Justification and Philippians 3:9

I previously went over the idea of justification in Romans 3:19-4:8 (Justification and Romans 3:19-4:8). There I posited that Paul does not deny the concept of justification by works in general, but rather he denies a few things:
1) Justification can be obtain by works that come form the Law of Moses
2) A man can only be justified by works
3) A man obtains his own initial justification

Paul also affirms that:
1) Justification can and is initially obtained in the repentant sinner on the basis of faith
2) The faith that justifies is the faith that mimics the faith of Christ (who is our prime example of the Christian walk) and Abraham

However, there are an ample amount of verses that discuss the topic of justification or talk about a related topic. Can we understand those verses within their context in such a way that it easily integrates with the above idea of justification? This is part of an on-going series I will be doing on this topic. You can breathe easy though. Each post will be shorter than the first one, so no need for an all-nighter with a pot of coffee in order to read anything.

Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, exult in Christ Jesus, and do not rely on human credentials -- though mine too are significant.

If someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials, I have more: I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as a Pharisee. In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless.

But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things -- indeed, I regard them as dung! -- that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of the faith of Christ (the righteousness based upon faith that comes from God). I do that in order to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. - Philippians 3:2-11 (NET with changes made in bold)

This verse is very similar to the justification verses of Romans 3. The context is talking about the Law of Moses and obedience to it. But here, the context is even more explicit. Here Paul specifically talks about his status as an Israelite and and a Pharisee and how he was blameless according to the Law.

I think Paul's statement that he was blameless according to the Law is an important thing to grasp. Many people presume that the Law was not to be followed for justification because no man could obey it. This has influence what we thought of the Law and of obedience to God's commandments. But Paul in fact states the very opposite. He was blameless according to the Law. He did follow it, and rather well (Now blameless doesn't need to be taken as perfect obedience, but rather as a person in whom there could be little fault. Blameless, in this instance, is relative and not absolute).

So at this point then, Paul describes his past status is meaningless and accounted for nothing with being a part of Christ. Instead, what was important is that he mimic the faith that Jesus Christ had (Note: "faith of Jesus Christ" here is the exact same phrase in a similar context as Romans 3:22), and it is by that faith that lived righteously.

To support further the idea of mimicking the faith of Jesus is in mind by Paul, there are two instances in Philippians that talk about emulating Jesus. First is in Philippians 2:5, "have this attitude which was also in Christ Jesus." Second is at the end of the passage I quoted up above " to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." Here Paul talks about being like Christ in the suffers He partook, to be like Christ was when He died and as a result to take part in the resurrection from the dead. There is definitely the idea of emulation of Christ here. And Christ went through His sufferings until death by His trust in God (1 Peter 2:23). Therefore, it is very probable that Paul had in mind having the faith that Christ exhibited in order to emulate the way Christ was in suffering and death so that he (Paul) could be righteous and obtain the resurrection.

Up next in this series on justification are the verses in Galatians.