Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Philippians 3:16
Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
16. Nevertheless ] Better, with R.V., only; a word, like the Greek, of less contrast and easier transition.
attained ] Not the same Greek verb as that in Php 3:12, though R.V. (with A.V.) gives the same English. The verb here is properly used, in classical Greek, of anticipation (so 1Th 4:15), arrival beforehand, rapid arrival. Later, and so ordinarily in N.T., it loses much at least of this speciality, and means little besides “to reach,” “to arrive.” Still, a shadow of the first meaning may be traced in most places; a suggestion of an arrival which is either sudden, or achieved in spite of obstacles. The latter idea would be in place here, where the metaphor of the race with its difficulties is still present; as if to say, “whereunto we have succeeded in arriving.” The verb is in the aorist, but the English perfect is obviously right.
let us walk by the same &c.] The Greek verb is in the infinitive, “ to walk ”; a frequent idiomatic substitute for the mood of command or appeal. Apparently this construction is always used in address to others (see Alford here), and thus we should render “ walk ye &c.” The verb here rendered “walk” means not only movement on the feet in general, but orderly and guided walking, stepping along a line. The appeal is to take care of Christian consistency in detail, up to the full present light, on the unchanging principles of the Gospel, which are essentially “the same” for all. And there is a reference, doubtless, in the words “the same,” to the Philippians’ tendency to differences of opinion and feeling.
The words after “ by the same ” are an excellent explanation, but not part of the text. Read, in the same [ path or principle ].
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule – This is a most wise and valuable rule, and a rule that would save much difficulty and contention in the church, if it were honestly applied. The meaning is this, that though there might be different degrees of attainment among Christians, and different views on many subjects, yet there were points in which all could agree; there were attainments which they all had made, and in reference to them they should walk in harmony and love. It might be that some had made much greater advances than others. They had more elevated views of religion; they had higher knowledge; they were nearer perfection. Others had had less advantages of education and instruction, had had fewer opportunities of making progress in the divine life, and would less understand the higher mysteries of the Christian life. They might not see the truth or propriety of many things which those in advance of them would see clearly.
But it was not worth while to quarrel about these things. There should be no angry feeling, and no fault-finding on either side. There were many things in which they could see alike, and where there were no jarring sentiments. In those things they could walk harmoniously; and they who were in advance of others should not complain of their less informed brethren as lacking all evidence of piety; nor should those who had not made such advances complain of those before them as fanatical, or as disposed to push things to extremes. They who had the higher views should, as Paul did, believe that God will yet communicate them to the church at large, and in the meantime should not denounce others; and those who had less elevated attainments should not censure their brethren as wild and visionary. There were common grounds on which they might unite, and thus the harmony of the church would be secured.
No better rule than this could be applied to the subjects of inquiry which spring up among Christians respecting temperance, slavery, moral reform, and the various doctrines of religion; and, if this rule had been always observed, the church would have been always saved from harsh contention and from schism. If a man does not see things just as I do, let me try with mildness to Teach him, and let me believe that, if he is a Christian, God will make this known to him yet; but let me not quarrel with him, for neither of us would be benefited by that, nor would the object be likely to be attained. In the meantime, there are many things in which we can agree. In them let us work together, and strive, as far as we can, to promote the common object. Thus we shall save our temper, give no occasion to the world to reproach us, and be much more likely to come together in all our views. The best way to make true Christians harmonious is, to labor together in the common cause of saying souls. As far as we can agree, let us go and labor together; and where we cannot yet, let us agree to differ. We shall all think alike by-and-by.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Php 3:16
Nevertheless whereto we have already attained
The Divine rule of faith and practice
I.
God has left His Church a rule of faith and manners. This is a rule whereby men must walk, otherwise we should be in a labyrinth of error, having no other light but the torch of nature.
II. The properties of this rule.
1. Unchangeableness. Therefore we must bring all to it; not it to all.
2. Perspicuous. A lamp unto my feet, etc.
3. Homogeneal. All things therein are spiritual and holy; and therefore, when the question is about religion, we must have recourse thereto as the only absolute complete rule.
III. A Christian walketh by this rule. He thinks it not sufficient to take a step, but keeps a right course steadfastly onward. How may this be done?
1. Let us treasure up the word in our consciences. Let us get the rule within us; get the articles of faith and assurance of the promises, and let this be betimes while we are young. It is the ordinary cry, The Scriptures are hard, they cannot understand them. But the reason is they are bred up in earthly businesses, and are stuffed with them so as they find no place for the Word; and it is a miracle to see men thus brought up to live by this rule.
2. When we have once treasured up the knowledge of these things, we must learn to apply them upon several occasions; for where no practice is, there knowledge is idle, and makes us worthy of more stripes. Many have general truths in their minds, but coming to apply them, they find a great want. David knew adultery was a sin, and Peter knew it was dangerous for a man to rely on himself, yet how foully did they fall.
3. Let us compare our experience with our rule. We shall find there is nothing therein but is fulfilled; there is no suffering but for sin; and that besides heaven hereafter, God rewards particular obedience here with particular rewards; and particular sin with particular corrections. We shall know that His judgments are not scarecrows.
4. Be inquisitive and watchful over our particular steps. Take and hear admonitions and instructions. Those that are otherwise minded, no marvel if they, like libertines, spurn against all instruction and advice, and accordingly feel the smart of their ways before they see it.
5. Get a wonderful jealousy over our hearts. We often offend in thoughts and desires, which God, the searcher of the heart, looks into; and we must therefore be jealous of idle thoughts and words. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)
Christian proficiency
I. In its measures–various–we may have outstripped others–are yet far behind.
II. Its means.
1. Determined by the will of God.
2. Proved by experience.
3. Must be persevered in. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The spirit of the warning
is that knowledge, already enjoyed and proved in a spiritual race, should not lie dormant because it is defective. It needed not so much to be rectified as supplemented. Therefore, as far as you have its guidance take it. Walk up to the light you have and you will get more. Walk with me so far as you discern the common path, and at the point of divergence God shall rightly direct you as to the subsequent course. He who employs what he has, prepares himself for further gifts. When the morning bursts suddenly on one wakened out of sleep, it dazzles and pains him; but to him who on his journey has blessed the dawn, and walked by its glimmer, the solar radiance brings with it a gradual and cheering influence. (Professor Eadie.)
