Philippians 3:14

Let us therefore, as many as be perfect,.... Not absolutely, but comparatively, with respect to other believers, in a lower class of knowledge and experience; and not with respect to degrees, but parts; and regards such who were not children, but of riper age in divine things, unless the words are spoken ironically:

be thus minded; as the apostle was, to count what were gain to him, loss for Christ; to reckon all things but loss and dung, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ; to be willing to suffer the loss of all things, to win him, Phi 3:8; to desire to be found in him, and in his righteousness, and not a man's own, Phi 3:9; to know more of him in his person, righteousness, sufferings, death, and resurrection from the dead, Phi 3:10; and to attain to such a state, and yet to disclaim all perfection, and acknowledge their imperfection, Phi 3:11; and to forget things behind, and reach to those before, Phi 3:13; and press towards the mark, Christ, for the prize of eternal glory, Phi 3:14,

and if in anything ye be otherwise minded; as to seek for justification by the works of the law, or partly by Christ and partly by the law, and to imagine and expect perfection in this life:

God shall reveal even this unto you; such errors will be made manifest sooner or later; the day will declare them, and such wood, hay, and stubble, will be burnt up by the fire, which will reveal every man's work, Co1 3:12.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Php 3:14. Ἓν, one thing) viz. I do.—τὰ ὀπίσω, the things that are behind) even the very part of the course that has been finished.—ἐπεκτεινόμενος) that is literally, extending myself over. The eye goes before (outstrips) and draws on the hand, the hand goes before (outstrips) and draws on the foot.—κατὰ σκοπὸν, along, after [towards] the mark) straightforward.—διώκω, I follow [I press]) It is used as a neuter verb, as in Luk 17:23.—βραβεῖον, the prize) the crown of life.—ἄνω, [high] above) Php 3:20.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Phi 3:14 . κατὰ σκ . “In the direction of the mark.” Exactly parallel is Act 8:26 , πορεύου κατὰ μεσημβρίαν . Perhaps akin are uses like Thucyd., 6, 31, κατὰ θέαν ἥκειν ; Hom., Odyss. , 3, 72, κατὰ πρῆξιν (“for the sake of business,” Ameis-Hentze). It is needless to distinguish between σκοπόν and βραβεῖον in the Apostle’s thought. Both really point to that unbroken and complete fellowship with Christ which is attained through the power of His resurrection, that resurrection being the condition of the believer’s victory over sin and death, and making it possible for him to enter the “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”. The purified life in heaven is, in a word, both the goal and the prize. Contrast with this exulting thought Omar Khayyám , xxxviii.: “The stars are setting and the caravan starts for the dawn of nothing”. εἰς τὸ βραβ . The word occurs in Comedy, Inscrr [1] . and N.T. (1Co 9:24 ). Cf. 1 Clem., 5:5, ὁ Παῦλος ὑπομονῆς βραβεῖον ὑπέδειξεν , where it is perhaps suggested by our passage. It is possibly one of those words which must have been common in colloquial Greek ( cf. the frequent use of βραβεύς ), but have survived only in a few books. εἰς must be read with the best authorities, for, as Lft [2] . notes, “the prize marks the position of the goal”. ἐπί is an explanatory gloss. τῆς ἄνω κλ . “The upward calling.” The Apostle seems to mean that the βραβεῖον is the ἄνω κλῆσις (so also Lips [3] . ). κλῆσις is the technical word in the Epistles for that decisive appeal of God to the soul which is made in Jesus Christ: the offer of salvation. Those who listen are designated κλητοί . Cf. Rom 8:30 and Hltzm [4] . , N.T. Th. , ii., p. 165 ff. This κλ . is not merely to “the inheritance of the saints in light”. Its effect must be seen in the sanctification of the believer’s life on earth. But here the addition of ἄνω suggests that the Apostle has before him the final issue of the calling which belongs to those who have endured to the end, who have run with patience the race set before them. The phrase seems to carry much the same meaning as Heb 3:1 , κλήσεως ἐπουρανίου . Cf. the suggestive comment of Chr [5] . , τοὺς μάλιστα τιμωμένους τῶν ἀθλητῶν καὶ τῶν ἡνιόχων οὐ στεφανοῦσιν ἐν τῷ σταδίῳ κάτω , ἀλλʼ ἄνω καλέσας ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκεῖ στεφανοῖ . ἐν Χ . Ἰ . Although it would give a satisfactory sense to take these words with διώκω (so e.g. , Myr [6] . , Ws [7] . ), it is far more natural to join them closely with τ . ἄνω κλ . This is emphatically ἐν Χ . Ἰ . Only in connexion with Him has the κλῆσις either in itself or in its goal any meaning.

