Philippians 3:12-16

Introduction

Before we begin, I just want to say, “All glory to God for letting us gather today.” Amen?

This sermon has taken me longer than any other to write. Also, while these verses are some of the most straightforward, they hold so much weight that they could not be addressed hazardously and took a good chunk of time to get right. In our time together, I want these words I present to you to be full of truth and in pursuit of God. May the goal in this message today be the pursuit of righteousness.

And as I begin, I’d like to leave you with a truth out of love: no one is righteous apart from God. All righteousness is attributed to him; any righteousness perceived from you is through God, and it is the most highest honor to be bestowed to us in due time. These truths are in correlation with;

English Standard Version Chapter 4

2 Timothy 4:8

English Standard Version Chapter 12

Hebrews 12:11

And through our text today, if you all could please flip to Philippians 3:12-16, and if you please could bow your heads with me in Prayer,

(PRAY)

Philippians 3:12–16 ESV

Not that I have already obtained this(righteousness) or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Foundationally we are made in God’s image, man and woman. But through the fall we have fallen out of what was right and pleasing to God, we fell out of his righteousness.

The exact and simplified definition of righteousness, “What is right and pleasing to God”.

Through this definition the parameters are set for righteousness, as something that is obtained through the discernment and judgment of God, not ourselves, and since we are creatures of sin and we cannot fulfill the terms of righteousness, it must therefore and then can only be given by God Almighty.

To summarize: “Through Christ alone can we gain righteousness.”

Not earn but gain, as it is given.

These are the parameters of righteousness, “We have no righteousness of our own, Christ has all righteousness, and through him we may partake in his righteousness.”

Beginning with verse 12,

English Standard Version Chapter 3

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Here we have Paul dictating the truth of our plight, “I have not yet obtained it” and “I am not Perfect.” 

Now, for me, this was a tough pill to swallow. In the church, there is a natural affinity for Paul; after Peter and John, I’d say Paul is among the most notable New Testament biblical figures who are not Christ.

I mean, heck, when I get asked that dumb question, “If there was any one biblical figure you could travel back in time and meet, who would it be?”

My first response to that prompt is, “Can I speak Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, or Latin?” Which is justifiably a critical question.

But my Go-To answer almost always ends up being Paul because why not? It’s Paul! 

He wrote a noted 13 books of the 27 books of the New Testament. If there was a guy who knew the path to Christ, it was more than likely the guy who wrote the most about the path! 

Paul is significant not just to me but to many other Christians.

But here we all get a kick in the face, albeit one that we all saw coming but still didn’t appreciate. Paul is not perfect! And Paul is not Righteous!

Spurgeon states, “You perhaps suppose that Paul’s present satisfaction arises out of a consciousness of personal perfection, but it is not so. He had not yet reached his own ideal of what a Christian might be. He had not yet obtained from Christ all that he expected to obtain. He has not won the race yet; his joy arises from the fact that he is in the right course and that he is running in the right direction. I should think that any man who believed himself to be better than Paul would thereby prove at once that he was not perfect, for he must be sadly lacking in humility.”

So, oh no, what do we do now? “If Paul didn’t meet the mark, what hope do I have?” But Paul continues on into verse 13.

Philippians 3:13 ESV

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

Paul continues by instructing us. 

So, I have an inquiry: How many of us like to wallow in self-pity from time to time?

How many of us like to look back on the past and cringe at moments we can’t take back?

How many of us are so scared of the future that we would like to sabotage it to prevent its unveiling of secrets? They would rather live in their past to avoid letting it escape the safety of their worries.

A keyword I used there is “like.” I assume we are all guilty of such actions—maybe some more than others—but I don’t think any of us “like” it. 

We are so obsessed with the past that we want to hold onto it, alter it, and make it seem prettier.

In 2023-2024 alone, I saw advertisements for five movies about going back into the past and changing things. And more than that, I’ve seen countless more movies with that as the central theme. We are obsessed with the past, and the world knows that and feeds us that. 

