Philippians Part 6: To live is Christ
Pressing On Toward Christ
Philippians 3:12–21 | To Live Is Christ
One of the dangers of following Christ for a long time is that familiarity can slowly turn into complacency. We become familiar with Scripture, church, Christian language, and the gospel itself. None of those things are bad, of course, but it is possible to know a great deal about Christianity while losing some of our hunger to know Christ Himself.
That is what makes Paul's words in Philippians 3 so striking. After decades of ministry, suffering, church planting, preaching, and walking with Jesus, Paul can still say, “that I may know Him.” He isn't speaking as a new believer who has only begun to understand who Jesus is. This is a mature apostle who has given his life to Christ, and yet his desire to know Christ has only deepened.
There is something here for every Christian, regardless of how long we have followed Jesus. Maturity doesn't eventually bring us to the point where we have learned enough, grown enough, or seen enough. If anything, maturity makes us increasingly aware of how much more there is to know. There is more of God's Word to understand, more of His character to behold, more of His promises to trust, and more of His grace to treasure.
Paul's desire to know Christ leads naturally into the main concern of this passage: if there is still more of Christ to know and more growth to experience, then we must continue pursuing Him.
We Have Not Arrived
Paul is remarkably clear about his own spiritual condition: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect.”
That confession carries even more weight when we remember who is making it. Earlier in the chapter, Paul described the impressive religious résumé he possessed before coming to Christ. He had the heritage, education, zeal, and reputation. Yet he counted all of it as loss compared with knowing Jesus. Now he refuses to place confidence in his spiritual maturity as well.
Paul has grown tremendously, but he knows God's work in him is not finished. He has been justified through faith in Christ, but he has not yet been glorified. There is still sin to fight, holiness to pursue, and more of Christ to know.
That kind of humility is important for us. Christian maturity should make us increasingly aware of the holiness and beauty of Christ. As we see Him more clearly, we also begin seeing ourselves more clearly. His patience exposes our impatience. His humility exposes our pride. His love shows us how poorly we sometimes love others.
This awareness is not meant to leave us discouraged or constantly questioning whether God loves us. Instead, it gives us a clearer picture of the One we are becoming like. Paul describes a Christian who is secure in what Christ has accomplished while still longing to grow in holiness.
There is a healthy dissatisfaction in the Christian life. We are satisfied with Christ and completely dependent upon His finished work, but we should never become satisfied with how little we resemble Him.
Pursuing Christ Because We Belong to Christ
Paul explains the foundation of his pursuit in verse 12: “I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own.”
That last phrase is essential.
Paul is not trying to become holy so that Jesus will finally accept him. He is pursuing holiness because he already belongs to Jesus. Earlier in the chapter, Paul made clear that the righteousness by which he stands before God does not come from himself. It comes through faith in Christ.
This helps us understand the relationship between justification and sanctification. Our justification rests entirely upon Christ. We contribute nothing to the righteousness by which we are accepted before God. But the grace that justifies us also begins transforming us.
Because God is at work in His people, Christians actively pursue holiness. We study Scripture, pray, gather with the church, serve one another, practice repentance, forgive, put sin to death, and learn obedience in the ordinary circumstances God gives us. None of those things earn God's favor. They are the fruit of having already received His favor in Christ.
That protects us from two opposite errors. We don't become complacent and say, “Since Christ has saved me, growth doesn't matter.” But neither do we turn the Christian life into an anxious attempt to prove ourselves worthy of God's love.
Our pursuit of Christ rests on the security of knowing that Christ first took hold of us.
Don't Let the Past Determine Your Direction
Paul then uses the image of a runner focused on the finish line. He describes himself as “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.”
He obviously doesn't mean that Christians should erase the past from their memory. Paul himself had just talked about his past. Rather, he refuses to allow either his successes or his failures to keep him from pursuing Christ in the present.
Both can become spiritual obstacles.
Some Christians can spend too much time living on yesterday's faithfulness. Perhaps you have served faithfully for decades, raised your children in the faith, studied Scripture, endured difficult seasons, and invested deeply in the church. Those are wonderful evidences of God's grace, and we should thank Him for them. But yesterday's faithfulness does not remove today's responsibility to follow Jesus.
Our failures can hold us back too. Paul knew something about having a painful past. He had persecuted the church. He could have spent the rest of his life defined by shame over what he had done. Instead, he knew that the grace of Christ was greater than his past.
The question, then, isn't whether we have a flawless record behind us. None of us does. The question is where we are headed now. Are we continuing to know Christ through His Word? Are we repenting of sin and growing in obedience? Are we becoming more like the Savior we profess to follow?
Paul's picture of maturity isn't perfection. One of the clearest signs of maturity is recognizing that we haven't arrived and continuing to pursue Christ.
Faithful People Help Us Follow Christ
Paul also tells the Philippians to imitate him and to “keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”
At first, “imitate me” can sound like an incredibly bold thing to say. But Paul has just spent this entire section denying confidence in himself. He isn't asking people to admire him. He is inviting them to watch the direction of his life and follow him as he follows Christ.
This is an important part of discipleship. God's Word is our final authority, but God also gives us believers whose lives show us what obedience to that Word looks like. We need Christians around us whose marriages demonstrate faithfulness, whose response to suffering demonstrates trust, whose repentance demonstrates humility, and whose handling of Scripture demonstrates reverence for God.
Those relationships work in both directions. We need examples to follow, but we should also recognize that others may be learning from us. Children watch their parents and grandparents. Younger Christians watch those who have walked with Jesus longer. People we disciple notice not only what we teach but how we respond to disappointment, conflict, temptation, and suffering.
A healthy church should be full of people helping one another follow Christ through both their words and their lives.
Remember Where You Belong
Near the end of the passage, Paul contrasts those who have their minds set on earthly things with believers whose “citizenship is in heaven.”
For the Philippians, citizenship was significant. Philippi was a Roman colony, and its people understood what it meant to belong to a kingdom whose capital was somewhere else. Paul takes that familiar idea and uses it to remind Christians where their deepest identity and allegiance are found.
Our citizenship in heaven doesn't make us indifferent to the world around us. It means the world around us is not our ultimate home or hope. We belong to Christ and His kingdom, and that reality should shape how we live here.
It also reminds us where this pursuit is ultimately going.
Paul began by admitting that he had not yet arrived. He ends by telling us that one day he will. Christ will return and “transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body.” The sanctification that now involves struggle, repentance, discipline, and perseverance will one day be complete.
That gives us tremendous hope. Our confidence that we will reach the end does not ultimately depend upon our ability to hold everything together. It rests upon the Savior who has already made us His own and possesses the power to finish what He began.
Until then, we continue pursuing Him.
There is more of Christ to know. There are still sins that need to be put to death and parts of our lives that need to come under the authority of His Word. We can thank God for the growth behind us without living in the past, and we can acknowledge our failures without allowing them to define our future.
Our citizenship is in heaven, our Savior is coming, and the work He began in us will one day be complete.
Until that day, we press on.
Reflection Questions
Has your familiarity with Christianity ever made you less intentional about actually knowing Christ?
Paul had followed Jesus for decades and still desired to know Him more. What does that teach you about Christian maturity?
Where can you see evidence of God's sanctifying work in your life? Where do you still need to grow?
How does knowing that “Christ Jesus has made me His own” change the way you approach obedience and holiness?
Are you more likely to rely on past faithfulness or be discouraged by past failures? How might either one keep you from following Christ faithfully today?