[1] scrr. Inscriptions.

[2] Lightfoot.

[3] Lipsius.

[4] tzm. Holtzmann.

[5] Chrysostom.

[6] Meyer.

[7] . Weiss.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. ἓν δέ. The concentration of purpose makes all thought and action one. Cp. Joh 9:25, ἓν οἶδα, ὅτι τυφλὸς ὤν, κτλ.

ἐπιλανθανόμενος. As to complacency, not as to gratitude.

ἐπεκτεινόμενος. The compound presents the runner as stretching out his head and body towards the goal.—C. Simeon, of Cambridge, says in one of his last letters, alluding to his still abundant toils, “I am so near the goal that I cannot help running with all my might.” St Chrysostom writes here, ὁ δρομεὺς οὐχ ὅσους ἤνυσεν ἀναλογίζεται διαύλους (“laps”), ἀλλʼ ὅσους λείπεται [ἀνύσαι].—“To abound more and more” (1Th 4:1; 1Th 4:10) was St Paul’s ideal of Christian life for others, and above all for himself.

κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκω. “I press on goal-ward.” Cp. 1Co 9:26, οὔτως τρέχω ὡς οὐκ ἀδήλως, “as not in the dark”; as with my goal clear in view. The word σκοπός is used in the classics rather of a target than a goal; but the context here is decisive.

εἰς τὸ βραβεῖον. “Unto the prize” (R. V.); εἰς leads the thought up to the attainment itself.

Βραβεῖον. The word occurs (in N.T.) only here and 1Co 9:24, πάντες μὲν τρέχουσιν, εἷς δὲ λαμβάνει τὸ βραβεῖον. The word βραβεῖον is late and scarce in classical Greek, though βραβεύς (an umpire, arbiter, and then, more widely, a leader) is familiar in the Tragedians, and βραβεία (an umpire’s office) occurs in Euripides. In patristic Greek βραβεῖον, naturally, is often found. E.g. Clement of Rome (1 Ep. Cor. Php 3:5) writes of St Paul that ὑπομονῆς βραβεῖον ὑπέδειξεν. The word is transliterated in Latin brabeum, brabium, bravium; so in the Lat. Versions here.—The “prize” is “the crown,” “the wreath,” στέφανος, glory everlasting as the issue and triumph of the life of grace. Cp. Rev 2:10, and esp. 2Ti 4:7-8.

On St Paul’s use of athletic metaphors, see Appendix L.

τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως. Vulg., supernæ vocationis.—Cp. Joh 8:23, ἐγὼ ἐκ τῶν ἄνω εἰμί: Gal 4:26, ἡ ἅνω Ἱερουσαλήμ: Col 3:1-2, τὰ ἄνω ζητεῖτε, φρονεῖτε.—The κλῆσις was ἄνω alike in its origin, its influence, and its issue.

κλῆσις τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. Καλεῖν, κλῆσις, κλητός, in the Epistles, refer not merely to the external invitations of the Gospel but to the internal attraction and victory of grace. See e.g. 1Co 1:23-24, where the κλητοί are differenced from those who have heard the message of Christ but who find only σκάνδαλον or μωρία in it.—Τοῦ θεοῦ. The Father. He is the ultimate “Caller” (so Rom 8:29, οὓς ἐκάλεσε, κτλ., and cp. Gal 1:15; 2Ti 1:9); and the “call” is ἐν Χρ. Ἰ. as it comes through the Son and leads to union with Him. Cp. for the phrase 1Co 7:22, ὁ ἐν κυρίῳ κληθεὶς δοῦλος, κτλ.