The necessity of fixed rules
I have never noticed a single living twig which nature had not provided with a covering of bark. A creedless Church is like a barkless tree. The bark, it is true, should grow with the growth of the tree; but some bark seems a necessity of growth. I have looked down the microscope into the first beginnings of life, and seen at the very bottom of all existence a mass of protoplasmic pulp; but the cell, which is the unit of growth, is a nucleus of life protected by a wall of formed matter. This natural analogy of growth will hardly mislead us in the higher spheres of mind and morals. Some formed matter, some fixed beliefs, world seem to be necessities of the growth of religion. (N. Smyth, D. D.)
Walk in a straight road
No man was ever lost in a straight road. This famous saying, which is attributed to the Emperor Akbar, is worthy of a place among the proverbs of Solomon. It is worthy, too, of a place in the memory of every Christian who would walk worthily of his holy profession, and would keep off forbidden ground.
Steady perseverance
It is not by fits and starts that men become holy. It is not occasional, but continuous, prolonged, and lifelong efforts that are required; to be daily at it; always at it; resting but to renew the work; falling but to rise again. It is not by a few, rough, spasmodic blows of the hammer, that a graceful statue is brought out of the marble block, but by the labour of continuous days, and many delicate touches of the sculptors chisel. It is not a sudden gush of water, the roaring torrent of a summer flood, but a continuous flow, that wears the rock, and a constant dropping that hollows out the stone. It is not with a rush and a spring that we are to reach Christs character, attain to perfect saintship; but step by step, foot by foot, hand over hand, we are slowly and often painfully to mount the ladder that rests on earth, and rises to heaven. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. Whereto we have already attained] Let us not lose that part of the race which we have already run, let us walk by the same rule-let us keep the white line continually in view, let us mind the same thing, always considering the glorious prize which is held out by God through Christ Jesus to animate and encourage us.
The MSS., versions and fathers of the Alexandrian recension or edition, and which are supposed by Griesbach and others to contain the purest text, omit the words , and read the verse thus: Whereunto we have already attained let us walk; or, according to what we have already attained, let us regulate our life, There is so much disagreement about the above words in the MSS., c., that most critics consider them as a sort of gloss, which never made an original part of the text. Dr. White says, Certissime delenda “Most certainly they should be obliterated.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained; however, let us, or we ought to, walk in obedience to Christ, love to him and each other, according to the light we have already received, trusting he would make known his mind more clearly to us. Our using the light we have well, is the ready way to have more: it behoves us, then, to live suitably to that degree of the knowledge of Christ we have attained, 1Jo 2:3-5 but still within our lines, with regard to the same rule.
Let us walk by the same rule: whether in this metaphorical allusion the apostle do borrow his phrase from architects, soldiers, or racers, is not much material. Be sure he had an eye to that
same rule which was well known to them, and by which he regulated himself, and therefore it was such a canon as really had a Divine stalnp upon it, that very canon in exact conformity whereunto Gods Israel might be sure of the best peace, Gal 6:16; Phi 4:7. The unerring word of God, exemplified in the condescending love of Christ, whom he had proposed to their imitation, in whom he was found, and the fellowship of whose sufferings he desired to know more perfectly, being heavenly-minded, in opposition to those who became enemies to his cross, Phi 3:18,19; With Gal 6:14,15; the rule of faith, love, and a Christian life, or heavenly conversation, which he doth elsewhere call a walking in the Spirit, and according to the Spirit, in opposition to walking in and after the flesh, Rom 8:1,5; Ga 5:16.
Let us mind the same thing: in like manner, all of us who are spiritual, grown Christians, should be so affected, being of one accord, one mind, and one judgment, in imitation of Christ; so far that the adult, or better grown Christians, should not despise the weak or less grown, neither should they judge the adult; but in the fundamental articles, those main principles of the Christian institution wherein we all agree, in that common salvation towards which we all press, agreeable to the analogy of faith, we should still be perfecting holiness in the fear of God, by the same rule of faith, and loving and mutual condescension, by the unity of our judgments in the main business of religion, the concord of our affections, the concurrence of our ends, our consent and delight in the same truth: we should declare to the church of God, in our differences Christ is not divided, but in the variety of persuasions in lesser matters, (not fundamental), the purity, holiness, and peace of the church is still preserved, Phi 2:14. The main principles attained wherein dissenting parties agree, being the measure of all other doctrines, to hold nothing inconsistent with the majesty or truth of the foundation; to walk circumspectly, and in order, according to that wherein is a harmony; not to break our rank, or leave our station, contrary to received prescripts; wherein every Christian is to exercise a judgment of discerning for himself, Rom 14:23, and not impose on each other, (as that sort of Christian Jews who did compel the Christian Gentiles, Gal 2:14,15, &c.) superadding no preter-evangelical doctrine, Gal 1:8,9; to live godly, agreeably to known truths; to serve God soberly and prudently, (with due moderation), in our places, consonantly to the measure of the rule God hath distributed to us, 2Co 10:13, holding the truths wherein we agree in love, unity, and constancy. It being more reasonable that the many truths wherein we agree, should cause us to join in love, which is a Christian duty, rather than the few opinions wherein we disagree, should cause a breach in affection, which is a human infirmity.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. The expectation of a newrevelation is not to make you less careful in walking according towhatever degree of knowledge of divine things and perfection you havealready attained. God makes further revelations to those who walk upto the revelations they already have (Ho6:3).
rule, let us mind the samethingomitted in the oldest manuscripts. Perhaps partlyinserted from Gal 6:16; Phi 2:2.Translate then, “Whereunto we have attained, let us walk on (amilitary term, march in order) in the same (the measure ofknowledge already attained).”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained,…. Whatever degree of knowledge of Christ, and the truths of his Gospel, is attained to, let it be retained, and not departed from:
let us walk by the same rule; either the doctrine of justification by Christ’s righteousness in particular, which is a rule of judgment concerning other things; for so far as they agree or disagree with this, they are to be received or rejected; or the Scriptures of truth, which are the rule of faith and practice, and the standard and test, to which all are to be brought and tried:
let us mind the same thing; be of one heart and affection to each other, Ro 12:10, and of the same judgment in the doctrines of the Gospel, 1Co 1:10, and pursue the same measures; particularly press towards the same mark, and for the same prize the apostle did, Php 3:14, and be followers of him, as is exhorted to in Php 3:17.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
By that same rule let us walk ( ) Aleph A B do not have (rule). Besides is the absolute present active infinitive which sometimes occurs instead of the principal verb as in Ro 12:15. Paul means simply this that, having come thus far, the thing to do is to go “in the same path” ( ) in which we have been travelling so far. A needed lesson for Christians weary with the monotony of routine in religious life and work.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Nevertheless. Rev., only. Notwithstanding the minor points in which you may be otherwise minded.
