Discovering Priorities (Phil. 3:12-15)

Despite his progress in the Christian life, Paul knew that he was still not yet perfect. However far he had advanced, there was still further to go. In these verses, he uses the imagery of a race to depict the Christian life. It is like a long-distance race, not a short sprint race. Further, it is like a steeplechase race which has many obstacles throughout its course.

The obvious feature of a race is that the runners have to start at the same place. It is not possible for someone to join a 10,000 metres race half-way through it. Instead each athlete has to begin at the starting line. Similarly, there is a starting line to the Christian race. In a sense, each person is in one of three places: he or she is running the race, or he or she is at the starting line, or he or she has wandered away from the starting line. What is the starting line? It is the gospel invitation. The call is given to trust in Jesus Christ and begin the race to heaven.

The purpose of Christ (v. 12)

Paul recognises that he is not yet perfect. We are reminded of the wise saying of John Newton: ‘I am not what I should be, I am not what I will be, but I am not what I was.’ This is what Paul is saying here. The triumphs that he has known in the Christian life are the equivalent of jumping over the obstacles in a race. They are not a sign that he has arrived, only a sign that he is moving onwards. He has an ambition in mind to which he is devoting all his energy; he wants to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus laid hold of him.

When did Jesus lay hold of Paul? A first answer to this question is that Jesus took hold of Paul in the eternal covenant when the Father gave a people to his Son. There in the beginning-less eternity, this agreement was made in which the Son agreed to save the sinners that the Father gave him as a divine gift. The Son received them with a strong grip and has never let them go. Obviously, this is a hold by Jesus that we cannot understand, and it remains secret as far as anyone knowing who they were who were given to him.

When did Jesus lay hold of Paul? A second answer to this question is that Jesus laid hold of Paul on the Damascus Road. On that occasion, the hand of Jesus stopped Paul in his tracks. His hand did not tickle Paul, nor did it attempt to divert Paul into another path of pointless activity. Instead, the hand of Jesus stopped Paul from continuing in his race to a lost eternity. We can describe this hold as the hand of Jesus in providence. Unlike his grip in the eternal counsels, we can experience this firm taking-hold that Jesus does with his people. We can ask ourselves, Has the hand of Jesus stopped me from continuing in my path of sin? This grip can come suddenly, even when we are intent on sinning, as Paul himself discovered on the Damascus Road. The sense of being in the grip of Christ in this way is not pleasant because we discover that he knows about our sins (Paul also discovered this because Jesus told him about his persecution of Christians). Although it is not a pleasant grip, it is a good grip because it stops us in our sins.

When did Jesus take hold of Paul? A third answer to this question would be that at some stage in the next few days after his encounter on the Damascus Road Paul trusted in Jesus as the Saviour of his soul, his Saviour from his sins. At that moment when he trusted in Jesus, Paul felt the warm embrace of Jesus and realised that he was now held in the grip of a Saviour who would never let him go. This is a wonderful grip to experience.

These are three answers to the question, When did Jesus take hold of Paul? What about the question, Why did Jesus take hold of Paul?

One answer to the question is that Jesus took hold of Paul on the Damascus Road because he had spent eternity wanting to meet him. Often we focus on the blessings that came to Paul around that time: forgiveness of sins, membership of God’s family, and many others. But do we think of how Jesus felt when he had Paul actually in his grip? We may get an idea of his feelings if we think of the parable of the lost sheep which the shepherd put on his shoulders when he found it. In a spiritual sense, Jesus put Paul on his shoulders and held him tightly, never letting him go. On the journey to the fold, Paul was aware of the singing of the Shepherd who was glad that he had found his sheep. There was great joy in the heart of Jesus as one more sinner was saved, a step nearer to the occasion when all his people will have been rescued from their sins.

A second answer to the question ‘why’ is that Jesus took hold of Paul because he had a particular task for Paul to perform. When Jesus sent Ananias to Paul when he was in Damascus after being blinded on the way there by Jesus, he told Ananias that Paul had a specific role in the development of the Christian church: ‘Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name’s sake’ (Acts 9:15-16). We can see some of the results of this divine hold on Paul in the accounts in the Book of Acts as well as references in the New Testament letters by him.

