12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Dig Deeper
We recently went to watch a track meet that our oldest son was running for his school. I have always enjoyed the 1600 m race, so when the boys lined up for that, I was particularly interested even though my son was not in that event. A young man from his team looked good from the opening gun. He was in the second land and quickly broke out from the start and developed a nice lead over everyone else. He seemed to have the race in hand and I looked away for a few moments because our youngest son needed some help with his popcorn. When I looked back up they were coming down the stretch and a boy from the other team had just raced by him. My friend told me that the boy looked like he had the race in hand and eased up probably not seeing this other boy behind him, but now with this other young man passing him he tried to pick up his pace. Unfortunately for him it was too late. He came back a little in the last few yards, but he had blown the race by not staying focused. What a shame to have lost a race because he slacked off, not because anyone was actually faster than him.
In the previous passage, Paul used word pictures from the world of accounting, speaking of profits and losses. Now he switches the analogy to that of the athletic field, something he does several times in his writings. He and the Philippians are in a race of sorts. They need to keep looking ahead because as any runner knows, you slow down and serve off when you start looking behind you. In addition to that they need to keep pressing toward the goal. It should be pretty obvious that the race isn't over until the finish line has been crossed and the prize has been attained. Paul wants to make sure that they don't make any mistake thinking that they are in such good shape that they can now let up a little. No, the race isn't over, the goal has not been reached, the prize has not been attained. They must continue to run with the same intensity that they started the race with.
Paul has been in the process of describing the new life that comes in Christ that he so desired the Philippians to fully realize. The unique feature of the life of Christ is that is available to anyone in the present age who will but lay down their own life and enter into it, but in a very real sense, the work of being transformed into the image of God (Col. 3:10) will only be completed when Christ returns and fully consummates the age to come. Paul certainly was well on that road of transformation and wants no less for them. He knows what it means to live the resurrected life of Christ and knows that he means realizing that anything of worldly value concerning his old life before his baptism (Acts 22:16) was pointless and but a loss. Yet, Paul doesn't want any confusion as to what he is saying. He is living the resurrected life, and in one sense, could be called complete or mature (perfect here in the NIV) because he has fully entered into the life of Christ (v. 15), but in the fullest sense he has not obtained the full life of Christ. He doesn't want anyone thinking that they can have the complete life of the age to come now and don't need to wait for the resurrection itself. He has, however, made a good start, but must continue to press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of him. In Paul's thinking, he desired to take hold of the life of Christ in the same way and with the same firmness and certainty with which Christ had taken hold of him. He would expect no less of the Philippians or of us.
No, he hasn't taken hold of the resurrection life in the fullest sense, but he will continue to strain ahead and look to that day, anticipating it as much as he can through submission of the Holy Spirit. This is a great reminder that our lives should always anticipate and look forward to our final state of what we will be rather than who we once were. This is precisely Paul's point in verses 13-14. He will not look back to his old life and become tempted or impressed by it, or worse yet, to slip back into it. For Paul, his old life is crucified and should stay that way.
Rather he knows that he must press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called him heavenward in Christ Jesus. This is a rich sentence that needs a little unpacking so that we don't miss Paul's point. He desires to continue to press on toward the goal. What is the goal? It's the life of Christ to which he has been referring. We know that we enter into the life of Christ at our baptism (Rom. 6:3-4; Gal. 3:27), but being transformed into the image of God is a process that will take our entire lives and only be complete at the final resurrection. So, what is the prize? Well, Paul has already stated that in verses 10-11. Paul says that he wanted to know Christ and the power of his resurrection life so that he might attain the final prize which is resurrection and eternity in God's new creation, the age to come. It is for this prize that Paul has been called heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Many people read over these verses quickly and are so used to thinking of heaven as the final prize for the Christian that they imagine that this is what Paul is saying here, but that's not at all the case. Literally in this passage, Paul says he has been called upward (rendered heavenward in the NIV). His point is that he has been called to live the resurrection life, the kingdom of God type of life where God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10). When Paul talks of heaven (as he will again in verse 20), he is referring to the type of life we live now, not our final destination. Although Christians certainly do go to God's presence when they die, but that's not the end as we still await the new creation and the final resurrection that are being kept in heaven until the Second Coming of Christ (Matt. 19:28; 1 Cor. 15; 1 Pet. 1:3-5); this is the new heavens and the new earth (Rev. 21:1-5). Heaven cannot be the final prize if Paul has already stated that resurrection is (and certainly they are not the same thing, for if they were and the final destination for Christians is heaven they when we die, those who die would have, in effect, experienced the resurrection already and Paul discounts that kind of thinking as "godless chatter" in 2 Timothy 2:16-18). In fact, a careful reading shows us that primarily for Paul, heaven is the race, the goal, the life of Christ, not the prize.
Paul believes that those who are mature should share this view with him, and if they think differently, it's they who need to have it made clear to them through the power of God. The word that is rendered "mature" in verse 15 is the same word rendered "perfect" in verse 12. Paul knows that the life of Christ is a journey not an event, and only the mature can truly see that they are not yet perfect. In one sense, Paul is mature in the life of Christ, in another very real sense, he must still strain towards the finish line because he has a long way to go. He has no doubt that he has entered into the life of Christ and has been changed mightily by God into His own image. His desire for all of them is that they continue on this journey, living up to what they have already attained rather than easing up and falling off before they reach the finish line.
Devotional Thought
If you viewed your life in Christ as a race, what kind of runner are you? Are you a steady and consistent marathon runner or are you a herky-jerky runner that constantly speeds up, slows down, starts and stops? How can Paul's words in this section help you to be more consistent as a Christian?
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