L. ST PAUL’S USE OF ATHLETIC METAPHORS[20]. (CH. Php 2:16, Php 3:14)

[20] Contributed almost entirely by the kindness of Dr J. Armitage Robinson.

IN his constant illustration of the Christian life by the requirements and rewards of the Greek athletic contests, St Paul at once displays his own Hellenic sympathies and appeals to the noblest enthusiasm of the national life of his Greek converts. The Olympian games were closely connected with all that was most precious in the contribution made by Greece to the providential education of the world. Once in every four years the perpetually quarrelling states of the Panhellenic union proclaimed a solemn armistice for a single summer month, and met on the sacred plain of Olympia in a brotherly contest, city against city as well as man against man, for the highest glory that life could offer. Nothing might take precedence of this supreme festival. Even the sending of forces to support the heroes of Thermopylæ[21] must wait till the sacred month was over. Round this centre of Greek life religion, literature and art ranged themselves spontaneously in their most splendid forms. Historians read their histories to the assembled multitudes; poets proclaimed the glories of the successful champions, and sculptors perpetuated their noble forms. Time for the next four years was marked by the name of the victor in the foot-race, who though he carried off but a crown of wild olive returned to his city to receive substantial honours for the remainder of his days.

[21] Herod. VII. 206. The advance force under Leonidas was to be supported πανδημεί by the Spartans after the Carneia, the Spartan festival which coincided with the Olympia; and the other States were purposing the like action: but ἦν κατὰ τὠυτὸ Ὀλυμπιὰς τούτοισι τοῖσι πρήγμασι συμπεσοῦσα.

Something may be usefully noted here as to the training, the testing of candidates, and the actual contest. The training extended over ten months. A strict diet was enforced (ἀναγκοφαγία). The length and severity of this preparatory discipline led to a professionalism which is sharply criticized by several Greek writers. Athletes as such became marked off from ordinary competitors. Euripides[22] denounces the uselessness of the mere athlete’s life, and Galen[23] (cent. 2) its brutalizing tendency. Extreme exertion, even flagellations, inordinate overfeeding, and as a consequence excessive sleep—these were the exaggerations which accompanied the athletics of a baser period. Yet a certain moral witness was given by the necessity of abstinence from unchaste lusts: and the discipline and self-control demanded by these labours were in striking contrast with the lightness and carelessness which characterized so much of the Greek citizen’s life.

[22] In a long fragment of his tragedy of Autolycus (in Athenæus X. p. 413: Dindorf, Poetæ Scenici, Fragmenta).

[23] In his περὶ Ἰατρικῆς κτλ., c. xlvi. (Galeni opp., v. 894, ed. Kühn), and often.

A month before the contest all the candidates were tested by the Hellanodicæ. Every competitor must be able to shew that he was a pure Greek, and that he had undergone the regular training. He must further declare his determination to abide by the customary rules, and take a solemn oath to this effect.

Of the contest itself two forms only need be noticed here. The Foot-race, in the Stadium, was the central event of the Festival; the Olympiad was marked by the name of the winner. The Herald proclaimed:

“Foot by foot

To the foot-line put.”

The starting-rope (ὕσπληξ), the race, the goal, the revel, the hymn—all these are familiar from the splendid verse of Pindar. And it is to this race that St Paul most frequently refers. But the severer contest of the Boxing-match, sometimes even fatal in its issue, also finds a place in his vocabulary of illustration. The Boxer’s hands and arms were furnished with the dangerous cestus of twisted leather loaded with metal[24]. In training the competitors would practise even upon “dummies,” or upon nothing, “striking the air”: but their crushed ears attested more serious and painful preparations[25].

