In Philippians, Paul listed seven things we gain if we are not religious. The first is having Christ and then with him the righteousness of God. The third is to have a personal experience of Christ; the word “know” means to know by experience. If we continually refused to be religious, we can experience the presence of the indwelling Christ. Further, we can experience the power of his resurrection. But something negative has to occur – we have to refuse to be religious, and we have to grab hold of who Jesus is. Paul continued:

¹⁰ that I may know Him personally, and the power of His resurrection and the partnership of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; (Phil 3:10)

We gain in becoming a partner in the sufferings of Christ and becoming conformed to his kind of death. What does that mean? Everyone must die, but if a Christian should die, it should be a death like Christ's. We should live an other-centered life counting other people more important than ourselves. In our living and in our dying we should love others. To not be religious means to have an experience and ministry like Christ's.