Philippians 3:14

Philippians 3:14. I press on towards the goal. This is a consequence of the forgetting of all that is behind. Nothing is suffered to draw off the gaze from that end which is to be reached, and which, like the winning-post in a race, is kept steadily in view. Of course, as the heavenward race is a spiritual kind, it is the eye of the soul that is fixed on the goal.

unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The prize is in the original a word which means the garland bestowed by the judges at the end of the race. That this idea of a crown was continually in the minds of the New Testament writers, we may see from the language used by St. Paul elsewhere (1 Corinthians 9:25; a Tim. Philippians 4:8), and also by St. James (James 1:12) and St. John (Revelation 2:10). It would be a most telling figure with the Gentiles, to whom the sight of such victor's crown was familiar. ‘The high calling of God' is that summons or invitation which had been given by God to the apostle, to be a sharer in the kingdom of heaven and its blessings. It is named ‘high' because the invitation comes from above, and it is a call to heaven. For this reason it is termed ‘a heavenly calling' (Hebrews 3:1). The real prize of this calling is the blessedness of dwelling with God, and this is the hope of the Christian calling. The closing words of the verse, ‘in Christ Jesus,' seem most aptly to join on with ‘I press on' at the beginning. The runner in the heavenly race could make no progress in his own strength, but in Christ Jesus what was weak in him becomes strong, and instead of despair he is full of hope. Thus, although he has said ‘this. do,' and ‘. press on,' he comes back in these final words to the first thought, the putting down of all trust in self, and shows that he never forgets ‘not I, but the grace of God which was with me.'