Philippians 3:12-21 • Joy in Reaching for the Prize

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Are you a runner now, or have you been in the past? Paul used the analogy of running a race in several of his writings, including Philippians chapter 3. What is the course? What is the finish? What is the purpose of running it? What gets us off the course? How do we stay on the course? And what is the prize? In the last article in this series, we looked at how God’s grace toward us opens the way for us to have a life of joyful freedom. This is post #9 in the Philippians blog series. In this post, we will see the joy of reaching for the prize that Jesus has for us.

Listen to this post as a similar podcast from the Knowing Jesus…Knowing Joy! Bible Study covering Philippians in the New Testament. (10 lessons)

Running the Course

As I mentioned in the last blog, the goals in Paul’s life had changed dramatically over his 60+ years. No longer did he seek to be top dog Pharisee anymore but to live as Christ—to know Him, to understand the real impact of His resurrection, to share in HIs sufferings, to face death as purposefully as did Jesus, to be resurrected from the state of death and given a new, sinless body. All of this is Paul’s new definition of life.

It had been 30 years since he started this spiritual journey. If you have studied Paul’s life, you have seen that he had ups and downs, many battles to face.

But Paul pursued the Christian life with the enthusiasm and persistence of a runner in the Greek games. And that’s the context of this blog’s passage. Running the course. To Paul, to live is Christ. That means to live as Christ. The Christian life is like running a marathon on a designated course but with Christ in you directing the run.

Are you a runner now, or have you been in the past? Paul used the analogy of running a race in several of his writings. In 1 Corinthians chapter 9, he talks about running the race with enough effort to win it. In 2 Timothy, he talks about finishing the race well and getting the prize.

Let’s look at what he says in Philippians chapter 3:

Brothers I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:13-14)

So let’s explore what Paul is doing as he forgets, strains, and presses onward. What is the course? What is the finish? What is the purpose of running it? What gets us off the course? How do we stay on the course? And what is the prize?

What Is the Course?

The course is your life as a believer. It is whatever personal course God has given to you. It is different for each person and contains the idea of stewardship—managing the things that God has placed in your care.

That would be yourself, your relationships, your work, your money, your possessions, your talents, your skills, and your vocal ability to communicate. Some of it may be what you are given at birth for which you can take no credit—your genetics, place of birth, birth family. Be sure to include the spiritual gifts God gave you at the moment of your salvation.

Your course to run includes all of this. Write down your list. Then, if you have a start, you have to have a finish.

What Is the Finish?

The finish line for the believer is our physical death. Only God knows when that will be for sure. In 2 Timothy, Paul said he has finished the race because he knew he would die soon.

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:6-7)

Throughout Philippians, we have seen that Paul was ready to face physical death and pass from death into life with Jesus. He reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven not here on earth.

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20-21)

We should all be eagerly awaiting our Savior’s coming for us—whether in life through the Rapture when He will transform our lowly bodies into glorious ones or at our last breath in earthy death.

That is the finish for our earthly race.

What Is the Purpose of Running This Race?

Well, our purpose is to live as Christ. By faith in Him. To know Him and love Him and be faithful in whatever He gives us to do.

Read the previous blogs about living as Christ, “Philippians 2.1-11 • To Live as Christ in Joyful Service-Part 1” and “Philippians 2.12-20 • To Live as Christ in Joyful Service-Part 2.”

We are here on earth although our citizenship is in heaven. While here, we are to be living a life of faith—daily. I’ve already mentioned how we are the visible representatives of God on earth. We glorify Him in our lives. And our lives should actually be Christ living His life through us. To live as Christ.

What Gets Us Off the Course?

What gets us off the course?

Not forgetting what lies behind

Not forgetting what lies behind can get us off course. That would be dwelling on past mistakes. Do you do that? I wallow in past regrets at times.

Paul said he had to forget his past. In 1 Timothy chapter 1, he agreed with God that his past behavior was horrid before knowing Christ. Then, he said that he was shown mercy because he acted in ignorance and unbelief. God poured our His grace on him abundantly. Then, in verse 6 he says this,

But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:12-16)

Paul could forget the past because Christ redeemed it for His glory. You can forget your past too. Christ has redeemed it for His glory.

Reliance on false teaching

Lack of discernment can lead to reliance on false teaching and bad counsel. Straying away from the truth of knowing Christ well leaves you vulnerable to being swayed by every philosophy that comes your way. Paul’s prayer in Philippians 1 addresses this need for having discernment to recognize truth from error.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11)

Read the Colossians blog series “Healthy Living” for ways to discern and overcome a lot of these false teachings.

Materialism and unmet expectations

Getting caught up in the materialism of our society and having unmet expectations can trip us up in our race. When we take our eyes off Jesus and what we have in Him, we can easily fall into self-pity when our expectations are unmet.

Life is not static. One thing I’ve learned is not to count on next year being like this year or the past one. As we mature physically, our bodies change. So do our emotions, priorities, and aspirations. What you consider to be important in your 20’s is replaced by other attitudes and needs in your 30’s and 40’s, and certainly in your 60’s.

Our circumstances have continually changed. We have been self-employed, worked for the government, worked in Christian ministry, lived on missionary support, or lived on no income at all. We have lived in places we’ve loved and places we hated. Our parents have gone through illness and death. At times, we were both content; other times, one of us has been very discontented about life. Yet the overall resolve of my life is to keep the faith—to know Him—to become like Christ.

