Philippians 3:16

Php_3:16

Nevertheless whereto we have already attained

The Divine rule of faith and practice

I.

God has left His Church a rule of faith and manners. This is a rule whereby men must walk, otherwise we should be in a labyrinth of error, having no other light but the torch of nature.

II. The properties of this rule.

1. Unchangeableness. Therefore we must bring all to it; not it to all.

2. Perspicuous. A lamp unto my feet, etc.

3. Homogeneal. All things therein are spiritual and holy; and therefore, when the question is about religion, we must have recourse thereto as the only absolute complete rule.

III. A Christian walketh by this rule. He thinks it not sufficient to take a step, but keeps a right course steadfastly onward. How may this be done?

1. Let us treasure up the word in our consciences. Let us get the rule within us; get the articles of faith and assurance of the promises, and let this be betimes while we are young. It is the ordinary cry, The Scriptures are hard, they cannot understand them. But the reason is they are bred up in earthly businesses, and are stuffed with them so as they find no place for the Word; and it is a miracle to see men thus brought up to live by this rule.

2. When we have once treasured up the knowledge of these things, we must learn to apply them upon several occasions; for where no practice is, there knowledge is idle, and makes us worthy of more stripes. Many have general truths in their minds, but coming to apply them, they find a great want. David knew adultery was a sin, and Peter knew it was dangerous for a man to rely on himself, yet how foully did they fall.

3. Let us compare our experience with our rule. We shall find there is nothing therein but is fulfilled; there is no suffering but for sin; and that besides heaven hereafter, God rewards particular obedience here with particular rewards; and particular sin with particular corrections. We shall know that His judgments are not scarecrows.

4. Be inquisitive and watchful over our particular steps. Take and hear admonitions and instructions. Those that are otherwise minded, no marvel if they, like libertines, spurn against all instruction and advice, and accordingly feel the smart of their ways before they see it.

5. Get a wonderful jealousy over our hearts. We often offend in thoughts and desires, which God, the searcher of the heart, looks into; and we must therefore be jealous of idle thoughts and words. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)

Christian proficiency

I. In its measures--various--we may have outstripped others--are yet far behind.

II. Its means.

1. Determined by the will of God.

2. Proved by experience.

3. Must be persevered in. (J. Lyth, D. D.)

The spirit of the warning

is that knowledge, already enjoyed and proved in a spiritual race, should not lie dormant because it is defective. It needed not so much to be rectified as supplemented. Therefore, as far as you have its guidance take it. Walk up to the light you have and you will get more. Walk with me so far as you discern the common path, and at the point of divergence God shall rightly direct you as to the subsequent course. He who employs what he has, prepares himself for further gifts. When the morning bursts suddenly on one wakened out of sleep, it dazzles and pains him; but to him who on his journey has blessed the dawn, and walked by its glimmer, the solar radiance brings with it a gradual and cheering influence. (Professor Eadie.)

The necessity of fixed rules

I have never noticed a single living twig which nature had not provided with a covering of bark. A creedless Church is like a barkless tree. The bark, it is true, should grow with the growth of the tree; but some bark seems a necessity of growth. I have looked down the microscope into the first beginnings of life, and seen at the very bottom of all existence a mass of protoplasmic pulp; but the cell, which is the unit of growth, is a nucleus of life protected by a wall of formed matter. This natural analogy of growth will hardly mislead us in the higher spheres of mind and morals. Some formed matter, some fixed beliefs, world seem to be necessities of the growth of religion. (N. Smyth, D. D.)

Walk in a straight road

No man was ever lost in a straight road. This famous saying, which is attributed to the Emperor Akbar, is worthy of a place among the proverbs of Solomon. It is worthy, too, of a place in the memory of every Christian who would walk worthily of his holy profession, and would keep off forbidden ground.