Whereto we have already attained [ ] . Whatever real christian and moral attainment you may have made, let that serve as a rule for your further advance. The character of this standard of attainment is illustrated by the words in ver. 15, be thus minded, and by those in ver. 17, as ye have us for an example. The individual variations are not considered. He regards rather the collective development, and assumes the essentials of christian attainment on the part of his readers. For attained, see on we are come, 2Co 10:14.
Let us walk by the same rule [ ] The idea of a regulative standard is implied, but rule kanoni must be omitted from the Greek text. Rev. brings out the antithesis better : whereunto we have already attained, by that same rule let us walk. Omit let us mind the same thing.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Nevertheless whereto we have already attained” (plen eis ho ephthasamen) “Nevertheless to what we (have) arrived or attained.” The past has lessons through the degree of Christian growth in the past 1Co 10:6; 2Pe 1:4-11.
2) “Let us walk by the same rule” (to auto stoicheis) “by or to the same let us walk,” agreement in things known, that faithfulness and perseverance in the work of the Lord is not in vain, 1Co 15:58.
3) “Let us mind the same thing ‘ or be concerned, give attention to the things that have made us grow in the Lord in the past Note: This phrase is not found in some of the most ancient manuscripts–the RV omits it. The translation is an interpolation.’
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
16 Nevertheless, so far as we have attained Even the Greek manuscripts themselves differ as to the dividing of the clauses, for in some of them there are two complete sentences. If any one, however, prefer to divide the verse, the meaning will be as Erasmus has rendered it. (194) For my part, I rather prefer a different reading, implying that Paul exhorts the Philipplans to imitate him, that they may at last reach the same goal, so as to think the same thing, and walk by the same rule For where sincere affection exists, such as reigned in Paul, the way is easy to a holy and pious concord, As, therefore, they had not yet learned what true perfection was, in order that they might attain it he wishes them to be imitators of him; that is, to seek God with a pure conscience, (2Ti 1:3,) to arrogate nothing to themselves, and calmly to subject their understandings to Christ. For in the imitating of Paul all these excellences are included — pure zeal, fear of the Lord, modesty, self-renunciation, docility, love, and desire of concord. He bids them, however, be at one and the same time imitators of him; that is, all with one consent, and with one mind.
Observe, that the goal of perfection to which he invites the Philippians, by his example, is, that they think the same thing, and walk by the same rule He has, however, assigned the first place to the doctrine in which they ought to harmonize, and the rule to which they should conform themselves.
(194) The rendering of Erasmus is as follows:— “ Eadem incedamus regula, ut simus concordes ; ” — “Let us walk by the same rule, that we may be of the same mind.” The words inserted in the common text κανόνι τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν rule — mind the same thing,) are omitted, as is noticed by Granville Penn, in the Vat. and Alex. MSS., the Copt. and Ethiop. versions, and by Hilary and Augustine. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) Let us walk . . .In this verse the last words appear to be an explanatory gloss. The original runs thus: Neverthelessas to that to which we did attainlet us walk by the same. The word walk is always used of pursuing a course deliberately chosen. (See Act. 21:24; Rom. 4:12; Gal. 5:25.) The nearest parallel (from which the gloss is partly taken) is Gal. 6:16, As many as walk by this rule, peace be upon them. In this passage there seems to be the same double reference which has pervaded all St. Pauls practical teaching. He is anxious for two thingsthat they should keep on in one course, and that all should keep on together. In both senses he addresses the perfect; he will have them understand that they have attained only one thingto be in the right path, and that it is for them to continue in it; he also bids them refrain from setting themselves up above the imperfect; for the very fact of division would mark them as still carnal, mere babes in Christ (1Co. 3:1-4).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Walk by the same rule Different persons have reached different points along the common path in which all genuine believers are walking, and, however it may be as to any future enlightenment, all are to walk onward in the same direction. Only those who use the light they have, have a right to expect more. The last clause of this verse, beginning with the word rule, is rejected from the best texts.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Only, whereunto we have attained, by that same standard let us walk.’
He then exhorts them all that, once they have attained to spiritual maturity, and see things as he does (as the Father has revealed them to him), they must ensure that they continue to walk in accordance with what they have learned. There is to be no slacking off in their spiritual efforts. Christians must be on guard at all times against a diminution in their spiritual state, which can be aided by constant Bible Study, prayer, worship and obedience to God’s known requirements.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Phi 3:16 . A caution added to the precept given in Phi 3:15 , and the promise coupled with it: Only let there be no deviation in the prosecution of the development of your Christian life from the point to which we have attained! Neither to the right nor to the left, but forward in the same direction! This warning Paul expresses briefly and precisely thus: “ Only whereto we have attained, according to the same to direct your walk! ” that is, “however ye may be in some point otherwise minded and, therefore, may have to await further revelation, at all events ye ought not to deviate this must in every case be your fundamental rule from that whereto we have already attained in the Christian life; but, on the contrary, should let the further direction of your moral walk be determined by that same.” Such a general precept addressed to the Philippians conveys an honourable testimony to the state of their moral constitution on the whole, however different in individuals we may conceive the point to be from which Paul says ., as is evident from the very fact that he includes himself in the ., which could not but honour and stimulate the readers. On , nisi quod , comp. Phi 1:18 ; on , to attain to anything , comp. Mat 12:28 ; Luk 11:26 ; 1Th 2:16 ( ); Rom 9:31 ; Dan 4:19 ; Tob 5:18 ; Plut. Mor . p. 338 A; Apollod. xii. 242. It denotes the having come forward , the having advanced . Ewald takes it: if we had the advantage (see 1Th 4:15 , and the common classical usage), that is: “in what we already possess much better and higher than Judaism.” But this reference to Judaism is not given in the text, which aims to secure generally their further progress in the development of Christian life. On with the dative of the rule: to advance (march) according to something , that is, to direct oneself in one’s constant conduct by something, see on Gal 5:16 ; Gal 5:25 . The infinitive , however, as the expression of a briefly measured wish or command, without supplying , , or the like (which Buttmann requires, Neut. Gr . p. 233 [E. T. 272]), stands in place of the imperative , as in Rom 12:15 ; see Hom. Il . i. 20, and Ngelsbach in loc.; Stallbaum, ad Plat. Rep . p. 473 A; Pflugk, ad Eur. Heracl . 314; Fritzsche, ad Rom . III. p. 86. Fritzsche, however, Diss . II. 2 Cor . p. 93, has erroneously made the infinitive dependent on : “praeterea instituet vos, ut, quam ego consecutus sum intentam mentem, ejusdem participes fieri ipsi annitamini.” Comp. Oecumenius. Decisive against this view is the plural , which, according to the context (Phi 3:15 ), cannot apply merely to Paul, as well as the fact that the antithesis of persons ( ego ipsi ) is gratuitously introduced. Michaelis, who is followed by Rilliet, closely unites Phi 3:16 with the sequel, [170] but in such a way that only an awkward arrangement of the sentences is attained, and the nervous vigour of the concise command is taken away.
