English · KJV

Philippians 3:12

“Straining Toward Spiritual Maturity”Philippians 3:12–16

King James Version
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
Not G3756 as though G3754 I had already G2235 attained G2983, either G2228 were already G2235 perfect G5048: but G1161 I follow after G1377, if G1499 that I may apprehend G2638 that for G1909 which G3739 also G2532 I am apprehended G2638 of G5259 Christ G5547 Jesus G2424.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
Not 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.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect; but I press on, if it is so that I may take hold of that for which also I was taken hold of by Messiah Yeshua.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
Not as though I had alreadie attained to it, either were alreadie perfect: but I follow, if that I may comprehend that for whose sake also I am comprehended of Christ Iesus.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
Not that I did already obtain, or have been already perfected; but I pursue, if also I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by the Christ Jesus;

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
20 Greek words
  1. οὐχouchNotG3756PRT-NNegative Particle Negative
  2. ὅτιhotiforG3754CONJConjunction
  3. ἤδηēdēalreadyG2235ADVAdverb
  4. ἔλαβονelabonI have obtained [it]G2983V-2AAI-1SVerb 2nd Aorist Active Indicative 1st Singular
  5. ἢēorG2228CONJConjunction
  6. ἤδηēdēalreadyG2235ADVAdverb
  7. τετελείωμαιteteleiōmaihave been perfectedG5048V-RPI-1SVerb Perfect Passive Indicative 1st Singular
  8. διώκωdiōkōI am pursuingG1377V-PAI-1SVerb Present Active Indicative 1st Singular
  9. δὲdehoweverG1161CONJConjunction
  10. εἰeiifG1487CONDConjunction
  11. καὶkaievenG2532CONJConjunction
  12. καταλάβωkatalabōI shall graspG2638V-2AAS-1SVerb 2nd Aorist Active Subjunctive 1st Singular
  13. ἐφ᾽eph᾽ofG1909PREPPreposition
  14. ᾧhōthat for whichG3739R-DSNRelative pronoun Dative Singular Neuter
  15. καὶkaialsoG2532CONJConjunction
  16. κατελήμφθηνkatelēmphthēnI was graspedG2638V-API-1SVerb Aorist Passive Indicative 1st Singular
  17. ὑπὸhupobyG5259PREPPreposition
  18. τοῦtou[the]G3588T-GSMDefinite article Genitive Singular Masculine
  19. ΧριστοῦChristouChristG5547N-GSM-TNoun Genitive Singular Masculine Title
  20. ἸησοῦIēsouJesusG2424N-GSM-PNoun Genitive Singular Masculine Individual
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

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This verse

Paul admits that the goal of resurrection and full likeness to Christ is still ahead of him, and he pursues it because Christ Jesus has already laid hold of him for that very purpose.

“Not as though I had already attained,”

“Attained” looks back to the knowledge of Christ and the resurrection Paul longs for in verses 10 and 11. He writes as one still on the way.

“either were already perfect:”

teleióō, brought to completion. The word looks to the end of the race, the completeness that comes with the resurrection.

“but I follow after,”

dé turns the sentence, and diṓkō is the hunter’s and the runner’s word, the same verb as “press” in verse 14.

“if that I may apprehend”

To grasp fully, katalambánō. Paul wants to take hold of all that Christ intends for him.

“that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”

Christ’s act came first and was decisive, and everything Paul does flows from it.

Passage studyPhilippians 3:12–16

I Press Toward the Mark

12Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 16Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

Summary

Paul has just told the Philippians how much he longs to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, and now he tells them honestly where he stands. The goal is still ahead of him, but Christ Jesus has already laid hold of him, and so he runs. He leaves behind what is past, stretches toward what is ahead, and presses toward the mark for the prize of God’s high calling in Christ Jesus. Then he turns to the church. All who are mature should think this way, God will show them anything they still see differently, and meanwhile they are to keep walking together by the standard they have already reached.

Where these verses stand in the letter

Paul wrote Philippians from prison, probably in Rome, around AD 60–62. Philippi was a Roman colony, and its people were proud of their Roman citizenship. In chapter 3 the letter turns from joy and partnership in the gospel to a sharp warning: “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers” (Philippians 3:2–3). These were teachers, often called Judaizers, who insisted that circumcision and keeping the Law of Moses were needed for salvation. The early church met that pressure again and again, as Galatians and Acts 15 show.