Steady perseverance

It is not by fits and starts that men become holy. It is not occasional, but continuous, prolonged, and lifelong efforts that are required; to be daily at it; always at it; resting but to renew the work; falling but to rise again. It is not by a few, rough, spasmodic blows of the hammer, that a graceful statue is brought out of the marble block, but by the labour of continuous days, and many delicate touches of the sculptors chisel. It is not a sudden gush of water, the roaring torrent of a summer flood, but a continuous flow, that wears the rock, and a constant dropping that hollows out the stone. It is not with a rush and a spring that we are to reach Christs character, attain to perfect saintship; but step by step, foot by foot, hand over hand, we are slowly and often painfully to mount the ladder that rests on earth, and rises to heaven. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Philippians

THE RULE OF THE ROAD

Php 3:16.

Paul has just been laying down a great principle--viz. that if the main direction of a life be right, God will reveal to a man the points in which he is wrong. But that principle is untrue and dangerous, unless carefully guarded. It may lead to a lazy tolerance of evil, and to drawing such inferences as, ‘Well! it does not much matter about strenuous effort, if we are right at bottom it will all come right by-and-by,’ and so it may become a pillow for indolence and a clog on effort. This possible abuse of a great truth seems to strike the Apostle, and so he enters here, with this ‘Nevertheless,’ a caveat against that twist of his meaning. It is as if he said, ‘Now mind! while all that is perfectly true, it is true on conditions; and if they be not attended to, it is not true.’ God will reveal to a man the things in which he is wrong if, and only if, he steadfastly continues in the course which he knows and sees to be right. Present attainments, then, are in some sense a standard of duty, and if we honestly and conscientiously observe that standard we shall get light as we journey. In this exhortation of the Apostle’s there are many exhortations wrapped up; and in trying to draw them out I venture to adhere to the form of exhortation for the sake of impressiveness and point.

I. First, then, I would say the Apostle means, ‘Live up to your faith and your convictions.’

It may be a question whether ‘that to which we have already attained’ means the amount of knowledge which we have won or the amount of practical righteousness which we have made our own. But I think that, instead of sharply dividing between these two, we shall follow more in the course of the Apostle’s thought if we unite them together, and remember that the Bible does not make the distinct separation which we sometimes incline to make between knowledge on the one side and practice on the other, but regards the man as a living unity. And thus, both aspects of our attainments come into consideration here.

So, then, there are two main thoughts--first, live out your creed, and second, live up to your convictions.

Live out your creed. Men are meant to live, not by impulse, by accident, by inclination, but by principle. We are not intended to live by rule, but we are intended to live by law. And unless we know why we do as well as what we do, and give a rational account of our conduct, we fall beneath the height on which God intends us to walk. Impulse is all very well, but impulse is blind and needs a guide. The imitation of those around us, or the acceptance of the apparent necessities of circumstances, are, to some extent, inevitable and right. But to be driven merely by the force of externals is to surrender the highest prerogative of manhood. The highest part of human nature is the reason guided by conscience, and a man’s conscience is only then rightly illuminated when it is illuminated by his creed, which is founded on the acceptance of the revelation that God has made of Himself.

And whilst we are clearly meant to be guided by the intelligent appropriation of God’s truth, that truth is evidently all meant for guidance. We are not told anything in the Bible in order that we may know as an ultimate object, but we are told it all in order that, knowing, we may be, and, being, we may do, according to His will.

Just think of the intensely practical tendency of all the greatest truths of Christianity. The Cross is the law of life. The revelation that was made there was made, not merely that we might cling to it as a refuge from our sins, but that we might accept it as the rule of our conduct. All our duties to mankind are summed up in the word ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ We say that we believe in the divinity of Christ; we say that we believe in the great incarnation and sacrificial death and eternal priesthood of the loving Son of God. We say that we believe in a judgment to come and a future life. Well, then, do these truths produce any effect upon my life? have they shaped me in any measure into conformity with their great principles? Does there issue from them constraining power which grasps me and moulds me as a sculptor would a bit of clay in his hands? Am I subject to the Gospel’s authority, and is the word in which God has revealed Himself to me the word which dominates and impels all my life? ‘Whereunto we have already attained, by the same let us walk.’

