Bible Studies

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Part 2 begins where Part 1 ended.

(Philippians 3:11) in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. [[The apostle is speaking here of the yet-future, bodily resurrection into the glory of the fullness of eternal life that will take place when Christ returns. In Phil. 3:20, 21 he speaks of our resurrection into the glory of heaven, our true home ("For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself"), and in Phil. 4:5 he says, "The Lord is near."

Other translations of these words at the beginning of verse 11 (and the literal translation of the Greek contained in the margin of the NASB, "if somehow," instead of "in order that") seem to better communicate what Paul said here; they make the outcome seem far-less-certain than the translation of the NASB. The NKJV has, "if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead," and the KJV is similar. The NIV has, "and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." I don't believe that Paul was wondering whether he would make it to glory, or not (cf., e.g., Phil. 1:21, 23). He did, however, understand that it was necessary for him to press on in faith until the end of the race, and he knew that he was committed in his heart to finish the race by the sufficient grace of God in Christ.

The apostle undoubtedly spoke as he did here, with his far-less-than-certain tone, in an attempt to wake up some Christians at Philippi that he knew were not adequately conformed to the death of Christ and pressing on in Him. I assume he could have named some Christians at Philippi, even though this was one of the more solid, healthy churches. (Even Christians that are quite sincere and committed can miss the center of God's will in one direction or another. There are many forces at work trying to keep us from, or get us out of, the center of God's will. That is one reason we must stay humble, open, and teachable before God, and before our brothers and sisters in Christ.) In verses 12-15 Paul goes on using himself as an example of what must be done; he puts most of the emphasis on the need for Christians to press on in Christ until the end of the race. If the great apostle to the Gentiles had not arrived and needed to press on, the Philippians did too, and so do we. By using himself as an example, he avoided giving offense as much as possible (but some will always take offense).]] (12) Not that I have already obtained it [[Paul had not yet finished his race and obtained resurrection glory. (The great apostle has now finished his race, but he must still wait for the return of Christ to obtain the full resurrection glory of the age to come.) Until he finished the race, he - and all Christians, very much including all the Christians at Philippi - needed to press on. As an example of how Christians can miss God's will, consider 1 Cor. 4:8, "You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have already become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we might reign with you." It is not hard to imagine that those Christians who overstated the extent to which they had arrived were not adequately pressing on in Christ. I do not believe that the Philippian Christians were as far off as some of the Corinthian Christians (as pictured in 1 Cor. 4:8), but we all have all-too-much potential to miss the center of God's will.

First Corinthians chapter 15 shows that some at Corinth went so far as to deny the future resurrection of the body (cf. 1 Cor. 15:12). Somewhat related, if not directly related to this serious problem that surfaced at Corinth, was the viewpoint of two Christian leaders Paul mentioned by name in 2 Tim. 2:17, 18, "men who [had] gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection [had] already taken place," thereby, for one thing, denying the future resurrection of the body. It is not hard to imagine that those who believed that the resurrection was past might be failing to adequately press on in Christ. I don't believe that the doctrinal problems at Philippi were this serious. If they had been, Paul would undoubtedly have said more than what he said in this epistle to the Philippians to straighten them out.

The problems at Philippi that Paul was dealing with (by using himself as a example of what should be done) probably did not go beyond a failure on the part of some to adequately press on in Christ, which included the need to disregard the things of the past/of the flesh and to be fully faithful to the new covenant, even when it involved suffering with Christ. All Christians are called (and enabled) to press on with a single-hearted commitment until the race has been completed and the prize has been received.]] or have already become perfect [[(This double bracket continues for about three pages.) This becoming perfect (or however we translate the Greek verb here), as the words are used here in Phil 3:12, is speaking of something that will come to pass when Jesus returns and the resurrection from the dead (and glorification) takes place. (I had a footnote: It is also true, of course, that for those Christians who die before Jesus returns, like the apostle Paul, their race is over and they go to heaven, but they still must wait for the time of the resurrection and full glorification.) Those believers who are still living on the earth when Christ returns will be transformed and caught up into eternal glory at that time; they will become perfect/complete in a final, absolute sense.

Many think that with these words the apostle Paul was confessing that he still did not have the victory over sin, even though he was nearing the end of his life. (I had a footnote: The most common view is that Paul wrote this epistle to the Philippians while a prisoner at Rome about AD60-63. He had been converted some thirty years earlier, about AD32, and he apparently was martyred in Rome about AD65-67.) And it follows, of course, that IF the great apostle to the Gentiles did not yet have the victory over sin (that is, IF he confessed that he was still living in sin to some extent), we certainly could not expect (have faith) to have the victory either. I don't believe, however, that Paul confessed here (or anywhere else in his writings) that he had not been walking in righteousness and holiness with the victory over all sin. ((I had a footnote: I'm not saying that Paul would necessarily say that he had not sinned since he became a Christian [cf., e.g., 1 Cor. 4:3-5], but he certainly didn't confess that he continued to sin, quite the contrary. And he consistently taught that all Christians have been called to be dead to sin and walk in the imparted righteousness and holiness of God, by grace through faith. See the third and fourth paragraphs at the beginning of this study of Philippians chapter 3 (in Part 1). What I am especially concerned about is the widespread, but mistaken, idea that the apostle Paul taught that all Christians will necessarily continue to sin to some extent. That viewpoint makes it impossible for Christians to have faith for victory over sin.)) All he said here was that he had not already become perfect/complete (or, we could translate "have already reached my goal") in the sense that he had not arrived yet at his goal of resurrection perfection/completeness. He (and all the Christians at Philippi and everywhere else) must, therefore, keep running the race; they must keep pressing on until they arrive at that goal (or at least until their assigned race on the earth has been completed).

The Greek lexicons confirm that the Greek verb used here ("teleioo") includes the meanings of completing and bringing to a goal. A translation like "have already been made complete," or "have already reached my goal" (note the use of the word "goal" in Phil. 3:14) would also be quite acceptable, along with the translation of the NASB. ((I had a footnote: The translation of the NASB ("or have already become perfect") is acceptable as long as we don't understand Paul to be saying that he was still living in sin to some extent. We'll discuss this point as we continue.)) In the article on this Greek verb in the "Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament" (edited by H. Balz and G. Schneider, Vol. 3 [Eerdmans, 1993], page 344) under Phil. 3:12, H. Hubner translates, "not as if I already had reached my goal." The NRSV has, "or have already reached the goal

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