Philippians 3:15

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.

“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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.