Comments on Philippians 3:12-16

  We’re in Philippians 3 still and I’m only going to cover the next five verses as they are so packed. Just to remind us a bit of last time, Paul was counting all things “loss” compared to knowing Christ. He desired to “know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that [he] may attain the resurrection from the dead.” So now we’ll be covering verses 12 through 16, let’s read them now: “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.”

    I think it’s very important for us to realize here that Paul is careful to claim his own imperfections. The word perfect (τετελείωμαι) here has the idea of completeness, or something to which nothing can be added. I mention this specifically because we’ll see the same English word in verse 15, but it’s a different Greek word, which I will go over when we get there. But here Paul notes that he has not yet obtained the resurrection from the dead, nor has he become perfect. There are those in the “Holiness” movement that say once a person is saved they can no longer sin, and so the actions they do must not be sinful which leads to all kinds of problems in that group.
Paul is seen by many as the “ultimate” Christian, and I think there is good reason for this, but he was always very careful to admit his own failings, because he was just a man. He told the Corinthian believers to “be imitators of [him], just as [he] also [was] of Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1). As we live out our Christian lives, we ought not to compare ourselves to fellow believers, especially not those who we might deem not as far along in their Christian walk, then we might become satisfied with where we are and “rest on our laurels” as it were. I’m not saying here that we need to work for our salvation, but rather that our salvation ought to be visible in the good works we do. I appreciate Wiersbe’s statement here, “A sanctified dissatisfaction is the first essential to progress in the Christian race.” Or as Paul writes here “I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” Studying this in conjunction with James has been of enormous benefit for me. James in chapter 2 and Paul here both talk about the living out of our faith. Neither claims that works are necessary for salvation, but both state that an evidence of your salvation is good works. Paul could not make this point any clearer than he did in Ephesians 2:8-10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Salvation comes first, then good works.

I’m quoting Wiersbe again here: “Self-evaluation can be a dangerous thing, because we can err in two directions: (1) making ourselves better than we are, or (2) making ourselves worse than we really are. Paul had no illusions about himself; he still had to keep ‘pressing forward’ in order to ‘lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold’ of him. A divine dissatisfaction is essential for spiritual progress.” We don’t want to think too highly of ourselves, thinking we’ve already attained the heights of Christian experience. However, it is also good to be careful not to have too low a view of ourselves as well. The false humility that says, “look at me and how lowly I am.” We are valued by God Himself, and so our goal should never be on either side of the “look at me,” view but rather we ought to be pointing to God. Thanking Him for the blessings and gifts He has given us, and remembering that all good things come from Him.

So what Paul was pressing toward was “that for which [he] was laid hold of by Christ Jesus,” that is he was striving for a life worthy of the calling to which he had been called, as he wrote to the Ephesians. 

    He continues the thought in the next verse, reiterating the fact that he does not consider himself perfected yet. He says, “one thing I do” and it is important for us to keep a singular mind as well. It can be very easy to be distracted by all the myriad of things we need to get done, and I’m not saying that it is bad to be doing things, but they can become a distraction from the most important thing we are called to, that is glorifying God. Jesus uses that phrase “one thing” quite a few times in the gospels as well. “One thing you lack,” He told the rich young ruler in Mark 10. “One thing is needful” He told Martha in Luke 10. 

I’m also going to remind us of a story from John 9, the healing of the man born blind. You’ll remember that the disciples had asked Jesus who had sinned for this man to be born this way. Christ’s response was: “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Then the Pharisees got involved and questioned the parents. I know this is a bit of a digression from our passage in Philippians 3 but I promise they do relate. Because, when the Pharisees questioned the man about whether Jesus was bad, his reply was: “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” (v25 emphasis added). 

