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Pressing Toward the Goal
Philippians 3:12-16
Introduction: We noted in our last lesson that 3:15 is key to the message of the letter: “those who are mature, think this way.” Paul has commanded that we “rejoice in the Lord.” In order to do that, we must think like Paul who…
- Put no confidence in the flesh
- Gave up all his previous accomplishments in order to gain Christ
- Considered the value of knowing Christ superior to anything else
- Desired that by any means possible he would attain to the resurrection of the dead
This is the approach to being a disciple that we are to imitate in Paul. Verses 12-16 adds to this in order to explain how a disciple of Christ is to live for the goal of by any means attain to the resurrection of the dead.
“Not That I Have Already Obtained…”
“Obtained” what? Paul refers to all it takes to “gain Christ,” – to know Christ, share in his sufferings, and thus, attain to the resurrection.
This is significant because even Paul did not think he had yet accomplished the goal – not just the resurrection from the dead (that’s obvious) – but really knowing Christ; really becoming like him in his death.
This should alert everyone of us that our baptism into Christ did not mean we won the game or “got into the end zone.” The Lord has promised us salvation, but he also has a purpose in saving us that we are required to accomplish. This is the reason Paul said he had not yet “attained…but I press.” Press is the idea of pursuing so that he can grasp it and make it his own – his own personal possession and prize.
Thus, as with Paul, we are not yet “perfect,” or we are not “already made perfect” (ASV, NET). Let’s understand this: This phrase in the Greek implies a process that started at a certain point in time and continues to the present. In other words, “perfect” is a completed goal that takes a long process of pursuing in order to attain. Thus, Christians do not coast, they press to the goal.
Further, the Greek tense here is passive – referring to a work Jesus is doing on him. He is pursuing, but Jesus is doing a work on him to bring him to perfection.
- Compare 1:6 – “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
- Compare 2:12, “For it is God who works in you…”
- Compare 1 Thes. 5:23-24, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”
“Because Christ has made me his own.” NASB translates, “So that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” Here is the point: Jesus interrupted Paul’s life, just has he has with ours, and took hold of him. He took hold of Paul and us for a purpose. What was Jesus’ purpose in taking hold of us? See 1:9-11 filled with all the fruit of righteousness to the glory and praise of God. We are pressing to take hold of the very purpose for which Jesus took hold of us.
Isn’t that a wonderful thought? Jesus took hold of you. He still has hold of you to bring you to perfection – to his completed goal. Can you imagine a higher calling, a higher purpose. Peter said it this way: “he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). Are you grasping that for which he grasped you? Are you thinking every day about what Jesus is doing in you and on you, to bring you to perfection?
“Forgetting What Lies Behind…”
The idea of forgetting what lies behind has often been quoted somewhat out of context in the sense of forgetting the sins of the past and pressing toward the goal. Of course, that would certainly be true, but it is not Paul’s primary point. Paul is speaking of forgetting past accomplishments. He is forgetting former life’s goals.
You can see this is the beginning words, “But one thing I do…” NET: “Instead I am single-minded.” Here is the point: yes, we have children to raise. Yes, we must work and provide for ourselves. Yes, we must find times to rest and restore our bodies and minds. But in all this, one thing we do – one thing we are always doing – one thing our eyes and minds are focused completely on – “pressing toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God.” How?
We are not as Israel, looking back longingly to Egypt and what pleasures we had (whether sinful or not). We have a greater prize and we rejoice that we have escaped that former life.
We don’t let the urgent crowd out the important in our lives. The high calling is seeking the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. It is the prize! Everything you see every day of your life, will soon be burned. What we see by sight, is not real. What we see by faith is all that is ultimately real and permanent.
“Straining forward…I press toward the goal” That says is all, doesn’t it? It is a runner coming to the finish line and leaning forward with all he has to shave just a tenth of a second off his time and win the prize. This prize we have before us is beyond anything we could imagine in glory. It isn’t a “participation trophy!”
“If in Anything You Think Otherwise”
Now Paul has shown us the true picture of mature thinking. This is the way the mature in Christ think. They press, they strain forward, they do this one thing in order to get the prize.
The words at the end of verse 15 may baffle you. If you think any other way than what Paul has just described, God will reveal that also to you. This goes back to the beginning of our text where God is perfecting us. It takes time and pressing to come to this mature thinking, really think of everything else accomplished as trash. No Christian sees it at first or sees it completely or immediately, at least beyond the reading of it in a text like this. But over time, through study, trials, and hardships, God will reveal to you that thinking the way Paul thinks is the goal and the way God perfects you.
In the book of Job, Elihu explained the same to Job in Job 33:12-28. This is also reflected in Hebrews 12:5-12.
Verse 16 completes the thought. You have not attained, but as you press and learn, hold true to what you have already attained. Don’t slip back. Keep pressing. Imitate Paul’s thinking.
Final comment about these concluding verses: I will make a bold statement here. Most people who have wandered off into different doctrines, especially doctrines that loosen up God’s commandments and statutes as to how we are to worship and serve him, have usually just quit carefully studying the scriptures and holding fast to what they have attained.
These seem to think that none of the rest of us have ever considered that we are just being too strict in how we serve God. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I think about it regularly, and when I do, I go back to the scriptures. I read Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Ezekiel, and Jesus’ warnings in the NT about “practicing lawlessness.”
We are seeing anarchists in our country, tearing down foundations and claiming they are a law to themselves. But that has been going on religiously since Adam and Eve and Cain. Listen to the words: “Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Matt. 7:22-23
Berry Kercheville