Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Philippians 3:14
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
14. the mark ] R.V., “ the goal.” But the Greek word is, like “mark,” a general rather than a special one, and used in the classics rather of archery than of racing. The verse might be roughly but closely rendered, “mark-wards I haste, towards the prize &c.”; I run with a definite aim, and that aim is to win the prize. Cp. 1Co 9:26; “I so run, not as uncertainly.”
the prize ] The same word occurs 1Co 9:24, and not elsewhere in N.T. It is very rare in secular Greek, but is connected with the common word for the arbiter or umpire who awarded the athletic prize. In Christian Latin (e.g. in the Latin versions here) it appears transliterated, as bravium (or brabium). The “prize” is “the crown,” glory everlasting as the blessed result and triumph of the work of grace, of the life of faith. Cp. Rev 2:10; and esp. 2Ti 4:7-8.
the high calling ] Lit., “ the upward, or upper calling.” The Latin versions have superior vocatio, superna vocatio. The word rendered “ high ” is the same as that rendered Gal 4:26 as “Jerusalem which is above ”: and cp. Joh 8:23, “I am from ( the things) above.” The “calling” in St Paul’s case was doubtless to be an Apostle (Alford), but it was first and most to be a Christian, and the whole tone of this great passage is in favour of this latter thought. He is dealing with his own spiritual experience as a general model. This “calling” is “celestial,” at once in origin, operation, and final issue. Cp. Col 3:1-2; 2Th 2:14. In the Epistles the words “call,” “calling,” denote not merely the external invitation but the internal and effectual drawing of the soul by grace. See in illustration 1Co 1:23-24. It corresponds nearly to the common use of the word “conversion.” Contrast the use of “call” in the Gospels; Mat 20:16; Mat 22:14.
of God in Christ Jesus ] The Father is the Caller (as Rom 8:29-30; Gal 1:15; 2Ti 1:9; 1Pe 5:10 &c.), and the call is “in” the Son; it is conveyed through the Son, and takes effect in union with Him, in embodiment in Him. For the pregnant construction cp. 1Co 7:22.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I press toward the mark – As he who was running a race did. The mark means properly the object set up at a distance at which one looks or aims, and hence the goal, or post which was set up at the end of a race-course, and which was to be reached in order that the prize might be won. Here it means that which is at the end of the Christian race – in heaven.
For the prize – The prize of the racer was a crown or garland of olive, laurel, pine, or apple; see the notes at 1Co 9:24. The prize of the Christian is the crown that is incorruptible in heaven.
Of the high calling of God – Which is the end or result of that calling. God has called us to great and noble efforts; to a career of true honor and glory; to the obtainment of a bright and imperishable crown. It is a calling which is high, or upward – ( ano) – that is, which tends to the skies. The calling of the Christian is from heaven, and to heaven; compare Pro 15:24. He has been summoned by God through the gospel of the Lord Jesus to secure the crown. It is placed before and above him in heaven. It may be his, if he will not faint or tire or look backward. It demands his highest efforts, and it is worth all the exertions which a mortal can make even in the longest life.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. I press toward the mark] . I pursue along the line; this is a reference to the white line that marked the ground in the stadium, from the starting place to the goal, on which the runners were obliged to keep their eye fixed; for they who transgressed or went beyond this line did not run lawfully, and were not crowned, even though they got first to the goal. See the concluding observations on “1Co 9:27“.
What is called , mark or scope, here, is called the line, i.e. the marked line, Php 3:16. When it was said to Diogenes, the cynic, “Thou art now an old man, rest from thy labours;” to this he answered: , , ; “If I have run long in the race, will it become me to slacken my pace when come near the end; should I not rather stretch forward?” Diog. Laert., lib. vi. cap. 2. sec. 6.
For the prize of the high calling of God] The reward which God from above calls me, by Christ Jesus, to receive. The apostle still keeps in view his crown of martyrdom and his glorious resurrection.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I press toward the mark; he did not look back, Luk 9:62, nor was lazy, but did follow hard, with an eager pursuit, {Mat 11:12} after the perfection that was in his eye; not erring from, his main scope; considering what he had received was but in part, he did still press for more, upon that ground that Christ had apprehended him for more, as if he were stretching out his hands to lay hold of it.
