ANNOUNCER: When Paul talks about knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection in Philippians chapter 3, what is he driving at? Let’s have a discussion about that today here on Grace in Focus. Thank you for joining us, friend, for this broadcast and podcast ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Our website is faithalone.org. Running out of time for pre-registration for our national annual conference, of course we will have registration on site as well, but you will have an advantage if you go ahead and get it done now. Bring your kids with, you let us know if they’re coming. We’ll be ready for them in VBS. Our theme will be “Believe in Christ for Life” and for the kids, rewards and crowns. You don’t want to miss it. You’ve been thinking about it. Go ahead and get signed up today at faithalone.org.
Now with today’s question and answer discussion here is Bob Wilkin along with Sam Marr.
SAM: Okay Bob, we’ve got a question from Cal and he’s asking about Philippians 3:10-14. I’ll read a little bit of that and then we’ll get into his question. So Paul says, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” And in skipping to verse 14, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” So Cal’s question is, based on these verses. Did Paul view resurrectin, what he calls the first resurrection, Cal, not Paul, did Paul view the first resurrection as a reward or something that we had to strive?
BOB: Okay, so good question. And first thing I would say is, that this passage is not talking about the first resurrection. Another Scripture is in the book of Revelation, the “first resurrection” refers to the resurrection of believers and of course Jesus is the first fruits of the first resurrection and then all who are in Jesus are going to be raised before the Millennium. Then the second resurrection refers to the resurrection of the unsaved dead after the Millennium. So this is not talking about the first resurrection.
And he’s not saying that the resurrection, the first resurrection is in some sense a reward. Every believer takes part in the first resurrection whether they’re faithful or unfaithful. In 1 Thessalonians 5:10, Paul says that whether we are watchful or whether we are morally asleep, we’re going to be together with the Lord forever. So all believers will be resurrected and be with Him forever.
What’s going on in this passage is Paul is using this term resurrection to refer to the power of Christ in resurrection. Notice he says, “that I may know Him.” Well, Paul already “knew” the Lord Jesus Christ. He actually met Him face to face on the road to Damascus. But he wants to have a deeper experiential knowledge of him. And he wants to know the power of his resurrection. He’s not saying that I want to be resurrected in the future. He’s saying I want the power of His resurrection now. And he’s saying “and that I may have fellowship of sufferings.” Well, this reminds us of Romans chapter 8 where he says that those who suffer with Christ are going to be co-heirs with Christ. So he wants to experience sharing in his sufferings. And he wants to be conformed to His death. That is as Jesus laid down His life for the brethren, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren, in 1 John. And so He’s saying all of this. “If by any means, I may attain to the resurrection of the dead.” What He means is right now, that right now, I may have a “resurrection” sort of life. I would have a life that’s empowered by Christ’s resurrection. Then notice he says, “Not that I’ve already attained or I’m already perfected; but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Jesus Christ laid hold of me.” And he says, “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 on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Notice, Sam, that in verse 13, he says, “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.” I think when he says, “forgetting the things behind,” a lot of people think that just means bad things, right? I would think that includes good things. In other words, he’s not resting on his laurels. He’s not going, well, wow, I’ve had many years of effective ministry. It’s time for me to retire. No, he’s forgetting the things that lie behind and he’s reaching forward.
And notice then in 14 he talks about the prize. Well, you know, in our Greek class, we were doing a couple of weeks ago, we translated 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 where he does talk about the prize and that prize there is the imperishable crown. And the Greek word is brabeion and brabeion is used of something that is a reward or a prize. It’s not a free gift. So he’s not talking here about the first resurrection. That’s not a prize. What he’s talking about is rulership with Christ in the life to come. That’s what he’s pressing on toward.
SAM: Going back to verse 10, the words he uses to describe when he expands on the power of his resurrection, he says, “the fellowship of His sufferings and conformed to His death.” Those are things that won’t occur to us once we’ve been resurrected. Once we have resurrected bodies, then we won’t need to experience suffering and we can’t experience death. So that’s clearly referring to this life.
So then when he goes on to say, “I may attain to the resurrection from the dead,” I think you’re absolutely right. This is attained to the same kind of power that Christ, by that power, Christ was able to resurrect from the dead. So then when he’s talking about pressing towards the goal for the prize, the upward call of God, it’s clearly related to or it’s conditioned on being conformed to the image of Christ, sharing in His sufferings, being conformed to His death.
And then we’re in verse 12, he says, not that I’ve already attained or I’m already perfected, but pressing on. So it’s clearly, he’s not saying, I’m already perfected. And that’s why I’m doing this. He’s saying, that’s the goal, is I’m striving towards being more like Christ being perfected. And that’s where the prize lies.