Paul answers them with his own story. He lists his impressive credentials as a Jew (Philippians 3:4–6) and then says, “what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Philippians 3:7–8). He counts them “but dung” beside “the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8), so that he may gain Christ and be found in him (Philippians 3:8–9), with the righteousness “which is through the faith of Christ” (Philippians 3:9). His desire is to “know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death”, and so to reach the resurrection itself (Philippians 3:10–11).

Verses 12 to 16 follow straight on. Having said how much he longs for, Paul admits that he has yet to receive all of it. That admission is part of his answer to the false teachers, because it shows that spiritual completeness lies beyond anything earned by works or ritual, and that even an apostle is still on the way.

Still short of the goal, and still running

“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect”. Paul has been an apostle for years, has seen much and suffered much, and he says plainly that the goal is still ahead of him. “Perfect” here translates teleióō, which means to complete, to accomplish, to bring something to its end, and it is used of being made complete in character. Paul is speaking of the finished state that waits at the end of the race.

What does Paul mean by “perfect”?

People often ask whether Paul is admitting here that he still sins. He does struggle with sin, as every believer does, but his word reaches further. In this chapter the goal is the resurrection, full likeness to Christ, and the glory that will come when the Lord “shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21). That is what he has yet to reach. John says the same of all believers: when Christ appears, “we shall be like him” (1 John 3:2). Paul says that God’s purpose for his people is that they be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29).

So Paul’s honesty guards against two errors at once. It humbles spiritual pride, and it lifts the crushing weight of thinking we should have arrived already. Spiritual maturity is a lifelong journey of growth, and the most advanced believer is still travelling it.

“But I follow after”

The small word dé, “but”, marks a strong turn. Paul has admitted where he falls short, and he moves at once to what he is doing about it. “I follow after” is diṓkō, to pursue or chase, a word used of hunting and of running a race. It describes intense, determined and purposeful effort, and Paul is chasing the goal with everything he has. The race that this verb hints at becomes plain in verse 14, where the same verb is translated “press”.

Laid hold of by Christ first

The last clause of verse 12 holds Paul’s motive: “if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” Both “apprehend” and “am apprehended” are katalambánō, to lay hold of, seize, grasp fully, overtake. Christ seized Paul first. The risen Lord reached out and claimed a persecutor for his own, and he did it for a purpose. Now Paul spends his life laying hold of that very purpose, which is to know Christ, to become like him and to share his resurrection life. Paul has already said, “For to me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21), and all his striving is aimed at Christ.

Is Paul earning his salvation?

Paul runs as one already saved by grace, and he teaches everywhere that salvation is by grace through faith: “For by grace are ye saved through faith... Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). The words “I am apprehended of Christ Jesus” put Christ’s gracious act first, and Paul’s running answers it. He pursues because he has been saved, gratefully and diligently, and the Spirit gives him the strength to do it. What he describes is growth in holiness, the lifelong outworking of a salvation that grace has already secured. God calls and lays hold, and his people respond with all their strength.

This one thing I do

Verse 13 opens with “Brethren”, a warm word that puts Paul alongside his readers as their brother. He repeats his confession in fresh words, “I count not myself to have apprehended”, using katalambánō again. Here the verb is in the perfect tense, which speaks of a finished act with lasting results, and Paul reckons that finished grasp still ahead of him. For all his revelations and his years of ministry, he refuses to settle into complacency or self-sufficiency.

“But this one thing I do” gathers his whole life into a single aim, with every other concern placed beneath it. The one thing is the pursuit of Christ and of the prize of God’s calling that he names in the next verse. It has two movements, one away from the past and one toward the future.

Does “forgetting” mean Paul wipes out his memory?

“Forgetting” is epilanthánomai, to lose out of mind, and by implication to neglect. It is in the middle voice, which here describes something Paul deliberately does for himself. He still remembers his past, since he has just written it out in Philippians 3:4–6. To forget it in this sense is to let it go, so that it neither defines him nor holds him back.