The . which cannot in accordance with the context denote the having attained to Christianity , to the being Christian (Hofmann’s view, which yields a meaning much too vague and general) has been rightly explained by Chrysostom and Theophylact as relating to the attainments in the Christian life , which are to be maintained, and in the further development of which constant progress is to be made ( , , Theophylact). Comp. Schinz and van Hengel. This view is corroborated by the sequel, in which Paul represents himself as model of the walk; and therefore it is not to be referred merely to the measure of the right frame of mind attained (Weiss). Most expositors understand the words as signifying the measure of Christian knowledge acquired (so also Heinrichs, Flatt, Rheinwald, Matthies, Hoelemann, de Wette, Wiesinger), in conformity with which one ought to live. In connection with this, various arbitrary definitions of the object of the knowledge have been suggested, as, for instance, by Grotius: “de circumcisione et ritibus;” Heinrichs and de Wette: concerning the main substance of the Christian faith apart from secondary matters; Schneckenburger: “that man is justified by faith, and not by the works of the law;” along with which de Wette lays stress on the point that it is not the individual more or less perfect knowledge (so usually; see Flatt, Rheinwald, Matthies) that is meant, but the collective conviction , the truths generally recognised. But the whole interpretation which refers it to knowledge is not in keeping with the text; for , correlative with , presents together with the latter a unity of figurative view, the former denoting the point of the way already attained, and , perseverance in the direction indicated by that attainment. Therefore, if by there is clearly (see Phi 3:17 ) intended the moral conduct of life, this also must be denoted by . as respects its quality attained up to the present time. Moreover, if . is to be understood as referring to knowledge , there would be no motive for the prominence given to the identity by .
[170] This is thrown out as a suggestion also by Hofmann, according to whom the infinitive clause ought “perhaps more correctly” to be coupled with . . ., and taken as a prefixed designation of that in doing which they are to be his imitators and to have their attention directed to those, etc. Thus the infinitive would come to stand as infinitive of the aim. But even thus the whole attempt would be an artificial twisting of the passage without reason or use.
REMARK.
What Paul means in Phi 3:16 may be illustrated thus:
Here B is the point of the development of Christian life , which, in the case of different individuals, may be more or less advanced. The takes place, when the path traversed from A to B is continued in the direction of C. If any one should move from B in the direction of either D or E, he would not . The reproach of uncertainty which Wiesinger brings against this canon, because a may take place which does not lie in the same direction, and generally because the power of sin might hinder the following out of this direction, would also apply in opposition to every other explanation of the ., and particularly to that of the knowledge attained; but it is altogether unfounded, first, because the only refers to one or another concrete single point ( ), so that the whole of moral attainment the collective development which has been reached is not thereby disturbed; and, secondly, because Paul in this case has to do with a church already highly advanced in a moral point of view (Phi 1:5 ff.), which he might, at all events generally, enjoin to continue in the same direction as the path in which they had already travelled. Very groundless is also the objection urged by Hofmann, that the . must necessarily be one and the same for all . This is simply to be denied; it is an utterly arbitrary assumption.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
Ver. 16. Let us walk by the same rule ] To wit, of the word; and then you may say, Lord, if I be deceived, thou hast deceived me. Or it may be rendered thus, Let us proceed by one rule; for the word is military, and signifies to go on in order, according to the general’s commands; who else may justly punish our prosperous disobediences, our disorderly successes.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
16 .] Let not however this diversity, respecting which some of you yet await deeper revelations from God’s Spirit, produce any dissension in your Christian unity.
Nevertheless (notwithstanding that some of you, &c. as above. On , see Devarius, and Klotz’s note, i. 188; ii. 725) as far as we have attained (towards Christian perfection: , Thl.: including both knowledge and practice, of both which he spoke above in his own case. On the construction, see reff.), walk by the same (path) (reff.: Polyb. xxviii. 5. 6, : see Fritz. ad Rom 3 . p. 142. On the elliptic usage of the infinitive for the imperative see Khner, ii. p. 342, where many examples are given. It appears from these that the usage occurs in the 2 nd person only : which determines this to be not ‘ let us walk ,’ but ‘walk ye’). The exhortation refers to the onward advance of the Christian life let us go on together, each one in his place and degree of advance, but all in the same path.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Phi 3:16 . . It is quite common as introducing a parenthesis. “Only one thing! So far as we have come, keep the path” (Weizs.). For the word Cf. Schmid, Atticismus , i., p. 133, and Bonitz’s Index to Aristotle. . In later Greek (as in modern) has lost all idea of anticipation and simply means “come,” “reach”. Cf. 2Co 10:14 (and see See Hatz., Einl, p. 199; Sources of N.T. Greek , p. 156). “So far as we have come.” In what? Weiss thinks in right , connecting the words immediately with . Kleiss supposes the , referring to the earlier part of the chap. (esp Phi 3:9 ). Does he not rather mean the point reached on the advance towards the goal (the ), which is the subject directly before his mind? The very use of seems to justify this interpretation. . It is, at first sight, natural to refer . . immediately to preceding. And this may be right. But there is much force in the interpretation of Lipsius, who renders “let us walk on the same path” (so also Hlst.). The exhortation would then be directed against the difference of opinion and feeling which were certainly present in the Church at Philippi, and is suggested to Paul by the . of Phi 3:15 . That this was an early interpretation is shown by the v.l. of TR. The words (not found in the best MSS.) are evidently a gloss on the text. “Only, so far as we have come, let us keep to the same path.” is an instance of a dative common after verbs of “going” and “walking” in N.T. Cf. Buttm., Gram. , p. 184. . An imperatival infinitive found in Hom., Aristoph., Inscrptions (see Meisterhans, Gram. d. att. Inschrr. , 88 A; Viteau, Le Verbe , p. 147). Probably this usage is closely connected with the origin of the infinitive, which was a dative, as is shown, e.g. , by the infinitive in English, e.g. , “to work”. This might easily become an imperative, “to work”! Analogous is the use of and in Letters. . is only found in late writers, although, from the frequency of , we may infer that it must have existed in earlier times. Literally it means “march in file”. Moule well observes that . more than (the common word) suggests the step , the detail.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Philippians
THE RULE OF THE ROAD
Php 3:16 .