But we shall not do that without a distinct effort. For it is a great deal easier to live from hand to mouth than to live by principle. It is a great deal easier to accept what seems forced upon us by circumstances than to exercise control over the circumstances, and make them bend to God’s holy will. It is a great deal easier to take counsel of inclination, and to put the reins in the hands of impulses, passions, desires, tastes, or even habits, than it is, at each fresh moment, to seek for fresh impulses from a fresh illumination from the ancient and yet ever fresh truth. The old kings of France used to be kept with all royal state in the palace, but they were not allowed to do anything. And there was a rough, unworshipped man that stood by their side, and who was the real ruler of the realm. That is what a great many professing Christians do with their creeds. They instal them in some inner chamber that they very seldom visit, and leave them there, in dignified idleness, and the real working ruler of their lives is found elsewhere. Let us see to it, brethren, that all our thoughts are incarnated in our deeds, and that all our deeds are brought into immediate connection with the great principles of God’s word. Live by that law, and we live at liberty.

And, then, remember that this translating of creed into conduct is the only condition of growing illumination. When we act upon a belief, the belief grows. That is the source of a great deal of stupid obstinacy in this world, because men have been so long accustomed to go upon certain principles that it seems incredible to them but that these principles should be true. But that, too, is at the bottom of a great deal of intelligent and noble firmness of adherence to the true. A man who has tested a principle because he has lived upon it has confidence in it that nobody else can have.

Projectors may have beautiful specifications with attractive pictures of their new inventions; they look very well upon paper, but we must see them working before we are sure of their worth. And so, here is this great body of Divine truth, which assumes to be sufficient for guidance, for conduct, for comfort, for life. Live upon it, and thereby your grasp of it and your confidence in it will be immensely increased. And no man has a right to say ‘I have rejected Christianity as untrue,’ unless he has put it to the test by living upon it; and if he has, he will never say it. A Swiss traveller goes into a shop and buys a brand-new alpenstock. Does he lean upon it with as much confidence as another man does, who has one with the names of all the mountains that it has helped him up branded on it from top to bottom? Take this staff and lean on it. Live your creed, and you will believe your creed as you never will until you do. Obedience takes a man up to an elevation from which he sees further into the deep harmonies of truth. In all regions of life the principle holds good: ‘To him that hath shall be given.’ And it holds eminently in reference to our grasp of Christian principles. Use them and they grow; neglect them and they perish. Sometimes a man dies in a workhouse who has a store of guineas and notes wrapped up in rags somewhere about him; and so they have been of no use to him. If you want your capital to increase, trade with it. As the Lord said when He gave the servants their talents: ‘Trade with them till I come.’ The creed that is utilised is the creed that grows. And that is why so many of you Christian people have so little real intellectual grasp of the principles of Christianity, because you have not lived upon them, nor tried to do it.

And, in like manner, another side of this thought is, be true to your convictions. There is no such barrier to a larger and wholesomer view of our duty as the neglect of anything that plainly is our duty. It stands there, an impassable cliff between us and all progress. Let us live and be what we know we ought to be, and we shall know better what we ought to be at the next moment.

II. Secondly, let me put the Apostle’s meaning in another exhortation, Go on as you have begun.

‘Whereunto we have already attained, by the same let us walk.’ The various points to which the men have reached are all points in one straight line; and the injunction of my text is ‘Keep the road.’ There are a great many temptations to stray from it. There are nice smooth grassy bits by the side of it where it is a great deal easier walking. There are attractive things just a footstep or two out of the path--such a little deviation that it can easily be recovered. And so, like children gathering daisies in the field, we stray away from the path; and, like men on a moor, we then look round for it, and it is gone. The angle of divergence may be the acutest possible; the deviation when we begin may be scarcely visible, but if you draw a line at the sharpest angle and the least deviation from a straight line, and carry it out far enough, there will be space between it and the line from which it started ample to hold a universe. Then, let us take care of small deviations from the plain straight path, and give no heed to the seductions that lie on either side, but ‘whereunto we have already attained, by the same let us walk.’

