Philippians 3:7–12
After a teaching by Matt Chandler
In days of old the heroes of the Bible and our spiritual fathers longed after God. Moses, for example, said, “Now show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18). David said:
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (Psalm 42:1–2)
Why should we long after Christ?
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. (Philippians 3:7–12)
WE DO NOT KNOW JESUS FULLY
What is remarkable about this text is that in verse 7 Paul speaks in the past tense, while in the rest of the verses he speaks in the present tense. In verse 7 the apostle Paul goes back to the time of his conversion and describes his experience:
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. (Philippians 3:7)
After this, however, Paul moves toward the present and says that he still keeps striving to gain Christ—“that I may gain Christ.” The surprising thing is that here we are dealing with a present-tense gaining of Christ by someone who has already received Him. The question is: if he has already received Him, why does he still have to labor to “gain” Him? In theological language this is called progressive sanctification. It means that in our Christian life there must be an unbroken spiritual growth, and there must be no indifference of any kind in us. Think about it—if there is indifference toward Jesus in us, that is a sure indicator that we do not know Him. If there is indifference toward Jesus in someone, that indifference reveals that this person does not know Jesus. I know this sounds frightening, but this is what is meant in the letter to the Hebrews, where we are told to fear lest we fail to enter God’s rest (Hebrews 4:1).
1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. (Hebrews 4:1)
A lack of love for Jesus, a lack of affection, a lack of striving, a lack of spiritual zeal, a lack of longing for God… Indifference toward Christ is a condition we should be concerned about. Is some sin blocking our attachment to our Lord? Are we suffering from some spiritual illness? Are we in some spiritual trap? Or are we simply still not born again—perhaps we have become religious, but we are still not saved? Is such a condition possible? Absolutely. Let us remember the warning of the Lord Jesus from Matthew 7:21–23:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21–23)
How can this happen to us? If we have found our identity in a particular Christian fellowship or church, but have not built a personal relationship, an acquaintance and friendship with Jesus. If we go to church for the sake of our parents, for the sake of our friends, because we find it pleasant, but not for the sake of Christ Himself.
And so, the first reason to long after Christ—“to press on to take hold of Him, that we may catch hold of Him”—is that we do not know Him fully. That is why we need to long after Him—so that we may know Him and come to know Him more and more (verses 8, 10).
8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. (Philippians 3:8)
10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10–11)
WE CANNOT SAVE OURSELVES
The second reason to long after Christ is that we cannot save ourselves. That is why we need to “be found” not in ourselves, but “in Him” (verse 9).
9 And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. (Philippians 3:9)
Abiding in Christ requires that, even though we have been justified, we continually “work out our salvation,” that is, live a life of sanctification (Philippians 2:12–13).
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:12–13)
WE ARE NOT YET FULLY PERFECTED
The apostle Paul goes on to share his reasons for pursuing Christ in 3:12:
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. (Philippians 3:12)
The third reason to pursue Christ is the simple truth that all of us are deeply damaged, broken, sinful, and lacking. If we had certain weaknesses or shortcomings before we were saved—things like anger or lust, passion, craving or appetite—and we think they will disappear once we are saved, we will be disappointed. We may have a sincere and deep experience of our conversion and repentance, and yet not long after that we discover that the weaknesses we had before we believed are still in us to a rather large degree.
What is a well-known weakness of the teaching in evangelical churches is that we place too much emphasis on repentance, on the new birth, and on receiving Christ as our personal Savior, but we do not seem to emphasize sanctification enough. Repentance and the new birth are critically important, but the danger comes when we begin to think that once we experience the new birth and repentance and are justified by faith, then together with faith we also receive complete sanctification. The idea that sanctification is contained within justification is mistaken. Justification does not include within itself progressive sanctification. This is a dangerous delusion, one that can lead us—once we have believed in Christ and received Him as our personal Savior—to relax spiritually and to think that we have already finished our work with regard to our salvation. This can become the reason for lowering our spiritual guard and even for falling away from the faith.
The other extreme is also possible—to begin thinking that, since we still have sinful thoughts and deeds after we have invited Christ into our lives, we surely are not born again. But notice, our text says that even the apostle Paul had not yet obtained his goal and had not yet become perfect. This is astonishing. He, the spiritual giant, the apostle to the Gentiles, admits that he has not yet obtained it and has not become perfect. But what he was doing was striving, laboring, straining forward, pressing on, reaching toward what is perfect. And in this he is an example to us—to strain forward, to long, to be zealous for God.
