let Him help us to RIGHT the WRONG and empower us to even break new grounds in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and the three Angels’ messages like Paul?
Holy Spirit makes the difference.
Paul was a driven go-getter—passionate, disciplined, and deeply committed to excellence. He was strict with himself and believed firmly in never violating his conscience. As Saul, however, these admirable traits were bound up with pride and self-righteousness. His zeal expressed itself in violent opposition to the church. As Acts 8:3 records, he “began to destroy the church, going from house to house. He dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” Later, reflecting on this period, Paul confesses in Acts 26:9, “I myself was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.” His conscience and sense of duty once compelled him to persecute Christ, whom he believed to be an imposter. Yet after encountering Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1–6), that same conscience was radically reoriented. From the very core of his being, Paul became compelled to do the exact opposite—devoting his life wholly to the Christ he once hated.
Paul came to regard his former righteousness as a “Pharisee of Pharisees” as nothing more than garbage—“rubbish” compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ (Philippians 3:5–8). What he once trusted in, he now saw as filthy rags when measured against the beautiful, radiant, and perfect righteousness of Christ—the righteousness required for heaven (Isaiah 64:6; 2 Corinthians 5:21). His conversion was not temporary or superficial; it was a true transformation of the heart. He received a radically new nature—becoming, to the very root of his being, a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). His heart of stone was removed, and he was given a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). From that point on, the deepest desire of the new Paul, as expressed in Philippians 3:10, was to “know Christ”—to know the One he met on the road to Damascus more fully. For the rest of his life, this singular purpose defined him: serving Christ faithfully, in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2).
In Philippians 3:7, Paul gives us an inside look at how his values had shifted. He shares his resume, and it is quite impressive by worldly standards. But Paul wants us to know that anything the world has to offer pales in comparison to a relationship with Christ where you actually know Him because of the time you have spent with Him. You might be thinking, “how can I actually spend time with Jesus as He is in heaven currently with his Father?” Every person who has placed their faith in Jesus’ saving work has been given access via God’s spirit, more commonly referred to as the Holy Spirit. God’s spirit is with us wherever we are, however, when we focus our hearts and minds on Christ through prayer, reading the Bible, or just thinking about Jesus, we are actually spending time with Him.In our fast-paced, information, overloaded culture, it can be challenging to take the time to focus on Jesus and get to know Him better.
‘Loving God’ and ‘keeping the Law’ could be generated by two sources – man’s spirit or the Holy Spirit. Unless both acts are humbly but deliberately requested to be generated by the Holy Spirit, we still operate in the flesh – Acts 4:31; Rom.3:9-19.
Even if we ‘keep the law in the way Jesus said we should, if we lack the infilling of the Holy Spirit, if our actions are not engendered by humble love for the Glory of God who gave us salvation by faith, we are still walking in the way of the flesh – Gal.5:15-17;
No matter how sophisticated the by ‘self’ perceived ideas are that aim to reach the needy, our ‘service’ ought to always be generated by and done in the Spirit of Christ – the Holy Spirit working in and through us. If not, we can only promote ‘self’.
The warfare takes place between the spirit of the world and the Holy Spirit. He is given to us by God for the edification of the born-again, living soul – Eph.4:12; 1 Cor.12:7; Rom.8:26.
We need to be careful that we don’t develop a guilty conscience about doing good works. I like to remember that all goodness comes from God, but sometimes we are selfish enough to try and wrangle something out of those good works. That is clearly wrong. On the other hand I see folk who make no claim about Christianity doing good kind unselfish deeds, expecting no reward (not even a heavenly one). Where does that goodness come from? Could they be influenced by the Holy Spirit without even knowing it?
I try to remind myself that Christian’s do not hold the mortgage on goodness. All goodness comes from God, and who are we to argue that non-believers who do good unselfish deeds are not being influenced by the Holy Spirit. I have coined the name “anonymous Christians” for these people. I suspect there will be atheists who will be surprised that they have been saved. Read the parable of the sheep and the goats.
