We have been noting ways in which believers in the Lord Jesus can be looking to Christ in Philippians 3. Having looked to Him for salvation as our perfect righteousness before God (v9), the apostle expresses how we continue to look to Him as the supreme Object of our lives for present sanctification (vv10-14).
Attaining Unto Resurrection
In verse 11, Paul speaks of a further aspect of our spiritual identification with the resurrection of Christ: “if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”1 The particular Greek word occurs only here in the New Testament: the “out resurrection [Newberry] of the dead.” There will be that future physical resurrection of all believers in Christ out from among the unbelieving dead. Paul speaks about the physical bodily transformation of believers’ bodies in verse 21, when they will be made like Christ’s own glorious resurrection body when He comes again.
But in verse 11, Paul expresses his desire to attain unto a spiritual condition whereby he will be living presently as one who will be fully worthy of that future physical out-resurrection of believers. It will happen for all believers in the grace and power of God, but Paul wanted to be worthy of what God will do – in that sense, to presently “attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” He desired to live the kind of life which is on the resurrection side of death, as one who is spiritually risen with Christ, so that when the Saviour comes again at the Rapture of the Church, the only thing that will need to be significantly changed will be that physical transformation of our bodies being made like unto His body of glory.
It is a tremendous thing to know the risen Christ with us in our daily circumstances of living, conscious of His abiding presence, help and guidance for all things here on earth. An even greater blessing is to leave this world spiritually, and be with Him where He is in those heavenly places, enjoying Him as the risen Man, glorified and exalted at God’s right hand. That’s the essence of spiritual identification with the risen Christ. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col 3:1-2).
Apprehended of Christ Jesus
In verse 12, we are looking to Christ as our blessed Master, as those who have been apprehended by Him, to be His exclusive possession. Paul expresses his understanding that he has not yet arrived at the ultimate glorified purpose of God for all believers: “not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect [complete].” He does not want to become complacent and satisfied with the spiritual level he has reached; otherwise, he knows he will likely make no further progress. “But I follow after” (v12); he presses on with a healthy spiritual dissatisfaction with where he was presently, eagerly striving for greater apprehension of the things of Christ. We must never stop being exercised about making progress in our spiritual condition.
Paul then makes this most significant statement: “if that I may apprehend [lay hold of] that for which also I am apprehended [was laid hold] of [by] Christ Jesus” (v12 Newberry). The day of his conversion on the Damascus road, there was a mighty divine intervention in his life. The reality was that Paul was not seeking after Christ; he had no intention whatsoever of becoming a believer in the Lord Jesus that day and owning Christ as his Lord. But in accordance with divine sovereign grace, Christ was seeking him and apprehended Saul of Tarsus for Himself, making him one of His own. From our perspective, we came to Christ for salvation; but we know that the greater reality is that Christ laid hold upon us, that we might be His own exclusive possession.
This truth of being “apprehended of Christ Jesus” (v12) has many significant implications. First, we are no longer the world’s possession, having been given by the Father to the Son from “out of the world; thine they were, and thou gavest them me” (Joh 17:6). Our Saviour “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world” (Gal 1:4), so that we no longer walk “according to the course of this world” (Eph 2:2). We seek now to walk in a way that will bring pleasure to our blessed Master who has laid hold upon us and made us His own possession.
The moment Christ apprehended us, positionally we no longer belonged to Adam, under Adam’s federal headship. Adam’s dominion is marked by sin, death, judgment and condemnation (Rom 5). But being laid hold by Christ has put us under Christ’s federal Headship, a blessed sphere where grace reigns, and there is life, justification, righteousness and obedience. We are also no longer under the authority of the evil one; the Father “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Col 1:13), to belong to Christ as citizens of His kingdom and move in the enjoyment of His love for us.
Further, being “apprehended of Christ Jesus” (Php 3:12) and made His possession means that we no longer belong to self. The world makes much of self-adulation, self-worth and self-esteem; but the Scriptures teach us that everything of self needed to be judged by God at the cross. Paul writes, “Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body” (1Co 6:19-20). Through salvation we belong to the One who purchased us with the great price of His own blood.
Paul is particularly occupied with the reason why Christ had apprehended him: “if that I may apprehend …” (Php 3:12). All believers should have that same motivation, to lay hold of the purpose for which Christ laid hold of us. The apostle expresses something of that purpose in Galatians 1:15-16: “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen.” He speaks first of displaying the character of Christ before his commission to apostolic service. We should all be motivated by the thought that Christ laid hold of us, to reveal His character in us and make us more conformed to His blessed Person.
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV unless otherwise noted.