That covers both kinds of past. Old sins and failures can weigh a believer down with guilt and condemnation, and Christ has power to set us free from them. Old successes and spiritual high points can make a believer proud or complacent, and Paul has just counted his own credentials as loss. Dwelling on either one slows the runner down.

Reaching forth

“Reaching forth” is epekteínomai, built from words meaning “upon” and “to stretch out”, so it means to stretch oneself forward. It is also in the middle voice. The picture is a runner leaning toward the finish line with every muscle straining, and it carries eager expectation as well as hard work.

“Those things which are before” are the parts of salvation still to come: the full knowledge of Christ, complete likeness to him, the resurrection and the prize of God’s call. Believers live between what is already theirs and what is still to come. We are already saved, and the Spirit already lives in us, yet we wait, as Paul says elsewhere, for “the redemption of our body”, hoping for what is still unseen (Romans 8:23–25).

The mark and the prize

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” “Press” is diṓkō again, to pursue, literally or figuratively, and by implication to persecute. It is the effort of a runner giving everything to the race. “Mark” is skopós, which meant a watchman, a sentry or scout, and by implication a goal, the distant point a person keeps his eye fixed on. Paul’s mark is a clear and fixed target, and for him it is likeness to Christ and the full working out of God’s purpose for his life.

“Prize” is brabeîon. It comes from a word connected with the umpire of a contest, and it means an award given by the judge, especially a prize in the public games. It went to the winner and brought him great public honour.

A race the Philippians knew

Paul’s readers would have caught the picture at once. Greeks and Romans knew the public games well, where runners trained hard, strained every muscle, fixed their eyes on the finish and put what lay behind them out of mind. The Isthmian Games were held near Corinth, and when Paul wrote to the Corinthians he used the same picture: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain” (1 Corinthians 9:24–27). Hebrews calls believers to “run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1–2), and near the end of his life Paul could say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith,” with a crown of righteousness laid up for him (2 Timothy 4:7–8).

The prize Paul runs for is the whole of salvation brought to completion: the resurrection, glory, eternal fellowship with God and perfect union with Christ. In the end the prize is Christ himself.

The zeal in this verse is a new zeal. Paul once poured his energy into a righteousness of his own under the Law (Philippians 3:4–6), and now everything he has goes into Christ. He calls the Philippians to the same steady effort when he tells them to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12), which is a world away from the false teachers who trusted in their own works (Philippians 3:2–3).

What is “the high calling of God”?

The Greek is ánō klēsis, the upward call. A klēsis is a summons, and this one comes from God and calls his people upward to a heavenly destiny. So the race begins with God. He issues the call by his grace, and believers run in answer to it. The call is to a life given over to him, to growing like Christ, and finally to sharing his glory in heaven.

The call is “in Christ Jesus”. The calling, the running and the prize are all rooted in a believer’s union with Christ, empowered by him and fulfilled through him. A little later Paul tells the Philippians, who prized their Roman citizenship, that “our conversation is in heaven”, and that from there we look for the Saviour, who will change our bodies to be like his (Philippians 3:20–21). He says the same to the Colossians: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).

As many as be perfect

In verse 15 Paul turns from his own example to the church: “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded”. The “therefore” draws the lesson from verses 12 to 14, and “us” keeps Paul among those he is teaching.

How can Paul be “perfect” in verse 15 and still short of it in verse 12?

The two verses use related words in different senses. In verse 12, teleióō speaks of being brought to the finish, the completed state that waits at the end. In verse 15, téleios means mature or full-grown, someone who has moved beyond spiritual infancy and is wholly committed to the goal. Sinlessness lies outside the meaning of either word here. The mark of the mature is exactly the outlook Paul has just described: they know they have yet to arrive, and they keep pressing on.

Hebrews speaks of the same maturity: “strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). Paul’s aim in all his preaching was “that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:28).

“Be thus minded” uses phronéō, from the word for the mind. It means to exercise the mind, to hold an opinion, to be disposed a certain way, and it takes in the direction of a person’s thoughts and affections. To be “thus minded” is to share Paul’s outlook: leaving the past behind, straining toward Christ, pressing for the prize. That outlook stands against the self-confidence of the false teachers earlier in the chapter, who relied on circumcision and their own achievements (Philippians 3:2–11).