For the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus; trusting he should, through grace, be kept all along, maugre all difficulties, in the hand of Christ, till upon his account he should be fully possessed of all that was aimed at, even that which is styled the prize, or victorious palm of our high calling; and the Christians may well be termed a high calling, considering their heavenly birth when called, and laid hold of by Christ, Joh 1:13, and the purchased inheritance eternally settled upon such spiritual, high-born princes, Eph 1:14; Rev 1:6; who are by one oblation perfected for ever, Heb 10:14; which will appear most glorious when they are raised up in Christ, who will then give out all the salvation he hath called us unto.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. high callingliterally,”the calling that is above” (Gal 4:26;Col 3:1): “the heavenlycalling” (Heb 3:1). “Theprize” is “the crown of righteousness” (1Co 9:24;2Ti 4:8). Re2:10, “crown of life.” 1Pe5:4, “a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” “Thehigh,” or “heavenly calling,” is not restricted, asALFORD thinks, to Paul’sown calling as an apostle by the summons of God from heaven; but thecommon calling of all Christians to salvation in Christ, whichcoming from heaven invites us to heaven, whither accordingly ourminds ought to be uplifted.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I press toward the mark,…. The allusion is to the white line, or mark, which the runners in the Olympic games made up to, and to which he that came first received the prize; and by which the apostle intends the Lord Jesus Christ, who is , “the scope”, or “mark”, of all the thoughts, purposes, and counsels of God, to which they all aim, and in which they all centre; and of the covenant of grace of which he is the sum and substance, the Mediator, surety, and messenger, in whom are all the blessings and promises of it; and of the Scriptures of truth, the writings of the Old and New Testament, which all testify of him, and agree in him; and of both law and Gospel, he is the end of the law, and the substance of the Gospel; and of all the graces of the Spirit, in the hearts of his people, faith looks at him, hope is concerned with him, and love has him for its object; and of all the duties believers are concerned in, they all point at him, they are done in his name and strength, through faith in him, and from a principle of love to him, and with a view to his glory; and so he is of their thoughts, affections, and desires: and to this mark they press, or “run”, as the Syriac version renders it; they look to Jesus, while they are running their Christian race; they keep him in their view, and follow after him, because he is their forerunner, Heb 6:20, and the Captain of their salvation, Heb 2:10; they set him before them as their guide to direct them, according to whom they steer their course, that so they may not lose their way, nor move out of it, to the right hand or the left; and from whom they take great encouragement to go on, and press through the difficulties they do; and besides, they know that there is no coming at the prize, but through the mark, for there is salvation in no other, Ac 4:12; and that whoever comes up to the mark, or believes in Christ, shall enjoy the prize of eternal life, which is next mentioned:
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus: by which is meant, the incorruptible crown; the crown of life, righteousness, and glory, that fadeth not away, Jas 1:12, styled “the prize of the calling of God”; because it is what God in the effectual calling calls his people to, even to a kingdom and glory, and to eternal glory and happiness; of which they have a sight, though but a glimmering view of it, and are blessed with hope in it; in which they rejoice, and see their right unto it, in the righteousness of Christ, and have a meetness for it: this is named “the high calling of God”, because God is on high, who calls them to it, in allusion to the judge in the Olympic games, who was placed in an exalted situation, near the mark, with the crown in his hand, which he gave to him that came first; and because the grace by which the saints are called is from above, as every good and perfect gift is, Jas 1:17; and because the prize they are called unto consists of things above, where Jesus is, and is the hope laid up in heaven, Col 1:5, and the inheritance reserved there, 1Pe 1:4; and expresses the great honour and dignity of called ones, who are called to a crown and kingdom, are raised from the dunghill, to sit among princes, and to inherit the throne of glory, and are made kings and priests unto God: and may also denote, that the calling to such high honour is from above, and not below; and is owing to the special grace and favour of God, and not to any merits of men; nor is the prize to which they are called, of him that willeth and runneth, but of God’s grace and mercy, Ro 9:16: and moreover, this calling is said to be “in Christ Jesus”; for both the purpose and grace, according to which men are called, are in him; the grace by which they are called, and which is implanted in them when called, is all in and from Christ; the blessings of grace, which they then in person enjoy, are spiritual blessings in him; and even the glory they are called unto is in his hands; not only the promise of eternal life, but that itself; the gift of it is with him, and it comes through him; yea, they are called by him, and said to be the called of Christ Jesus; now the prize of this calling, which is what God has prepared from all eternity, which Christ has in his hands, and will give to all his, and which is of immense richness and eternal duration, and shall be bestowed on all Christian runners, or true believers, is what the apostle was pressing for, pursuing after, with much difficulty, through great toil and labour, diligent searching of the Scriptures, frequent wrestling with God in prayer, and constant attendance on the means of grace, and ordinances of the Gospel.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Toward the goal ( ). “Down upon the goal,” who is Jesus himself to whom we must continually look as we run (Heb 12:2). The word means a watchman, then the goal or mark. Only here in N.T.