If there is one tool that has kept man back from the future that may become, it is no other than the past. In an arsenal of tools to combat the spreading of the gospel, the atomic bomb is the fear of who we once were and what the world may think of who we were.

And Paul knows this!

Of course, Paul knows this; if there is one man who has done the most significant 360 to Christ, I'd once again argue for Paul. He does not have the sunshine and rainbows past that we all like to cloud our vision with when we think of Paul. 

He was a nasty dude. Just the other day, my brother Joel and I were discussing church leaders and the terrible things they had done. Paul was one of those people, and it wasn’t until our discussion later that I realized I wasn’t fully consuming the magnitude of those actions in comparison to what he had become.

I do not say this to focus on his past or to judge, but to put into perspective that the past is terrible! There isn’t any denying it! There isn’t any sugarcoating it!

And Paul knew this: if it were bad for us, I can assure you that the conviction for those actions had to be horrible for him!

But instead of living in it and letting it consume him, he moved forward! And look at how we look at him now; his actions for the Kingdom of God are incomprehensible in magnitude.

Still, looking at verse 13, we’re told to “forget what lies behind,” which is easier said than done.

But I’ll tell you all one thing: the past is the past, and if you are one of my brothers or sisters in Christ and have accepted him into your heart, then your future is Christ! Christ!

How can any past consume that? Why is the past so tantalizing?

Because sin is our nature, and by following Christ, we are going against that nature. When we lived in our sin, it had no bearing on us; it was just life, but when you turn from your nature, you are fighting that tide, which is sin.

The wage of sin is death, and sometimes it’s easier to die than live, it’s easier to let the tide pull you under, than to keep swimming to shore.

But as it states in Philippians 1:21

Philippians 1:21 ESV

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Through Philippians there is a constant call to continuing a race to pursuing a goal, it is constant, and is the focus, we are to be focused, we are not just fighting the tide of sin, and the nature of the flesh for measly reasons, NO!

Paul continues,

Philippians 3:14 ESV

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

We fight the nature of the flesh and the tide of sin for Christ!

If Philippians is a book in focus of a goal, then we know what that goal is and that goal is Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our salvation from our sins and has provided us a path, not to death, but to eternal life in the presence of the righteousness and holiness of God!

So I ask you what your goal is?

We all have them, but what is yours?

See some of us, including myself have this magical ability to start a path, claim it’s glorifying to God and then we get down the road and we’re further away from Christ then ever before.

So what is your one true goal?

Is it money? Do you want to get to a point where money is no object, and any problem you may have you can throw your finances at?

What about Love? Do you want to find love, settle down, have a Brady Bunch kind of life, because you want to feel loved, and you’ll do anything for that?

Maybe it’s freedom? You think doing what you you want, when you want will set you free, will give you power over life itself? But in reality it does nothing but but a cinder block around your neck and drown you.

And there are more, there is sex, material thrills, entertainment, education, and so many more things that inherently from a worldly perspective aren’t wrong, but they take you away from Christ.

I’m 22, and there are many of my peers who are lost in there ways,

There are some who work 50-60 hour weeks, and they love to boast about there finances online, but in reality they’re miserable because they’ve made money their God, and he’s always asking for more.

There are some who cannot settle down, they are fraternizing with anything that has two legs, a pulse, and a brain, and sometimes even those things are up for debate. They have made lusting their God, and their only goal is to satisfy themselves until they can satisfy no more.

There are even some who want freedom. They’ve left home when they were 18-19, and the lifestyle of drinking, partying, drugs, sex, and everything else the world says is good, is what they honor. They have made “freedom” apart from Christ their God.

And we can all look at these people, and go, “oh no sweet heart, that’s not good you need to fix that” its easy to look at the speck in your brothers own eye in order to ignore the log in your own. We are all one wrong turn, one deceitful ideology, one thought after the flesh away, from diverting our paths and pursuing an Idol of the flesh.