“God shall reveal even this unto you”

Paul expects that some, even among the mature, will see things differently on some point. Perhaps some still lean toward the Law, or misunderstand how believers grow, or are simply slower to grasp it. He meets them gently, with a promise: “God shall reveal even this unto you.” “Reveal” is apokalýptō, literally to take off the cover, and so to uncover, disclose and make known. God himself is the teacher of his people, and he leads sincere believers into the truth they still lack.

In the young church God’s revelation came through the apostles and the Holy Spirit, and by it the church’s teaching and practice were established. Jesus promised that the Spirit “will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13) and that “he shall teach you all things” (John 14:26). It is Christ who has made God known: “the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18).

Does God show everything at once? The promise speaks of an ongoing work, done in his time and by his means. Understanding usually grows step by step, “from faith to faith” (Romans 1:17), through prayer, the study of Scripture, the light the Spirit gives and the teaching of the church. So the verse calls for patience with ourselves and with one another. Believers grow at different paces, and they owe one another grace. Paul prays elsewhere, “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus” (Romans 15:5).

Walking by the rule already reached

Verse 16 brings the passage down to today’s steps: “Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” “Nevertheless” is plḗn, which can mean but, except or notwithstanding. The final goal lies in the future, and plḗn turns from it to the present and the duty that belongs to it.

“Already attained” is phthánō, to be beforehand, to arrive at. The Philippians, and Paul with them, have truly reached a point. They have received the gospel, been converted and begun to live by it. This is real progress, short of the final goal, and Paul tells them to live up to it. Whatever ground a believer has gained is the starting point for continued faithfulness.

“Walk” is stoichéō, to live by a set pattern, like soldiers marching in step. “Rule” is kanṓn, from a word for a straight reed or rod, and so a measuring line or standard, a term also used in building and in the army. In the New Testament it describes the standard of faith and life, and here it means the gospel of Christ and the teaching of the apostles, the truth they have already received. Paul uses the same word to the Galatians: “as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy” (Galatians 6:16).

“The same” is autós, and it comes twice, in “the same rule” and “the same thing”. The repetition shows how much Paul cares that the church holds together. “Mind” is phronéō again, the word of verse 15. To “mind the same thing” is to share one outlook on the core of the faith and one commitment to living out the gospel, while believers may still differ on smaller matters.

Paul has already pleaded for this unity, with humility toward one another (Philippians 2:1–4): “Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (Philippians 2:2), and “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). Elsewhere he tells believers, “be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2), and urges them to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called”, “endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1–3). A shared rule and a shared mind kept the Philippians steady against division inside the church and false teaching from outside it.

Christ ran first, and Christ is the prize

Everything in these verses points to Christ. He is the one who laid hold of Paul, he is the goal of the race, and he gives the strength to run it. He also ran this way himself. He “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant”, and he “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7–8). The mind Paul asks the Philippians to share in verse 15 is Christ’s own mind of obedience to the Father and self-giving love (Philippians 2:5–8).

Hebrews tells us to look to “Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus kept to the mission set before him, looked past the cross to the joy beyond it, and is now seated at the right hand of God. His resurrection and exaltation secured the very prize his people run for, so our prize is a share in his own victory and inheritance. The mark is his likeness, to which we are being conformed, and the prize is life with him in glory. The race is run through his power, toward his likeness and for the joy of being with him forever, and he is the one who will bring us to the finish and make us complete.

Pressing on in our own race

If you belong to Christ, he laid hold of you first, and your running is your answer to his grace. You can admit freely that you have yet to arrive, as the greatest of the apostles did, and that honesty is itself a sign of maturity. Your past belongs to Christ. Old failures have lost their power to condemn you, and old successes make poor ground to rest on, so you can leave both behind and stretch toward what is ahead.