[24] See e. g. Theocritus, Idyll. XXII. 80, and cp. Virg. Æn. v. 400.

[25] Theocr. XXII. 45, δεινὸς ἰδεῖν, σκληραῖσι τεθλασμένος οὔατα πυγμαῖς.

The following passages in St Paul present more or less distinctly athletic metaphors. The passing character of the allusion in some cases serves to shew how familiar, and how instinctive, was the illustration.—The words printed in thicker type recall, often with unmistakable intention, sometimes perhaps half unconsciously, the phraseology of the games.

1Th 2:1-4. αὐτοὶ γὰρ οἴδατε, ἀδελφοί, τὴν εἴσοδον ἡμῶν τὴν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὅτι οὐ κενὴ γέγονεν ἀλλὰ προπαθόντες καὶ ὑβρισθέντες … ἐν Φιλίπποις ἐπαρρησιασάμεθα … λαλῆσαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς … ἐν πολλῷ ἀγῶνι … καθὼς δεδοκιμάσμεθα ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ … οὕτω λαλοῦμεν … ὡς … ἀρέσκοντες … τῷ θεῷ τῷ δοκιμάζοντι τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν.

1Th 2:18-19. ἠθελήσαμεν ἐλθεῖν … ἀλλὰ ἐνέκοψεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Σατανᾶς. τίς γὰρ ἡμῶν … στέφανος καυχήσεως; ἠ οὐχὶ καὶ ὑμεῖς κτλ.;

2Th 3:1. ἵνα ὁ λόγος τοῦ Κυρίου τρέχῃ καὶ δοξάζηται.

Gal 2:2. μή πως εἰς κενὸν τρέχω ἢ ἔδραμον.

Gal 5:7. ἐτρέχετε καλῶς· τίς ὑμᾶς ἐνέκοψεν;

Php 1:27; Php 1:30. συναθλοῦντες … τὸν αὐτὸν ἀγῶνα ἔχοντες.

Php 2:16. οὐκ εἰς κενὸν ἔδραμον οὐδὲ εἰς κενὸν ἐκοπίασα.

Php 3:12; Php 3:14. οὐχ ὅτι ἤδη ἔλαβον … διώκω δέ, εἰ καὶ καταλάβω … τὰ μὲν ὀπίσω ἐπιλανθανόμενος τοῖς δὲ ἔμπροσθεν ἐπεκτεινόμενος κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκω εἰς τὸ βραβεῖον κτλ.

Col 1:29; Col 2:1. εἰς ὃ καὶ κοπιῶ ἀγωνιζόμενος … θέλω γὰρ ὑμᾶς εἰδέναι ἡλίκον ἀγῶνα ἔχω κτλ.

Col 2:18. μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω.

Col 3:15. ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Χριστοῦ βραβευέτω κτλ.

1Ti 4:7-10. γύμναζε σεαυτὸν πρὸς εὐσέβειαν· ἡ γὰρ σωματικὴ γυμνασία πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐστὶν ὠφέλιμος … εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ κοπιῶμεν καὶ ἀγωνιζόμεθα (ita leg.) κτλ.

1Ti 6:11-12. δίωκε δικαιοσύνην … ἀγωνίζου τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα … ἐπιλαβοῦ τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς … ἐνώπιον πολλῶν μαρτύρων.

Cp. Heb 12:1. ἔχοντες περικείμενον ἡμῖν νέφος μαρτύρων, ὄγκον ἀποθέμενοι πάντα … διʼ ὑπομονῆς τρέχωμεν τὸν προκείμενον ἡμῖν ἀγῶνα.

2Ti 2:5. ἐὰν δὲ καὶ ἀθλῇ τις, οὐ στεφανοῦται ἐὰν μὴ νομίμως ἀθλήσῃ.

2Ti 4:7-8. τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα ἠγώνισμαι, τὀν δρόμον τετέλεκα … λοιπὸν ἀπόκειταί μοι ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης στέφανος.