Unto the prize ( ). Late word (Menander and inscriptions) from (umpire who awards the prize). In N.T. only here and 1Co 9:24.
Of the high calling ( ). Literally, “of the upward calling.” The goal continually moves forward as we press on, but yet never out of sight.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
One thing. I do is supplied. Some supply I count, which is less appropriate, since what follows is concerned with action rather than with thinking or reckoning.
Reaching forth [] . Only here in the New Testament.
Epi direction, after; ejk forth; teinw to stretch. Rev., stretching forward. The metaphor is that of the footrace. Bengel says : “The eye outstrips and draws onward the hand, and the hand the foot.”
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “I press toward the mark” (kata skopon doko) “I, leaning forward, follow according to a mark,” standard; 1Co 9:24; Heb 12:1. The race of life to be run is a marathon, for life, not an hundred yard dash, Rev 2:10.
2) “For the prize” (eis to Brabeion) “with relation to the prize.” The prize is not salvation, eternal life, itself, but it is a special award which the Lord will give to those who faithfully run the race of an obedient life of service to Christ to the end, 2Ti 4:7-8.
3) “Of the high calling of God” (tes ano kleseos tou theau) of the calling (from) above of God;” to a crown of life, pertaining to a life of faithful service to the end, 1Co 3:8; 1Pe 5:10. Each believer is called to the High calling, to hear a “well done,” for faithful service, whether he have one or ten talents, Mat 25:15; Rev 22:12.
4) “In Christ Jesus” (en Christo lesou) “in Jesus Christ” Salvation’s call is universal, to the Corporate human race, including all, excluding none. One’s being “in Christ,” “in his Son,” is conditioned on his personal, voluntary, volitional choice of Jesus Christ as his personal Savior in time, Joh 1:11-12; Joh 3:16; Joh 3:18; Joh 8:24; 1Jn 5:1. The high calling of God to service, in and through the Church, by Christ Jesus, is to all who will obey in:
a) hearing Rom 10:17;
b) repenting Luk 13:3; Act 17:30-31; 2Co 7:10.
c) believing to salvation (Then) Joh 3:14-16; John 18; Joh 5:24; Eph 2:8-9.
d) ‘Being baptized to prepare to walk the new life in and through the Church, which he loved and purchased with his own blood, Act 20:28; Eph 5:25; Eph 3:21.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(14) The high calling of God.Properly, the calling which is abovei.e. (much as in Col. 3:12), the heavenly calling,which is of God, proceeding from His will, for whom He predestinated, them He also called (Rom. 8:30); and is in Christ Jesus in virtue of the unity with Him, in which we are at once justified and sanctified.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. I press It is the same word with follow after in Php 3:12, and in both cases it sets forth the unceasing earnestness of the pursuit.
The mark The goal, which is neither more nor less than absolute conformity to Christ. Time and space are excluded, yet from the nature of the case the close of life is the end of the race.
