Philippians 3:9 - Meaning and Application

We have seen what the apostle gave up. Now let us see what he held to and chose to keep, namely Christ and heaven. These were the two great blessings at the center of the Christian faith.

The apostle set his heart on Christ as his righteousness. He wanted to win Christ, and he would count himself richly blessed if he had a share in Christ and his righteousness, with Christ as his Lord and Savior. The words suggest effort, like a runner winning the prize or a sailor reaching the port he has been sailing toward. They show that we must seek Christ with purpose, and that all our effort is little enough to gain him.

He also wanted to be found in Christ (Philippians 3:9), like a manslayer who was found safe in the city of refuge, away from the one seeking blood revenge (Numbers 35:25). Or the phrase points to appearing before a judge, so that we may be found in peace when Christ judges us (2 Peter 3:14). Without a righteousness to stand in before God, we are ruined, because we are guilty. God has provided that righteousness in Jesus Christ, and it is complete and perfect.

No one shares in that righteousness unless they turn away from trusting themselves and truly believe in Christ. Paul says he did not want "my own righteousness," meaning he did not think his outward actions and good works could pay for his sins or make his account even with God. The righteousness he trusted was the one that comes through faith in Christ, not a legal righteousness, but an evangelical righteousness, that is, one given through the gospel and received by faith. It is "the righteousness which is of God by faith," appointed by God himself.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord our righteousness (Isaiah 45:24; Jeremiah 23:6). If he were not God, he could not be our righteousness. The greatness of his divine nature gives worth and power to his sufferings, so they are enough to cover the sins of the world and bring in a righteousness that truly saves all who believe. Faith is the chosen way we receive the benefits of his blood (Romans 3:25).

Paul also wanted to know Christ (Philippians 3:10), and to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. In Scripture, faith is called knowledge (Isaiah 53:11). To know Christ here means to believe in him, but also to know him by experience, feeling the changing power of his resurrection and his sufferings. Paul was just as eager to be made holy as he was to be counted right with God.

He longed to know the power of Christ’s death and resurrection in his own life, killing sin in him and raising him to new life. He also wanted to be made like Christ, and that too belongs to sanctification, which is being made holy. We are made like Christ in his death when we die to sin, just as Christ died for sin. We are crucified with Christ when the flesh, meaning our sinful desires, is put to death, and when the world loses its hold on us. That is our likeness to his death.

Paul also set his heart on heaven as his happiness: if by any means he might attain to the resurrection of the dead (Philippians 3:11). Heaven’s happiness is called the resurrection of the dead because, although the souls of believers go at once to be with Christ, their joy will not be complete until the general resurrection at the last day, when soul and body will be glorified together. The word resurrection can also mean the future state. This was the goal Paul kept in view.

There will also be a resurrection of the unjust, who will rise to shame and everlasting contempt. We must make sure we escape that. But the blessed resurrection of the saints is called the resurrection in a special sense, because it comes through Christ’s resurrection, since he is their head and firstfruits. The wicked will also rise, but only by Christ’s power as their judge. For the saints, it will truly be a resurrection, a return to joy, life, and glory. For the wicked, it is only a rising from the grave before a second death. It is called the resurrection of the just, and the resurrection of life (John 5:29), and they are counted worthy to reach that age and the resurrection from the dead (Luke 20:35).

Paul pressed toward that joyful resurrection. He was willing to do anything or suffer anything so that he might reach it. The hope of that day gave him courage and steadiness through all the hardships of his work. He speaks as though there were danger of missing it and coming short of it. A holy fear of falling short is a good help to keep pressing on.

His concern to be found in Christ was so that he might attain the resurrection of the dead. Paul did not expect to reach it by his own merit or righteousness, but by the merit and righteousness of Jesus Christ. He wanted to be found in Christ, to be found a believer in him, and to have his share in him by faith.

Paul then says that he was still in a state of imperfection and testing: "Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect" (Philippians 3:12). The best people will freely admit that they are not yet complete in this life. We have not yet reached full maturity, and there is still much lacking in all our duties, graces, and comforts. If Paul had not reached perfection, though he had come so far in holiness, then we have even less reason to think we have.

He adds, "I count not myself to have apprehended" (Philippians 3:13), meaning, "This is my judgment about myself, this is how I reason." Those who think they have enough grace show that they have little, or perhaps none at all. Where true grace is present, there is always a desire for more grace and a moving on toward fuller holiness.

Paul’s response to this awareness was to press forward. "I follow after" means he pursued with energy, like a runner chasing the goal. He worked to gain more grace and do more good, and he never thought he had done enough. He was striving "that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." The source of our grace is Christ’s taking hold of us. It is not first our taking hold of Christ, but his taking hold of us, that brings us salvation. We love him because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). Our safety is not in our holding on to Christ, but in his holding on to us. We are kept by his mighty power through faith for salvation (1 Peter 1:5).

Observe what the happiness of heaven is: it is to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of us. When Christ laid hold of us, it was to bring us to heaven, and to reach that for which he took hold of us is to reach the full joy of our blessedness. Paul then adds, in Philippians 3:13, “This one thing I do,” meaning this was his main concern, “forgetting what lies behind and straining toward what is ahead.”

There is a sinful kind of forgetting, when people forget past sins and past mercies. Those things should be remembered, to keep us in steady repentance and thankfulness to God. But Paul forgot what was behind in a different way, so that he would not be satisfied with his present measure of grace. He wanted more and more. So he strained forward, as one fully reaching out toward a goal, with strong and earnest concern.

The apostle’s goal in all this was clear: “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). He pressed toward the mark. As a runner never stops short of the finish line, but keeps moving forward as fast as he can, so those who keep heaven in view must keep pressing toward it with holy desires, hopes, and steady effort and preparation. The more fit we grow for heaven, the more eagerly we should press toward it.

Heaven is called the mark because every good Christian has it in view, as an archer keeps his eye fixed on the target he means to hit. It is the prize of the high calling, that is, the reward of God’s call from above. A Christian’s calling is a high calling: it comes from heaven, and it leads to heaven. Heaven is the prize of that calling, the reward we run for, fight for, and wrestle for, and the goal that gives meaning to all we do.

It is very helpful in the Christian life to keep our eyes on heaven. That helps us judge our service rightly and gives us fresh strength at every step. And this prize comes from God, who is the one we must look to for it. Eternal life is God’s gift (Romans 6:23), but it is in Christ Jesus. It must come to us through his hand, since he has earned it for us. There is no way to reach heaven as our home except through Christ as our way.