The race is run in company. When fellow believers see some matter differently, you can trust God to show them, and you, what each still needs to learn, and meanwhile walk with them by the gospel you have already received. And the goal is worth every step, because at the end of it is Christ himself, who will make us like him when he appears.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Philippians 3:9–14. He set out his notes in a four-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 6 verses
Passage under commentPhilippians 3:9–14
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details[1.] [2.] Fine details

We now heard what the apostle renounced; let us now see what he laid hold on, and resolved to cleave to, namely, Christ and heaven. He had his heart on these two great peculiarities of the Christian religion.

I.The apostle had his heart upon Christ as his righteousness. This is illustrated in several instances.

1.He desired to win Christ; and an unspeakable gainer he would reckon himself if he had but an interest in Christ and his righteousness, and if Christ became his Lord and his Saviour: That I may win him; as the runner wins the prize, as the sailor makes the port he is bound for. The expression intimates that we have need to strive for him and after him, and that all is little enough to win him.

2.That he might be found in him (Philippians 3:9), as the manslayer was found in the city of refuge, where he was safe from the avenger of blood, Numbers 35:25. Or it alludes to a judicial appearance; so we are to be found of our Judge in peace, 2 Peter 3:14. We are undone without a righteousness wherein to appear before God, for we are guilty. There is a righteousness provided for us in Jesus Christ, and it is a complete and perfect righteousness. None can have interest or benefit by it but those who come off from confidence in themselves, and are brought heartily to believe in him. "Not having my own righteousness, which is of the law; not thinking that my outward observances and good deeds are able to atone for my bad ones, or that by setting the one over against the other I can come to balance accounts with God. No, the righteousness which I depend upon is that which is through the faith of Christ, not a legal, but evangelical righteousness: The righteousness which is of God by faith, ordained and appointed of God." The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord our righteousness, Isaiah 45:24; Jeremiah 23:6. Had he not been God, he could not have been our righteousness; the transcendent excellence of the divine nature put such a value upon, and such a virtue into, his sufferings, that they became sufficient to satisfy for the sins of the world, and to bring in a righteousness which will be effectual to all that believe. Faith is the ordained means of actual interest and saving benefit in all the purchase of his blood. It is by faith in his blood, Romans 3:25.

3.That he might know Christ (Philippians 3:10): That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings. Faith is called knowledge, Isaiah 53:11. Knowing him here is believing in him: it is an experimental knowledge of the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, or feeling the transforming efficacy and virtue of them. Observe, The apostle was as ambitious of being sanctified as he was of being justified. He was as desirous to know the power of Christ's death and resurrection killing sin in him, and raising him up to newness of life, as he was to receive the benefit of Christ's death and resurrection in his justification.

4.That he might be conformable unto him, and this also is meant of his sanctification. We are then made conformable to his death when we die to sin, as Christ died for sin, when we are crucified with Christ, the flesh and affections of it mortified, and the world is crucified to us, and we to the world, by virtue of the cross of Christ. This is our conformity to his death.

II.The apostle had his heart upon heaven as his happiness: If by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead, Philippians 3:11.

1.The happiness of heaven is here called the resurrection of the dead, because, though the souls of the faithful, when they depart, are immediately with Christ, yet their happiness will not be complete till the general resurrection of the dead at the last day, when soul and body shall be glorified together. Anastasis sometimes signifies the future state. This the apostle had his eye upon; this he would attain. There will be a resurrection of the unjust, who shall arise to shame and everlasting contempt; and our care must be to escape that: but the joyful and glorious resurrection of saints is called the resurrection, kat' exochēn - by eminence, because it is in virtue of Christ's resurrection, as their head and first-fruits; whereas the wicked shall rise only by the power of Christ, as their judge. To the saints it will be indeed a resurrection, a return to bliss, and life, and glory; while the resurrection of the wicked is a rising from the grave, but a return to a second death. It is called the resurrection of the just, and the resurrection of life (John 5:29), and they are counted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, Luke 20:35.

