Episode 337 - "Press on toward the upward call" - Philippians 3:12-16
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
As is often the case with this slow-paced exposition of the books of the Bible, we jump into the text this week and likely discover that we have no idea what Paul is talking about. We need to go back in the text and be reminded of the context.
Paul is talking about knowing Christ (v. 8), having a righteousness that does not come from human effort but from God through faith in Christ (v.9), and knowing the power of his resurrection (v. 10). Everything about his past and his credentials as a Jewish leader had value to him at one time. Recall that Paul (Saul) affirmed and held the coats for those who stoned Stephen to death. (Acts 7:54-8:3) He was on a zealous mission to stop the spread of the gospel. That is, until the Lord appeared to him. (Acts 9:1-9) After his conversion and the Lord changed his name from Saul to Paul, Paul considered himself the worst of sinners. (1 Tim. 1:15) Paul turned the zeal he had in persecuting the church toward his mission to be a servant of Christ in spreading the gospel and knowing Christ. Now, all those credentials meant nothing to him
What Paul is doing in our text for today is explaining that even though he has abandoned everything for Christ and is willing to even die for the cause of the gospel, he has not yet reached sinless perfection. That is yet to come in the resurrection. Throughout the history of the church, there have been people who believed that one could achieve sinless perfection in this life. In Romans, Paul says that all have sinned and fall short (present tense) of God’s glory. Why is this important for Paul to communicate to these Christians at Philippi? Simply put, there is no room in the Christian life for arrogance or laziness.
Paul writes to the Philippians that he is a work in progress. While Paul denies that he has achieved the end goal, he doesn’t use it as an excuse to be lazy and live however he wants until Christ returns. Rather, he says, I press on . . . because Christ has made me his own. He adds, “one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13).
He drives home his point for application to his readers by saying, “If you want to be mature in your faith, you will have this kind of mindset.” What is that? I believe Paul is saying, “Don’t let your credentials and spiritual accomplishments go to your head and make you think you’ve achieved Jesus-like righteousness on your own. Spiritual maturity is characterized by a humble pursuit of serving Christ.