Pressing On

The English language doesn’t capture the nuance and meaning of the original biblical languages….that is why studying the broader and deeper meanings of the words of Scripture is so engaging, helpful and practical. It is also imperative to bring the context of the passage to bear. When I prepare sermons, I always start with diving deep into the original meaning of the passage. This is called an “exegetical study”. Here is a study on Philippians 3:13-14…

Brothers and sisters, I know that I have not yet reached that goal

In the previous verses, Paul has just listed all the ways God had used him in the past, but even with all those accomplishments, which included being taken up into the third Heaven, writing lots of the New Testament, building the early church, he still had not yet “reached that goal” or literally “taken hold of it,” apprehended it, or attained it. What was the goal? Holiness and perfection. In a way, he is taking a swipe at the false teachers who had a “vain confidence” as if they had “reached the goal” of holiness and perfection.

But there is one thing I know

Literally, “however imperfect my knowledge was in other things, I am FULLY apprized of what I am about to share. I am an expert in what I am about to say.

And is the one thing I always do

I am not only an expert in it mentally, but it is something I always put into practice in my life. I am single-minded in this, I engross all my energies, affections, thoughts, desires, and time into this, it’s the one thing I do in all situations no matter what. Paul is crescendoing to something big…so the next statement is key.

Forgetting the past

We need to stop here because “forgetting the past” is a tired theme that many even today exploit superfluously and by doing so we miss the rich meaning of what Paul is driving at. Paul isn’t necessarily talking about his (or our) past sins that were forgiven by God…sins that God somehow “forgets” (I will remember your sins no more!) because Paul still mentioned his past sins from time to time to instruct himself and others and to bring glory to God. We repeat past sins, that we thought we had beaten, all the time, so it is actually a non-gracious thing for teachers/pastors to tell the people to “forget your past sins”…yes, there is a sense in which we forget our past sins, but there is also a sense in which we dare not forget our past sins. Paul also wasn’t saying to forget the heritage of the past (another misguided favorite theme for this text) which was actually remembered well by every Jew according to the commands of Scripture to remember and honor the past. While I absolutely love what God is doing today in the church, we would do well to remember the heritage of our past as well. Paul was saying that he forgets himself…he forgets his past labors but also forgets the vain boastings of false teachers who maligned Paul’s reputation and demeaned him when he was absent…Paul says literally, “I don’t look back”. Here is where it is applicable to us…we too should forget the vain boastings of others especially when those vain boastings were meant to hurt us or derail us. Don’t look back.

And straining toward what is ahead

This metaphor is regarding a runner running a race and not stopping to look behind to see how they or others have run but stretching/reaching forward as if a struggle, or literally “attaching my heart to the future”. How can we attach our hearts to the future when our hearts are living in the hurts of the past?

I press toward the mark

All the thoughts, purposes of God to which they aim, which is to Jesus because he is the forerunner running the race for us ahead of us, keeping our eyes on Jesus and not looking to the left or right especially in difficulties. People say, “I’m keeping on keeping on”. Keeping on to what? To pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps? No. Pressing on, keeping on keeping on, in fixing our eyes on Jesus.

For the prize of high calling of God in Christ Jesus

The crown, the unfading glory, the prize of the calling of God. This is a picture of a judge who is sitting near the finish mark with a crown in his hand which he already gave to the one who finished first, but he also gives to all others who cross the finish line as well!

Think about those who run the Boston Marathon…the one who crosses first is the winner but many…most others who run that race also may also finish the race and cross and what happens when they do? Those who have run these races will tell you when they cross the finish line it is a celebration as if they won!

All of us who are mature should take such a view of these things

Verses 13 and 14 are the somewhat famous verses, but 15 is the verse we should really consider. It’s one thing to say “amen” to the pastor, it is one thing to preach Jesus, it is quite another to actually practice it in our lives. Paul said, “if you are mature you will actually do what I have just commanded to do”. It is a mark of maturity to not look to the left or to the right and certainly not to look behind and definitely not to look at others opposing you who are behind. This is why the Apostle Paul is willing to pursue this prize with much turmoil and pain.