The prize The object of the race is the incorruptible crown (1Co 9:25) which the apostle was called by Christ from heaven to run for and win. This was the full compensation for his losses, the glorious reward of his fidelity.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Ver. 14. I press toward, &c. ] The ark of the covenant was but a cubit and a half high; so were likewise the wheels of the caldron. Now we know that a cubit and a half is but an imperfect measure, which shows (saith one) that no man in this life is perfectly perfect. Let us strive to perfection, as Paul did; and then, Summum culmen affectantes, satis honesti vel in secundo fastigio conspiciemur. A man may fully fall in with the most forward followers of Jesus Christ, and yet fall short of perfection. It is with Christians (saith Columel well) as with Jonathan’s signal arrows, two fell short, and but one beyond the mark; so where one shoots home to the mark of the high calling in Christ, many fail to attain to it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Phi 3:14 . . “In the direction of the mark.” Exactly parallel is Act 8:26 , . Perhaps akin are uses like Thucyd., 6, 31, ; Hom., Odyss. , 3, 72, (“for the sake of business,” Ameis-Hentze). It is needless to distinguish between and in the Apostle’s thought. Both really point to that unbroken and complete fellowship with Christ which is attained through the power of His resurrection, that resurrection being the condition of the believer’s victory over sin and death, and making it possible for him to enter the “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”. The purified life in heaven is, in a word, both the goal and the prize. Contrast with this exulting thought Omar Khayym , xxxviii.: “The stars are setting and the caravan starts for the dawn of nothing”. . The word occurs in Comedy, Inscrr [1] . and N.T. (1Co 9:24 ). Cf. 1 Clem., 5:5, , where it is perhaps suggested by our passage. It is possibly one of those words which must have been common in colloquial Greek ( cf. the frequent use of ), but have survived only in a few books. must be read with the best authorities, for, as Lft [2] . notes, “the prize marks the position of the goal”. is an explanatory gloss. . “The upward calling.” The Apostle seems to mean that the is the (so also Lips [3] . ). is the technical word in the Epistles for that decisive appeal of God to the soul which is made in Jesus Christ: the offer of salvation. Those who listen are designated . Cf. Rom 8:30 and Hltzm [4] . , N.T. Th. , ii., p. 165 ff. This . is not merely to “the inheritance of the saints in light”. Its effect must be seen in the sanctification of the believer’s life on earth. But here the addition of suggests that the Apostle has before him the final issue of the calling which belongs to those who have endured to the end, who have run with patience the race set before them. The phrase seems to carry much the same meaning as Heb 3:1 , . Cf. the suggestive comment of Chr [5] . , , . . . Although it would give a satisfactory sense to take these words with (so e.g. , Myr [6] . , Ws [7] . ), it is far more natural to join them closely with . . This is emphatically . . Only in connexion with Him has the either in itself or in its goal any meaning.
[1] scrr. Inscriptions.
[2] Lightfoot.
[3] Lipsius.
[4] tzm. Holtzmann.
[5] Chrysostom.
[6] Meyer.
[7] . Weiss.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
press. Same as “follow after”, Php 3:12.
toward App-104.
mark. Greek. skopos. Only here.
for. App-104., but the texts rend eis (App-104.),
prize. Greek. brabeion. Only here and 1Co 9:24.
high calling = the calling above, or on high (Greek. ano, see Joh 8:23). No shout, or voice of archangel or trampet here, as in 1Th 4:16.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Php 3:14. , one thing) viz. I do.- , the things that are behind) even the very part of the course that has been finished.-) that is literally, extending myself over. The eye goes before (outstrips) and draws on the hand, the hand goes before (outstrips) and draws on the foot.- , along, after [towards] the mark) straightforward.-, I follow [I press]) It is used as a neuter verb, as in Luk 17:23.-, the prize) the crown of life.-, [high] above) Php 3:20.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Php 3:14
Php 3:14
I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.-He made it the one supreme end of his life, and made this one thing overcome all other considerations. [He calls it the high calling, and speaks of the hope of his calling (Eph 1:18), and heavenly calling (Heb 3:1). It is God calling and beckoning us on and upward toward himself in Christ Jesus. (Heb 12:1). The crown is laid up for all who run the race with patience and have loved his appearing. (2Ti 4:8).]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
