Biblion Bible Commentary
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I Press On
Philippians 3:12-14
12 Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect; but I press on, that I may take hold of that for which also I was taken hold of by Christ Jesus. · WEB
Twice Paul denies having arrived — and the reason he pursues is that he was first pursued.
Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect. The disclaimer comes immediately after the loftiest sentences in the letter, and it is repeated in verse 13 — I don't regard myself as yet having taken hold.
Someone in Philippi was evidently claiming completion. Paul answers not by arguing but by declining the claim himself.
But I press on, if it is so that I may take hold of that for which also I was taken hold of by Christ Jesus. The same verb both ways, and the order settles the initiative. He pursues because he was caught first — a description of the Damascus road, where the pursuing was entirely one-directional Acts 9:3–6.
Verse 13 gives the method in two participles: forgetting what is behind, stretching forward to what is ahead. The forgetting includes both the credentials of verse 5 and, presumably, the persecution of verse 6.
And the image is a runner leaning past his own feet. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The prize is not described, and the calling is upward — which the next verses will locate in a citizenship elsewhere.
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