As believers it is important for us to keep focused on God above. The things of this world can get in the way, distracting us from the most important “one thing.” Next in the verse Paul tells us what the “one thing” he is going to do is: “forgetting what lies behind, and reaching forward to what lies ahead.” It is one thing, and yet he does break it into two parts. First let’s talk about “forgetting.” In the Scripture this word doesn’t necessarily mean losing it from your mind. It is written that God has “forgotten” our sins in Hebrews 10, and we know that God couldn’t do that. The root word in the Greek here is the word for hidden, and this whole word more denotes that the thing will not affect judgment or thought any longer. So when God says He will no longer remember our sins, He will no longer be affected by them in His judgment of us. When Paul here writes that he will “forget what lies behind,” he is saying that he will no longer allow his past to affect his judgment or his plan of action. He is not swayed by what he was, and reaches for the goal, that is, Christ.

Which brings us to the second part of Paul’s one thing: “reaching forward to what lies ahead.” The word Paul uses here is a sporting term, and which type of race Paul is referring to here is unclear. It could be chariot racing or foot-racing. Regardless, the imagery behind the word is striving for that prize. The chariot driver has to hold himself steady in the chariot, and the runner has to make sure he is stretching forward to reach that goal first. It is probably important to stop and note here that this goal Paul was striving for was not the salvation itself, but rather that resurrection from the dead he mentioned in verse 11. The participant in the games had to be a citizen before he was even allowed to compete. In order to do good works for God, you must already be a citizen of heaven.
To win the prize you must run well, and according to the rules. The runner who does not pay attention might find himself disqualified from the prize. We have a similar warning in 1 Corinthians 3:15 “If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” It is possible for us to be saved, and yet have no prize waiting for us, but how sad would that be? And it is also important for the runner to keep his eyes forward. If you’re running full out, or driving your chariot at top speed, and you let your eyes waver, or worse yet, look back, you’re likely to cause a wreck on the track. Paul’s focus was clear.

    He continues using the sports metaphor with “I press on.” The word here is another way to say striving for the goal. It can also be used in the sense of a hunter pursuing his prey, or some other intense endeavor that requires great focus to achieve. An athlete doesn’t win races by sitting and listening to lectures on how best to run, or by reading books on form or style, or by watching the tapes of other racers, though these things can help. But in order to actually win the race, you have to actually be running. 

So Paul writes “I press on toward the goal,” and what is that goal that he is striving so hard for? “..the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” That high calling to which we have been called was the object of his pursuit, the goal of his endeavor. He is saying the same thing in multiple ways here in these verses because of how important it is to the Christian life. He makes sure that the Philippians understand he is not perfect, but that the goal of the Christian life is to please God and so we become more and more like Him as we pursue that goal. 

Let’s take a moment to consider that high calling. God has called us to be like Christ. He has given us the Holy Spirit to strengthen us to reach that goal. We are to die to self, yes, but we then need to remember that we are alive in Christ Jesus. Dead men don’t run, don’t have goals, they are stuck. But as Christians, we are to “run the race,” as it were, in such a way as to glorify God in all of our actions. And our reward for this is given from Christ Himself at that seat of judgment. As an interesting side-note, the bema seat mentioned in Romans 14 is what the Greeks called the seat from which the prizes for the Olympic games were handed out. We will all stand before the bema of God and receive the rewards for the works we have done in His name here on earth.

    Now we get to verse 15, where Paul seems to contradict himself. In verse 12 he mentions that he is not perfect and yet here he writes, “Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude…” So I mentioned before that the perfect in verse 12 had the sense of something to which nothing can be added. Here the word perfect is τέλειοι and holds the idea of perfection of growth. Ironside had a good usage of this word that we might be able to relate to more: “An apple in June may be a perfect apple, so far, but it will have a much greater completeness, or perfection in that sense in August or September. And so with the believer.” We may be “perfect” in that we’re on the right path, growing steadily, but we are not yet what we will be. This is an important clarification, because sometimes Christians can get discouraged thinking that maturity means they must be without fault, or that God is displeased with them because they still struggle. Paul’s use of τέλειοι reminds us that maturity is not about sinlessness, it’s about direction. Are we pressing forward? Are we growing? That’s what spiritual maturity looks like. The believer ought to be growing and living in such a way as to be mature and like the apple that is still growing to its perfection, we ought to be growing toward that perfection of Christ.

