Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary
The Renewed Covenant by Daniel Gregg
"Philippians 3:9 That I may be found in Him, not having my own justice that is by tradition, but that which is through the faithfulness of Messiah, which is from God—a justice based on the faith" (DLT: torahtimes.org).
comment1: God provided two means of justice: a) the sinner pays his own penalty, b) If the sinner repents and asked God for a pardon, then Yeshua (Jesus) pays the penalty in the sinners place. The third option is provided by traditional false religion whereby the sinner tries to appease God's justice by being a good person. This traditional sort of justice will not work with God, so Paul does not want to be found seeking it. The kind of penalty payment (Justice) that we need is one through the faithfulness (or commitment ) of Messiah to pay that penalty on the cross. Here the faithfulness of Messiah refers to His his work on the cross—to pay the penalty. This is a solution from God—a justice that is truly based on the teaching of the Torah and Prophets (the faith) and not false religious tradition.
justice : δικαιοσυνη. צדקה. BDAG, 3rd edition, def. 1. This justice means the divine justice required by God in payment of the penalty for sin.
tradition : νομος. מנהג, נורמה. TDNT, "norm, rule, custom, usage, or tradition"; BDAG, 3rd edition, "1. a custom, rule, principle, norm"; LSJ, "usage, custom ". This was the second definition in BDAG's 2nd edition. They finally got around to promoting it to the first definition as it should have always been.
faithfulness : πιστεως. אמונה. The Greek word πιστις in the very best Greek Lexicon means "1a. faithfulness, reliability, fidelity, commitment" (BDAG, 3rd Edition, pg. 818). It reflects the meaning of its Hebrew equivalent אמונה. Here it refers to Messiah's faithfulness or commitment to make atonement for sins. It means his faithfulness to the cross. The NET Bible translates, "Christ's faithfulness". (www.bible.org). This is a remarkable change in the right direction in a key doctrinal phrase.
the faith : τη πιστει. Paul uses the definite article here to refer to "the faith", namely the true faith of the Torah and Prophets. "The faith" is used in a sense that sums up the worldview and system of beliefs of the faithful.
comment2: So this text is not saying that having our own righteousness is unimportant. It is only indicating that trying to get our own justice with God regarding the penalty of sin is futile. What matters is forgiveness of the penalty through Messiah's payment. As far as righteousness is concerned, the final imputation of His righteousness is eschatological when Messiah returns. What counts with God for righteousness is only real righteousness. Forensic legal righteousness does not matter to Him. It is not needed for forgiveness.
comment3: The doctrine of forensic imputed righteousness originated with Martin Luther and John Calvin. This legal procedure is one of acquittal, and not pardon. An acquittal is when God discharges the case with "not-guilty". However, God does not acquit anyone, whether by their own righteousness or by someone else's righteousness. He only grants pardons to sinners who admit guilt and want to repent. A pardoned sinner, a sinner still is, until God makes him perfectly righteous at Messiah's appearing. Pardon is just another word for forgiveness. (DLC: torahtimes.org)
Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary: (http://www.torahtimes.org/translation/phi0309.html)
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