3:13
Paul states again that he has not achieved the goal. There is a possibility that there were those in Philippi who were claiming some sort of perfectionism, this is a false teaching that rears its head in various forms periodically in church history. “Forgetting what is behind”, probably refers to his past Jewish “achievements”, or possibly to earlier Christian “achievements”. Whatever the case, anything we have achieved in the past most definitely does not mean that we have made it. Instead we strain towards what lies ahead. Jesus is leading us onwards.
3:14
The term used here refers to an athlete in a race. Jesus has greater things ahead for us, much greater than anything we have already seen. The use of the term “to win the prize” does not mean we earn salvation, but when we are saved we are in no way to be passive. God’s salvation changes us, we are born again, it changes us into people who can start to live like we should live. So we are to put every effort into seeking to do God’s will. The NIV uses the term heavenward calling, the ESV upward calling, and the KJV high calling. We are called to something much greater than we already have, the Christian life can never be one of settling down, for there is a much greater prize ahead.
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