Galatians 1:15-16a says, "But when it pleased God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me." These verses show us that God did not separate us from our school or from our job but from our mother's womb. This means that the Lord had separated Saul even before his birth. We also were separated before our birth and called one day through His grace. Perhaps after we had done many foolish things, after we had done much kicking against the goads, the Lord called us by His grace to reveal His Son in us. It is a marvelous fact that "it pleased God...to reveal His Son in me." Saul was greatly involved with the Jewish religion, yet God revealed Christ in him. He was busy with many outward things, yet God revealed Christ inwardly to him.

God's revealing of His Son to us is in us, not outwardly but inwardly, not by an outward vision but by an inward seeing. This is not an objective revelation but a subjective one. Christ revealed in us is the center of God's plan. God's plan is not to have a religion nor to have many religious works accomplished. God's plan is to reveal Christ into you, to make Christ your life and your everything, to regenerate and transform you to be a part of Christ, a member of Christ.

At one time Saul was fully occupied and zealous for the Jewish religion. The Jewish religion was the best religion because it was ordained and set up by God Himself But that was not God's eternal plan. This young man Saul was zealous for that religion. His very life was for that religion, and we saw that he was breathing out something for that religion. But suddenly the Lord intervened to reveal His Son, Christ, into this active young man. He was busy with outward religious matters, yet God revealed His Son inwardly into him.

In Philippians 3 Paul mentions all of his attainments in the flesh in the Jewish religion (vv. 4-6). He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews and he was zealous for the law of Moses and the Jewish religion, but in 3:7 he says, "But what things were gains to me, these I have counted loss on account of Christ." All the different gains were counted as one loss by Paul because they all issued in one thing, that is, the loss of Christ, as indicated by "on account of Christ." All the things which were once gains to Paul hindered him and held him back from participating in and enjoying Christ. Hence, on account of Christ, all the gains were a loss to him.

Paul continued to say, "But surely I count also all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them refuse that I may gain Christ" (3:8). Paul counted as loss on account of Christ not only the things of his former religion listed in verses 5 and 6, but all other things as well. The word "refuse" in this verse means dregs, rubbish, filth, what is thrown to the dogs; hence, dog food, dung. There is no comparison between such things and Christ. After Paul began to know Christ and after he began to pursue Christ, he viewed all other things as something rotten, dirty, corrupted, something thrown to the dogs. The real food and the pure food for us is Christ Himself. All things other than Christ are dung, are rotten, corrupted, dirty, and are only good for the dogs.