Philippians 3:12-13; Held and Taking Hold

06/16 Philippians 3:12-13; Held and Taking Hold; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20240616_philippians-3_12.mp3

Paul has made it clear in Philippians 3 that his greatest treasure, his primary pursuit, his ruling desire, is to know Christ and be found in him. He had his own righteousness according to the law, but he counts it as loss, worthless, excrement, in comparison with the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, gaining Christ, being found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but the righteousness from God that depends on faith. He is eager to know Christ fully, to know experientially the power of his resurrection, to enter in to the fellowship of his sufferings, to have his life conformed to the self-sacrificial love expressed most clearly in Jesus’ death for others.

Salvation Already and Not Yet

Paul pointed to justification in verse 9, God’s declaring a sinner to be righteous because of being found in Jesus. He points us to the process of ongoing salvation (or sanctification) in verse 10; experiencing the resurrection power of new birth; being made alive in Christ. He points to experiencing intimacy with Jesus through sharing in his sufferings, our lives beginning to take the shape of his self-sacrificial death for others. And he points us forward to his future hope; if somehow he might attain to the resurrection out from among the dead. Paul is not presumptuous; God’s promises are sure, but he is not there yet. For Paul and for us the final resurrection is still a future hope.

Paul wants to make it clear that he’s not there yet. He’s not done yet. It’s not over yet. Paul is in prison, the finish line is in view; he doesn’t know if he will live on in the flesh, which would mean fruitful labor, or to depart and be with Christ, which is far better (Phil.1:22-23); but whatever is coming, he is not going to ease up or slow his pace; he is stretching forward with every sinew to seize the prize.

But it is not already in his possession. He has not already obtained.

Listen to how Paul puts it in this passage:

Philippians 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. 13 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, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Do you hear how he describes the Christian life? Does this sound like a life characterized by sitting back, relaxing, coasting? He describes it as pressing on, pursuing, taking hold or grasping, straining forward, fully engaged eager pursuit of the prize. For Paul, the Christian life is not over; it is just begun. Now is not the time to relax and coast, now is the time to press forward and earnestly pursue.

Take Hold [ἔλαβον] and Fully Take Hold [καταλάβω]

Paul repeats some important words in these verses, and it would be easy to miss the connections in our English translations.

This word ‘obtained’ means to take or to receive. But Paul repeats a compound form of this word 3 times in verses 12 and 13. He attaches an intensifying prefix meaning ‘fully’; to fully obtain or take hold of. Here’s a translation that attempts to bring out this repetiton;

Not that I have already taken hold …

but I pursue if I might even fully take hold

for which I was even fully taken hold of by Christ

brothers, I myself do not consider that I have fully taken hold

Range of Meaning

The New Testament was written in Greek. Words in Greek (or any other language) have a range of meanings, and can be used differently in differing contexts; it is helpful to look at the different ways a word is used to get the full flavor of a word and help to determine what might be the best translation in a particular context. This is one reason different translations differ slightly in how they carry the meaning over into English, and why it can be helpful to read different translations to get a fuller understanding.

This compound word ‘fully take hold’ or in the ESV ‘made it my own’ shows up 15 times in the New Testament. In Mark 9:18 it is used of an unclean spirit seizing or taking hold of a person. John 1 we will come back to look at in a minute; in John 8:3-4 the scribes and Pharisees bring Jesus a woman who was seized or caught in the act of adultery; they took hold of her and brought her before Jesus. John 12:35 Jesus warns of the darkness overtaking you. Acts 4:13, 10:34, and 25:25 use the verb more figuratively of perceiving or understanding; taking full hold of mentally. Romans 9:30 and 1 Corinthians 9:24 use it similarly to Philippians in the context of pursuing something in order to take hold or attain it. Ephesians 3:14 Paul uses it in his prayer that we may have strength to comprehend or fully take hold of mentally together with all the saints the surpassing love of Christ for us. 1 Thessalonians 5:4 uses it similar to Jesus in John 12 of the day of the Lord not surprising or overtaking us as if we were in darkness. So the word can carry meaning ranging from physically apprehending someone; seizing them, to more metaphorically being overtaken by and surprised by something, to grasping or apprehending mentally.