Paul has just been laying down a great principle–viz. that if the main direction of a life be right, God will reveal to a man the points in which he is wrong. But that principle is untrue and dangerous, unless carefully guarded. It may lead to a lazy tolerance of evil, and to drawing such inferences as, ‘Well! it does not much matter about strenuous effort, if we are right at bottom it will all come right by-and-by,’ and so it may become a pillow for indolence and a clog on effort. This possible abuse of a great truth seems to strike the Apostle, and so he enters here, with this ‘Nevertheless,’ a caveat against that twist of his meaning. It is as if he said, ‘Now mind! while all that is perfectly true, it is true on conditions; and if they be not attended to, it is not true.’ God will reveal to a man the things in which he is wrong if, and only if, he steadfastly continues in the course which he knows and sees to be right. Present attainments, then, are in some sense a standard of duty, and if we honestly and conscientiously observe that standard we shall get light as we journey. In this exhortation of the Apostle’s there are many exhortations wrapped up; and in trying to draw them out I venture to adhere to the form of exhortation for the sake of impressiveness and point.
I. First, then, I would say the Apostle means, ‘Live up to your faith and your convictions.’
It may be a question whether ‘that to which we have already attained’ means the amount of knowledge which we have won or the amount of practical righteousness which we have made our own. But I think that, instead of sharply dividing between these two, we shall follow more in the course of the Apostle’s thought if we unite them together, and remember that the Bible does not make the distinct separation which we sometimes incline to make between knowledge on the one side and practice on the other, but regards the man as a living unity. And thus, both aspects of our attainments come into consideration here.
So, then, there are two main thoughts–first, live out your creed, and second, live up to your convictions.
Live out your creed. Men are meant to live, not by impulse, by accident, by inclination, but by principle. We are not intended to live by rule, but we are intended to live by law. And unless we know why we do as well as what we do, and give a rational account of our conduct, we fall beneath the height on which God intends us to walk. Impulse is all very well, but impulse is blind and needs a guide. The imitation of those around us, or the acceptance of the apparent necessities of circumstances, are, to some extent, inevitable and right. But to be driven merely by the force of externals is to surrender the highest prerogative of manhood. The highest part of human nature is the reason guided by conscience, and a man’s conscience is only then rightly illuminated when it is illuminated by his creed, which is founded on the acceptance of the revelation that God has made of Himself.
And whilst we are clearly meant to be guided by the intelligent appropriation of God’s truth, that truth is evidently all meant for guidance. We are not told anything in the Bible in order that we may know as an ultimate object, but we are told it all in order that, knowing, we may be, and, being, we may do, according to His will.
Just think of the intensely practical tendency of all the greatest truths of Christianity. The Cross is the law of life. The revelation that was made there was made, not merely that we might cling to it as a refuge from our sins, but that we might accept it as the rule of our conduct. All our duties to mankind are summed up in the word ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ We say that we believe in the divinity of Christ; we say that we believe in the great incarnation and sacrificial death and eternal priesthood of the loving Son of God. We say that we believe in a judgment to come and a future life. Well, then, do these truths produce any effect upon my life? have they shaped me in any measure into conformity with their great principles? Does there issue from them constraining power which grasps me and moulds me as a sculptor would a bit of clay in his hands? Am I subject to the Gospel’s authority, and is the word in which God has revealed Himself to me the word which dominates and impels all my life? ‘Whereunto we have already attained, by the same let us walk.’
But we shall not do that without a distinct effort. For it is a great deal easier to live from hand to mouth than to live by principle. It is a great deal easier to accept what seems forced upon us by circumstances than to exercise control over the circumstances, and make them bend to God’s holy will. It is a great deal easier to take counsel of inclination, and to put the reins in the hands of impulses, passions, desires, tastes, or even habits, than it is, at each fresh moment, to seek for fresh impulses from a fresh illumination from the ancient and yet ever fresh truth. The old kings of France used to be kept with all royal state in the palace, but they were not allowed to do anything. And there was a rough, unworshipped man that stood by their side, and who was the real ruler of the realm. That is what a great many professing Christians do with their creeds. They instal them in some inner chamber that they very seldom visit, and leave them there, in dignified idleness, and the real working ruler of their lives is found elsewhere. Let us see to it, brethren, that all our thoughts are incarnated in our deeds, and that all our deeds are brought into immediate connection with the great principles of God’s word. Live by that law, and we live at liberty.
And, then, remember that this translating of creed into conduct is the only condition of growing illumination. When we act upon a belief, the belief grows. That is the source of a great deal of stupid obstinacy in this world, because men have been so long accustomed to go upon certain principles that it seems incredible to them but that these principles should be true. But that, too, is at the bottom of a great deal of intelligent and noble firmness of adherence to the true. A man who has tested a principle because he has lived upon it has confidence in it that nobody else can have.
Projectors may have beautiful specifications with attractive pictures of their new inventions; they look very well upon paper, but we must see them working before we are sure of their worth. And so, here is this great body of Divine truth, which assumes to be sufficient for guidance, for conduct, for comfort, for life. Live upon it, and thereby your grasp of it and your confidence in it will be immensely increased. And no man has a right to say ‘I have rejected Christianity as untrue,’ unless he has put it to the test by living upon it; and if he has, he will never say it. A Swiss traveller goes into a shop and buys a brand-new alpenstock. Does he lean upon it with as much confidence as another man does, who has one with the names of all the mountains that it has helped him up branded on it from top to bottom? Take this staff and lean on it. Live your creed, and you will believe your creed as you never will until you do. Obedience takes a man up to an elevation from which he sees further into the deep harmonies of truth. In all regions of life the principle holds good: ‘To him that hath shall be given.’ And it holds eminently in reference to our grasp of Christian principles. Use them and they grow; neglect them and they perish. Sometimes a man dies in a workhouse who has a store of guineas and notes wrapped up in rags somewhere about him; and so they have been of no use to him. If you want your capital to increase, trade with it. As the Lord said when He gave the servants their talents: ‘Trade with them till I come.’ The creed that is utilised is the creed that grows. And that is why so many of you Christian people have so little real intellectual grasp of the principles of Christianity, because you have not lived upon them, nor tried to do it.