2.This joyful resurrection the apostle pressed towards. He was willing to do any thing, or suffer any thing, that he might attain that resurrection. The hope and prospect of it carried him with so much courage and constancy through all the difficulties he met with in his work. He speaks as if they were in danger of missing it, and coming short of it. A holy fear of coming short is an excellent means of perseverance. Observe, His care to be found in Christ was in order to his attaining the resurrection of the dead. Paul himself did not hope to attain it through his own merit and righteousness, but through the merit and righteousness of Jesus Christ. "Let me be found in Christ, that I may attain the resurrection of the dead, be found a believer in him, and interested in him by faith," Observe,

(1.)He looks upon himself to be in a state of imperfection and trial: Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect, Philippians 3:12. Observe, The best men in the world will readily own their imperfection in the present state. We have not yet attained, are not already perfect; there is still much wanting in all our duties, and graces, and comforts. If Paul had not attained to perfection (who had reached to so high a pitch of holiness), much less have we. Again, Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended (Philippians 3:13), ou logizomai. "I make this judgment of the case; I thus reason with myself." Observe, Those who think they have grace enough give proof that they have little enough, or rather that they have none at all; because, wherever there is true grace, there is a desire of more grace, and a pressing towards the perfection of grace.

(2.)What the apostle's actings were under this conviction. Considering that he had not already attained, and had not apprehended, he pressed forward: "I follow after (Philippians 3:12), diōkō - I pursue with vigour, as one following after the game. I endeavour to get more grace and do more good, and never think I have done enough: If that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." Observe,

[1.]Whence our grace comes - from our being apprehended of Christ Jesus. It is not our laying hold of Christ first, but his laying hold of us, which is our happiness and salvation. We love him because he first loved us, 1 John 4:19. Not our keeping hold of Christ, but his keeping hold of us, is our safety. We are kept by his mighty power through faith unto salvation, 1 Peter 1:5. Observe,

[2.]What the happiness of heaven is: it is to apprehend that for which we are apprehended of Christ. When Christ laid hold of us, it was to bring us to heaven; and to apprehend that for which he apprehended us is to attain the perfection of our bliss. He adds further (Philippians 3:13): This one thing I do (this was his great care and concern), forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before. There is a sinful forgetting of past sins and past mercies, which ought to be remembered for the exercise of constant repentance and thankfulness to God. But Paul forgot the things which were behind so as not to be content with present measures of grace: he was still for having more and more. So he reaches forth, epekteinomenos - stretched himself forward, bearing towards his point: it is expressive of a vehement concern.

(3.)The apostle's aim in these actings: I press towards the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, Philippians 3:14. He pressed towards the mark. As he who runs a race never takes up short of the end, but is still making forwards as fast as he can, so those who have heaven in their eye must still be pressing forward to it in holy desires and hopes, and constant endeavours and preparations. The fitter we grow for heaven the faster we must press towards it. Heaven is called here the mark, because it is that which every good Christian has in his eye; as the archer has his eye fixed upon the mark he designs to hit. For the prize of the high calling. Observe, A Christian's calling is a high calling: it is from heaven, as its original; and it is to heaven in its tendency. Heaven is the prize of the high calling; to brabeion - the prize we fight for, and run for, and wrestle for, what we aim at in all we do, and what will reward all our pains. It is of great use in the Christian course to keep our eye upon heaven. This is proper to give us measures in all our service, and to quicken us every step we take; and it is of God, from whom we are to expect it. Eternal life is the gift of God (Romans 6:23), but it is in Christ Jesus; through his hand it must come to us, as it is procured for us by him. There is no getting to heaven as our home but by Christ as our way.

Historical interpretation

Two Centuries of Reception

6 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

6 quotes · AD 220–458
Ante-NicenePost-Nicene
200300400

Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.

