“That I may win Christ, And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead”
1. That I may gain Christ: and
2. (That) I-may-be-found in Him,
3. Not having my-own righteousness, the (righteousness) from law, but the (righteousness) through faith of-Christ, the righteousness from God, on-the-ground-of that faith;
4. To-know Him and
5. The power of-His resurrection and
6. Partnership of-His sufferings,
7. Being-conformed to-His death,
8. If by-any-means I-shall-arrive at the resurrection, the-(one) from the-dead.
Our last chapter closed with the one great “gain” for which Paul was ready to cast away not only all the “gains” he had enumerated, but “all things.” That “gain” was CHRIST.
When a man gains a great and beautiful estate, he will find as he comes to know it better, that with the estate, or, included in the estate, are many other gains. Not only is there the mansion, which filled his eyes at first: but there are beautiful gardens, a lovely park, and a multitude of other things that he learns to value, as more and more he gets to know his newfound gain.
So is it with CHRIST. And now, in verses 9 to 11, the Apostle tells us of some of these other gains that he obtained with Christ when HE became his gain. We will find seven fresh “gains,” making eight in all: and we will find that the eighth is the resurrection from among the dead.
We spoke in the last chapter of the first part of this Scripture: “That I may have Christ for my gain.” Now, the Lord helping us, we will ponder the seven treasures we find in Christ. First—
“That I may be found in Him” (vs. 9).
In the 24th chapter of Isaiah we read of the most terrible judgments that are going to sweep over this world: “The inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left” (Isa. 24:66Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. (Isaiah 24:6)). In the first verse of chapter 26 we read of a song that is to be sung in the land of Judah: even in the face of such awful judgments—
“We have a strong city;
Salvation will God appoint for walls and
And then comes ‘perfect peace’, (verse 3), our refuge being in that city, hidden safely, ‘until the indignation is overpast’. (verse 20). And then in chapter 32:2 we read, “A man shall be as an hiding place.” Yes, ‘the Man Christ Jesus’ is our hiding place, and when we are ‘found in Him’ we are safe, we have perfect peace, and even a song in our mouths. It is like the city of refuge in Num. 35, that the Lord provided for the manslayer. He is liable to death from the avenger of blood, but when he forsakes all his own efforts to save himself, and just flees to the city of refuge, he is safe: he may have perfect peace, for he is safely hidden from the judgment that was his due. When he is ‘found’ in the city of refuge, none may touch him.
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What the guilty sinner, liable to judgment, needs most of all is righteousness: but how can man be just with God? How can a condemned sinner be counted righteous? Naturally we would all think it is utterly impossible for a just God to justify a guilty sinner: but God Himself has found a way to be just, and the justifier of even such. So righteousness is the next thing the Apostle speaks of for the one who has Christ for his gain. But it is not, he says, ‘my righteousness’, or, ‘a righteousness of my own’. In Greek there are two ways of saying ‘my righteousness’. The usual way would be to say, ‘the righteousness of me’, where `me’ is a pronoun. But we can also say ‘my righteousness’, where ‘my’ is an adjective agreeing with ‘righteousness’. In this case ‘my’ tells the kind of righteousness. And this is the way the Spirit of God puts it here. And of what kind is ‘my righteousness’? Isa. 64 tells us “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” So Paul may well say, “That I may be found in Him, not having my righteousness” (vs. 9). No! Paul wants no filthy rags, no refuse, when found in Him. Instead he can say, “He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels” (Isa. 61:1010I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)). Such is the righteousness of God that He freely gives to those who are ‘found in Him’. This righteousness is ‘through faith of Christ’, (some translate, ‘through faith in Christ’), the righteousness from God, ‘on the ground of that faith’. Notice the Apostle speaks of `righteousness from law’, and of ‘righteousness from God’: but of ‘righteousness through faith’; for faith is the means, not the source, of righteousness. “It is God that justifieth” (Rom. 8:3333Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. (Romans 8:33)). He alone is the source: for the righteousness of which law is the source, is unobtainable by man.
