Today’s message is from Philippians 3:12-21. In last week’s passage the apostle Paul told us that his goal was to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings, to be conformed to his death and to reach the resurrection from the dead—really, to become like Christ in every way. In this weeks passage the apostle Paul is going to tell us how we must think, what our way of thinking must be, in order to reach the goal of becoming like Christ—to reach the resurrection from the dead. Remember that. The apostle Paul is going to show us how we must think.

¹²Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, ¹⁴I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this to you also. ¹⁶In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained. ¹⁷Join in imitating me, brothers, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. ¹⁸For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. They are focused on earthly things, ²⁰but our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself. (Philippians~3:12-21)

Before I go on, let me review what I talked about last week, Philippians 3:1-11, the passage that comes just before today’s passage. I’ve already said that Paul’s goal was to become like Christ—ultimately, to be raised from the dead to eternal life just as Jesus was raised from the dead. He said that he had given up all the things that people boast about that belong to this world and to this life, all human achievement and glory, that all these things were utterly worthless, in fact, worse than worthless, that they were filth compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ.

Do you believe that Paul was right? Do you believe that knowing Christ is far, far, far greater than anything this world has to offer? Any kind of reasonable thinking tells us, “Yes! Nothing is more important than knowing Christ.” But our enemy the devil and our flesh tell us, “No, the resurrection is a long way off, yet. Besides, maybe it’s not even true. Go after what satisfies you right now.” I’m telling you, the things Satan the devil tries to convince us will satisfy us won’t ever satisfy us. They will only lead to misery—and finally (in a very short time, in fact, relative to eternity) to eternal judgment and condemnation. Don’t listen to the devil. Don’t follow the desires of the flesh. Listen to God’s Holy Spirit. Listen to the word of God. Let your goal be to know Christ.

The apostle Paul said that his goal was to know Jesus and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. Jesus was willing to suffer on our behalf. Paul wanted to be willing to suffer for Jesus and to suffer for others to bring them the good news of salvation—and he did suffer a lot. The apostle Paul wanted to be conformed to the death of Jesus. Jesus was willing to give his life, really, to be put to death by being nailed to a cross and left to die. He was willing to be put to death to save us from our sin. Paul wanted to be conformed to the death of Jesus. He wanted to be willing to die for Jesus and to be willing to die so that others could be saved. (Dying so that others can be saved is dying for Jesus.) Paul said that he was assuming (according to the HCSB translation) that he would somehow reach the resurrection of the dead. (The way it’s translated makes it sounds as though Paul wasn’t too sure. But the fact is that he was confident that he would be raised from the dead and that he would be with Jesus. In chapter 1, verses 21 through 24 he says, “For me, living is Christ and dying is gain. Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don't know which one I should choose. I am pressured by both. I have the desire to depart and be with Christ—which is far better—but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.” Dying would not be gain for Paul if he wasn’t sure that he was going to be with Christ. He was confident that he would be with Christ. Now, let’s go on to today’s passage.

The first verse in today’s passage, verse 12, says, “Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.” Isn’t Paul’s goal salvation—to somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead? How can Paul, who is apparently confident of his salvation, say that he hasn’t reached his goal? But let me point this out first. The reason Paul has the desire to take hold of the goal—to make every effort to take hold of the goal, the goal of becoming like Christ and reaching the resurrection of the dead, is because Christ took hold of him. And I don’t think he has the desire just because it’s the right thing to do— “Jesus suffered and died for me. I have to work hard and sacrifice for him. I have to work hard to make myself like him.” No. These things are true. Paul would think it’s the right thing to do. It’s reasonable for Paul to want to be like Jesus. But it’s really the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, working in Paul that gives the desire. That’s what is causing him to make every effort.

Now, here’s what I think Paul is really telling us. He’s telling us that this is what our thinking has to be— “Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature.” The apostle Paul is telling us that his thinking (and ours) has to be, “I’m not already there,” rather than “I’ve arrived, so now I can relax and take it easy.” We don’t get to retire in this life.

I remember a friend of mine lamenting that his dad had died of cancer at 65, just when he was ready to retire. The way my friend presented it, it was something that was grossly unfair that the retirement that he had earned—his reward for working hard all his life—was taken away from him. Our reward is not here on earth or in this present life. Our reward is in the future and is kept in heaven for us. We don’t get to “take it easy” during this life. (Nevertheless there are rewards in this life. But, I think people looked forward to heaven more before retirement was invented.)

Paul did forget what was behind. He had no regrets about leaving behind his position of power, status and respect. I imagine he was financially well off, too. He left that all behind, too. (You say you’ve never had a position of power, status and respect and have never been rich? Let me ask you this: Have you ever desired those things? Have you ever pursued them? Have you ever lamented that you have lost them or that you never had them? It’s the same thing. You must leave all those worldly goals and desires and regrets and laments behind and pursue the things that belong to heaven—the things that belong to Christ.) The apostle Paul left everything from the past behind and spent his life pursuing the things of heaven. (It’s interesting—I think I’ve pointed out before—that “pursue” and “persecute” are the same word in Greek. But the context sure makes a big difference. Paul went from persecuting Christ to pursuing him.)