press: Luk 16:16, 2Co 4:17, 2Co 4:18, 2Co 5:1, 2Ti 4:7, 2Ti 4:8, Rev 3:21
the high: Rom 8:28-30, Rom 9:23, Rom 9:24, 1Th 2:12, 2Th 2:13, 2Th 2:14, Heb 3:1, 1Pe 1:3, 1Pe 1:4, 1Pe 1:13, 1Pe 5:10, 2Pe 1:3
Reciprocal: Gen 19:17 – look Jos 18:3 – How long are Psa 19:5 – rejoiceth Psa 119:40 – I have Eze 46:9 – he that entereth in Zep 2:3 – seek righteousness Luk 9:51 – he stedfastly 1Co 9:24 – so run Eph 1:18 – his calling Eph 4:1 – vocation Phi 2:12 – work Phi 3:12 – I follow 1Th 4:1 – so ye 2Th 1:11 – calling 1Ti 6:19 – lay Jam 1:9 – in 1Pe 1:15 – as 1Pe 2:9 – who
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
(Php 3:14.) -But one thing I do. Such, with so many expositors, we regard as the proper supplement; not , with Beza; nor , with Heinrichs; nor the following verb , with Pierce and van Hengel. Van Hengel insists that must have an expressed accusative; and not being used absolutely, it must govern . On the other hand, see Buttmann’s Lexilogus, p. 232. Nor with Matthies and Hoelemann can we take it absolutely-Eins aber, unum contra-nor find with Rheinwald an instance of aposiopesis. Winer, 66, 1, b. There was unity of action, and therefore assurance of success; his energies were not dissipated; his eye was single, and therefore his progress in the race was visible-
-forgetting the things behind. The use of the compound middle verb is Pauline, the preposition giving the image of over and beyond, and so intensifying the idea of the simple verb. It here governs the accusative, though the simple form takes the genitive. Bernhardy, p. 181. By the phrase are not to be understood the things which in Php 3:5-7 the apostle has already condemned: for these things-that is, trust in lineage, blood, sect, zeal, and law-belonged to an antecedent period altogether. The apostle had not then entered on the course. The things behind are in the Christian race, and are the earlier and past attainments of his Christian life-things left behind since he had listened to the high summons, and commenced to run. His conversion was the point at which he started, and he describes by things behind, his attainments and progress from that moment up to the present epoch of his life. Behind measures the distance from the period at which he writes, back to the day when he heard the words-I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. These past attainments were forgotten; that is, the apostle did not rest and luxuriate in them-Upward and onward was his motto. The term forgetting is used with special reference to the figure here employed, for the apostle cherished the memory of former manifestations, and thanked God for the least of them. But in his Christian course he did not repose on memories. What had been gained was only an excitement to farther progress. While he did not despise the day of small things, he laboured to hasten on to the day of large things,-
-but stretching forth to the things before. The participle , followed by the dative of direction, carries in it a vivid image-the keen attitude of the racer stretching his body out–and toward –the goal. The things that are in front are not the prize, as some suppose, but the things that lie between him and the prize, along the distance which is still to be gone over ere he reach the goal. The apostle did not detain himself with things behind, nor did he linger among things round about him, but he stretched forward to things which he had not yet reached. Progress was made by him, and that progress is still the law of the Christian life. Never satisfied, still a sense of want; never saying, Enough, but still crying More; forward and yet forward, and nearer and yet nearer the mark. This being his ruling passion-
-Toward the mark I press on, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. is found only in this place. is in the direction of the mark, and is not to be rendered according to my aim, with Pierce, following Augustine’s secundum intentionem; or in a prescribed course, with Peile; or along the mark, that is, within the marked line, with Macknight. Bisping distorts the figure when he makes the Christ Himself: it is the calx or . The noun is used in the Septuagint for the Hebrew , H4766, to denote the point which an archer aims at. Job 16:12-13; Lam 3:12. The prize is to be found only at the goal, and to that goal the racer ever strives. If he move away from the course prescribed, he misses the mark, and loses the garland: for racing is not recreation, where one may turn aside as fancy leads him; the path is chalked out, the law of the course must be observed, and the aim and effort must always be . While this phrase marks the aim of the race, the words express the final object, the coveted crown. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown. The prize is certainly eternal perfection and blessedness- an incorruptible crown. It is to be enjoyed only at the termination of the course. And surely it is sufficient to stimulate ardour, and sustain energy, since it is the realization of man’s highest destiny-the woe and sin of the fall not merely neutralized, but a higher glory conferred than the first man of our race originally enjoyed; not the first Adam, but the second Adam being the type as well as the author of the new life with its glory. For the prize is that of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus-
