Philippians 3:9

“and be found in Him, not having. righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith”

“And be found in Him”: Paul was already "in Christ" (Galatians 3:26). The word "found" suggests that Paul might be looking to the final day, seeing that it is vain to be "in Christ" now, if one does not remain faithful and is found outside of Christ at death or when Jesus comes again (2 Timothy 2:11). “Not having. righteousness of mine own”: “Not having. supposed right standing which depends on my doing what the law commands” (Wms). “No longer counting on being saved by being good enough” (Tay). “Righteousness”: “A right relation to God” (Erdman p. 118). “Even that which is of the law”: Paul had spent the first part of his life depending upon the flawless observance of the Law of Moses to make him right with God. He now realized that such was. vain task, for nobody ever keeps the law perfectly (Romans 3:23; Romans 7:8). “But that which is through faith in Christ”: A right standing before God cannot be accomplished by works of human merit (Titus 3:5), being. good moral person (Acts 10:1; Acts 11:13), or by flawlessly observing the Law of Moses. The only way to find favor with God is to humbly submit, in obedient faith to the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23). The path to salvation and acceptance is the path of forgiveness (Romans 4:1).

The faith or basis of faith in this verse includes more than mere mental assent, because the New Testament links acceptance with God (righteousness), to repentance (Acts 2:38); confession (Romans 10:9) and baptism (Mark 16:16). Thus all those things are included in the category of the type of faith that finds favor with God. Hawthorne makes the following comment: “Faith, therefore is not intellectual assent but the act of personal trust in and self-surrender to Christ. It is the movement of one's whole soul in confidence out toward Christ. It is the ‘yes' of the whole personality to the fact of Christ” (p. 141).

“Which is from God”: A right standing with God cannot be earned, merited, or deserved.