And, in like manner, another side of this thought is, be true to your convictions. There is no such barrier to a larger and wholesomer view of our duty as the neglect of anything that plainly is our duty. It stands there, an impassable cliff between us and all progress. Let us live and be what we know we ought to be, and we shall know better what we ought to be at the next moment.
II. Secondly, let me put the Apostle’s meaning in another exhortation, Go on as you have begun.
‘Whereunto we have already attained, by the same let us walk.’ The various points to which the men have reached are all points in one straight line; and the injunction of my text is ‘Keep the road.’ There are a great many temptations to stray from it. There are nice smooth grassy bits by the side of it where it is a great deal easier walking. There are attractive things just a footstep or two out of the path–such a little deviation that it can easily be recovered. And so, like children gathering daisies in the field, we stray away from the path; and, like men on a moor, we then look round for it, and it is gone. The angle of divergence may be the acutest possible; the deviation when we begin may be scarcely visible, but if you draw a line at the sharpest angle and the least deviation from a straight line, and carry it out far enough, there will be space between it and the line from which it started ample to hold a universe. Then, let us take care of small deviations from the plain straight path, and give no heed to the seductions that lie on either side, but ‘whereunto we have already attained, by the same let us walk.’
There are temptations, too, to slacken our speed. The river runs far more slowly in its latter course than when it came babbling and leaping down the hillside. And sometimes a Christian life seems as if it crept rather than ran, like those sluggish streams in the Fen country, which move so slowly that you cannot tell which way the water is flowing. Are not there all round us, are there not amongst ourselves instances of checked growth, of arrested development? There are people listening to me now, calling themselves–and I do not say that they have not a right to do so–Christians, who have not grown a bit for years, but stand at the very same point of attainment, both in knowledge and in purity and Christlikeness, as they were many, many days ago. I beseech you, listen to this exhortation of my text, ‘Whereunto we have already attained, by the same let us walk,’ and continue patient and persistent in the course that is set before us.
III. The Apostle’s injunction may be cast into this form, Be yourselves.
The representation which underlies my text, and precedes it in the context, is that of the Christian community as a great body of travellers all upon one road, all with their faces turned in one direction, but at very different points on the path. The difference of position necessarily involves a difference in outlook. They see their duties, and they see the Word of God, in some respects diversely. And the Apostle’s exhortation is: ‘Let each man follow his own insight, and whereunto he has attained, by that, and not by his brother’s attainment, by that let him walk.’ From the very fact of the diversity of advancement there follows the plain duty for each of us to use our own eyesight, and of independent faithfulness to our own measure of light, as the guide which we are bound to follow.
There is a dreadful want, in the ordinary Christian life, of any appearance of first-hand communication with Jesus Christ, and daring to be myself, and to act on the insight into His will which Christ has given me .
Conventional Godliness, Christian people cut after one pattern, a little narrow round of certain statutory duties and obligations, a parrot-like repetition of certain words, a mechanical copying of certain methods of life, an oppressive sameness, mark so much of modern religion. What a freshening up there would come into all Christian communities if every man lived by his own perception of truth and duty! If a musician in an orchestra is listening to his neighbour’s note and time, he will lose many an indication from the conductor that would have kept him far more right, if he had attended to it. And if, instead of taking our beliefs and our conduct from one another, or from the average of Christian men round us, we went straight to Jesus Christ and said to Him, ‘What wouldst Thou have me to do?’ there would be a different aspect over Christendom from what there is to-day. The fact of individual responsibility, according to the measure of our individual light, and faithful following of that, wheresoever it may lead us, are the grand and stirring principles that come from these words. ‘Whereunto we have already attained,’ by that–and by no other man’s attainment or rule–let us walk.
But do not let us forget that that same faithful independence and independent faithfulness because Christ speaks to us, and we will not let any other voice blend with His, are quite consistent with, and, indeed, demand, the frank recognition of our brother’s equal right. If we more often thought of all the great body of Christian people as an army, united in its diversity, its line of march stretching for leagues, and some in the van, and some in the main body, and some in the rear, but all one, we should be more tolerant of divergences, more charitable in our judgment of the laggards, more patient in waiting for them to come up with us, and more wise and considerate in moderating our pace sometimes to meet theirs. All who love Jesus Christ are on the same road and bound for the same home. Let us be contented that they shall be at different stages on the path, seeing that we know that they will all reach the Temple above.
IV. Lastly, cherish the consciousness of imperfection and the confidence of success.
‘Whereunto we have attained’ implies that that is only a partial possession of a far greater whole. The road is not finished at the stage where we stand. And, on the other hand, ‘by the same let us walk,’ implies that beyond the present point the road runs on equally patent and pervious to our feet. These two convictions, of my own imperfection and of the certainty of my reaching the great perfectness beyond, are indispensable to all Christian progress. As soon as a man begins to think that he has realised his ideal, Good-bye! to all advance. The artist, the student, the man of business, all must have gleaming before them an unattained object, if they are ever to be stirred to energy and to run with patience the race that is set before them.
The more distinctly that a man is conscious of his own imperfection in the Christian life, the more he will be stung and stirred into earnestness and energy of effort, if only, side by side with the consciousness of imperfection, there springs triumphant the confidence of success. That will give strength to the feeble knees; that will lift a man buoyant over difficulties; that will fire desire; that will stimulate and solidify effort; that will make the long, monotonous stretches of the road easy, the rough places plain, the crooked things straight. Over all reluctant, repellent duties it will bear us, in all weariness it will re-invigorate us. We are saved by hope, and the more brightly there burns before us, not as a tremulous hope, but as a future certainty, the thought, ‘I shall be like Him, for I shall see Him as He is,’ the more shall I set my face to the loved goal and my feet to the dusty road, and ‘press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God.’ Christian progress comes out of the clash and collision of these two things, like that of flint and steel–the consciousness of imperfection and the confidence of success. And they who thus are driven by the one and drawn by the other, in all their consciousness of failure are yet blessed, and are crowned at last with that which they believed before it came.