BOB: That’s a good point. In fact, the pressing on reminds me of the 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 passage where he says, all those who run in a race run, but only one receives the prize. And they says, run that you may obtain it. And says, they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown.
ANNOUNCER: Did you know that the Grace Evangelical Society offers an MDiv degree through our online seminary and tuition is free to those who maintain a 3.0 grade average? It is a three-year degree program and you could submit your application now to gain acceptance. Then stay apprised of our registration periods for upcoming semester terms. Program and application details can be found at GESSeminary.org. Have a look at our MDiv degree. Become an approved workman. Find out how GESSeminary.org.
BOB: And then at the end of Paul’s life in 2 Timothy 4 verses 6 through 8, he says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” And then he says, “Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will give to me and not to me only, but to all who have loved his appearing.” I think this verse that you’re citing here about him pressing on basically is similar to what 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 says and 2 Timothy 4:6-8, except in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, he doesn’t need to press on anymore because he’s going to be martyred the next day or very soon he’s going to be martyred, and he knows the Lord has revealed to him, that he has finished the race. He has kept the faith. He has fought the good fight.
And I think I understand now where Cal is coming from because you could see how a lordship salvation person would read this passage completely differently. They would say Paul was striving so that he might make it into the kingdom, right?
SAM: They’d read verse 11 as if by any means I surely really, really hope I attained to the resurrection of the dead or something like that.
BOB: Right, in the future at the end of my life. And they would see this as the resurrection of believers, but they would say, man, I really hope I’m going to get into Christ’s kingdom and I’m not going to be condemned to the lake of fire, but that’s not at all what’s going on. Paul, of course, knew he had everlasting life. Paul knew he was born again, he knew he was secure. He knew his name was in the book of life. This isn’t really talking about what is called the first resurrection, right? This is metaphorically talking about resurrection in terms of the power, the resurrection power of Christ.
We get something similar in Romans chapter five where he says, “we shall be saved from wrath through His life.” The “shall be saved by His life” there is not talking about saved from eternal condemnation. It means that we would be empowered to experience his resurrection life here and now. It’s basically, Romans five through eight is about sanctification.
SAM: Yeah. And I think it’s important to put these verses in the context of Philippians, which if I’m not mistaken, a lot of this letter is about church unity and the disagreements and the arguments they are having. And we’re getting close to the end of the book and Philippians chapter four is one of my favorite passages, but there’s a lot in there about being united and being prayerful and leaning on God.
But before we get there right after verse 14, verse 15, he says, “Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind.” So this is what he was just talking about, is not being physically resurrected right now, but having the mind of sharing in Christ’s suffering, sharing in His death, all the things we just listed. So let us as a collective body of believers have this mind. “And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal this even to you,” then verse 16, “Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained.” So that goes back to his verse 12 that says, “Not that I’ve already attained or am already perfected.” So “to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.”
So the reason Paul’s writing these things to them is not just to tell them where he’s at in his walk, not to just tell them the things he’s hopeful for, but it’s to encourage them, have this mind, all of us together. If we’re all pressing toward the goal of the prize, the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, then not only are we each individually striving for that prize and becoming more like Christ, but the Church as a whole becomes more and more the body of Christ instead of being a dismembered body.
BOB: Yeah, that’s a good point. We have some articles dealing with the Day of Christ Jesus in Philippians at faithalone.org. It appears in the first chapter and in also in chapter two, and throughout the book. In fact, you mentioned chapter four, [verse] seventeen talks about the fact that he doesn’t seek their financial gift, but he seeks “the fruit that abounds to your account.” We all have a kind of an eternal retirement account. We can lay up fruit toward that account as we are giving toward our local church and toward missionaries, and if we are giving to brothers and sisters in need, as we are loving one another, as we are sharing our faith, as we are discipling people, etc.
So anyway, Cal, great question. I would encourage you to study this passage. It makes a great Bible study or Sunday school class. Philippians 4, you could do 10-14 or 7-14, but it’s a wonderful passage. Well, Sam, let’s all keep grace in focus.
ANNOUNCER: Would you be interested in some free ebooks on topics you hear on this program? Well, if you are, you need to come visit us at faithalone.org. That’s faithalone.org. We would love to hear from you. Maybe you’ve got a question, comment, or some feedback. If you do, please don’t hesitate to send us a message. Here’s our email address. It’s radio at faithalone.org. That’s radio at faithalone.org. And when you do very important, please let us know your radio station call letters and the city of your location.
On our next episode: what does 2 John mean by “does not have God.” Let’s talk about it next time. And until then, let’s keep grace in focus.