-of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The prize, as the genitive indicates, is connected with the Divine calling. Meyer calls it the genitive of subject. According to De Wette, is not the act of calling, but that to which one is called. But the place adduced in proof by him and others, 2Th 1:11, is no proof, for the word there, as elsewhere, is the act of calling. Eph 1:18; Eph 4:1. The adverb characterizes the call, and the phrase is parallel to Heb 3:1. Grotius, Rheinwald, and van Hengel take as -from above, but without ground. We cannot agree with Meyer in regarding the adverb as pointing out the specialty of the apostle’s own call and conversion; for though he details his own experience, he summons the church to imitate him, and virtually admits in the injunction of the next verse, that they too were to run the race, so as to obtain the prize of their high calling. The call is above–and stands in contrast to what is below. Sin is degradation, for what is ignorance but lowness of mind; or sensuality but lowness of heart; or misery but lowness of spirit? But this calling exists in a sphere of moral elevation, high or heavenly in its connection with the most High God, by whom it is issued to men. Col 3:1-2. Nor can we acquiesce in the view of Chrysostom, followed by Meyer, that is to be connected with . The Greek Father remarks- , . But the words are far separated, and the natural union is with – marking its medium or sphere of operation. Such a construction does not need the repetition of the article, of which usage Winer has given many examples. 20, 2. Nor is this further definition of the calling superfluous, as Meyer argues. The call is described in an ideally local aspect as high, then it is asserted to be the call of God. But it is not a call of naked Godhead, of bare Divine authority; it approaches us in Christ Jesus. It is from God-a Divine summons that pierces the spirit and ensures compliance, but it is in Christ, for it is a call which the blood of Christ consecrates, and to which His grace gives effect. 1Co 7:22; 1Pe 5:10. It is hard to say whether the apostle carries the figure so fully out as Grotius, Hoelemann, Am Ende, and others suppose, to wit, that he represents God as , summoning by heralds the runners into the course. Only Meyer’s argument against it cannot hold, for he objects, that in such a case the calling would be common to all Christians, a conclusion which we believe. Nor is De Wette’s objections of higher moment, when he says that such a view would necessitate the taking of as the act of calling, for this is the translation which we hold as the correct one.
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Php 3:14. Press is from the same word as follow after in verse 12, and is a somewhat stronger word than the one for reaching forth in the verse preceding our present one. That term indicates the direction toward a man’s goal, while the one here denotes that he will use pressure in progressing toward that goal. Every foot race has a goal which the contestant wishes to reach in time to win the prize or stake. That is what Is meant by the mark in this verse. Needless to say that no literal thing or specific date constitutes that mark or goal in the Christian race. It may well be expressed by the words, “be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev 2:10). This passage states the goal (death), and also the prize which is the crown of life. A calling is a man’s chief occupation in life, and the one Paul had chosen was the service for Christ. It is called high because it came from God through Christ. This occupation does not promise any temporal prize or reward, but assures every “faithful” (not successful) worker a prize that is fadeless.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Php 3:14. I press on towards the goal. This is a consequence of the forgetting of all that is behind. Nothing is suffered to draw off the gaze from that end which is to be reached, and which, like the winning-post in a race, is kept steadily in view. Of course, as the heavenward race is a spiritual kind, it is the eye of the soul that is fixed on the goal.
unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The prize is in the original a word which means the garland bestowed by the judges at the end of the race. That this idea of a crown was continually in the minds of the New Testament writers, we may see from the language used by St. Paul elsewhere (1Co 9:25; a Tim. Php 4:8), and also by St. James (Jas 1:12) and St. John (Rev 2:10). It would be a most telling figure with the Gentiles, to whom the sight of such victors crown was familiar. The high calling of God is that summons or invitation which had been given by God to the apostle, to be a sharer in the kingdom of heaven and its blessings. It is named high because the invitation comes from above, and it is a call to heaven. For this reason it is termed a heavenly calling (Heb 3:1). The real prize of this calling is the blessedness of dwelling with God, and this is the hope of the Christian calling. The closing words of the verse, in Christ Jesus, seem most aptly to join on with I press on at the beginning. The runner in the heavenly race could make no progress in his own strength, but in Christ Jesus what was weak in him becomes strong, and instead of despair he is full of hope. Thus, although he has said this I do, and I press on, he comes back in these final words to the first thought, the putting down of all trust in self, and shows that he never forgets not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Pressing On To the Prize
While Paul still had room for growth (vs. 12), he was mature or full-grown. He asked all those who were also mature to keep their minds set on the goal. It is not time to sit down when the race is still ongoing. If they would continue in a single-minded pursuit of God’s reward, Paul assured them that God would reveal to them any imperfection they still had. Meanwhile, he urged them to continue in that which they knew to be right ( Php 3:15-16 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
SPIRITUAL OBLIVION
14. Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those which are before, I press toward the mark unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. God, in great mercy by the wonderful power of his Spirit, drops the black curtain, hiding forever the distressing sins, awful crimes, dark iniquities, silly follies, and egregious blunders of the wretched past; thus translating his people into a new world, flooded with light and cheered with light, and with ten thousand auspicious omens beckoning them on to ever-brightening scenes and engrossing themes, culminating in enterprises broadening and towering, destined to sweep on through the flight of eternal ages. This happy forgetfulness of the dark past is not merely mental, but a blessed Divine intervention wrought by the Holy Spirit. When I was in Athens, Greece, in 1895, I visited the old Stadium, the scenes of those Olympic races to which Paul makes so frequent allusion. The amphitheater accommodated about one hundred thousand spectators, at the base of Mount Parnassus, from which millions could contemplate the scene. The goal to which Paul and his comrades were running is none other than his glorified Lord coming back to the earth, and calling his saints to rise in transfigured glory to meet him in the air. What an awful pity the Church ever gave up that beautiful and inspiring goal of the glorified Savior, and substituted the repellent old grim monster!
15. God will indeed reveal this to you. Here Paul assures us that all the perfect saints are in this precipitate race, to meet their glorified Savior and enter the transfigured state, assuring us that if they are not on that line, God will reveal it to them.
17. Be ye imitators of me, brethren. None but the wholly sanctified could talk that way.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Paul’s goal (Gr. skopos, lit. goal marker, the object at the end of the course on which the runner fixes his gaze) was complete knowledge of Christ. He would receive a prize when he reached that goal. He would only reach that goal when he entered the Lord’s presence and saw Him face to face (1Jn 3:2-3). Nevertheless he pursued the goal while living on the earth because he wanted to get to know the Lord as well as possible before going into the Lord’s presence.
"This is a far cry from the teaching on sanctification which calls believers to ’let go and let God’. There was not much ’letting go’ about Paul, but rather an example of the truth that the regenerate believer must appropriate the sanctifying grace of God by actively obeying him." [Note: Motyer, p. 177.]
The prize would come at the end of the race, when he had attained the goal, but not before then. Therefore "the prize of the upward call" probably does not refer to the Rapture. There is another reason this is not a proper identification. The Rapture is not a reward. God will catch up (rapture) into heaven every Christian regardless of how he or she has run the race (1Co 15:51-52; 1Th 4:15-17). The prize probably refers to the reward faithful believers will receive at the judgment seat of Christ (2Co 5:10). God has called every believer to salvation so we may obtain that prize. However only those who run the race as Paul did, namely, to gain an ever increasing experiential knowledge of Christ, will obtain it (1Co 9:24). The TNIV translation gives the sense: "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
"Each believer is on the track; each has a special lane in which to run; and each has a goal to achieve. If we reach the goal the way God has planned, then we receive a reward. If we fail, we lose the reward, but we do not lose our citizenship." [Note: Wiersbe, The Bible . . ., 2:88.]
"In keeping with the vivid imagery drawn from the Greek games that pervades this section there is still another explanation of the ’upward call’ that seems the most reasonable explanation of all. It sees in the expression tes ano kleseos ["the upward call"] an allusion to the fact that the Olympian games, which included foot-races, were organized and presided over by agonothetes, highly respected officers called Hellenodikai. ’After each event they had a herald announce the name of the victor, his father’s name and his country, and the athlete or charioteer would come and receive a palm branch at their hands’ (G. Glotz, ’Hellenodikai,’ in C. Daremberg and E. Saglio [eds.], Dictionnaire des antiqués grecques et romaines [Paris: Hachette, 1900-1963] 3,1,60-64). This is the call to which Paul is now alluding (Collange)." [Note: Hawthorne, p. 154. Collange refers to J-F. Collange, L’épître de saidn Paul aux Philippiens.]