d. AD 220TertullianAnte-NiceneSourceTo His Wife Book II
If these things may happen to those women also who, having attained the faith while in (the state of) Gentile matrimony, continue in that state, still they are excused, as having been "apprehended by God" in these very circumstances; and they are bidden to persevere in their married state, and are sanctified, and have hope of "making a gain" held out to them.
d. AD 220TertullianAnte-NiceneSourceTo His Wife Book II
Let the one, therefore, have the necessity of continuing; the other, further, even the power of not marrying. Secondly, if, according to the Scripture, they who shall be "apprehended" by the faith in (the state of) Gentile marriage are not defiled (thereby) for this reason, that, together with themselves, others also are sanctified: without doubt, they who have been sanctified before marriage, if they commingle themselves with "strange flesh," cannot sanctify that (flesh) in (union with) which they were not "apprehended.
d. AD 370Gaius Marius VictorinusPost-NiceneSourceEPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 3.12
Christ by his sufferings has set free all who follow him. He embraces everyone, but especially those who follow. The one who wants to follow and embrace Christ is bound to follow Christ in all his sufferings. Only in this way may he embrace Christ as Christ embraces him. For if Christ set everyone free by his sufferings, he embraces everyone in his sufferings.
d. AD 384AmbrosiasterPost-NiceneSourceEPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 3.12.1
Throughout the letter Paul bears witness to his joy in them and praises their obedience and faith. He is, however, concerned that they, like all who are subject to human conceits, might become elated as though they were already worthy. So he tells them openly, speaking of his own person, that something is still wanting for perfect righteousness. He urges them to good works. If he who is adorned with such dignity confesses that he is still wanting in perfection, they would understand how much more they must work to acquire the blessings of righteousness.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHomily on Philippians 11
"Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may apprehend that for which also I was apprehended by Christ Jesus."

"Not that I have already obtained." What means "already obtained"? He speaks of the prize, but if he who had endured such sufferings, he who was persecuted, he "who had in him the dying of the Lord Jesus," was not yet confident about that resurrection, what can we say? What meaneth, "if I may apprehend"? What he before said, "If I may attain to the resurrection of the dead." (2 Cor. iv. 10) If I may apprehend, he saith, His resurrection; i.e. if I may be able to endure so great things, if I may be able to imitate Him, if I may be able to become conformed to Him. For example, Christ suffered many things, He was spit upon, He was stricken, was scourged, at last He suffered what things he suffered. This is the entire course. Through all these things it is needful that men should endure the whole contest, and so come to His resurrection. Or he means this, if I am thought worthy to attain the glorious resurrection, which is a matter of confidence, in order to His resurrection. For if I am able to endure all the contests, I shall be able also to have His resurrection, and to rise with glory. For not as yet, saith he, am I worthy, but "I press on, if so be that I may apprehend." My life is still one of contest, I am still far from the end, I am still distant from the prize, still I run, still I pursue. And He said not, I run, but "I pursue." For you know with what eagerness a man pursues. He sees no one, he thrusts aside with great violence all who would interrupt his pursuit. He collects together his mind, and sight, and strength, and soul, and body, looking to nothing else than the prize. But if Paul, who so pursued, who had suffered so many things, yet saith, "if I may attain," what should we say, who have relaxed our efforts?

Then to show that the thing is of debt, he saith, "For which also I was apprehended by Christ Jesus." I was, he saith, of the number of the lost, I gasped for breath, I was nigh dead, God apprehended me. For He pursued us, when we fled from Him, with all speed. So that he points out all those things; for the words, "I was apprehended," show the earnestness of Him who wishes to apprehend us, and our great aversion to Him, our wandering, our flight from Him.

So that we are liable for a vast debt, and no one grieves, no one weeps, no one groans, all having returned to their former state. For as before the appearance of Christ we fled from God, so now also. For we can flee from God, not in place, for He is everywhere; and hear the Prophet, when he says, "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy presence"? (Ps. cxxxix. 7) How then can we flee from God? Even as we can become distant from God, even as we can be removed afar off. "They that are far from Thee," it says, "shall perish." (Ps. lxxiii. 27) And again, "Have not your iniquities separated between Me and you?" (Isa. lix. 2) How then comes this removal, how comes this separation? In purpose and soul: for it cannot be in place. For how could one fly from Him who is everywhere present? The sinner then flies. This is what the Scripture saith, "The wicked fleeth when no man pursueth him." (Prov. xxviii. 1) We eagerly fly from God, although He always pursueth us. The Apostle hasted, that he might be near Him. We haste, that we may be far off.
d. AD 458Theodoret of CyrusPost-NiceneSourceEPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 3.12
“It was he who first caught me in his net” Paul says in effect, “for I was fleeing him and was turned well away. He caught me as I fled. But now I in turn am the pursuer in my desire of catching him, that I may not be a disappointment to his saving work.”
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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