‘Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house’–the prize won is heaven. But ‘blessed are they in whose hearts are the ways’–the prize desired and strained after is heaven upon earth. We may all live a life of continual advancement, each step leading upwards, for the road always climbs, to purer air, grander scenery, and a wider view. And yonder, progress will still be the law, for they who here have followed the Lamb, and sought to make Him their pattern and Commander, will there ‘follow Him whithersoever He goeth.’ If here we walk according to that ‘whereunto we have attained,’ there He shall say, ‘They will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
whereto = to (App-104.) which (point).
attained. = come, as Mat 12:28.
rule. Greek. kanon. See 2Co 10:13, but the texts omit “rule”, &c.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
16.] Let not however this diversity, respecting which some of you yet await deeper revelations from Gods Spirit, produce any dissension in your Christian unity.
Nevertheless (notwithstanding that some of you, &c. as above. On , see Devarius, and Klotzs note, i. 188; ii. 725) as far as we have attained (towards Christian perfection: , Thl.: including both knowledge and practice, of both which he spoke above in his own case. On the construction, see reff.), walk by the same (path) (reff.: Polyb. xxviii. 5. 6, : see Fritz. ad Romans 3. p. 142. On the elliptic usage of the infinitive for the imperative see Khner, ii. p. 342, where many examples are given. It appears from these that the usage occurs in the 2nd person only: which determines this to be not let us walk, but walk ye). The exhortation refers to the onward advance of the Christian life-let us go on together, each one in his place and degree of advance, but all in the same path.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Php 3:16. , nevertheless) The expectation of a new revelation should not make you yield the position which you now firmly hold.- ) in that, to which we have attained.-, we have attained) at a greater or less distance. They are admonished in order that the others should act with them that are perfect.-, to walk) The infinitive, mildly for the imperative; Rom 12:15.-)[45] Al. Boern. Clar. Colb. 7. Copt. both the Hilarys,[46] leave out this word; Facundus too, or, by comparing Pelagius, even Sedulius. The clauses thus correspond, , and . Nor even do we follow the Latin Vulgate copies, which transpose the clauses, Covelianus 2 following them in this, since and more nearly cohere with one another, and , which is metaphorical, is explained by the which follows after. The word seems evidently to have been brought hither from Gal 6:16.-) There is here an Asyndeton.- , to mind the same thing) He returns to this topic, ch. Php 4:2.
[45] AB Memph. Theb. read only : Hilar. 1097, in ipso ingrediamur. DGfg (convenire, for ) read , . Vulg., with Rec. Text, retains , but transposes the Order. Rec. Text has .-ED.
[46] Viz., Hilary the deacon, and Hilary of Poitiers.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Php 3:16
Php 3:16
only,-[This term evinces the great importance of what he is now saying-while we wait for God to further reveal his will unto us, let our present attainments be the rule of our conduct, and be sure to walk in the straight line and not to stand still. The one who becomes discouraged because he realizes that others have made attainments in knowledge and life far beyond his own; and who consequently decides that it is useless for him to even try to be and do, is not the one who will attain higher things. He fails to count into his power for attainment the power of God.]
whereupon we have attained, by that same rule let us walk.-[In this passage there seems to be the same double reference which pervades all Pauls practical teaching. He is anxious for two things-that they should keep on the same course, and that all should keep on together. In both senses he addresses the perfect; he will have them understand that they have attained only one thing-to be in the right path, and that it is for them to continue in it; he also bids them to refrain from setting themselves up above the imperfect; for the very fact of division would mark them as still carnal, mere babes in Christ. (1Co 3:1-4).] If some have learned more than others, those who have learned the more must be patient and forbearing, striving to help all to learn more and more of the divine truth. None of us have learned the whole of that truth. Those who know least frequently assume that they know it all, and are the most dogmatic and exclusive. When one thinks he knows all of divine truth on any subject, he knows nothing as he ought to know it. The man who has most faithfully studied the word of God realizes what a mine of precious truth there is yet to be found in its sacred treasures. Let each learn all the truth he can, weigh all the difficulties, look upon every side of the question, teach to others what he learns, sacrifice no truth, but be patient and forbearing in teaching it, and the providences of God will favor the spread of the truth. In the meantime, let him not despise or reject him who is seeking and striving to learn the will of God, because he has not learned so much of the truth as we think we have. Let us all, at all times, labor diligently to bring men to serve and honor God, that they may be saved, and God will care for and direct us all into the oneness that existed between him and his Son Jesus Christ.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
whereto: Gal 5:7, Heb 10:38, Heb 10:39, 2Pe 2:10-20, Rev 2:4, Rev 2:5, Rev 3:3
let us walk: Rom 12:16, Rom 15:5, Gal 6:16, Eph 5:2-8, Col 2:6
let us mind: Phi 1:27, Phi 2:2, Phi 4:2
Reciprocal: Joh 7:17 – General Act 13:43 – persuaded Rom 13:13 – us 1Co 1:10 – that ye 2Co 13:11 – be of one Phi 1:9 – your Phi 3:12 – I had 1Th 5:21 – hold 1Ti 4:6 – thou hast Heb 10:32 – call 1Pe 3:8 – be 2Jo 1:8 – that we lose
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
(Php 3:16.) , -Howbeit, whereto we have attained, by the same do ye walk. The Received Text adds , . The words are omitted in A and B, in the Coptic and AEthiopic versions, and by Hilary and Augustine. There are other forms of various reading;-D, E, F, G omit , and there are several transpositions. These incidents serve to prove an interpolation, taken probaby from Gal 6:16 and Php 2:2. The adverb is rendered , meanwhile, by Chrysostom, and interim by Estius and Beelen, but without sufficient warrant in usage, though it may bear such a sense inferentially. See under Php 1:18. Nevertheless,-even though there be those who are otherwise minded. The infinitive, as in , may be used for the imperative, but that only in the second person. Krger, 55, I.1, Anm. 5; Khner, 644, a. There is an undertone of desire or wish, and on this such a use of the infinitive depends. It is needless, on the part of Bengel, Am Ende, and Rheinwald, to supply . The verb has its complement in -though sometimes with in reference to persons. The reference in has been variously understood. The apostle has been supposed to refer to revelations of knowledge, or to attainments in the spiritual life. That is to say, the reference may be to the last verse, or, generally, to the preceding context. But ere we look at this question, there are two opposite modes of connection which may be briefly glanced at.