A third answer to the question ‘why’ is that Jesus took hold of Paul because he had a blessed destiny marked out for him in heaven. This destiny includes total perfection, not only sinlessness but also conformity to the holy image of Jesus himself. In ways that we cannot understand at present, this future destiny is connected to life in the new heavens and new earth, a life that will be marked by endless happiness and satisfaction.

No doubt there are other reasons as to why Jesus took hold of Paul. The three that we have thought about – the joy of Christ, the role designed by Christ, and life in the perfect world – also apply to every Christian. This is why Jesus has taken hold of each of them.

The Response of Paul (vv. 13-14)

Paul did not regard the actions of Jesus as a reason for inactivity. Instead, they caused him to dedicate himself to the role he was given. He pressed on like an athlete struggling through the pain barrier in a race or like a hunter persisting in tracking down his prey. This terminology indicates that effort is required from Christians if they wish to please Christ, fulfil their role, and obtain the world of glory.

Paul realised that if he was to press forward he could not look back. He had to forget the things that were behind. This would include his successes as well as his failures. What would we think of an athlete who, after jumping successfully over an obstacle in the race, spent the rest of the race looking backwards to that successful jump? We know what would happen. Because he would not be looking where he was going, he would go astray from the track. Similarly, if an athlete spent his time looking back to an obstacle at which he made a bad jump, he also would lose his way.

Paul had known many successes as a Christian: churches had been planted, sinners had been converted, books of the Bible had been written, he had been caught up to the third heaven on one occasion. It was fine for Paul to use them as motivations for the next hurdle, but not as excuses for not having present and future experiences of Christ’s love. Paul had known many blessings from Jesus, but he did not allow them to become hindrances to running for Jesus in the present. Paul forgot about them and pressed on.

Paul could have focused on a mistake or mistakes he had made in the past and imagined that he could never recover from these sins. He could have allowed his mind to go back to such events and recall the details and also imagine extra details of the failures. But since he had confessed them to God, he did not dwell on them. Instead he pressed on.

Paul could have focused on the hurts that he had received from others and brooded over them. He had received many such hurts in his life, but here he reveals his secret for dealing with them. He left it with God and forgot about them.

Why did Paul forget about these things, whether they were good or bad? He forgot about them because he knew that concentrating on them would have two negative effects. First, they would hinder him in the present and, second, they would takes his eyes of what lay ahead. As far as he was concerned, the future is more important than the past.

Paul looked forward to a very special day, and this future day cast its light on all that he did. He behaved the way every runner behaves in a race – he anticipated a prize. At the end of a race in the Greek games, the winning athlete would be called to ascend a platform on which sat important dignitaries. On ascending the platform, his name, hometown, and achievements would be read out. After this announcement, one of the dignitaries would put the victor’s wreath on his head and he would be applauded (something similar still happens at modern games). This is the background to Paul’s goal, ‘the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.’

Paul looked forward to being called up to the heavenly platform where the Dignitaries are all divine. There he would hear his name read out and his achievements stated. The declaration would say how he ran each stage of his race. As Paul thought about the stage of the race that he was running at that time when he was imprisoned in Rome, he knew that he was possibly very near the end of his race, depending on what verdict the Roman authorities would hand down regarding him. He wanted to hear the divine assessment, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’ and receive from Christ the reward of the inheritance. Therefore Paul was determined that nothing in the past or the present would affect his future.

What should be our Resolve? (v. 15)

Paul mentions the only appropriate response in verse 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.’ Paul may have suspected that if any had been influenced by the Judaizers, they would be likely to reject his perspective (the Judaizers imagined that perfection and maturity came by the observation of outward rituals) or perhaps he is referring to Euodia and Syntyche who were not prepared to forget the past. Yet if a person prays about it (what else can he mean when he says that God will show the truth to them?), he or she will understand that what Paul has just taught is the biblical and Christlike way.

Paul does not mean that we should forget the mercies of God that we have received. Yet he is stressing that the true Christian outlook looks ahead to what will be received from Christ when he returns. If we keep looking to the past, that is where we will live spiritually and our outlook will become depressed. When we look to the future, all that we can see, as far as Christ is concerned, is bright and will give much encouragement. We don’t only follow Paul’s example, we also follow Christ’s example as we run ‘looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God’ (Heb. 12:2).