In the beginning of Philippians 3 Paul begins addressing the issue that was creating disunity and division within the church at Philippi, the wrong belief that because “salvation is of the Jews” as Jesus said in John 4:22, that Gentiles had to become Jews, meaning be circumcised and adhere to the Law before they could be saved by Christ. Paul addressed those spreading this error referring to them as “dogs, evil workers and the mutilation”. Paul then dismantled their teaching by carefully expressing his privilege and achievements as a Jewish man living under the Law. He was everything the Law required by birth and by his own effort and yet upon meeting Jesus Paul counted all those things as loss compared to the great gain of knowing Jesus. In tonight’s text we see how Paul goes even further down this path but what he reveals is that this exchange of the former things for the “excellence of the knowledge of Christ” is not about diminishing what was but it is about magnifying Jesus. Paul is very careful to build up Jesus rather than tear down Judaism, but he is also careful not to make this simply about Judaism. Paul understood what the Judaizers were doing was wrong, they were spreading division and prejudice, a superiority of the Jews that said that God only accepted people that conformed not to His image but to their race. Paul’s goal was not to simply stop them but to shut down that message, he would not allow Gentiles to become as divisive or prejudice against the Jews in response to how they were being treated and so rather than making his argument about the diminished ability of the Law he made it about the superiority of Christ. We have to do the same thing, transformation does not happen when we see that what we have had is worthless, it happens when we discover that Jesus is greater, that Jesus is sufficient, that Jesus is enough. Tonight, we are going to follow Paul’s example and rather than diminish the loss we will magnify the gain.