Cp. Act 13:25. ὡς ἐπλήρου ὁ Ἰωάνης τὸν δρόμον. Act 20:24. τελειῶσαι τὸν δρόμον μου.

By far the most elaborate illustration is found in 1Co 9:24-27, where almost every word receives its signification from the Greek games.

Οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ ἐν σταδίῳ τρέχοντες πάντες μὲν τρέχουσιν, εἷς δὲ λαμβάνει τὸ βραβεῖον; οὕτω τρέχετε ἵνα καταλάβητε. πᾶς δὲ ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος πάντα ἐγκρατεύεται· ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν ἵνα φθαρτὸν στέφανον λάβωσιν, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἄφθαρτον. ἐγὼ τοίνυν οὕτω τρέχω, ὡς οὐκ ἀδήλως· οὕτω πυκτεύω, ὡς οὐκ ἀέρα δέρων· ἀλλʼ ὑπωπιάζω μου τὸ σῶμα καὶ δουλαγωγῶ, μήπως ἄλλοις κηρύξας αὐτὸς ἀδόκιμος γένωμαι.

It is interesting to set beside this the splendid appeal on behalf of purity in Plato, Laws, Bk viii. p. 840. After recording instances of famous athletes and their temperance in the period of training, the Athenian stranger says:

“And yet, Cleinias, they were far worse educated in their minds than your and my fellow-citizens, and in their bodies far more lusty.

“Cleinias. No doubt this fact has been often affirmed positively by the ancients of these athletes.

“Ath. And shall they be willing to abstain from what is ordinarily deemed a pleasure for the sake of a victory in wrestling, running, and the like; and our young men be incapable of a similar endurance for the sake of a much nobler victory, which is the noblest of all, as from their youth upwards we will tell them?” (Jowett’s Plato, Vol. v., p. 409.)

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

high calling--literally, "the calling that is above" (Gal 4:26; Col 3:1): "the heavenly calling" (Heb 3:1). "The prize" is "the crown of righteousness" (Co1 9:24; Ti2 4:8). Rev 2:10, "crown of life." Pe1 5:4, "a crown of glory that fadeth not away." "The high," or "heavenly calling," is not restricted, as ALFORD thinks, to Paul's own calling as an apostle by the summons of God from heaven; but the common calling of all Christians to salvation in Christ, which coming from heaven invites us to heaven, whither accordingly our minds ought to be uplifted.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 14. I press toward the mark] κατα σκοπον διωκω. I pursue along the line; this is a reference to the white line that marked the ground in the stadium, from the starting place to the goal, on which the runners were obliged to keep their eye fixed; for they who transgressed or went beyond this line did not run lawfully, and were not crowned, even though they got first to the goal. See the concluding observations on "1Co 9:27".

What is called σκοπος, mark or scope, here, is called κανων the line, i.e. the marked line, Php 3:16. When it was said to Diogenes, the cynic, "Thou art now an old man, rest from thy labours;" to this he answered: Ει δολιχον εδραμον, προς τῳ τελει εδει με ανειναι, και μη μαλλον επιτειναι; "If I have run long in the race, will it become me to slacken my pace when come near the end; should I not rather stretch forward?" Diog. Laert., lib. vi. cap. 2. sec. 6.

For the prize of the high calling of God] The reward which God from above calls me, by Christ Jesus, to receive. The apostle still keeps in view his crown of martyrdom and his glorious resurrection.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(14) The high calling of God.—Properly, the calling which is above—i.e. (much as in Col_3:12), “the heavenly calling,”—which is “of God,” proceeding from His will, for “whom He predestinated, them He also called” (Rom_8:30); and is “in Christ Jesus” in virtue of the unity with Him, in which we are at once justified and sanctified.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. the mark] R.V., “the goal.” But the Greek word is, like “mark,” a general rather than a special one, and used in the classics rather of archery than of racing. The verse might be roughly but closely rendered, “mark-wards I haste, towards the prize &c.”; I run with a definite aim, and that aim is to win the prize. Cp. 1Co_9:26; “I so run, not as uncertainly.”

