The Road To Heaven - Philippians 3:12-14 Series

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 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, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Introduction

Do you think the Apostle Paul watched the Olympics in his day? I think he did. You can tell what a preacher is interested in by the things that show up in his sermon illustrations again and again. And for Paul, I don’t know if he was an athlete, or if he was just really into watching sports, but he uses those analogies a lot, and today’s passage is an example.

Philippians 3:13 …one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize

That’s the language of running a race. And there are three things Paul wants us to know about this race of the Christian life:

• The Distance

• The Prize

• The Strategy

The Distance: It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over

First, the distance. Is this a 50-meter sprint? A 1500 meter? A marathon? How long is it? The very first thing Paul wants us to know about this race is that it’s not over.

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect…

Then he says it again in verse 13. And he addresses them to get their attention.

13 Brothers

Hey! Look at me. Listen to this.

… I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.

He has been a Christian 30 years. He is the most spectacular Christian ever. In the next paragraph he calls all Christians to follow his example. And yet not even Paul had reached a point where he could just coast. He was still running. He had obtained some of it, but only a tiny bit compared to the full, final form of our salvation.

1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

So his first point is it ain’t over till it’s over. This race goes until you die.

Paul repeats three times that he hasn’t yet arrived, and in the middle he throws in that address to get their attention: Brothers! He wants to do everything he possibly can to demolish any idea that someone might have that salvation is in their hip pocket. So many people think that just because they have been converted, and they know Christ, now they can coast. It’s just a matter of time and they are guaranteed to receive all the final blessings of salvation no matter what. It’s all sewn up; it’s a done deal, regardless of how they live or what they do in this life, their destiny is in the bag. And Paul says, “No – that is absolutely not the case.” The final goal isn’t something you just wait for, like you wait for a date on the calendar to arrive. It is something you run towards.

Legalism and Quietism

He needs to make this clear because the whole first half of the chapter Paul has been railing against legalism. We are not saved by religious observance, or by good works, or any kind of effort or activity on our part. We are saved by the power of God’s grace that comes through knowing Christ by faith – not by works. That’s the first half of the chapter. But now what Paul wants to do is to warn us about going too far the other way. Sometimes Christians will see the error of legalism and say, “Legalism is horrible. I don’t want to fall into legalism.” And so they go in the opposite direction and embrace what’s known as quietism. Quietism is that teaching that says, “Let go and let God.” Don’t put forth any effort. Don’t strive, don’t struggle, don’t work – just rest in God and let him do the work. They say things like “Stop trying and start trusting,” or “Rest, don’t run.”

So Paul wants to warn us about that. The solution to legalism is not quietism. It is true that we are not saved by works. But the problem with that phrase “saved by works” isn’t the word “works.” The problem with that phrase is the word “by.” Don’t get rid of the word works; get rid of the word by. Replace it with the word for. We aren’t saved by works, but we are saved for works.