Trusting in Christ and Pressing on to Maturity
I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made. [NLT]
Phil 3:10-16
Now that I have set the scene, let’s move on to unpacking all that Paul has put into these verses. There is so much in this short section that I am going to turn it into a Gem series. I have no idea how many Gems it will take me to unpack it, but it will take a bunch of them. Feel free to look at it with me and ask your questions. As I do with Deeper Bible, I seek to provide guidance for you to dive deeper into Scripture in such a way that enables you to learn how to plumb the depths of the Word of God for yourself. Once more let’s gather our wits and begin the process.
I have already made it clear to you that Paul’s thought in this passage was to use running a race as an illustration of us “running the race of life”. We have seen already that Paul included multiple hints to the fact that he was thinking of the Panhellenic Games. In fact he uses the illustration a number of times in his letters as I indicated in the previous Gem. Now let’s pull this passage apart and investigate the depth of meaning behind Paul’s words. Paul was indeed a wordsmith. He took the time to come up with the right word to capture the thought or to draw word pictures to expand our understanding. This passage before us is quite brilliant in the way Paul has crafted the ideas he wanted us to gain from the image of running a race. The moment is perfect for this Gem series. We have just finished watching the Olympic Games in Tokyo and then some followed it with the Para Olympics if we didn’t get enough from the Olympics. We have been maxed out on the notion of world class competition in sport. As a former Wilding Shield tennis player, I have also added to it by following as much of the US Open Tennis as I could with what was available to me, as there was not much provided by free to air viewing. Mercifully, as I would not have been able to write these Gems and do all the other things I do if I had had US Open viewing opportunities galore.
Paul has taken the Panhellenic Games and used them as the background to his analogy. I will now move through this passage exegetically, investigating each significant word Paul used to enhance the picture he has left us with. Once more I have given you the whole passage from verses 10 to 16. Most of us look at Scripture as a series of unconnected sayings. But I hope I have shown you that Paul’s thoughts here are very well connected, as they generally are in his letters. I have pointed out some aspects of the big picture already and so I keep giving you the whole passage so our thinking stays connected. Otherwise it is easy for us to lose the thread and end up making detached, unrelated comments on portions we have split off from the context Paul had in mind. Be careful of that tendency.
I have spent considerable time and Gems already on the first two verses of this section. Now let’s look at what follows. Paul has been comparing his past with his present and what lies ahead of him in the future. It could almost be a message for the synagogue in any town or a new year message in the lecture hall of Tyrannus in Corinth, or Paul challenging the crowds at one of the stoa in the Agora in Athens, or even an essence of life message to the Areopagus in Athens. Paul had travelled extensively around Greece. He had passed through Macedonia, stopping at Philippi, passed through Thessalonia where he spent time with the honourable Bereans, stayed over in Corinth for around 18 months and then went on to Athens, talking in the Agora and challenging the spiritual leaders in the Areopagus. You can follow the journey through Acts 16 (Philippi) and Acts 17 and my account of Paul waiting in Athens (Gem 1716). Paul has one thing in mind: to preach Christ and make Him known. He told us he was pressing on to win the prize, the prize he has not made clear yet. But after outlining his desire, to know Christ Jesus, the power of His resurrection and being willing to identify with Him in His death, he tells us he was focused on one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Paul recalls the world surrounding the athlete and the nature of the running race and likens the life-long pursuit of Christ as a race.
I have given you these verses already and coloured the words which related to running a race. I highlighted them gold to fit in with the Olympic theme.
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that
Phil 3:12-16perfection1 for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting what’s behind and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made. [NLT]
I have told you before many times in these Gems and I teach the same in Deeper Bible, that it’s fine to stick to your favourite version of the Bible. But my recommendation to you when you want to go deeper is to use multiple versions. What I suggest you do is to use a Literal translation, a Dynamic Equivalence translation and a Free translation in parallel.
I won’t burden you at this point with an Interlinearised Greek Version because that puts some of you off. But I will include interlinearised Greek when necessary as we move forward verse by verse.
Not that I already received or already have been perfected, but I press on, if I also may lay hold, inasmuch as I also was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not count myself to have laid hold, but one thing I do, forgetting the things behind, and stretching forward to those things before, I press on after a mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Then as many as are perfect, let us be of this mind; and if you think anything differently, God will also reveal this to you. Yet as to where we have arrived, walk by the same rule, being of the same mind. [Literal Version]Phil 3:12-16
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. 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, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. [NIV]Phil 3:12-16
I don’t mean to say I am perfect. I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us. I hope all of you who are mature Christians will see eye-to-eye with me on these things, and if you disagree on some point, I believe that God will make it plain to you — if you fully obey the truth you have. [The Living Bible]Phil 3:12-16
My Greek Professor would frequently say, “Class there’s gold here in that word and there’s gold in this word too. Dig here.”
Dr Basil Brown
So following in the footsteps of Basil Brown I have coloured the words, in the three kinds of translations, which represent the gold. Dig there! We will unpack it together over the following Gems.
Don’t practice till you get it right, practice till you can’t get it wrong.
McKayla Maroney
If you want to be the best, you have to do things that others aren’t willing to do.
Michael Phelps