We find verse 11 to be most interesting. What is Paul speaking of here? After all, this is the objective he has in mind as he says what he does in verses 7 through 10. All that he says about the commitment of his life has to do with verse 11. Is Paul speaking of some future event that he hopes to make himself worthy of or is he speaking of something else?
Some say Paul is referring to a special resurrection to occur at Christ’s return. The problem is that the Scripture makes it clear that other than the resurrection of Christ, there are only two resurrections yet to occur - the resurrection of the believer and that of the unbeliever (see 1 Corinthians 15:23-24; Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:4-5). The believer’s resurrection occurs at our Lord’s return and the unbeliever’s resurrection takes place after Christ has finished making all things new.
Following the resurrection of the believer, Christians’ works will be judged to determine the degree of reward in eternity. Paul says there will be varying degrees of reward, depending on how we lived for Christ after we came to Him by faith (see 1 Corinthians 3:11-15).
But no where does the Bible say there is some special resurrection for believers who have attained “super saint” status. We must conclude then that Paul is referring to something else in verse 11.
I believe what he is speaking of has to do with the present, not with the future. The Amplified translation of this verse helps us at this point.
“That if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral]
resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead
[even while in the body].” - Philippians 3:11 (Amplified)
The Bible says that while those without Christ are dead in their
sins, the believer has been transformed by the power of the risen Christ, so that what is true of Jesus is now true of us.
“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” - Ephesians 2:4-10 (NLT)
God took initiative to provide forgiveness by the cross, so through
repentance we could be reconciled to Him and eventually restored to the level of blessing God planned for us when He first made man.
When Christ returns, we’ll receive a glorified resurrection body and He will finish the work of making all things new. We will then know an eternal state of blessedness. But we don’t have to wait until eternity to know heavenly blessings. Paul wanted to experience as much of the blessings of heaven on earth as possible.
So Paul determined to live:
1. Purposefully – vs. 7-8 - learning from Jesus.
Paul lived his life for the purpose of knowing Christ intimately. He fully accepted the invitation Jesus made to all when He said: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” - Matthew 11:29 (NIV)
“Jesus was a rabbi, and as such, one of his primary responsibilities was to interpret the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) for his followers. The Torah is the holiest of Scriptures to the Jews, and included within it are the Ten Commandments as well as 613 additional laws about worship, cleanliness, marriage, nutrition, and every other aspect of Jewish life. Any given rabbi’s interpretation of the Torah consisted of dozens of hedges, which were additional oral laws or rules designed to protect the Law (this includes the extra 613). A rabbi would have had thousands of little laws or hedges he taught as his interpretation of the Torah, his suggested way of living. This way of living was referred to as that rabbi’s yoke, and every rabbi had a distinctive yoke.” - David Putnam, Detox for the Overly Religious
It was a great honor to be selected by a rabbi to be his disciple. Most often, rabbis would select disciples from wealthy and influential families so as to fund their living. Jesus, however, selected men from all walks of life, in fact, He selected disciples from the lower and working classes of society. This explains why they were so quick to respond to His call to be His disciple - it was a great honor to be called!
Paul realized what an honor is afforded every Christian in the fact that we are called to “take His yoke upon us.” We should, too.
And in following that call, the disciple would share his life with his rabbi - eating where he ate, sleeping where he slept, going where he went, and hearing what he said. Rabbis would use the common experiences in life to teach their disciples.
Likewise, the classroom for a disciple of Jesus is everyday life.
Growth doesn’t take place within the vacuum of a classroom. Oh, we can learn some important things as part of a class - but it is in the laboratory of life where we experience God’s truth and are taught by our “rabbi.”
When a rabbi chose someone to be their disciple, a common blessing pronounced upon the disciple by others was “May you be covered with the dust of your rabbi.”
Paul determined that this was also the key to his living the blessed life made possible by Christ’s resurrection - nothing was going to come between him and his rabbi. He was going to stay close to Christ.
“Anything that dims my vision of Christ, or takes away my taste
for Bible study, or cramps my prayer life, or makes Christian work
difficult, is wrong for me, and I must, as a Christian, turn away
from it.” - J. Wilbur Chapman
2. Properly – v. 9 - living like Jesus.
Paul is not speaking of becoming a Christian but living as a Christian. He would have us understand that not only do we not become a Christian through following a list of “do’s and don’ts,” but neither do we live the Christian life by following a list of “do’s and don’ts.”
“You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.” - Colossians 2:20-22 (NLT)
Instead, we seek to live life as God would have us to live it by seeking to emulate our Savior - Jesus. Paul knew that the path to living a proper life as a Christian was found in growing in his faith and becoming more like Jesus. This occurs as a result of our following Jesus as his disciple.
“The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” - Acts 11:26 (NIV)
Notice the order of things here: The disciples (those who have
answered the call to follow close to Jesus and not let anything get in the way of their pursuing Him) were called Christians (literally, “Little Christs” or Christ-like). Answer this question, “Would you say you are more or less like Jesus today than you were a year ago?” How about this question, “Would OTHERS say you are more or less like Jesus than you were a year ago?”
3. Powerfully – v. 10a - leaning on Jesus.
Paul said he wanted to know the power of Christ’s resurrection at work in his own life. Indeed, it is only by the resurrection power of Christ that we can live on a higher level and truly live as a Christian, one who is Christ-like. But how is that power to change and grow released in us? Notice what Jesus told His disciples:
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” - Matthew 4:19 (NIV)
Jesus promised that if we determine to follow Him - His power (resurrection power) will go to work to make us what He calls us to be.
As a kid, I remember traveling with my folks, knowing where we were headed, but not really knowing how to get there. Inevitably, I would end up falling asleep. Eventually, I would be awakened with the announcement, “We’re here!” And, sure enough, we were!
Likewise, in our following Jesus, if we will simply be willing to learn from Him, and commit to live like Him, just lean on Him and trust Him to bring about the necessary changes to get you where you need to be.
4. Passionately – v. 10b - loving like Jesus.
Paul speaks of Christ’s sufferings. When we think of His sufferings at Calvary, we often call them as His passion. In fact, many of us have heard of “Passion Plays” or even the Mel Gibson movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” Why do we refer to Christ’s suffering as His “passion?” Because He suffered because of His passion to redeem a lost world.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” - Matthew 4:19 (NIV)
"Evangelism is not a professional job for a few trained men, but is instead the unrelenting responsibility of every person who belongs to the company of Jesus." - Elton Trueblood
In the movie “Dead Poet’s Society,” Robin Williams plays the role of a teacher in an exclusive eastern prep school. On the first day of school, he takes the class of boys out into the hallway to look at the pictures of past, now dead, graduates of the school. He motivates them to learn and excel in life with the following words: “We are food for worms, Lads! Believe it or not each and every one of us in this room one day will stop breathing, turn cold, and die. Step forward and see these faces from the past. They were just like you are now. They believed they were destined for great things. Their eyes are full of hope. But, you see, gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. If you listen real close, you will hear them whisper their legacy to you. Lean in. What do you hear?” Then Robin says in an eerie grave-like voice, ‘Carpe Diem!’ (Latin for seize the day) “Seize the day boys! Make your lives extraordinary!”
That is what Paul is telling us here.
