But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count themto be dung, so that I may win Christ Philippians 3:8
The apostle acknowledges two things about the Lord Jesus. The knowledge of him exceeds in worth the value of all things “in the world”. There is nothing that can compare to Jesus Christ. He is all together worthy of praise and honor and he alone is excellent.
Secondly and perhaps just as important the Apostle tells us that all other things are dung. We should be careful to avoid superimposing our own presuppositions on the term dung. This word does not carry the same vulgarity that similar vernacular expressions in English would carry. In Ancient Greece the usage of the word was found in medical literature as opposed to being slang. The meaning of the term then pertained to that which through the natural course of digestion was removed from the body.
Thinking about this from the perspective of the Christian life we can clearly see the implication. Where Christ resides the residual toxins of the natural man are removed as we are moved by the Holy Spirit to count all things but Christ as loss.
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