Philippians - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

training and education, and I am going to do many miracles through him.” God did these things
through Moses. There is also the story of David. God put His stamp on the future King David when
David was still out protecting the sheep. God sent the prophet Samuel to David’s home to anoint one
of the sons in the family of the future king. God chose John the Baptist before he was born. Jesus
called His disciples while they were still fishermen. God called Paul when he was in the process of
persecuting Christians. In every case the call of God was primary. (J. Boice)
Paul uses military terminology (I keep pursing the objective) to describe his steady advance by his
continual reception, retention, and recall of Bible doctrine. He moves forward by using the problemsolving
devices of hope in doctrine, personal love for God, impersonal love for mankind, and
sharing the happiness of God within himself. He presses on, knowing that God will accelerate his
advance through the suffering of momentum testing … Paul is not practicing false humility by
declaring that he has not reached the goal. He possessed the strong self-esteem that belongs to the
believer in spiritual autonomy, but he entertained no illusions about himself. He accurately evaluated
his spiritual life and recognized his need to keep pursuing the objective. A believer who
overestimates himself hinders his own advance; a believer who evaluates himself objectively
perpetuates his momentum and eventually reaches maturity. (R.B. Thieme, Jr.)
“Perfect” in a relative sense, can also refer to various stages of Christian progress. Enlarged
understanding of divine truth and consistent exhibition of Christian character are described by the
word “perfect.” In this sense the apostle Paul includes himself among the “perfect” (3:15), although
he had just confessed that he did not consider himself “perfect” (3:12). Therefore, while affirming
the necessity of holiness and warning against any excuse for indulging in sin, the Christian must
avoid teaching “perfectionism.” This error has risen intermittently in the history of the church, and in
the present generation again threatens to dismember the gospel. Those involved do not regard it as a
classical error but likely see themselves as the harbingers of pious, godly ideas that can lead only to
greater honoring of God. Such a phenomenon demonstrates that some of the contemporary
generation exhibits a poverty of understanding of classical Protestant theology and the errors it has
confronted and refuted ... from Montanism through the Pentecostal-type exaggeration of Wesleyan
perfectionism … This view eliminates the necessity of Christ’s continued intercession. Only as one
continues as a sinner does he need Christ to intercede. And it denies the biblical teaching that
sanctification is continuous. It also reduces justification to one-half of its biblical self. Only
forgiveness at the beginning, and thereafter intermittently, is necessary. “Not having a righteousness
of my own” could not fall from the lips of one who affirmed such actual righteousness. (T. Nettles)
With Philippians 3:11 Paul closes the parenthesis begun in verse 9. He has finished describing how
to “gain Christ” in 3:8. We gain Christ, or advance to spiritual maturity, through the three stages of
sanctification: positional, experiential, and ultimate sanctification. Positional sanctification (3:9) is
union with Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation. Experiential
sanctification (3:10) is the execution of the protocol plan of God on earth, as we follow our Lord’s
precedent in the prototype sphere of power through our residence in the operational sphere of power,
i.e., dynaspheres. Ultimate sanctification (3:11) is the possession of a resurrection body like the
resurrection body of Jesus Christ. Having closed the parenthesis, Paul resumes in verse 12 from