Philippians 3:10–16 · WEB Classic
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death, 11 if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect; but I press on, that I may take hold of that for which also I was taken hold of by Christ Jesus.
13 Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do: forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way. If in anything you think otherwise, God will also reveal that to you.
16 Nevertheless, to the extent that we have already attained, let’s walk by the same rule. Let’s be of the same mind.
An older believer admits he still needs to grow, and somebody immediately assures him that he should not be so hard on himself. Sometimes that encouragement is needed. Sometimes the man is simply telling the truth. Maturity can recognize unfinished work without turning every admission into a crisis of identity.
Paul has described righteousness received through faith in Christ. He now says he has not already obtained or become perfect. The two statements belong together. Acceptance in Christ has not made him the completed version of everything resurrection life will mean. He knows the Lord, and he wants to know him more fully; Christ has taken hold of him, and he presses on.
The desired knowledge includes the power of Christ’s resurrection and participation in his sufferings, being conformed to his death. Paul does not select resurrection power as the attractive item and leave suffering in the packaging. To belong to the risen Lord is to have one’s life shaped by the Lord who gave himself.
Resurrection gives the race its destination
Paul longs to attain the resurrection from the dead. His words if by any means express a hoped-for attainment, with a hesitancy we should allow ourselves to hear. The man reaching toward resurrection has not yet received everything he seeks in knowing Christ.
He does not explain exactly why he puts it that way. An uncertain path through suffering may help us understand his situation, but the wording does not limit the uncertainty to the route. We should not make the sentence more precise than Paul makes it.
His confidence is clear in the surrounding argument. In verse 9, righteousness comes from God through faith. In verse 12, Christ has already taken hold of him. In verses 20–21, he expects the Savior to transform our lowly bodies. These assurances belong alongside the earnest pursuit of verse 11. Paul depends upon Christ while reaching toward a completion he has not yet experienced.
Resurrection also keeps our hope bodily. Paul does not expect salvation to end with escape from the material world into permanent disembodiment. In 3:21 he will speak of the transformation of our humiliated bodies to correspond to Christ’s glorious body. The life ahead is God’s renewal of people, not the disposal of an embarrassing physical component.
That future changes how suffering is understood now. Pain remains pain, and death remains an enemy. Neither can become the final description of the believer. The power by which Christ was raised is directed toward a completion that suffering cannot prevent.
Conformity to Christ’s death also reaches ordinary self-giving. Romans 6:1–14 joins our union with Christ’s death and resurrection to a changed relationship with sin. Paul wants a life in which the old loyalties lose their governing power and the risen Lord’s purposes become visible. The point is to become like Christ. A stubborn person can generate considerable misery without having obeyed anybody but himself.
The past cannot run today’s race
Paul forgets what lies behind and stretches toward what lies ahead. The racing picture gives his attention a direction. He does not claim an inability to remember, since he has just listed his past in detail. He refuses to let what is behind become the place where he settles or the ground upon which he boasts.
The immediate context includes the former gains he has surrendered for Christ. Achievements that once established his standing cannot determine the course now. Nor can yesterday’s service substitute for today’s faithfulness. A runner does not complete the race by explaining how impressive the first lap was.
For someone burdened by past failure, moving forward may include returning to a person harmed, confessing what happened, and making restitution. A painful memory can remain while our response changes. Paul is directing the course of a life: what happened yesterday must no longer determine whom we trust or whether we obey today.
Paul presses toward the prize of God’s upward calling in Christ Jesus. The race has a destination greater than recovering his old standing or proving that he can build a better religious résumé. He wants the fullness of life with the Lord who has taken hold of him.
He then calls the mature to think this way. The word translated perfect can describe maturity here, even though Paul has just denied possessing final perfection. A mature believer knows there is more to receive and become. Spiritual immaturity is often less troubled by that fact because it has already congratulated itself on arriving.
If they differ in understanding, Paul trusts God to disclose what they need to see. Meanwhile, they should live consistently with what they have already attained. Incomplete understanding does not remove the responsibility to practice what is clear. We do not need to solve every debate about resurrection before telling the truth, resisting conceit, or helping somebody who needs us.