Rubbish

though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ – Philippians 3.4-8

There are plenty of folks who think that if we do all the right things and don't do all the wrong things they are somehow going to make God happy and make themselves right with Him.

If anybody could have ever done that it would be Paul and here he addresses that. He puts it in words that anybody could understand.

'If anybody could have confidence in their fleshly works it would be me. I was circumcised on the eighth day, just like the Law said. I was as Jewish as Jewish can be. I was a Jew's Jew. I knew the Law to the point that I became a Pharisee. I was so zealous that tried to protect the nation of Israel that I did my dead level best to wipe out the Christians. I kept the Law to the point I could be called blameless.'

Now that sounds pretty good.

But what does Paul say about it?

All the things I counted as gain I now consider as loss

I count all those things as rubbish

Now the word translated as 'rubbish' is a powerful word. 'Rubbish' doesn't really nail it. The KJV used the word 'dung' here. That seems to be a little better translation. I am weak in Greek but from what I can see it would be hard to overdo it when trying to describe how gross the rubbish this word describes is.

There is nothing good about our own works. They stink, no matter how great they seem to us.

My only work for God is only what He does in me as I yield to Him. There is no good I could muster up that would be anything better than rubbish (or worse) apart from Him.