They say that if you want to be rich and successful in the world, you should choose your parents well -- the circumstances into which you are born shape much of the opportunity you have in this world. If you're born into a tribe in the plains of Africa or deep in the Amazon rainforest, your life will look very different than if your parents are two Wall Street stockbrokers. One of those lineages will open doors of power and give you opportunities for a very comfortable life by material standards.
Paul is reminding the church in Philippi that he was remarkably qualified to be a religious expert. When it comes to measuring up by religious standards, Paul was as qualified as anyone. He could go toe-to-toe if they were trying to compare who was the most righteous person.
But Paul came to realize that all his religious qualifications still left him far short of God's righteousness, and that salvation was a gift from God. Because it is a free gift, none of those qualifications mean anything in the new church -- because there is no hierarchy or need to prove yourself. It's simply about accepting grace, and if you are tempted to use your worldly qualifications, then that's pushing you farther from the ecosystem of grace.
It's a hard thing for us to accept, especially if we're rich in terms of worldly qualifications. But Paul came to see the truth of the free gift of grace, and may our hearts come to the same realization.
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