The center of Philippians 3 is the matter of being conformed to the mold of the Lord’s death. Verse 10 says, “To know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” What is the mold of the Lord’s death? A man can be strong, sound, sober-minded, intelligent, rich in emotion, and strong in will. Such a man has a large soul, a thriving soul. In a sense, he has no weakness but is perfectly sound, fully developed, and has a strong personality. When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He was such a man. He was intelligent and sober-minded, rich in emotion, being able to weep as well as smile, and strong in His will. While He was on the earth, however, He was always putting Himself to death, that is, putting His intelligent mind, rich emotion, and strong will to death so that God could be His mind, emotion, and will. This is the mold of the death of Christ, that is, the mold of the Lord’s death.
We should never think that the death of Christ refers only to His death on the cross. The death of Christ refers not only to His death on the cross but also to His putting Himself to death as a man in order to do the will of God. The basic principle of death is that of completely putting ourselves to death so that the will of God can be carried out. This is the death of the cross. Our knowledge of the death of the cross is too low and too shallow, and we may consider Christ’s death of the cross only in relation to the redemption of man. However, redemption is only a small part of the meaning of the cross. The cross has a deeper and higher meaning related to Christ’s willingness to put Himself to death so that God could have a way.
The Lord Jesus did not die only on the cross—He was dying every day while He was on the earth. The Lord Jesus lived on the earth for thirty-three and a half years. From the beginning, He put Himself to death. During these thirty-three and a half years, He was living in death. Even though He was such a sound person on earth, He was always putting Himself to death, always denying His mind, emotion, and will. He denied everything of Himself so that God could come out of Him and have a free way to supply the needs of many. This is the death of Christ.
The mold of Christ’s death refers to a sound man who has the capacity to live and think independently, love matters and things, express opinions, and make decisions by himself, but who still does not rely on himself. Christ denied and rejected everything of Himself, whether it was His mind, emotion, or will so that God could come out of Him and supply others. He denied Himself even though He was rich and strong in every part of His being. This is the death of Christ. The death of Christ involves nothing less than putting such a sound humanity to death so that God can have a way to come out.
The entire life of the Lord Jesus, as portrayed in the four Gospels, is based on this principle. In the Gospels we see a person who was sober-minded, rich in emotion, and strong in will, a person who was perfectly sound yet refused to rely on Himself and continually put Himself aside. He did not rely on His own mind, preferences, or views; instead, He lived by God. He continually denied His intelligent mind, rich emotion, and strong will; He continually denied Himself so that God could work in Him freely and could have a way to come out of Him to supply others. This is the mold of Christ’s death. The mold of Christ’s death refers to the continual putting of oneself to death so that God can have a way to come out. This is the center of Philippians 3.
In Philippians 3 Paul’s mind was excellent, his emotion was rich, and his will was strong. He was a man of fervor and accomplishments. He had a resourceful mind, a rich emotion, and a strong will. When Paul was Saul of Tarsus, people could tell that he had an excellent mind, a rich emotion, and a strong will and that he was an accomplished, resolute, and courageous man simply by observing his actions, words, and attitude. In Philippians 3, however, he was learning the lesson of putting himself into the death of Christ to be conformed to Christ’s death. To be conformed to Christ’s death is to deny the self and give God a free way. Paul was such a person. He continually denied himself to give God a way. This is to be conformed to Christ’s death, and this is the central point of Philippians 3.
In Philippians 3 Paul says that he was a Hebrew of Hebrews, that as to law he was a Pharisee, that as to zeal he persecuted the church, and that as to the righteousness in the law he was successful to the point of being blameless. However, all these things were only of himself; whether they were related to his mind, emotion, or will, it was all out of himself. At that time, he lived entirely in himself without anything of the death of Christ; he did not have the mold of Christ’s death in his living.
After he became an apostle and especially during his imprisonment, he continually learned the lesson of denying himself and letting the Lord’s death do a work of conformation in him. He continually allowed the Lord’s death to put the seal of death on his mind, emotion, and will. His natural man, natural life, natural thinking, natural strength, natural will, and natural preferences all bore the seal of Christ’s death on the cross, and in him there was the mold of Christ’s death. In him people could see a situation, a condition, in which a sound man was denying himself. He was a man standing in death, rejecting his self. He was a man who denied himself and who put himself in death so that God could have a way out from him. The mold of Christ’s death was in Paul.
We cannot have such a mold simply by hearing, believing, and accepting a message. This mold is the result of conformity, of being conformed, which takes ten to twenty years, or at least five to eight years. It comes from continually learning the lesson and taking the way of always denying the self and not relying on the self in serving God or in doing the Lord’s work. Not only do we not rely on our intelligence, talent, wisdom, and ability, but we also do not rely on our preferences, emotions, and even less, on our opinions and our will. Rather, we continually put these things of the soul to death so that Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God will have the ground in us and a way to come out of us. This kind of condition indicates that the mold of death has been imprinted on us; such a death is the death of Christ.
When we have the mold of Christ’s death imprinted on us, as soon as people come into contact with us, they can sense that we are intelligent, rich in emotion, and strong in our will. However, they can also sense that there is a deep, clear, and distinct seal of death in our intelligence, emotion, and will. Although we have an intelligent mind, a rich emotion, and a strong will, we refuse to use them and even dare not to use them. In our mind, emotion, and will there is a very deep mold, which is the seal that has been imprinted on us by the death of Christ. This shows our conformation to the mold of Christ’s death in Philippians 3.
At the beginning of Philippians 3 the apostle Paul speaks of people who boasted in their strong qualities and their capabilities in serving God and in working for the Lord (vv. 2-4). In response, Paul says, truthfully speaking, that if they could boast in such a way, he could boast all the more and was in no way inferior to them in any of these things. Even if they could boast in their cleverness, Paul was more clever. Even if they could boast in their emotions and capabilities, Paul was more capable. Even if they could boast in their resolve and zeal, Paul was more resolute and zealous.
However, Paul says that he counted as loss the things that were gains to him on account of Christ. Paul was standing in death, putting to death all the things that were gains to him; he no longer allowed himself to live in these things. Paul put himself to death and let Christ live in him and live out of him. By putting himself to death and being in death, Paul allowed Christ to live out of him. If he lived out himself, Christ would have no way. Once Paul put himself to death, however, resurrection came out, and Christ had a way. This mold of death was imprinted onto Paul’s being. In his living, person, and work, there was a seal—the death of Christ.