1. As is in the infinitive, some would make it dependent on the preceding verb . Fritzsche contends for this, and thus renders-praeterea instituet vos, ut, quam ego consecutus sum intentam mentem, ejusdem participes fieri ipsi annitamini. Homberg thus shapes it-hoc sentiamus, non alio quam eodem canoni incedere et idem sentire. Photius, too, makes the the theme of the revelation. Meyer has remarked that the plural is fatal to such an exegesis. Besides, the syntax would certainly be involved and awkward.
2. Michaelis and Rilliet connect it with the next verse. But this connection also has little to recommend it. It is best to take the verse by itself as to its construction. But the question recurs as to what is supposed to be attained:-
1. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and, with some minor variations, Schinz and van Hengel, suppose the apostle to refer to the spiritual life and its progress. The apostle’s figure is that of a race representing spiritual advancement, and he is now supposed to say-Do not deviate from that line, on which up to a certain point you have already made progress; but still persevere in it. This is a great truth, as well as a solemn warning against deviation. To such a view, however, there are several objections. They could not, as Wiesinger observes, be all at the same point of attainment; each had made progress peculiar to himself-one behind and another farther on. But this deeper meaning cannot be deduced from the simple clause, . The paraphrase, on the line on which we have advanced to a given point, let us persevere, is the assigning of a meaning rather than the evolution of it. The and are not so correlated as to warrant such a sense, for is up to the point, and not along the line, we have attained. The use of will not, though Meyer insists on it, bear out this exegesis. Granted that it may be correlative with , it does not of itself describe spiritual progress, but signifies simply to walk by step or rule, and is opposed to irregular or random motion. Taking into view the tenor of the apostle’s remarks, the record of his own aspirations, and his earnest desire that in all their fervour they should be cherished by the Philippian church; and remembering his conviction that there was difference of opinion between them which prevented the completion of this harmony of view, and also his hope and expectation that the discrepancy would be cleared away by a divine enlightenment;-we imagine that when he speaks in the next breath of attainment, he refers to the point up to which there was oneness of mind among them, and exhorts them to walk according to it-according to the measure of their present knowledge.
2. Thus we agree with many expositors, who connect the verse closely with the one before it-as containing a cautionary counsel after a promise. Such is the view of De Wette, Rheinwald, Matthies, and Hoelemann. Then the two verbs are in contrast-the future in , and the aorist in -that is, the apostle speaks of a future and farther enlightenment in connection with spiritual progress; but meanwhile he speaks of a degree of present light, and the duty consequent on the possession of it. The two verbs will then refer to the same thing. The revelation may contain new information, but it is also additional information. It presupposes a present amount of knowledge, and the apostle insists upon its use even prior to that accession of insight which God’s illumination should bring. God shall reveal so as to clear up the difference, but that difference in some things implies a common agreement in other things, and up to this point to which we attained, let us walk.
The spirit of the warning or injunction is, that knowledge already enjoyed and proved in a spiritual race, should not lie dormant because it is defective. It needed not so much to be rectified, as to be supplemented. Therefore, as far as you have its guidance, take it. Walk up to the light you have, and you will get more. Walk with me so far as you discern the common path, and at the point of divergence God shall rightly direct you as to the subsequent course. He who employs what he has, prepares himself for further gifts. When the morning bursts suddenly on one wakened out of sleep, it dazzles and pains him; but to him who on his journey has blessed the dawn, and walked by its glimmer, the solar radiance brings with it a gradual and cheering influence. The following remarks of Neander will be read with interest:-Paul accordingly points to this truth, that the Spirit of God, who revealed to them the light of the Gospel, will perfect this His revelation in them, and conduct it to that mark of maturity in Christianity,-that He will yet more and more further them in true Christian knowledge, and even in that in which they still err and vary in opinion, will cause them to find the one right thing. We should not, therefore, precipitately enter into controversy, by which our distance from each other is so easily widened, and by which, through obstinate adherence to our once formed views, we so readily become hardened in opposition; much less should we condemn each other, but endeavour to preserve that unity of the Christian spirit, which is raised above all subordinate differences. To the common Teacher, the Holy Spirit, should all yield themselves, and all trust that He, who is the best Teacher, will yet more and more further them and each other. While all proceeds from the Divine foundation once laid, the unfolding and progressive purification of the Divine work should be left to the operation of the Holy Spirit, who first began it in each. No attempt should be made to do violence from without to the unfolding of the Divine life in another, which follows its own law, grounded in the specialities of his character; or substitute anything imposed from without, in place of the free development which proceeds from within. This would be tantamount to seeking to penetrate into the inmost soul of man by human arts of persuasion, which can avail nothing, where they find no sympathetic link in the already existing views of a man, and to bring forth what alone can be effected by the Holy Spirit, the inner Teacher, whom, without constraint and with the entire accord of their freedom, all follow. Everything, alike in each individual, proceeds only from the leavening process of the same leaven of Divine truth, which gradually shall pervade the whole spiritual life, expurgating every heterogeneous element. And when Paul here speaks of a revelation by the Holy Spirit, through which the progressive insight of the believer is effected, this has for its basis the truth, presupposed and expressed throughout Holy Scripture, that all Divine things can be known only in the light of the Holy Spirit; as he says elsewhere, No man can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. The notion of revelation, however, before us, by no means excludes the agency of human thought, which developes and works out according to the laws of human reason, that which it has received from the Divine light. But it is assumed that the agency of man’s spirit is inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, who is the soul of his whole spiritual life; hence all is referred to the Holy Spirit as cause, in so far as all originates in His revelation, guidance, and inspiration; all immediate or mediate progressive insight, proceeding from the Holy Spirit, is included in the notion of revelation. On Philippians, p. 58; Edinburgh, 1851.
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Php 3:16. Nevertheless, as to those who have not attained that degree of perfection or maturity of thought that Paul has, they should use what knowledge they have to guide them in their walk. Same rule and same thing means that their conduct must differ in degree only, and not in kind.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Php 3:16. Only, whereunto we have already attained, by that same rule let us walk. The final words of this verse, in the Authorised Version, Let us mind the same thing are not supported by the oldest MSS., add nothing to the sense, and appear to be a gloss which from the margin has made its way into the text. The verse itself is an enforcement of what he has been saying before. Those who would attain the prize must run, those who would have more light and knowledge must make a right use of that which they have obtained.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
All Christians, but especially the immature who are in view here, need to maintain a consistent life in harmony with our understanding of God’s truth. We should not wait until we have a complete knowledge of what God has revealed to put into practice what we do understand.