12 Not that I have already obtained [the prize], or am already perfected; but I pursue, if also I may get possession [of it], seeing that also I have been taken possession of by Christ [Jesus].
But *thou*, O man of God, flee these things, and pursue righteousness, piety, faith, love, endurance, meekness of spirit. Strive earnestly [in] the good conflict of faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which thou hast been called, and hast confessed the good confession before many witnesses.
laying by for themselves a good foundation for the future, that they may lay hold of [what is] really life.
and we shall know, -- we shall follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is assured as the morning dawn; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain which watereth the earth.
Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek Jehovah: look unto the rock [whence] ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit [whence] ye were digged.
according as he has chosen us in him before [the] world's foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love;
But we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of [the] Lord, that God has chosen you from [the] beginning to salvation in sanctification of [the] Spirit and belief of [the] truth:
But for this very reason also, using therewith all diligence, in your faith have also virtue, in virtue knowledge, in knowledge temperance, in temperance endurance, in endurance godliness, in godliness brotherly love, in brotherly love love: for these things existing and abounding in you make [you] to be neither idle nor unfruitful as regards the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ;
And let him avoid evil, and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it; because [the] eyes of [the] Lord [are] on [the] righteous, and his ears towards their supplications; but [the] face of [the] Lord [is] against them that do evil. And who shall injure you if ye have become imitators of that which [is] good?
And the Lord said to him, Go, for this [man] is an elect vessel to me, to bear my name before both nations and kings and [the] sons of Israel:
Jehovah will perfect what concerneth me: thy loving-kindness, O Jehovah, [endureth] for ever; forsake not the works of thine own hands.
But the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, when ye have suffered for a little while, himself shall make perfect, stablish, strengthen, ground:
Pursue peace with all, and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord:
See that no one render to any evil for evil, but pursue always what is good towards one another and towards all;
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these things are opposed one to the other, that ye should not do those things which ye desire;
{To the chief Musician. An instruction; of the sons of Korah.} As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
{A Psalm of David; when he was in the wilderness of Judah.} O God, thou art my ùGod; early will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh languisheth for thee, in a dry and weary land without water: To see thy power and thy glory, as I have beheld thee in the sanctuary; For thy loving-kindness is better than life: my lips shall praise thee.
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of Jehovah; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living ùGod.
Jehovah shall send the sceptre of thy might out of Zion: rule in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in holy splendour: from the womb of the morning [shall come] to thee the dew of thy youth.
But the path of the righteous is as the shining light, going on and brightening until the day be fully come.
But as he was journeying, it came to pass that he drew near to Damascus; and suddenly there shone round about him a light out of heaven, and falling on the earth he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And he [said], *I* am Jesus, whom *thou* persecutest. But rise up and enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
For judgment shall return unto righteousness, and all the upright in heart shall follow it.
For we all often offend. If any one offend not in word, *he* [is] a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body too.
for the perfecting of the saints; with a view to [the] work of [the] ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ;
For we rejoice when *we* may be weak and *ye* may be powerful. But this also we pray for, your perfecting.
For I do not practise the good that I will; but the evil I do not will, that I do. But if what *I* do not will, this I practise, [it is] no longer *I* [that] do it, but the sin that dwells in me. I find then the law upon *me* who will to practise what is right, that with *me* evil is there. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring in opposition to the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which exists in my members. O wretched man that I [am]! who shall deliver me out of this body of death?
Let thy hand be for my help; for I have chosen thy precepts. I have longed for thy salvation, O Jehovah, and thy law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep: seek thy servant; for I have not forgotten thy commandments.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Philippians 3
Commentary on Philippians 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
He cautions them against judaizing seducers (v. 1-3) and proposes his own example: and here he enumerates the privileges of his Jewish state which he rejected (v. 4-8), describes the matter of his own choice (v. 9-16), and closes with an exhortation to beware of wicked men, and to follow his example (v. 17-21).
Phl 3:1-3
It seems the church of the Philippians, though a faithful and flourishing church, was disturbed by the judaizing teachers, who endeavoured to keep up the law of Moses, and mix the observances of it with the doctrine of Christ and his institutions. He begins the chapter with warnings against these seducers.
Phl 3:4-8
The apostle here proposes himself for an example of trusting in Christ only, and not in his privileges as an Israelite.
Phl 3:9-14
We now heard what the apostle renounced; let us now see what he laid hold on, and resolved to cleave to, namely, Christ and heaven. He had his heart on these two great peculiarities of the Christian religion.
Phl 3:15-16
The apostle, having proposed himself as an example, urges the Philippians to follow it. Let the same mind be in us which was in blessed Paul. We see here how he was minded; let us be like-minded, and set our hearts upon Christ and heaven, as he did.
Phl 3:17-21
He closes the chapter with warnings and exhortations.