the prize] The same word occurs 1Co_9:24, and not elsewhere in N.T. It is very rare in secular Greek, but is connected with the common word for the arbiter or umpire who awarded the athletic prize. In Christian Latin (e.g. in the Latin versions here) it appears transliterated, as bravium (or brabium). The “prize” is “the crown,” glory everlasting as the blessed result and triumph of the work of grace, of the life of faith. Cp. Rev_2:10; and esp. 2Ti_4:7-8.

the high calling] Lit., “the upward, or upper calling.” The Latin versions have superior vocatio, superna vocatio. The word rendered “high” is the same as that rendered Gal_4:26 as “Jerusalem which is above”: and cp. Joh_8:23, “I am from (the things) above.”—The “calling” in St Paul’s case was doubtless to be an Apostle (Alford), but it was first and most to be a Christian, and the whole tone of this great passage is in favour of this latter thought. He is dealing with his own spiritual experience as a general model.—This “calling” is “celestial,” at once in origin, operation, and final issue. Cp. Col_3:1-2; 2Th_2:14. In the Epistles the words “call,” “calling,” denote not merely the external invitation but the internal and effectual drawing of the soul by grace. See in illustration 1Co_1:23-24. It corresponds nearly to the common use of the word “conversion.”—Contrast the use of “call” in the Gospels; Mat_20:16; Mat_22:14.

of God in Christ Jesus] The Father is the Caller (as Rom_8:29-30; Gal_1:15; 2Ti_1:9; 1Pe_5:10 &c.), and the call is “in” the Son; it is conveyed through the Son, and takes effect in union with Him, in embodiment in Him. For the pregnant construction cp. 1Co_7:22.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Ver. 14. I press toward, &c.] The ark of the covenant was but a cubit and a half high; so were likewise the wheels of the caldron. Now we know that a cubit and a half is but an imperfect measure, which shows (saith one) that no man in this life is perfectly perfect. Let us strive to perfection, as Paul did; and then, Summum culmen affectantes, satis honesti vel in secundo fastigio conspiciemur. A man may fully fall in with the most forward followers of Jesus Christ, and yet fall short of perfection. It is with Christians (saith Columel well) as with Jonathan’s signal arrows, two fell short, and but one beyond the mark; so where one shoots home to the mark of the high calling in Christ, many fail to attain to it.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I press toward the mark - As he who was running a race did. The “mark” means properly the object set up at a distance at which one looks or aims, and hence the goal, or post which was set up at the end of a race-course, and which was to be reached in order that the prize might be won. Here it means that which is at the end of the Christian race - in heaven.

For the prize - The prize of the racer was a crown or garland of olive, laurel, pine, or apple; see the notes at 1Co 9:24. The prize of the Christian is the crown that is incorruptible in heaven.

Of the high calling of God - Which is the end or result of that calling. God has called us to great and noble efforts; to a career of true honor and glory; to the obtainment of a bright and imperishable crown. It is a calling which is “high,” or “upward” - (ἄνω anō) - that is, which tends to the skies. The calling of the Christian is from heaven, and to heaven; compare Pro 15:24. He has been summoned by God through the gospel of the Lord Jesus to secure the crown. It is placed before and above him in heaven. It may be his, if he will not faint or tire or look backward. It demands his highest efforts, and it is worth all the exertions which a mortal can make even in the longest life.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Ad destinatum, Greek: kata skopon dioko. See St. John Chrysostom of the necessity of good works, (Greek: log. is. p. 65) and of the uncertainty a man is always in of his salvation. p. 67.

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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

I press toward the mark; he did not look back, Luk 9:62, nor was lazy, but did follow hard, with an eager pursuit, {Mat 11:12} after the perfection that was in his eye; not erring from, his main scope; considering what he had received was but in part, he did still press for more, upon that ground that Christ had apprehended him for more, as if he were stretching out his hands to lay hold of it.