We often hear people speak of ‘the righteousness of Christ’, but I do not think the Bible ever speaks thus: though of course He is absolutely righteous. But the Bible speaks of ‘the righteousness of God’. Six times in the first three chapters of Romans do we find `the righteousness of God’, or, ‘His righteousness’. We often hear men speak of Christ’s righteous life as reckoned to us for righteousness. This is completely contrary to the Word of God. Christ is made unto us righteousness (1 Cor. 1:33Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:3)): but it is Christ, who died for our sins, and is raised again the third day: not the life of Christ down here: Who is our righteousness. If we are ‘found in Him’, then we have that robe of righteousness to cover us:
“Clad in that robe, how bright I shine!
Angels possess not such a dress;
Angels have not a robe like mine—
Jesus, the Lord’s my righteousness.”
And notice that righteousness is ‘through faith of Christ’. We get exactly the same expression in Rom. 3:2222Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: (Romans 3:22). Faith is like the coupling that links the train to the locomotive. The coupling could never pull the train one inch: but through, or by, the coupling, the locomotive pulls it safely.
Notice, also, that in the end of verse 9 the Spirit changes from ‘through faith’, to, ‘on-the-ground-of that faith’. It is the same word as is used for the man who “built his house upon the rock” (Matt. 7:2424Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: (Matthew 7:24)). Christ is the Rock, and Christ is the only foundation for faith: but the righteousness of God is reckoned to us ‘on that faith’, or, ‘on-the-ground-of that faith’. The words translated ‘that faith’ are literally ‘the faith’. But as we have pointed out, the article ‘the’ is like a finger pointing: and I think it points back to the words ‘through faith of Christ’ (where there is no article), and so I have translated it ‘on-the-ground-of that faith’.
What does ‘the righteousness of God’ mean? First, of course, it tells us that God is absolutely righteous. But there is more. Christ glorified God on the earth, He finished the work that God gave Him to do: and God was righteous in raising Him from the dead, and setting Him at His Own right hand in the heavens. But Christ was made sin for us, He was made a curse for us, He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. The very fact that God is righteous in raising Christ from the dead, and setting Him on high in the glory, is proof that all our sins, our curse, are gone forever: and so God is righteous in accepting us in the Beloved; and He is just (or righteous) in justifying us. Just as it would have been unrighteous not to raise Christ from the dead when He had finished the work God gave Him to do: so it would be unrighteous not to count righteous those who forsake all confidence in themselves, and trust only to Christ, and His finished work. So I count on ‘the righteousness of God’ to reckon me righteous. “It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?” (Rom. 8:33-3433Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Romans 8:33‑34)). Now I am `found in Him’, and “there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:11There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)). There cannot be. “Christ Jesus.... of God is made unto us.... righteousness” (1 Cor. 1:3030But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Corinthians 1:30)). If any one asks, “How can a wretched sinner like you be justified?” I may answer: “Look at Christ. He is my righteousness. Is there any unrighteousness in Him? Surely, surely not! God sees me ‘in Him’. God looks at Christ, not at me. So He sees me righteous.”
The Chinese character for righteous tells the same story in a most beautiful way. Above is the character for “Lamb”, and below is the character for “I” or “me.” So I am completely covered by the Lamb: and when God looks down at me, He sees only the Lamb— the spotless Lamb of God.
But there is another most remarkable Scripture: “He made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:2121For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)). God speaks of Christians as `the righteousness of God in Him’: in Christ, and only in Him. Another has said, “Never think of yourself as apart from Christ.” If one asks, “Is God righteous to justify sinners?” The answer is to look at the sinners who are justified. See the price that God paid to justify them. He gave His only begotten Son. “He spared not His own Son” (Rom. 8:3232He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32)). There is the proof that God is just, and at the same time the Justifier of him who believeth in Jesus. (Rom. 3:2626To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:26)). And so the sinner is made— he demonstrates— the righteousness of God, in Christ.
But let us never forget that this righteousness is from God, by the blood of Christ, and it is through faith.