Fully Take Hold in John 1 [κατέλαβεν]

John 1:5 is notoriously difficult to nail down which of these meanings fits the context best, probably because John seems to like to choose words that have a range of meanings and intend to communicate all of them. John 1 speaks of Jesus the eternal Word and says;

John 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome [κατέλαβεν; fully taken hold of] it.

English versions translate the word in John 1 as ‘comprehend, apprehend, overcome, overpower, overtake, master, extinguish, suppress, put out, defeat, understand, grasp, or perceive’. These are all within the range of meanings of this word within the context of light shining in the darkness. The contexts helps to shed some light on John’s use of this word; he goes on in verse 9

John 1:9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive [παρέλαβον] him. 12 But to all who did receive [ἔλαβον] him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

John 1:11 uses a compound with a different prefix; to take in or receive near; verse 12 uses the base word to take hold of or to receive, and puts it parallel to believing in Jesus or knowing Jesus. So darkness not fully taking hold of the light seems to mean people not knowing or recognizing Jesus, not receiving him in, not believing in him.

We see a similar thread in John 3:19

John 3:19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

Darkness not taking full hold of the light means not loving the light, it means people not receiving, believing in, knowing, or loving Jesus.

Taking Hold and Being Perfected [τετελείωμαι]

In Philippians 3:12 Paul puts the base word ‘take hold’ in parallel to being perfected. He has not already received or taken hold and is not already perfected. The immediate context is the hope of future resurrection out from among the dead, but in the broader context this hope of future resurrection is the final and full climax of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, gaining Christ and being found in him. So this being perfected, this taking hold that Paul says is ‘not yet’ is a taking hold in the sense he describes in 1 Corinthians 13;

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

It is what John describes in 1 John 3;

1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

It is what Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 3

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

We are being transformed by beholding Jesus, but we do not yet see him face to face, so we are not yet what we will be when we see him as he is. But this is what Paul is pursing; the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, knowing him in the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ultimately attaining to the resurrection from the dead, ultimately knowing him fully even as he is fully known.

This is what Paul says that he is pursuing; he is pressing on if even to fully take hold, fully grasp, fully apprehend.

Pursuing and Taking Hold

This word for pursuing points to an intense and purposeful going after. In the negative sense, it is often translated ‘persecute’. It can be used of pursuit in hunting or in military contexts. The Greek translation of Exodus 15 uses both these words for pursuing and fully taking hold to describe the intention of Pharaoh’s army in pursuit of God’s people through the Red Sea;

Exodus 15:9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’

Paul once was purposefully going after Christians and ultimately Christ, seeking to persecute, to destroy. Now he was purposefully pursuing the surpassing worth of knowing Christ and being found in him.

Being Fully Taken Hold Of By Christ [κατελήμφθην]

But his pursuit of fully grasping Christ is grounded on and a response to a prior act; he presses on to seize Christ because Christ Jesus has already fully taken hold of Paul.

Paul recounts being apprehended by Christ in Acts 26

Acts 26:9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. 12 “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 ​delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles— to whom I am sending you 18 ​to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Paul was fully apprehended, fully laid hold of by Christ. He was not pursuing Christ, he was persecuting him. He was interrupted in his pursut and completely re-directed. He was blinded so that he could truly begin to see. And he was commissioned to open the eyes of the blind. His understanding of righteousness was radically altered; no longer through law-keeping, but through forgiveness and faith in Jesus.

Because of he had been fully apprehended by Jesus, he made it his pursuit if possible to fully know Christ.

Paul’s language of uncertainty is no doubt of God’s faithfulness to his promises; rather it is a realistic acknowledgment that the promises are still future and not yet fully realized, and a humble distrust of self.

Jesus said:

John 10:27 ​My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 ​I and the Father are one.”

We are securely held in God’s omnipotent grasp, the grasp of the Son and the Father together. It is because of this that we can purposefully pursue fully grasping him, while humbly acknowledging that we will not know him fully as we are fully known, until we see him face to face.

Philippians 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.

Have you been apprehended by Christ? Has he fully taken hold of you?

What is your life’s pursuit? What is your driving passion? Is there anything more valuable than taking hold of Christ?

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org