sacrifice of atonement by his blood,” Rom. 3:25), the Philippians passage speaks of “the faithfulness of Christ” and has in mind the saving act of Christ, whose self-emptying, self-humbling, and obedience even to “death on a cross” has been described earlier in the Christ hymn (2:5–8) and whose “sufferings” are recalled in 3:10. There is a third factor in Paul’s description of “the righteousness from God” that comes “through the faithfulness of Christ”: what Christ has done for us calls for our appropriate