Philippians 3:12-16
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
The journey of becoming more like Christ until we die, progressive sanctification, takes us from our positional standing of righteousness and sanctification in Christ to the working out of that salvation’s change in us. Paul echoes this by not having arrived yet, so he is already righteous yet not yet fully until that day standing before God in a new body. Because we have not arrived yet, we don’t dwell on past failures of sin, but reach toward eternity in how we live by our choices and reliance on His Spirit’s working in us (Phil.2:12-13). We press into the race to finish well in the end, bringing glory to the God we aim to please as the goal. He calls us upward to Himself and holiness. If we don’t grasp this or believe it, we see here that God will open our eyes to the truth, so we live in light of eternity as best we know, yet strive to know Him more as He reveals more by His word to us that we might be ever more transformed as we gaze into His face.
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