The Scriptures tell us we are—
With Christ for his gain: being found in Him, not having his own righteousness, but the righteousness that is from God, what does Paul want next? “That I may know Him!” (vs. 10). or, literally, “to know Him!” And did he not ‘know Him’? Surely he did, as few others have ever known Him: but he could say, “Now I know in part,” (1 Cor. 13:1212For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)): and no matter how large a part, that could not satisfy until he could say, “I know even as I am known” (1 Cor. 13:1212For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)). Paul’s desire was not to know about Him, blessed as that is. There was a university professor who could challenge his class to begin any verse in the Bible, and he would finish it: but I sadly fear, though he knew the written Word so well, he did not know the Living Word at all. Most of us know a certain amount about Her Majesty the Queen: some of us have even seen her drive by: but that does not mean we know her. It was altogether something different for which Paul longed. This intellectual knowledge of Christ is not to be despised. I suppose it must come first, before we come to “know Him.” It is preliminary, introductory, subordinate, to the knowledge spoken of in Philippians 3:1010That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; (Philippians 3:10). What do we mean when we say of a man, I know him? Do we not mean, I have kept company with him— I have talked with him— I have spent time with him— I have learned to know his thoughts and his ways, I have been admitted to his confidence. What does a child mean when he says: “I know my father: I know what he would like”? Surely it means he knows his father’s inmost heart: he knows his thoughts, without the necessity of uttering a word. We have no right to say we know Christ, merely because we have read of Him in the Scriptures. Paul had suffered the loss of all things for the surpassingness of the knowledge (as he says with such affection) of Christ Jesus my Lord: but he longs to know Him better still. The aged Apostle John writes to the fathers “because ye have known Him that is from the beginning” (1 John 2:1313I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. (1 John 2:13)). Perhaps through a long life— a life of service to their Lord— they had learned to “know Him.” And what about the “little children”? “I write unto you little children, because ye have known the Father” (1 John 2:1313I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. (1 John 2:13)). And none can come to the Father except by the Son: and so, in their measure, no doubt the little children knew “Him” also. How encouraging for you dear Lambs of the flock! And He has given Him: “And this is Life Eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:33And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)).
No, it is not some special grace, reserved for certain special people, that they should “know Him.” All who have eternal life “know Him,” they know God, and Jesus Christ, whom God hath sent— Yes, even the babes know Him: and yet he who knew Him best, could cry— Oh, “To know Him!” It is like the child, who had always lived in an inland town, when first he went to the seaside: he kept telling all his friends on his return, “I have seen the sea!”. And it was true, even though he had only seen a few miles of it; and of all the length and breadth and depth of it, he knew little or nothing. And so the babe in Christ can say with truth: “I know Him!” And the Apostle Paul can cry from the depths of his heart, and can cry truly— “To know Him!” Down here that craving will never be satisfied: the better we know Him, the more we love to know Him better still. For while in the body down here, it must ever be: “Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Cor. 13:1212For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)). Lord, haste the day!
And though it is true that all who have eternal life, whether ‘fathers’ or ‘babes’ “know God, and Jesus Christ whom” (John 17:33And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)) God hath sent: yet let us always remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God; “No man knoweth the Son, but the Father” (Matt. 11:2727All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. (Matthew 11:27)) There are ways in which we know the Father and the Son: but the finite can never fathom the Infinite: and so there are ways in which “no man knoweth the Son, but the Father”.
There are those who come in constant contact with Her Majesty the Queen in the affairs of the government of Her realm, who can truly say, “We know Her Majesty.” Yet they might be totally ignorant of her intimate family affairs, and know nothing of her as the mother of her children. I suppose no one on earth knows the Queen as Prince Charles knows her for he knows her as ‘mother’. And no one knows Prince Charles as Her Majesty knows him, for she knows him as ‘son’. This is a very feeble illustration, but it will perhaps help us to understand that it is perfectly true when we say, ‘I know Christ, the Son of God’, and it is also true that “no man knoweth the Son, but the Father” (Luke 10:2222All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. (Luke 10:22)).
Let us humbly, reverently bow before Him, and accept this truth, without seeking to pry into those relationships which are beyond us: yet ever, like the apostle, seeking to ‘know Him’ more and better!
