Note 21 at Phil. 3:10: Paul had given up everything that he might "know" Christ (v.8). The Greek word used here is GINOSKO and is a Jewish idiom for the sexual union between a husband and wife (Gen. 4:1; see note 13 at Eph. 3:19, p. 1113). It was not Paul's aim to know about Christ, but to know Him and experience Him on the most intimate personal level.

This involved knowing Jesus' resurrection power in the new birth (Rom. 6:4-5). It also involved sharing His sufferings. This does not mean the sufferings He experienced for our redemption but rather the sufferings brought on by one's allegiance to Christ. Further, Paul's desire was conformity to Christ's death. While not denying that this may involve allegiance to Christ to the point of physical death, it appears that Paul meant the death to the flesh-life that is experienced through a vital faith union with Christ (Rom. 6:11, 17-18).

Note 22 at Phil. 3:10: Paul said in Romans 12:2 that we are not to be conformed to this world but transformed through the renewing of our minds. Now he states what we are supposed to be conformed to. We are to be conformed to the death of Christ. This is speaking of reckoning ourselves dead to sin and all its effects upon us in the same way that Christ is dead to sin and all its effects upon Him (see note 1 at Rom. 6:11, p. 779).