For help in releasing expectations, read the blog, “Philippians 1.12-18 • Joy in Releasing Expectations.”

Perfectionist tendencies

Perfectionist tendencies can get us off course. Do you have those? That tendency ruled my life for 19 years. Like Paul, I pursued the highest standards of behavior, achievements, and awards, just for the thrill of being the best. I pursued a 4.0 in high school and cried if I made a B. I won awards in many areas. I felt I had to be perfect to win the approval of my parents and God. Then I met Jesus.

For the first time in my life, I didn’t have to be perfect anymore. My grades slipped as I spent more time in Bible Study and discipleship. I began the race. I began pursuing Christlikeness. And like Paul, I counted those former achievements and the previous goal of my life to be rubbish in comparison to the love, joy, and peace I finally came to know in Christ. I saw that my character was sinful. An infinite number of awards and achievements could never make up for it. The greatest burden lifted from my shoulders was finding out I didn’t have to be perfect to please God. Jesus already did that for me.

God can help you with perfectionist tendencies. Read the blog, “Philippians 1.1-11 • Joy in Letting God Be the Perfectionist.”

From that time, I wanted to be like Jesus—I was on the course, off and running. For many years since, I have been striving to keep the faith in whatever God has asked of me. I want to be the woman of God, not the woman of the world. I don’t want to be described only by what I have done in my career in the eyes of the world.

We need to recognize those things that get us off course and stop doing them. Give them up! Release them!

How Do We Stay on Course?

Trust God at work

We have learned from Philippians that the responsibility of working in our lives rests upon our shoulders alone. Right?? No!

We have learned that it is God who is working in us.

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

He started it, He is working now, and He will complete it. He does the working to make us like Christ because it gives Him pleasure.

for it is God who works in you, both to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13 ESV)

Other translations say He does it for His good purpose.

God knows what we’re going through, He can get us through it and back on course if we only ask. We need to respond to Him by faith.

Seek His truth

We should make it our goal to know Him as Paul did. Recognize Christ in every area of our lives. This leads me to one of my favorite topics—truth. When I became a believer, I realized that all the knowledge I was striving for through academics was meaningless and could be detrimental to my Christian growth if it did not come from God. I heard someone say that we have a tendency to take human wisdom over God’s wisdom on a daily basis without even knowing that we are doing it.

Truth is very important to me. After becoming a believer, I desired to know God’s truth on every subject—science, history, and literature. I determined early on that our children should not waste their minds learning rubbish from a secular view point that totally leaves out God. But they should learn truth from the viewpoint of God’s intimate dealings with mankind—to study from the Christian world view not the secular worldview. Not to glorify humans, but I wanted them to recognize God’s dealings with various humans throughout history and their response to God. That’s what history really is—God’s dealings with humans, humanity’s response to God, and the consequences of those responses.

The Scripture continually refers to history as a teaching tool—see what God did, see how the people responded and the consequences, see what God does for them again, and see how they respond.

Consider God’s Word faithful, test it out. You will not be disappointed.

For more about God’s truth, read the blog, “TRUTH Is the Prescription for Healthy Living.”

What Is the Prize?

Reach for it

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:14 ESV)

“Press on toward the goal.” That’s what Paul says he is doing and that we should do. The goal is the object at the end of the course on which the runner fixes her gaze. For us, that is knowing Jesus Christ.

The prize is given to everyone crossing the goal line. This is not about salvation here. All Christians get salvation. It’s not the Rapture either.

The rewards

The prize is given for the pursuit of knowing Christ and for living as Christ. We don’t know what the prizes are. But we do know they will be good because they’ll be given by a good God. Paul would only reach that goal when he entered the Lord’s presence and saw Him face-to-face. Any reward comes to us at that time.

Rewards are usually mentioned in Scripture in the context of either persecution or a long hard time of service that goes unrecognized.

Paul mentioned a crown of righteousness in 2 Timothy promised not only for him, but also for all who have longed for His appearing—the faithful ones.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 9, Paul tells us that our reward will be a crown that will last forever.

We also see the same thing in I Peter 1. It will be imperishable, be undefiled, will not fade away, and is reserved in heaven for us.

We are not responsible for the prize—that’s God—He determines what is given to each believer. We are responsible for running the course, staying true to the course and being faithful all the way to the time when we cross the finish line. We are not in competition with anyone else. It is our own personal course.

Being with Christ

Our being in heaven with Christ will be reward enough. But for the time being, Paul exhorts the Philippians and us to live up to what we already have—a righteous position in Christ. He exhorts us to forget the past and stretch forward to the future as a runner leaning forward to reach that goal.

What goal? To know Christ and to live as Christ.

How? By following the upward call which is our own personal course to run.

And the prize will be there when we cross the finish line—physical death—after which we experience spiritual eternity, bliss, joy, and contentment.

Now, we want to glorify God—do what He has created me to do on earth. Then we will enjoy Him forever—that’s doing what He created us for then.

In the next post, we will see how we can still have joy in conflict.

Want to have joy in your life?

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with the fullness of His joy. Then, live in that joy!

All of the above information is covered in the Knowing Jesus…Knowing Joy! Bible Study covering Philippians in the New Testament.

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