————
But the apostle’s longing was not only “to know Him.” In the Greek Testament there is no period, not even a comma, after ‘Him’. It reads: “To know Him and the power of His resurrection and partnership of His sufferings.” Another has said: “The essence of knowing Christ consists in knowing the power of His resurrection.” Every Christian knows that Christianity has its root and foundation in the death of our blessed Savior. But if it had been possible that death could have held the Savior in his power: death, instead of being the foundation of joy, and the certainty of salvation, would have been the source of a black despair which nothing could have dissipated. It is the resurrection which throws its bright beams even into the dark tomb of Christ: that tomb which seemed to mean victory for the adversary. It is resurrection which explains the reason of that momentary submission to the power of the devil, and subjection to the necessary judgment of God.
It is by resurrection, and the glory which shall follow, that the foundation and hopes of the Christian are bound together. It is by resurrection that justification and that which is the power of the Christian’s life— sanctification, are united. Not only is He raised again for our justification, but in Christ risen, we are in Him as risen and sanctified in the power of a new life.
So we may see that Paul found in the resurrection not only the evidence of the foundation of his faith (Rom. 1:44And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: (Romans 1:4)), and the proof of the accomplishment of the satisfaction for sin (1 Cor. 15:1717And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. (1 Corinthians 15:17)), but much more. The resurrection was to Paul, as to Peter, the object and source of a living hope, the power of life within. So, he sought to know the power of His resurrection.
Except for John, in Revelation, Paul is the only one of the apostles of whom it is recorded that he saw the Lord Jesus Christ in His resurrection glory: “a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun” (Acts 26:1313At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. (Acts 26:13)). Did he not, then, know “the power of His resurrection” (vs. 10)? Yes, surely; more and better, perhaps, than any other living man: but he would know that power still more and still better. It was the sight of the God of glory (Acts 7:22And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, (Acts 7:2)) that kept Abraham true and faithful for a hundred years (Gen. 12:44So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. (Genesis 12:4) & 25:7): and that sight taught him something of “the power of His resurrection” (vs. 10). And it was the sight of “the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:88Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:8)) in resurrection that also taught Paul something of “the power of His resurrection” (vs. 10). A friend of mine told me that when he first came to China he preached ‘Christ died for our sins’, and souls were saved, but the new Christians did not stand. In his anguish he searched himself and his preaching; and realized that he had not preached, `and He rose again the third day’. Now he preached not only the death of his Lord, but also His resurrection. As many, or more, were saved, but now they stood firm and true. They, too, learned something of “the power of His resurrection” (vs. 10).
Paul never forgot that sight on the Damascus road of the Lord of glory, in His resurrection power and glory. Three times over in the little book of Acts do we read that story. But that sight only gave him a deeper longing to better know “the power of His resurrection” (vs. 10). You may hear Paul describe something of that power in Eph. 118The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:18), verses 19 to 22. But as we read, and ponder, such a Scripture, we are like the Queen of Sheba as she gazed on the glory of Solomon: “there was no more spirit in her” (2 Chron. 9:44And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her. (2 Chronicles 9:4)). And yet she had to own that she had believed not the report in her own land; even though ‘the other half was not told me’. Paul longed to know ‘the other half’! And it is as we look off unto Jesus, off from all this world may offer, and with unveiled face we behold— now, it is true, as in a glass— the glory of the Lord, (His resurrection glory), that we are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Cor. 3:1818But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)).
But there is more in this one amazing sentence: “To know Him and the power of His resurrection and partnership of His sufferings.” Having seen the Lord in glory, and having learned to know in part the power of His resurrection, the apostle understood the path which led Him there: a path of suffering and death: and he longed to follow Him even in that path, if need be, in order to be where his Lord is, and in the glory with Him. HE had said, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.... He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am there shall also My servant be.” (John 13:24-2624Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. 25He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? 26Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. (John 13:24‑26)). That was the burning desire of the apostle’s life: to follow Him, and to be with Him.
