Philippians 3:12

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

“Not that. have already obtained”: “I do not say that,. do not mean that. The statement is made by the apostle to prevent. possible misunderstanding as if he had already attained perfection” (Muller p. 120). “Obtained”: To take or get hold of. Obtained those things mentioned in Philippians 3:10-11, to their fullest degree. “Or am already made perfect”: “To attain the aim, to carry through to the end, to make perfect or whole” (Muller p. 121). “The formalist is commonly self-satisfied and complacent. His religion consists in performing certain external rites or else in subscribing to some written creed. To Paul the Christian life was something quite different. It consisted in. personal knowledge of Christ, submission to His will, trust in Him, and in. continuous effort to attain to His moral perfection” (Erdman pp. 120-121). “Paul has been. Christian for years; yet at no point during those years, not even in the recent past, could he say, ‘I am done!'” (Lenski p. 846).

“Paul pointedly denies that he has reached. spiritual impasse of non-development. Certainly he knew nothing of so-called sudden absolute perfection by any single experience” (Robertson p. 454). The good news is that the verse implies that "perfection" will come, not in this life, but the life to come. We will finally be released from all selfishness and sin, and will finally be able to serve God, completely unhindered by self-pity, pride, or lust (Revelation 22:3). Most definitely, Paul felt that one never retires from being. Christian and from fervently pursuing Christ and His will. Paul was probably in his late fifties or early sixties when he wrote this letter. He had been. Christian for almost 30 years. He was an inspired man with. tremendous depth of experience, and yet he was not about to slack off.

“But”: Notice what Paul did not say. In view of the fact that spiritual perfection still was not in his grasp as yet, still Paul did not get discouraged, rather, it only further motivated him to keep up the effort. “I press on”: “The continuous present would be better,. am pressing” (Vincent p. 449). “He keeps up the chase” (Robertson p. 455). Paul was. man in pursuit of God. Like Jacob of old, he would not let go of God until he received the blessing (Genesis 32:24). He was. man determined to not miss heaven,. man who was not content to just have "some" or "a little" of Jesus Christ. He was. man who wouldn't rest until he was resting with God Himself! “If so be that. may lay hold”: “If also. may get to capture, since also. got captured by Christ Jesus” (Lenski p. 847). “To overtake, to get hold of, seize, to grasp” (Muller p. 122). “Paul's goal now is to fulfill the ideal that Christ had for him” (Jackson p. 71). See Acts 20:24. Paul was "apprehended" (KJV), by Christ Jesus on the road to Damascus. Christ laid hold of him for personal salvation and to be his messenger to the Gentiles. Paul said to himself, 'I must strive to make this desire of God,. reality.' When we refuse to grow spiritually or remain faithful, we are frustrating God's desire for our own lives (2 Peter 3:9). The failure to work out my own salvation (Philippians 2:12), thus becomes. decision to defiantly stand in opposition to the will of God for my life.