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. 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, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 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. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind (Philippians 3:12-16).
A person could look at what Paul has written here and take it as an admonition to earn one’s justification by works. This passage must certainly be classified with those others that Peter had in mind when he said of Paul’s letters that Paul had written some things that were hard to understand.[1] Paul is not writing to the Philippians about earning their salvation, however. He is talking to them about sanctification.
Sanctification is the special work of the Holy Spirit, by which He brings men to penitent faith in Christ through the means of Word and Sacrament, and directs and empowers those believers to lead a godly life.[2] In baptism, we have put on Christ.[3] Our sins have been washed away by the washing of regeneration through water and the word.[4] We have been born again, from above.[5] This means that what Christ has promised us, the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life, is ours already. It belongs to us right now. We cannot, however, fully enjoy it. Kretzmann writes: Christ is his [the believer’s], in all the fullness of His grace and mercy, and he is an heir of salvation but it’s completion, it’s consummation is not yet in his possession. That perfection, when he shall put off all the weaknesses of the flesh… will be attained in heaven, when the actual blessings of salvation will be enjoyed without any outside interference.[6]
Paul writes of this outside interference elsewhere, most notably in his letter to the Romans: I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.[7] The outside interference with which we must now struggle will be done away with in heaven, in the eternal state after the resurrection, when believers in Christ, raised to life with glorified and imperishable bodies will live in the new creation, and serve Christ forever in righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.
This resurrection is our hope. It is what Christ has won for us by His death and resurrection. It is what He pledges to us when we eat His body and drink His blood as he tells us to do. Therefore, we should not let sin reign in our mortal bodies, that we should obey it in it’s lusts.[8] We should not gratify the desires of the flesh;[9] we should not use our freedom in Christ as a chance to sin, but to cultivate the fruits of the Spirit and to do good works.[10] It is important, however, that we pay attention to the order of things: first conversion, by the grace of God through faith in Christ, then good works, as we are sanctified, proceeding naturally out of our new nature as good fruit grows from a good tree.
So, Paul encourages us to strain towards our goal, the resurrection and the life everlasting. But we aren’t working toward this goal as though it is something uncertain. This straining is more of an eager anticipation of an outcome that is certain. It is our present possession, just as we are united to Christ in our baptism. Kretzmann writes: His [Paul’s] one thought is to reach the end, the fulfillment, the victory, and that as quickly as possible… with a strange of every fiber of his body, therefore, he looks forward, because his goal is a prize and a premium, a precious and beautiful gift, far above all human understanding.[11]
[1] 2 Peter 3:14-16
[2] Luther, Martin. 2005. Luthers Small Catechism with Explanation. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. Number 156, pp. 149-150: What is the special work of the Holy Spirit?
[3] Galatians 3:27
[4] Acts 22:16; Titus 3:5; Ephesians 5:25-28
[5] John 3:3-8
[6] Kretzmann, Paul E. 1922. Popular Commentary of the Bible: New Testament. Vol. 2. 2 vols. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.
[7] Romans 7:21-23
[8] Romans 6:12
[9] Galatians 5:16
[10] Galatians 5:22-23
[11] Kretzmann, Paul E. 1922. Popular Commentary of the Bible: New Testament. Vol. 2. 2 vols. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.
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