“Anywhere with Jesus,
Always says the Christian heart:
Anywhere that He may lead me,
So that we two do not part.”
And so he would have partnership of His sufferings, as he had been a witness of His glory. Peter, you recall, was “a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed” (1 Peter 5:11The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: (1 Peter 5:1)).
Notice how often the suffering and the glory are linked together: and so it is right there should be no pause between “the power of His resurrection” (vs. 10) and “partnership of His sufferings.” In the Greek Testament they are linked together in a peculiar way that we cannot express in English. With power there is the article: ‘the power’, but there is no article with partnership, because they are so closely linked that one article serves both: ‘the power.... and partnership’. The two are inseparable. If he is to know the power of His resurrection, he must also know partnership of His sufferings: but perhaps we should put it the other way: If he knows partnership of His sufferings, then he will also know the power of His resurrection.
You recall when Saul of Tarsus had that first sight of His glory, the Lord sent His messenger to “show him how great things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:1616For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. (Acts 9:16)). The path of suffering is one from which the flesh shrinks: but if we know the power of His resurrection, we will find it enough even for this path. Ponder 2 Cor. 11:23-2823Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 28Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:23‑28), and see something of what this soldier of Jesus Christ suffered for his Master’s sake: and there was power to carry him through all.
“To know Him and the power of His resurrection and partnership of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”
The hymn says:
“We are but strangers here, we do not crave
A home on earth, which gave Thee but a grave:
Thy cross has severed ties which bound us here,
Thyself our treasure in a brighter sphere.”
At the murder of the Son of God, His accusation was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin, to show that the whole world had a part in it: Hebrew tells of the religious world: Greek tells of the literary and scientific world: and Latin (representing Rome) tells of the government and power of this world. All had their part. And so Paul says: “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:1414But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Galatians 6:14)).
Soon after the Japanese attacked China they murdered the beloved son of a very dear friend of mine. From that day my friend’s life was changed. Others, for the sake of gain, might fraternize with the Japanese: but my friend, never! From that day he ever bore about the dying of his son: that murder severed any possible ties with the murderers. From that day and onward, he was conformed to his death. That is a little picture of his Lord and Paul: and I hope in some small measure of my Lord and me. (2 Cor. 4:1010Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:10), New Translation).
One who has true communion with Christ’s sufferings cannot share in the world’s delights, or settle down to live at ease and in luxury in it. The beautiful homes and the too common luxury of the saints tell only too plainly how little they know the meaning, and the power, of the words: “being conformed to His death” (vs. 10). ‘The animating principle which governs the Apostle, and impels him on his course, is the constraining love of Christ; and whenever this is operating in any force there is a corresponding distaste for what the prince of this world has to offer. God had shined in Paul’s heart to give there the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Death, then, and not life, was his choice as to all natural things— Christ’s death, even the death of the cross, to which the High and Lofty One had submitted in a slave’s form for his and our sakes. So long as he remained, then, in this body upon earth, his place should be in spirit with his suffering Redeemer outside the camp.’ (Arthur Pridham).
But there is more. This word translated “being conformed,” (vs. 10) is the present participle passive, and tells of a process that is going on continuously. As we gaze on our suffering Savior, we are gradually conformed to His death: just as when we gaze on the glory of the Lord we are gradually changed into the same image (I take it, that, ‘from glory to glory’ has this meaning). (2 Cor. 3:1818But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)). Indeed, Dr. Vaughan, from whom I have had untold help in this lovely Epistle, translates this sentence: “being gradually conformed to His death.”
The word ‘being conformed’ is a remarkable word. This is the only place in the New Testament it appears as a verb. But as a noun we meet it again in two other passages: Rom. 8:2929For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29), and in the 21st verse of this same chapter in Philippians. Surely the Spirit of God means to link up these two verses, when He puts these two exceedingly rare words, that are almost the same, so close together. And what does Philippians 3:2121Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:21) say? “We eagerly await the Lord Jesus Christ (as) Savior, Who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to His body of glory, according to the working of the power which He has even to subdue all things to Himself.” (See New Translation: J. N. Darby). Just now we may gradually be conformed to His death; soon; I doubt not, very soon; in a moment, HE is going to transform (an entirely different word) these bodies of ours, some of them old and worn and bearing the scars of warfare. Yes, He will transform these bodies of humiliation into conformity to His body of glory. Surely that should be motive enough to make the glories of this world fade, that our deepest longing may be that day by day we are “being conformed to His death” (vs. 10).
