Philippians 3:12-21
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. (vv. 13b-15) It’s easy for us to overlook those three words, “think this way”. So here are those same thoughts, re-stating verses 14 and 15a to give us a better sense of what Paul is asking directly of us: “Let those of you who are mature forget what lies behind and … press on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” This re-phrasing adds some clarity to his “think this way”.
Paul uses two powerful words/phrases in that first ESV translation above, “straining” and “press on”. Both of these words/phrases have some sense of persistence and determination. Paul wants us to be “straining forward”, not just simply looking ahead. And he wants us to “press on”, not just rest in our acceptance of our future reward. I’m thinking of the “full court press” in basketball – an intense focus on disrupting the other team. Paul is telling us not to simply rest on our forgiveness and salvation in Jesus, but to move forward with intensity. And if we’re not at that point, just wait and the Lord will deal with us on that matter!!
Finally, …hold true to what we have attained. (v. 16) Paul wants us to “hold true” to where we are – again, don’t just rest in it, embrace it! Love where we are and the life that we are living! And he follows that up with another of his “imitation” calls: Brothers, join in imitating me… (v. 17a) Paul is confident in his approach to his current state (in his case, prison) and in his future direction – so confident, in fact, that he can ask us to do likewise. It’s a worthy calling!
Slava Bohu!
Paul has been talking about his goal is to know Christ more, so he is totally focused on that, the full court press to the basket. We need the power of the Spirit to have that kind of concentration, and to deal with our discouragement, errors, past, anything that takes our eyes away from knowing Jesus. Whew! Sure can’t do that on our own or without other believers.