In this series in Philippians 3, we have been appreciating how the apostle Paul was looking always to Christ as the great priority of his life. He has spoken of his fleshly zeal as Saul of Tarsus, when he vehemently persecuted the Church (v6). But in verses 10-14 we appreciate the spiritual zeal that Paul had to follow after the knowledge of Christ, lay hold upon that for which he was laid hold of by Christ, live in the power of the risen Lord Jesus Christ, and, as a result, to have increasing moral conformity to His Person.
Christ-Centred Present Spiritual Ambition
In verse 13, Paul shows no complacency: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended.”1 He is still looking for further spiritual progress in his life, and he has one singular overriding priority – “but … one thing.” We should all be challenged by this ambition for spiritual progress: Can I narrow everything in my life down to “one thing” alone, which is to be more conformed to Christ day by day, in view of His soon coming again for us?
When he says, “forgetting those things which are behind,” Paul is not only putting behind him what he was before his conversion (as outlined in verses 5-7); he has already written that all off as a singular loss at the time of his conversion. Paul includes what he has been previously in his Christian life and service, even past spiritual accomplishments and glories. We know from the book of the Acts that he never forgot that conversion experience of coming to Christ for salvation, when Christ apprehended him in salvation. But in the specific context of Philippians 3, Paul was not content to rest on past spiritual achievements. He wanted fresh experiences of Christ and God’s working in his life, and he would not allow any worldly distractions to divert him from this one singular ambition to be more like Christ.
Paul was therefore always “reaching forth unto those things which are before” (v13); he was more concerned with how far he still wanted to go rather than looking back on how far he may have already come in his spiritual life. In figure, his hands were outstretched, with the consuming spiritual desire to apprehend more of Christ. Like the apostle, we need to be discontented with our past in a positive way, and redeem whatever time lies ahead, God willing, to make more pro- gress in conformity to the Person of Christ.
Christ-Centred Future Heavenly Prospect
In verse 14, Paul is looking now to Christ as the ultimate prize for every believer: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” The principal lesson is that our future destiny should govern our present spiritual ambition; the reality of what we are going to be in a coming day, when we are fully conformed to the image of Christ, should make us have earnest desires to be more like Him now.
The word “press” is the same word in the original Greek text as Paul used in verse 6, when before conversion he was “persecuting the Church,” when he pressed upon the Church in such a violent and destructive way. Such was the great work of divine grace in Paul’s life; the single-minded zeal and energy he had expended before salvation in zealously persecuting the Church now characterised him spiritually in his singular pursuit of this ultimate prize for every believer. The metaphor Paul is applying here is one that he uses in several of his epistles. The athlete has the finishing line in sight, and there is no looking back at the race that has been run. He presses on down the track, keeping focused on the finishing line and the prize that will be obtained.
What is beyond that finishing line in the race of faith for every believer will be this “prize of the high calling [the calling on high, JND] of God in Christ Jesus” (v14). This has the final consummation of our salvation in view, when we are exalted in heavenly glory with Christ, with complete physical and moral conformity to His glorious Person. We can even now be looking to Christ in this focused way as we think of Him as our ultimate prize. It will be a “calling on high” because Christ has promised, “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (Joh 14:3). He is the risen Man, exalted to the very highest pinnacle of heavenly glory, and He will come to take us to be with Himself in that place of supreme heavenly exaltation.
This is the wonderful prospect for every believer, but let us also be challenged now by this future prospect that lies before us. Paul was living his life pressing toward obtaining this prize, deeply exercised about making spiritual progress towards it throughout his life as a believer. We generally think of a prize as a reward that we are worthy to receive, having attained a standard and merited the prize. But we readily acknowledge that this ultimate prize is only because of the riches of God’s grace and the product of His divine work alone.
Philippians develops the theme of God’s work of grace in every believer: “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform [complete, JND] it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Php 1:6). His present work is to produce in us greater conformity to His own dear Son. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (2:13). None shall obstruct God from completing this work; it will be accomplished “according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (3:21).
We look forward to the prize and appreciate that it is all God’s working, and that He ever set His purpose upon us to make us to be like His own Son. It began when God “saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2Ti 1:9). There was that moment when Christ laid hold upon us, and we long for the time when our race of faith is run, and we are brought to the consummation of that “high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:14).
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV unless otherwise noted.