“If by-any-means I-shall-arrive unto the out-resurrection, the-(one) out-from (the) dead-(ones).” We have now reached the last of these treasures that the apostle has listed as being found in Christ. This is the eighth, the resurrection number, and it tells of the resurrection on which Paul had his eyes fixed. We must remember this follows immediately after Paul’s longing to be conformed to His death: then, immediately, our eyes are turned to resurrection. We get a very similar thought in Rom. 8:1717And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:17): “If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.”
The opening words, “If by any means,” (vs. 11) tell us of the difficulty. “With men this is impossible” (Matt. 19:2626But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)). I do not think they are intended to suggest the slightest doubt in Paul’s mind as to his arrival at that resurrection. Rather, I think he is telling us that he is prepared to tread any path that is necessary to arrive at it: including the path that leads through death: and this is the path of which he has just been speaking.
The next part of the verse may be translated quite correctly in two ways:
“If by any means I shall arrive unto....”
or, “If by any means I might arrive unto....”
The first way of translating uses shall, and makes the definite and positive assurance that we shall arrive at the resurrection. The second way uses might, and leaves room for a doubt as to whether we reach there or not. As far as Greek grammar goes, either way is correct. However, we get a very similar expression in Rom. 1:1010Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. (Romans 1:10), “If by any means I shall have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.” In this case there is no ambiguity, and it can correctly only be translated “I shall have....” So it would seem that this is how the Spirit of God would have us understand this passage in Philippians. “The combination, if by any means I shall, brings into striking union the two thoughts, the difficulty, and the certainty.” (Dr. Vaughan).
And unto what is it that he is so desperately anxious to arrive? “Unto the out-resurrection, the-(one) out-from (the) dead-(ones).” It is a remarkable word, found only here in the New Testament, that we have translated the “out-resurrection” (Acts 23:66But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. (Acts 23:6)). Christ is risen from the dead, “and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:2020But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. (1 Corinthians 15:20)). The “firstfruit” is the sample of what is to follow. When Christ arose, His was an “out-resurrection”. That resurrection morning He came out from the grave; while all around were thousands of graves untouched by resurrection: He came “out-from the dead ones” around Him. And this is a sample, a pattern, of the resurrection on which Paul had fixed his eyes. The Bible does not tell us of a general resurrection when all the dead, both saved and lost, will be raised. On the contrary it tells us quite plainly that “the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:16-1716For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16‑17)). It tells us plainly that “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection” (Rev. 20:5-65But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:5‑6)). This is the resurrection Paul longed for, if by any means he shall arrive at it.
There is no question whatever of it’s being two different classes of believers: some who overcame, and some who did not overcome, and must pass through judgment. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself tells us quite plainly: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24): See New Translation). Listen again: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:11There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)) (Rom. 8:11There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1): Note that the last part of verse 1, as shown in our Authorized Version, should, not be there). Of that first resurrection, we read: “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor. 15:2323But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. (1 Corinthians 15:23)). You will notice that the test is “Are we Christ’s?” (2 Cor. 10:77Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's. (2 Corinthians 10:7)). not, “Have we overcome?”
Beloved Reader: Let me affectionately ask, “Are you amongst the blessed who will have their part in the first resurrection, the ‘out-resurrection, the one out-from the-dead’? Will you be ‘found in Christ’ in that day? Have you a righteousness, not your own, but ‘from God’, that spotless ‘robe of righteousness’? Do you know anything of the power of His resurrection and partnership with His sufferings? Do you know practically what it means to be conformed to His death?” These are most solemn questions. Do not rest until you can answer them, as you would wish them to be answered in ‘that day’. The first four verses of 1 Cor. 15, tell you how you may be fitted for these things.