Philippians 3:10-13 - A Brief Exegesis
A Brief Exegesis of Philippians 3:10-13
Philippians 3:10–13 (NASB 2020)
“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead”.
Paul said some very confusing things in this passage. Things like:
“If somehow I may attain to the resurrection”
“Not that I have already grasped it all or become perfect”
“I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet”
This passage is one of those “things that are hard to understand” as Peter pointed out in 2 Peter 3:15–16 where he wrote, “and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some things that are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (NASB 2020)
First, we want to be sure not to miss what Paul says at the beginning of verse 10. Philippians 3:10–16a “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection” (NASB 2020). So, what he is after is knowing God and knowing the power of His resurrection—the God-given righteousness that yields eternal Life. He says this more explicitly just a few verses earlier in Philippians 3:8 “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ” (NASB 2020).
Depending on the translation you’re reading you may see “grasped”, “taken hold”, “laid hold”, “obtained”, “attained”, “made it my own”, or “achieved.” Whichever you find, Greek being translated is καταλαμβάνω - katalambanō. This word means to make something one’s own, win, attain, to gain control of someone through pursuit, catch up with, seize, to come upon someone (with an implication of surprise), catch, to process information, understand, grasp –BDAG. *
Other places this word (or a grammatically appropriate form) is used include:
John 1:5 of the Light shining in the darkness not being “grasped”
John 8:4 speaking of the woman “caught” in adultery
1 Corinthians 9:24 speaking of running so as to “win”
Romans 9:30 of “attaining” righteousness by faith
There are quite a few other places too, but the gist is that it means to attain, grasp, or make something one’s own.
What the Apostle is saying here is that he is continuing to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord both by knowing the Lord relationally and more intimately, and by experiencing, in his everyday temporal life, the Life of Christ by faith. Paul is saying that he wants to share in the suffering of Christ and that he wants to share in His death, so that he can also share in the abundance of Life in Christ.
He dies daily, as he says in 1 Corinthians 15:30-31. He suffers persecution and he suffers the normal difficulty and turmoil of life in this world. But his attention is not on those things. Instead, he lays aside the things of the world in favor of the things of Christ, the things of the Kingdom. In Colossians 3:1–4 he was urging us this way, “Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” (NASB 2020)
Paul recognizes that he is still growing and maturing, but he puts behind him his Pharisaical religionist past (what he once thought made him a great example of godliness) and presses on to know Christ correctly and more completely. Paul is laser focused on knowing Christ and he is urging us in the strongest terms to that same upward calling.
Paul also says he is not perfect. This is not referring to his righteousness. We know that is true from everything he teaches. Indeed, he himself wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (NASB 2020) Additionally, in nearly every one of his letters to the churches, he refers to those who are in Christ as saints (hagiasmos) holy ones.
Therefore, what he is talking about is his attitudes and actions—getting them to conform to Christ. What he is talking about, is his understanding (apprehension, grasping, katalambano) of the fullness of the Truth of the Gospel. All these things continue to be transformed as his mind is renewed to the Truth of the Lord Jesus. The indwelling of Holy Spirit in Paul is the dynamo empowering change from the inside out. Paul wants to ride that wave. He wants to participate in what God is doing in him. He wants to yield to the Spirit and “take every thought captive” to make it obey Christ.
He also says he wants to somehow “attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Here again we know from his teaching that he believes that our inheritance (eternal Life) is secure and not in any doubt. He wrote in Romans 8:1–2 “Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” (NASB 2020)
What he is saying, is that he wants to live radically and fully in the way God intended. He wants to live the sort of earthly life as Jesus lived. Jesus lived in full and complete dependence on God. This is the way humankind is meant to live. It is the highest form of blessing in this life because living in this way is living a perfectly godly life. It is a life of Love and such a Life blesses everyone. Obviously, none of us will attain this fully in this temporal life, but that’s what Paul is striving for and what he is urging us toward.
Be encouraged, Saints! You are so very secure. Your inheritance can never fade (see Psalms 94:14, 1 Peter 1:3-5). You are free to live in radical dependence on God. You are free to ignore the worldly methods for finding acceptance and approval. You are free to focus like a laser on the Lord Jesus Christ and live in such a way as to obtain the prize of blessed and abundant life.