For the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus; trusting he should, through grace, be kept all along, maugre all difficulties, in the hand of Christ, till upon his account he should be fully possessed of all that was aimed at, even that which is styled the prize, or victorious palm of our high calling; and the Christians’ may well be termed a high calling, considering their heavenly birth when called, and laid hold of by Christ, Joh 1:13, and the purchased inheritance eternally settled upon such spiritual, high-born princes, Eph 1:14; Rev 1:6; who are by one oblation perfected for ever, Heb 10:14; which will appear most glorious when they are raised up in Christ, who will then give out all the salvation he hath called us unto.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

14. I press—It is the same word with follow after in Php_3:12, and in both cases it sets forth the unceasing earnestness of the pursuit.

The mark— The goal, which is neither more nor less than absolute conformity to Christ. Time and space are excluded, yet from the nature of the case the close of life is the end of the race.

The prize—The object of the race is the incorruptible crown (1Co_9:25) which the apostle was called by Christ from heaven to run for and win. This was the full compensation for his losses, the glorious reward of his fidelity.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus; rather, with the best manuscripts, unto the prize. The first preposition, "towards," expresses the aim; the second, "unto," the end of the race. The high calling; the upward, heavenward calling. God is calling us all upward, heavenward, by the voice of the Lord Jesus, who is the Word of God. Comp. Heb_2:1, "Partakers of the heavenly calling." The words, "in Christ Jesus," are to be taken with "the high calling." It is God who calls: he calls us in the person of Christ, by the voice of Christ, "Come unto me." "It was his will that thou shouldst run the race below; he gives the crown above. Seest thou not that even here they crown the most honored of the athletes, not on the racecourse below, but the king calls them up, and crowns them there" (Chrysostom).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Forgetting the things that are behind - Even that part of the race which is already run. And reaching forth unto - Literally, stretched out over the things that are before - Pursuing with the whole bent and vigour of my soul, perfect holiness and eternal glory. In Christ Jesus - The author and finisher of every good thing.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

SPIRITUAL OBLIVION

14. “—Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those which are before, I press toward the mark unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” God, in great mercy by the wonderful power of his Spirit, drops the black curtain, hiding forever the distressing sins, awful crimes, dark iniquities, silly follies, and egregious blunders of the wretched past; thus translating his people into a new world, flooded with light and cheered with light, and with ten thousand auspicious omens beckoning them on to ever-brightening scenes and engrossing themes, culminating in enterprises broadening and towering, destined to sweep on through the flight of eternal ages. This happy forgetfulness of the dark past is not merely mental, but a blessed Divine intervention wrought by the Holy Spirit. When I was in Athens, Greece, in 1895, I visited the old Stadium, the scenes of those Olympic races to which Paul makes so frequent allusion. The amphitheater accommodated about one hundred thousand spectators, at the base of Mount Parnassus, from which millions could contemplate the scene. The goal to which Paul and his comrades were running is none other than his glorified Lord coming back to the earth, and calling his saints to rise in transfigured glory to meet him in the air. What an awful pity the Church ever gave up that beautiful and inspiring goal of the glorified Savior, and substituted the repellent old grim monster!

15. “God will indeed reveal this to you.” Here Paul assures us that all the perfect saints are in this precipitate race, to meet their glorified Savior and enter the transfigured state, assuring us that if they are not on that line, God will reveal it to them.

17. “Be ye imitators of me, brethren.” None but the wholly sanctified could talk that way.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. I press on toward the goal. His eye is upon the goal and he presses through every difficulty to reach it. Unto the prize. This is the prize offered to those in the high calling of the saints in Christ. A crown was bestowed in an earthly race when the goal was reached. This prize is “the resurrection from the dead” (verse 11) and an eternal crown.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

14. κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκω: ‘I press on towards the mark.’

