Philippians 3:9

εὑρεθῶ. It is probably used here in the semi-technical sense which it received in post-classical Greek = τυγχάνω with participle (French se trouver), “turn out actually to be”. “And actually be in Him,” from the eschatological standpoint (see Viteau, Le Verbe, p. 192). The idea is involved of a revelation of real character. Cf. Galatians 2:17, εἰ δὲ … εὑρέθημεν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἁμαρτωλοί. ἐν αὐτῷ. The central fact of Paul's religious life and thought, the complete identification of the believer with Christ. μὴ ἔχων. μή either depends directly on ἵνα or is used to express Paul's own view of what is implied in εὑρεθ. ἐν α. This last thought must be regarded as the basis on which the clauses immediately following rest. ἐμὴν δικ. “A righteousness of my own.” Cf. Apoc. of Bar., lxiii. 3 “then Hezekiah trusted in his works and had hope in his righteousness”. The noun δικ. is anarthrous to emphasise the idea belonging to it in its essential force. ἐμήν is added to define, and then the definition is elaborated by the clause with the article. An instructive parallel is Galatians 2:20, ἐν πίστει ζῶ τῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ (see an important note in Green, Gram. of N.T., pp. 34 35). δικαιοσύνη, as usually in Paul's writings, means a right relation between him and God. The retention of the word by Paul to denote the position of the Christian before God is, as Holst. (Paulin. Theol., p. 64) points out, a proof of his close connexion with the Jewish consciousness. We may call it a “forensic” word, for certainly there always lies behind it the idea of a standard appointed by God, a law, the expression of the Divine will. The qualifying words here show what Paul has in view. τὴν ἐκ νόμου. Cf. the lament for the destruction of Jerusalem in Apoc. of Bar., lxvii. 6, “the vapour of the smoke of the incense of righteousness which is by the law is extinguished in Zion” (and see Charles' note on xv. 5). This hypothetical δικ., which he calls his own, could only spring from complete conformity to the will of God as revealed in precepts and commands. That is the kind of relation to God which Paul has found to be impossible. On νόμος without the article see on Philippians 3:5 supr. τὴν διὰ πίστεως Χ., τὴν ἐκ Θεοῦ δικ. ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει. The exact character of this δικαιοσύνη which Paul prizes must be carefully noted. The presupposition of possessing it is “to be found in Christ”. It is not a righteousness which he can win by legal observances. It springs from God. What does this new relation to God precisely mean? The one condition of understanding the Apostle's language is to remember that he combines in his thinking two conceptions of δικαιοσύνη, or perhaps we should rather say that his own experience has made vivid for him a two-sided conception of this relation. On the one hand, he thinks of δικ. as connected with God, the Judge of men. God, strictly marking sin, might condemn men absolutely, because all have sinned. Instead of that, because of His grace manifested in Jesus Christ the crucified and working through Christ's death, He deals mercifully with sinners, treats them as righteous on account of the propitiation made by the Righteous One, treats them as standing in a right relation to Himself, i.e., pardons them. δικαιοσύνη thus comes to be God's gracious way of dealing with us, “forgiveness with the Forgiver in it” (Rainy, op. cit., p. 231), the relation with God into which we are brought by His grace for Jesus' sake, regarded more or less as an activity of His, practically = salvation (which, already in O.T., rested upon the rectitude of God's character, see, e.g., Isaiah 51:5-8; Psalms 98:2). God's justifying of us makes us δίκαιοι in His sight: we possess δικαιοσύνη. That, however, might appear arbitrary. But the Apostle gives no ground for such a suspicion. This δικ. ἐκ Θεοῦ is only reached “through the faith of Christ,” i.e., the faith which Christ kindles, of which He is the author, which, also, He nourishes and maintains (see esp [46]. Haussleiter, Greifswald. Studien, pp. 177 178). This δικ. is securely founded on faith in Christ (ἐπὶ τῇ π.). But what does such faith effect? It is that which makes the believer one with Christ. He shares in all that his Lord possesses. Christ imparts life to him. Christ's relation to the Father becomes his. But this is no longer a being regarded or dealt with by God as if he were δίκαιος. Union with Christ makes it possible for the Christian to be δίκαιος, to show himself such in actual behaviour. Thus δικαιοσύνη may express something more than the relation to God into which believers are brought by God's justifying judgment (which for their experience means the sense of forgiveness with the Forgiver in it). It embraces the conduct which is the response to that forgiving love of God, a love only bestowed on the soul united to Christ by faith (see esp [47]. Pfieid., Paulin., i., p. 175; Hltzm [48]., N.T. Th., ii., pp. 127 129, 138 139; Häring, Δικ. Θεοῦ bei Paulus, Tübingen, 1896; Kölbing, SK [49]., 1895, 7 ff.; Denney, Expos., vi., 3, p. 433 ff., 4, p. 299 ff., Holst., Paulin. Th., pp. 65 66).

[46] especially.

[47] especially.

[48] tzm. Holtzmann.

[49] . Studien und Kritiken.