In Philippians 3, Paul provides his stellar resume as an Israelite and a Pharisee, only to toss it on the trash heap that he might be found in Christ not having a righteousness of his own. A millennium and a half later, an overachieving monk by the name of Martin Luther discovered the same truth. This was at a time when medieval scholasticism taught that God accepts our inadequate works when we simply do our best. However, Luther realized that, no matter how well we perform, we have never done our best. It was in this struggle that the truth of Romans 1:17 (quoted from Habakkuk 2:4) set him free: The just shall live by faith.