A book I read for the first time this year that I absolutely love is “Pilgrims Progress”, I absolutely loved it. The allegory stung like a serrated blade, but in a good way, I highly recommend reading it, it’s a completely mind altering book.

But in the beginning of the book the main character meets with ‘Mr. Worldly Wiseman’ and is offered some advice. At this point in the story Christian is struggling, so MWW recommends he just give up. The path he pursues is hard, and will lead to nothing but sorrow, pain, and death. He convinces Christian to the point that he considers altering his path, and goes to see if this new path is less burdensome. So he gets to the Village of Morality, and I’m doing my best here not to spoil to much because this book really must be read, but he gets to the Village of Morality and there is an overhang, and he fears the overhang may fall upon his head so he is cautious in his approach. But as he nears he encounters a man named ‘evangelist’ and he tells him that he is going the wrong direction, that the village of Morality is indeed ‘good’, but it is not Good Enough.

Paul Bunyan, in this book is trying to direct us away from the desires of human morality, for that is fictitious. Human morality does not exist, at least in the aspect we all believe, C.S. Lewis states this on human morality,

“These, then, are the two points I wanted to make. First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in.”

If human morality were our own do you not think we would all subscribe to it? If we created it, don’t you think it would be applicable to all? Morality comes from God, what is Right comes from God, and Righteousness is Gods alone. But we do not strive for Godly morality by nature because nature follows the path of least resistance. Like a beaver dam in a river, the marshlands will flood instead of breaking through.

Instead we should fight our sinful nature and strive for righteousness and leave the goals of the past behind, and strive for the eternal goal that being Jesus Christ.

Paul continues,

Philippians 3:15 “Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.”

I have no doubt in my mind that people who say they want Christ do want him, but what I do doubt is that they want what comes along with him,

John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.””

They forget the, “take heart” part of that verse, because they’d rather have no suffering.

But us who are mature, or are to mature in the faith must hold true to the goal in mind, the kingdom we are set to inherit, and the King who we get the privilege to serve for eternity.

We must understand that Righteousness comes from Christ alone and the only way to that is to follow that path, to pursue the goal, and to win our race.

And if today you think that Christ is not the goal, I beg you reconsider, I beg you pray humbly before God that he should open your heart and mind to the truth of the Gospel,

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

If we are to obtain the gift of Righteousness from the father we must go through the son, we must be mature in our faith and swallow our medicine, not an easy medicine, but the medicine that cures death, the medicine that grants eternal life and whoever shall partake will set a goal in his heart, cast away his pride and strive for the Son of God.

But whoever should refuse it, is not mature in his faith but a babe, and when the serpent of death comes you will have no remedy, and shall die in shame and misery, crying out amongst gnashing teeth separate from the Life that you never even had.

So,

Philippians 3:16 “Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

When you receive the good news and the gift of Christ upon your life do not reject it, set your sights on him. It is clear what righteousness demands, because there will be fruits from striving for it,

Galatians 5:22–23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

But being prone to wander, and prone to doubting, to hate, immorality, constant sorrow, and roughness, leads to nothing but death of not just the body, but of the spirit!

Narrow-mindedness reveals a judgmental attitude, a critical mindset, which is far from the biblical ideal of charity. Walking the narrow way involves not a distorted mental attitude but a clear understanding of what righteousness demands.

R. C. Sproul

What we have obtained is death. But through Christ, we receive Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control, and most importantly, Life.

A quote from one of the most popular books ever,

Don Quixote, v. 6. I know that the path of virtue is strait and narrow, and the road of vice broad and spacious. I know also that their ends and resting-places are different; for those of vice, large and open, end in death; and those of virtue, narrow and intricate, end in life, and not in life that has an end, but in that which is eternal.