Paul says that he pursued his goal as a prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. The word “prize” refers to a prize awarded by the judges to the victor in the games. Today, in the Olympics, people who want to compete have to put aside other activities and go into strict training if they expect to win the prize. Paul is saying that that is the attitude he has taken up and that’s what he is telling us that we have to do, too.

Let’s look at verse 15: “Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this to you also.” All who are mature? I thought nobody should think he’s mature. But that’s the point. If you think you’re mature, if you think you’ve reached the goal, you most certainly haven’t. (Way back when, some kid in my high school gym class said he told the teacher, “You know, I used to be conceited, but now I’m perfect.” It was supposed to be a joke. But don’t laugh. People can actually think that way.)

The apostle Paul says, “And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this to you also.” If you think you don’t need to pursue the goal of becoming like Christ, God will show you that you are wrong (that is, if you are a believer). God reveals these things through his Holy Spirit. Paul told the Thessalonians that God had chosen them for salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. (If you want to know what the “truth” is, read the Bible. But a very concise summary is that we are sinners and we need the salvation from our sin that only comes through faith in Jesus.)

It’s the work of the Holy Spirit to sanctify us—to make us holy. It’s the Holy Spirit that causes us to want to be Holy and to desire to pursue the goal of becoming like Christ. And it’s the Holy Spirit that confirms what Paul is telling us—that this is a lifetime process and that we can’t retire (spiritually, anyway) during this present life. God is faithful to do this. Don’t ignore him. Don’t ignore the Holy Spirit.

Verse 16 says, “In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.” Hmm. Maybe we shouldn’t read the Bible. Then we’ll have less truth to live up to. I don’t think so. Paul says in verse 17, “Join in imitating me, brothers, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.” Do you think Paul stopped reading the scriptures so that that he would have less to live up to? I don’t think so. (And, by the way, can any of us say, “Join in imitating me,” as Paul did. I can say, “I don’t think so” to that, too. But our goal should also be to set example for others by our lives.

I’m not sure all that Paul has in mind when he talks about these people, but he talks a lot about those who taught salvation by works—by doing the proper rituals—that you needed to be circumcised in order to be saved. These people wanted to gather followers to themselves. There were other false teachers, too. They taught acetic life styles. Listen to what the apostle Paul had to say to the Colossians. This will give you an idea. This is from Colossians 2:8-23:

⁸Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ. ⁹For in Him the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily, ¹⁰and you have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. ¹¹In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of the Messiah. ¹²Having been buried with Him in baptism, you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. ¹³And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses. ¹⁴He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him.

¹⁶Therefore don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a sabbath day. ¹⁷These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is the Messiah. ¹⁸Let no one disqualify you, insisting on ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm and inflated without cause by his fleshly mind. ¹⁹He doesn’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, develops with growth from God.

²⁰If you died with Christ to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: ²¹“Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? ²²All these regulations refer to what is destroyed by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. ²³Although these have a reputation of wisdom by promoting ascetic practices, humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value against fleshly indulgence. (Colossians~2:8-23)

I’m not going to talk about this passage much. There’s a lot there. Maybe we’ll get to it in the future. But the point is that it’s all about Christ, not about what we do or look like outwardly. It’s not about us, it’s about Christ. What Paul wrote was for his own time, but there are still people who teach these kinds of things today—live by rules. They talk about their own experiences and “are inflated by their fleshly minds” in order to glorify themselves, not Christ.

And today we have the teachers of the gospel of health and wealth. Many are led to make contributions to ministries in the hope that God will make them prosperous or heal some sickness or broken relationship. The purpose of people who teach these things is generally to get rich. And there’s the gospel of self-esteem and the gospel of “boundaries”. All these things are focused on you and not on Christ.

And I should point out that not everyone who teaches these kinds of things does it for selfish reason. Many just want to pass on something they think is good news. But these teachings are not good news. They lead away from the cross of Christ. They lead to destruction. And I also need to say that liking to eat does not necessarily make your stomach your god. We enjoy fellowship together with Christ when we eat together. What Paul is talking about is making your goal the things that belong to this present age—the things that are perishing—instead of the things of Christ. “Their end is destruction.”

We who are believers in Jesus—we who trust Jesus and entrust ourselves to him—don’t belong here in this world. We are no longer part of it, although at one time we were. Our hope must not be any of the things of this world—not in prosperity, not in good health, not in freedom, not in a peaceful life, not even in world peace. It’s good to pray for these things and especially to pray on behalf of others. But true health and prosperity and peace will not come in this age. It won’t happen. But these things will happen in the age to come. Paul says, “We also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” We will have new bodies that are indestructible. We will have bodies that are like his glorious body. He will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. He has the power to do it. Every Sunday when we observe the Lord’s supper, we are proclaiming his death for our sins until he comes. (1 Cor. 11:20) Are you looking forward to Jesus’s coming?