κατὰ: Bearing down upon. Σκοπὸν, only here in N.T. That on which one fixes his look. (Comp. σκοποῦντες, 2:4.) In class. a mark for shooting at; also a moral or intellectual end (Plat. Gorg. 507 D; Phileb. 60 A). In LXX; Job 16:13; Lam 3:12, of an archer’s mark. It is not used in a technical sense of an appliance of the race course, as R.V. ‘goal.’

διώκω: “εὐφαντικώτατα δὲ τὸ διώκειν εἶπεν. Ὀ γὰρ διώκων οὐδὲν ἄλλο ὁρᾷ ἠ πρὸς ὅ σπεύδει, πάντα δὲ παρέρχεται, καὶ τὰ φίλτατα καὶ τὰ ἀναγκαιότατα.” “Most appropriately did he say διώκειν; for he who pursues sees nothing but that towards which he is hastening, and passes by all things, the dearest and the most necessary” (Theoph.).

εἰς τὸ βραβεῖον: βραβ., only here and 1Co 9:24. The kindred verbs, βραβεύειν, ‘to be umpire,’ and καταβραβεύειν, ‘to be umpire against,’ ‘to defraud of a prize,’ are peculiar to the Colossian letter. (See 3:15, 2:18.) βραβ. is not used technically of the prize in the games, the technical word being ἆθλον. Here the heavenly reward; the ‘crown of righteousness’ (1Co 9:24-27; 2Ti 4:8; Rev 2:10); a share in the glory of the exalted Christ (Rom 8:17; 2Ti 2:10, 2Ti 2:11). (Comp. 1Th 2:12; 1Ti 6:12.)

τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ: ‘of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.’

The expression ἡ ἄνω κλῆσις is unique. The only analogous phrase in N.T. to βραβ. τ. ἄνω κλ. is ἐλπὶς τῆς κλήσεως (Eph 1:18, Eph 4:4). The genitive of κλ. is the genitive of belonging. The prize is attached to the calling and involved in it.

Lips. and De W. make the genitive appositional: ‘the prize which is the high calling.’ This would identify the calling with the heavenly reward, and would leave βραβ. without definition.

Ἄνω means both ‘above,’ local, as Gal 4:26, and ‘upwards,’ as Joh 11:41; Heb 12:15. Here the latter. Comp. the striking parall. in Philo, De Plant. Noe. § 6. The whole passage is full of movement, onward and upward. (Comp. Col 3:2.)

Most comms., however, make ἄνω = ἐπουράνιος, describing the quality of the calling as heavenly. (Comp. Heb 3:1.) Mey. and Weiss say, ‘because it issues from God in heaven.’ Why not then ἄνωθεν?

κλήσεως: The act of calling. Not that to which he is called (De W., Lips.). The word does not lose its active sense in N.T. It may include the original call of God to Paul, but it is not to be limited to that. God is continually summoning men upward in various ways. Nor does the expression suggest God as the judge of the contest, summoning the runners to the race (so some earlier comms. as Wolf, Rosenm., am E., Hoel., van Heng.). The genitive is that of the subject, that which offers the prize. God, in calling men upward, calls them to a heavenly reward. The prize is the object of ‘the hope of the calling’ (Eph 1:18).

τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ: Connect with κλήσεως. The calling is ‘of God,’ because God is its author, and ‘in Christ Jesus’ as the sphere or element in which it is issued and prosecuted. For the expression ‘called in Christ Jesus,’ comp. 1Co 7:22; 1Pe 5:10.

Mey. and Weiss connect with διώκω; but the position is against this.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

One thing. I do is supplied. Some supply I count, which is less appropriate, since what follows is concerned with action rather than with thinking or reckoning.

Reaching forth [επεκτεινομενος] . Only here in the New Testament.

Epi direction, after; ejk forth; teinw to stretch. Rev., stretching forward. The metaphor is that of the footrace. Bengel says : "The eye outstrips and draws onward the hand, and the hand the foot."

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.