There are two ways to fight against sin—the right way and the wrong way. The wrong way is to try, in our own strength, to deal with sin, to control it or to manage it. We do not see the apostle Paul doing such a thing, however. What he does, and what is the right way, is for us to press headlong toward Jesus and to keep pushing and pressing and straining toward Him—in other words, to make every effort to draw as close to Jesus as we possibly can. And then to let His power crush the sin we are fighting against in our lives. The problem with the wrong way is that while we are trying to fight and deal with sin in our own strength, trying to change, we become so focused on our own efforts that we stop drawing near to Jesus. And so we fall into the vicious circle of legalism.
We must remember, however, that we are imperfect people, damaged by sin. That is why we need more, and more, and still more of Jesus. Because the more of Jesus we have, the more He enters into us, and the more we need Him. Because He is infinite.
WE ARE NOT OUR OWN
The fourth reason to pursue Christ with all our strength is that we do not belong to ourselves, we are not our own. That is why we must strive toward Him—because we are His!
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. (Philippians 3:12)
In other words, “if I could take hold of that for which I have been taken hold of.” Our reason to pursue Jesus is that He has already made us His. He has taken hold of us, we belong to Him, we are His. And the reason He has taken hold of us is not to make us His slaves, but to make us like Him.
When did Christ take hold of us, and for what purpose? Let us look at Ephesians 1:3–4 as we try to understand where, when, and for what purpose Christ has taken hold of us.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Ephesians 1:3–4)
Before the foundations of the world were laid, God chose me in Christ to be holy and blameless in His sight.
If you have a moment of shame—a moment in which you have crossed every boundary and reached beyond the farthest limit you would ever allow yourself to reach; when you feel yourself in a darkness darker than the deepest darkness you thought could exist; when you feel so filthy and so angry that there is nowhere further to go—then remember these words: “Christ,” “the cross,” “mine,” “holy,” “chosen,” “blameless.” This is something profound. And if you doubt that God will keep on loving you and working with you, then remember what you were when He began—“dead in your transgressions and sins,” swept along by the current of the world, slaves of Satan, slaves of the cravings of the flesh (Ephesians 2:1–3). If God chose us then, He will keep on working with us through whatever we pass through, as long as we do not turn away from Him.
But let us return to Ephesians 1:4–6:
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (Ephesians 1:4–6)
If you have the tendency to think that you cannot strive and draw near to Jesus in this way because you have committed one sin or another, this text exposes you as a liar. For it says that the Lord redeems the filthy and the sinful to the praise of His glorious grace. God chooses people like Moses—the murderer; David—the adulterer; Jacob—the deceiver. Why? Because the Scriptures are about God’s grace, not about human purity. But let us keep reading, Ephesians 1:7–10:
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Ephesians 1:7–10)
We must understand one thing. He has chosen us, and if we have believed in Him and have been born again, we are His. And now we have only two options—either to grow spiritually by striving toward Him, or to live a miserable Christian life. Why do we not strive toward Jesus? Because we try to put our lives in order by our own strength, and when we fail we feel unworthy and inadequate. As if we are not that way every day! This is what the apostle Paul means when he says in Galatians 3:1–3, “Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?”
1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? (Galatians 3:1–3)
When you came to Jesus boldly, were you perhaps thinking that you were clean and adequate and therefore deserved to draw near to Him? And then afterward you began to lose your dignity? No, you never have been, and never will be, worthy. But even so, He loves you! Therefore, in spite of all your sins and weaknesses, press on toward Him, try to take hold of Him, long for more of Him.
This pressing on toward Jesus and pursuing Him, this striving toward Him, is a turning point in Christian maturity. If we do not do it, if we do not strive toward Him, I simply wonder what we are doing at all. If going to church is just a hobby to us, then we have the most pitiful hobby in the world. Go hiking, go to the movies, go dancing, embroider tapestries, play the guitar, paint, find yourself some other hobby, because church really is the most pitiful hobby—if it is just a hobby to you.
So the question is: will we be able to join the heroes of the Bible and the people of God throughout history and say together with the apostle Paul, “I consider everything garbage, that I may gain Christ! Not that I have already taken hold of it, nor have I already become perfect, but I press on, that I too may take hold of it, because I too was taken hold of by Christ Jesus. I want Him!” If God were to restore this desire, this spiritual hunger in us, what would we become? If God were to restore this spiritual seeking in the church, what would she become?