Philippians 3:12

‘Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect, but I press on, if indeed I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.'

These words would seem to confirm the view that the final resurrection is in mind, for Philippians 3:21 describes when it is that he and all God's true people will become perfect, and that is at the second coming of Jesus Christ. Thus while he has certainly experienced a spiritual resurrection (John 5:24; Ephesians 2:1), he recognises that that does not mean that he has obtained the fullness of what God has for him. He is fully aware that he has not yet obtained the resurrection from the dead, and that he is not yet ‘perfect'. There is something better that yet awaits him (compare Ephesians 5:27). And he is therefore pressing on towards that goal, so that he may lay hold on that ‘for which also I was laid hold on by Jesus Christ'. One again we have both sides of the equation (compare Philippians 2:12). On the one hand he is putting every effort into laying hold of resurrection life by fully following Christ, and on the other he knows that it will be his because Christ Himself has laid hold on him for that very purpose.

‘Not that I have already obtained.' The change of verb (from ‘attain' to ‘obtain'), together with the lack of a direct object, may well indicate that we are to look wider for what he has ‘not obtained' than simply to the resurrection mentioned in the previous verse. Thus we may see it as referring to ‘knowing Christ in all His fullness', which has been his declared objective (Philippians 3:8). However, the very vagueness may indicate that both ‘knowing Christ in all His fullness' and ‘the attaining of the resurrection' are both to be included. Both are his final aim, and indeed are very much interconnected.

‘Or am already made perfect.' It is generally agreed that Paul is here deliberately attacking the views of his opponents who considered that they had achieved a kind of spiritual perfection. They considered that their ‘experiences' had signified their achievement of spiritual perfection. But Paul wants his readers to know that, whatever they have experienced, there is yet better ahead, as clearly expressed in Philippians 3:21. Salvation is of the total man, spirit, soul and body.

‘If indeed I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.' Paul's doubt is not as to whether he will achieve his goal, but a humble recognition that to speak of laying hold of what in fact Christ has determined to bestow on him is a little presumptious. He wants it to be clear that really the work is Christ's and not his. He is pressing on precisely because Christ has laid hold of him and will not let him go (John 10:27). For the glorious truth is that his salvation is not of his achieving, but through the election, calling and direct activity of Jesus Christ.