Miguel de Cervantes

Matthew 7:13–14 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

So are we one of those few, or are we resting outside the gate of sin lined with benches and bedrolls, begging us to come and lie down so that as we rest, a thief may come and steal the ticket to eternal life?

Do not pause; rely on Christ for strength. Do not rest on your own merits, but rest on Christ.

As we leave today, I want us to all analyze our lives. Are we holding to what we have obtained on our own or to what has been obtained through following Christ?

Are you wrestling with a sin? Leave it behind and focus on the goal. 

Are you wrestling with neglecting what the world thinks of you? Focus on what lies ahead and what Christ thinks of you.

As I close today, I want to read an excerpt from ‘Pilgrims Progress’ it is genuinely one of the most outstanding books I’ve ever read, and it holds essential truths about our own Progress,

“Then said Christian, You make me afraid; but whither shall I fly to be safe? If I go back to mine own country, that is prepared for fire and brimstone, and I shall certainly perish there; if I can get to the celestial city, I am sure to be in safety there: I must venture. To go back is nothing but death: to go forward is fear of death, and life everlasting beyond it: I will yet go forward. So Mistrust and Timorous ran down the hill, and Christian went on his way. But thinking again of what he had heard from the men, he felt in his bosom for his roll, that he might read therein and be comforted; but he felt, and found it not. Then was Christian in great distress, and knew not what to do; for he wanted that which used to relieve him, and that which should have been his pass into the celestial city. Here, therefore, he began to be much perplexed, and knew not what to do. At last he bethought himself that he had slept in the arbor that is on the side of the hill; and falling down upon his knees, he asked God forgiveness for that foolish act, and then went back to look for his roll. But all the way he went back, who can sufficiently set forth the sorrow of Christian’s heart? Sometimes he sighed, sometimes he wept, and oftentimes he chid himself for being so foolish to fall asleep in that place, which was erected only for a little refreshment from his weariness. Thus, therefore, he went back, carefully looking on this side and on that, all the way as he went, if happily he might find his roll, that had been his comfort so many times in his journey. He went thus till he came again in sight of the arbor where he sat and slept; but that sight renewed his sorrow the more, by bringing again, even afresh, his evil of sleeping unto his mind. Rev. 2:4; 1 Thess. 5:6–8. Thus, therefore, he now went on, bewailing his sinful sleep, saying, O wretched man that I am, that I should sleep in the daytime! that I should sleep in the midst of difficulty! that I should so indulge the flesh as to use that rest for ease to my flesh which the Lord of the hill hath erected only for the relief of the spirits of pilgrims! How many steps have I taken in vain! Thus it happened to Israel; for their sin they were sent back again by the way of the Red Sea; and I am made to tread those steps with sorrow, which I might have trod with delight, had it not been for this sinful sleep. How far might I have been on my way by this time! I am made to tread those steps thrice over, which I needed not to have trod but once: yea, now also I am like to be benighted, for the day is almost spent. O that I had not slept!

Now by this time he was come to the arbor again, where for a while he sat down and wept; but at last, (as Providence would have it,) looking sorrowfully down under the settle, there he espied his roll, the which he with trembling and haste catched up, and put it into his bosom. But who can tell how joyful this man was when he had gotten his roll again? For this roll was the assurance of his life, and acceptance at the desired haven. Therefore he laid it up in his bosom, gave thanks to God for directing his eye to the place where it lay, and with joy and tears betook himself again to his journey.”

Do you still possess your roll to eternal life? If not, do you know where you left it? 

When Christian looked back, he looked back in sorrow; what is the need? Grasp unto your roll, your ticket to righteousness, and continue forward for the blessing God has given you.

Please bow your heads in prayer.

(Pray)

Bunyan, John. 1995. The Pilgrim’s Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Spurgeon, Charles. 2014. Spurgeon Commentary: Philippians. Edited by Elliot Ritzema. Spurgeon Commentary Series. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.