Maurice – I appreciate your concern about Christian’s ought not develop a “guilty conscience about doing good works.”
What do you think holds back the “anonymous Christian” from confessing that their ‘goodness’ is not their own but the goodness of God who created them and expresses Himself through them?
If it is thru that their ‘goodness’ is generated by the Holy Spirit, I am certain that He will reveal its source to them. If not accepting the source, you might inquire what they think the ‘source’ of their goodness is.
Many folk, who for want of a better term, I call “secular” have rejected Christianity for a varity of reasons but generally associated with their perception of hypocrisy within organised believers. They have substituted ideas like “the greater good”, “nature”, “universal morality, the sense of the numenis, and so on. My perception is that they have not lost sight of the attributes we see in God. The big lesson for me when I see these people is they do not see eternal life in the end game. They do what they do because it is right. It is that attitude that keeps me humble when I talk about goodness in the Christian context.
God has ways of communicating and relating to people who do not use the language and symbolism that we Christians deem so important.
(And I recognise that both Christians and non-Christians do good for entirely selfish reasons too. Evil has many ways of obfuscating the good.)
Yikes, this lesson hits home for me! I’m not really one to brag about my “goodness”, but in my thoughts I do sometimes. I can be proud I’ve read the Bible as many times as I have, and proud that I’ve never tried alcohol, and proud that I’ve never compromised and worked on Sabbath and on and on it goes. Or I’m proud of how I’ve served the church over the years. I’m not saying any of those things are bad, but if I treat them like they are my righteousness, it shows I’ve done them all for the wrong reason. And if they are a product of God working in me, who am I to brag about them?
I sort of take exception to the idea that when we call a non-Christian a “good person”, we are using the world’s standard. I think that’s actually inaccurate. Though the world can be messed up in what it considers good, I think the standards that are prevalent actually reflect God’s standards to a large extent.
I have a recent example – I got stuck in the snow a few weeks ago and two men stopped and helped me get out. I have no idea if they were Christians, but it’s definitely possible they are not. No matter what, though, what they did was a kind thing, it was a good thing, and that’s by God’s standard, not the world’s.
The issue, I think, is not the deeds but the motive for them. Many people who are not Christians and do good deeds do it for all sorts of selfish reasons – to look good, to stay out of trouble etc. Or they may do it simply out of socialization. And with those motives, the “good deeds” aren’t so good anymore. Of course, some non- Christians are probably also motivated by God’s spirit and just don’t know it. There really is no way to tell as we can’t read hearts.
That doesn’t mean they get merit out of their good deeds – just like us, they don’t. If they do good deeds for the wrong motives, the deeds are tainted. If they do them by the power of the Spirit, God gets all the credit. But I do think we need to be careful of assuming why people do things. I think we can even be smug about being “saved by grace” when others aren’t.
In psalms 119:68 it says “You are good and do good; teach me your statues.”
In Hebrews 6:18 says it is impossible for God to lie. The only good we can find is by hiding in God’s nature by abiding in Him through Christ Jesus.
Matthew 7, we hear that “if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” This is not a question; it is an exclamation. Sinful man is capable of giving a good gift, and yet there is an infinite contrast against the gifts of a heavenly Father who is altogether good. Why are God’s gifts superior to man’s gifts? Because God’s nature is wonderfully superior to man’s nature.
For some of us who grew up in the church, our experience has not been exactly like Paul’s. I grew up in an Adventism in the West Indies ( I will not name the island) where the easiest manner to win an Adventist was to simply prove ( at least to the people of African descent, who also made up by far the largest people group of the church) that Saturday was the Sabbath and it should be kept holy. Keeping the commandments was the manner by which we pleased God and one day would enter heaven. I am not certain if was my genetic make up. I do not think the enviroment in which I grew up was that bad. However during my teen years , especially with my awesome sexual urges, and the considerable amount of questions about life in its myriad diversity – all hell broke loose for me emotionally – so unlike St Paul’s. It was when I encountered kenneth Taylor’s Living New Testament that I began to learn that it is through trusting Jesus I am both declared and empowered to be holy.