So Paul writes that these that are “perfect” ought to have a specific attitude. The same one Paul was saying that he had, that is a single-minded striving toward the goal of Christ. Again, this is similar to his statement in 1 Corinthians where we are to imitate him insofar as he was imitating Christ. 

He then goes on to warn against those that would have a different attitude, that God would reveal that to them as well. The different attitude here doesn’t mean a different personality or different outlook on life, but rather, a different end goal in mind. I appreciate Ironside’s comment on this verse and so I’ll share it in whole here: “Where there is a willingness to be taught of God, the illuminating grace of the Holy Spirit can be depended upon to open up His Word and guide into all truth. But he would be a bold man indeed, who would dare to say, ‘I understand all truth, all mysteries are clear to me. I have a perfect apprehension of the divine revelation.’ Only the boldest egotism could lead anyone to take such ground. How patient, therefore, we need to be with one another. How ready to confess that we know but in part and to recognize the fact that we are ever in need of further instruction.”

Our attitude ought to be striving to have the mind of Christ, but, like Paul, we need to remain humble enough to realize that we are not perfect. And we also need to remember to remain teachable, no matter how much we’ve studied, because that is part of humility as well.

    Paul ends this section with a gentle but important exhortation: “let us keep living by the same standard to which we have attained.” This is a call to consistency, to stay the course in the truth we’ve already received. Paul knows the temptation to drift. The world, the flesh, and the devil, the very forces from which we’ve been ransomed, are constantly working to pull us away from our upward pursuit of Christ. As the hymn writer put it, we are “prone to wander,” and if we’re not actively pressing on, we will inevitably start to slide backward.

That’s why Paul reminds the Philippians, and us, to keep living, not just to remember what we’ve been taught, but to actively walk in it. The verb implies persistence, discipline, and daily commitment. Christianity is not static. There’s no neutral ground in the spiritual life. If we try to remain still, we’ll find ourselves losing ground. But if we hold fast to what we’ve already attained, we can continue to move forward by God's grace.

This also speaks to the importance of doctrinal clarity and unity. There are certain core truths in Scripture, the nature of Christ, the means of salvation, the authority of God's Word, that are plainly revealed and essential to our faith. As Ironside puts it: “There are truths and principles so plainly put in God's Word that any Spirit-taught believer may readily see them.” These foundational truths are not reserved for scholars or pastors; they are given to all believers by the Spirit through the Word.

But with that knowledge comes responsibility. Ironside continues: “Where these truths are learned, it is our responsibility to walk in them—walk together in them, as far as possible, counting on God to reveal to us whatever may be lacking.” That’s what Paul is saying here. We are called to live consistently with the truth we’ve already received, and to do so together, encouraging one another along the way.

This means two things for us: First, we must be diligent to walk in the light God has already given us. Don’t go backward, and don’t stop moving. Second, we must be gracious with one another. We are all still learning. We don’t all see every secondary matter the same way, and that’s okay. As Ironside says, “a wider recognition of these things would lead to more kindly consideration of one another and tend to make us helpers of each other's faith, rather than judges of a brother's doubtful thoughts.”

So we pursue maturity together, not by demanding uniformity in every opinion, but by holding fast to the essentials, walking in the light, and trusting God to teach and correct each of us as we go. This is the mindset of those who are “perfect” in the sense Paul has just described: mature, teachable, and pressing on toward the prize in unity and humility.

As we reflect on this passage, we’re reminded that the Christian life is not about perfection already attained, but about direction, pursuit, and growth. Paul’s humility, his singular focus, his pressing on, and his encouragement to live by what we’ve already learned, all point us toward a life of steady, Spirit-led maturity. We’re not called to coast or compare, but to run, with our eyes fixed on Christ, pressing forward together in unity, grace, and truth. So wherever you are today, whether you feel strong in the race or weary, remember that Christ laid hold of you for a purpose. Keep moving forward. Keep growing. And trust that God, who began a good work in you, will carry it on to completion in Christ Jesus.