(Php 3:17)  “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.”  Praise God for the completed Bible, the very Word of God from beginning to end. We can follow the walk of Paul by reading the Epistles over and over and over again! It is possible through the power of the Spirit of God within the saved, to be better men and women than we are today; to be conformed more and more into the image of Christ as we endure this life.

(Php 3:16)  “Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.”   How can this be attained? In reality it is easy: put aside what you think and embrace what the Bible says. Such statements as, “I know what the Bible says but I think” should never be a part of the speech of a Born Again Child of God. God is God and the standard for holy living is given by Him without consulting man in any way. “Who art thou, o man, that repliest against God?” (Rom 9:20)  

(Php 3:15) “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.”   The Holy Spirit reveals to the saved their shortcomings as well as how their thinking might be wrong. As James pictures it, it is a mirror upon the soul. Don’t look away in pride or hurt; instead embrace humbly what is revealed, asking the Lord to aid you in improving (looking better).

(Php 3:15) “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.”  You can equate the word “perfect” with “saved”, for to be saved to have completely all we need, clothed in Christ’s perfection. So, as a saved person we are to (v13) forget the past and reach forward in mind and heart to all the things the Lord has bestowed upon us in eternity!  

DAILY DROP OF WATER (Php 3:13)  “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,”  It seems very few of professing believers in our churches get this far in their Christian walk. They are satisfied with the knowledge their soul is secure in Christ so sit back enjoying the ride towards heaven. Paul knew he was in the Lord’s hands, but still lived each day as one who sought to achieve, as the next verse says, (Php 3:14) “I  press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”   

(Php 3:12) “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”  The key to this verse are the words, “….I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”  There is a sweet little girl in our church whom I have befriended. When she sees me, she runs to me and gives me a hug (that’s Christ apprehending us). I immediately hug her back (that’s “…but I follow after, if that I may apprehend…” ). Paul is saying, “I hug the Lord back. I’m not there yet, but the Lord has hold of me and I seek to hold, to hug Him back !”

(Php 3:12) “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”  Here the Holy Spirit is not having Paul say, “I’m not sure I am saved”. He is saying, “I’m still here in this flesh. As long as I am in this flesh I will seek always to live the life my Savior wants me to live! Period.  

(Php 3:10) “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; (11) If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”  Sometimes we come across phrases in the KJV that throw us off, like, “If by any means….”. It is being used in an interrogative manner, “how the resurrection is achieved”! It is achieved by having a time and place where I embraced salvation through faith in His dying for me!