There are temptations, too, to slacken our speed. The river runs far more slowly in its latter course than when it came babbling and leaping down the hillside. And sometimes a Christian life seems as if it crept rather than ran, like those sluggish streams in the Fen country, which move so slowly that you cannot tell which way the water is flowing. Are not there all round us, are there not amongst ourselves instances of checked growth, of arrested development? There are people listening to me now, calling themselves--and I do not say that they have not a right to do so--Christians, who have not grown a bit for years, but stand at the very same point of attainment, both in knowledge and in purity and Christlikeness, as they were many, many days ago. I beseech you, listen to this exhortation of my text, ‘Whereunto we have already attained, by the same let us walk,’ and continue patient and persistent in the course that is set before us.

III. The Apostle’s injunction may be cast into this form, Be yourselves.

The representation which underlies my text, and precedes it in the context, is that of the Christian community as a great body of travellers all upon one road, all with their faces turned in one direction, but at very different points on the path. The difference of position necessarily involves a difference in outlook. They see their duties, and they see the Word of God, in some respects diversely. And the Apostle’s exhortation is: ‘Let each man follow his own insight, and whereunto he has attained, by that, and not by his brother’s attainment, by that let him walk.’ From the very fact of the diversity of advancement there follows the plain duty for each of us to use our own eyesight, and of independent faithfulness to our own measure of light, as the guide which we are bound to follow.

There is a dreadful want, in the ordinary Christian life, of any appearance of first-hand communication with Jesus Christ, and daring to be myself, and to act on the insight into His will which Christ has given me .

Conventional Godliness, Christian people cut after one pattern, a little narrow round of certain statutory duties and obligations, a parrot-like repetition of certain words, a mechanical copying of certain methods of life, an oppressive sameness, mark so much of modern religion. What a freshening up there would come into all Christian communities if every man lived by his own perception of truth and duty! If a musician in an orchestra is listening to his neighbour’s note and time, he will lose many an indication from the conductor that would have kept him far more right, if he had attended to it. And if, instead of taking our beliefs and our conduct from one another, or from the average of Christian men round us, we went straight to Jesus Christ and said to Him, ‘What wouldst Thou have me to do?’ there would be a different aspect over Christendom from what there is to-day. The fact of individual responsibility, according to the measure of our individual light, and faithful following of that, wheresoever it may lead us, are the grand and stirring principles that come from these words. ‘Whereunto we have already attained,’ by that--and by no other man’s attainment or rule--let us walk.

But do not let us forget that that same faithful independence and independent faithfulness because Christ speaks to us, and we will not let any other voice blend with His, are quite consistent with, and, indeed, demand, the frank recognition of our brother’s equal right. If we more often thought of all the great body of Christian people as an army, united in its diversity, its line of march stretching for leagues, and some in the van, and some in the main body, and some in the rear, but all one, we should be more tolerant of divergences, more charitable in our judgment of the laggards, more patient in waiting for them to come up with us, and more wise and considerate in moderating our pace sometimes to meet theirs. All who love Jesus Christ are on the same road and bound for the same home. Let us be contented that they shall be at different stages on the path, seeing that we know that they will all reach the Temple above.

IV. Lastly, cherish the consciousness of imperfection and the confidence of success.

‘Whereunto we have attained’ implies that that is only a partial possession of a far greater whole. The road is not finished at the stage where we stand. And, on the other hand, ‘by the same let us walk,’ implies that beyond the present point the road runs on equally patent and pervious to our feet. These two convictions, of my own imperfection and of the certainty of my reaching the great perfectness beyond, are indispensable to all Christian progress. As soon as a man begins to think that he has realised his ideal, Good-bye! to all advance. The artist, the student, the man of business, all must have gleaming before them an unattained object, if they are ever to be stirred to energy and to run with patience the race that is set before them.

The more distinctly that a man is conscious of his own imperfection in the Christian life, the more he will be stung and stirred into earnestness and energy of effort, if only, side by side with the consciousness of imperfection, there springs triumphant the confidence of success. That will give strength to the feeble knees; that will lift a man buoyant over difficulties; that will fire desire; that will stimulate and solidify effort; that will make the long, monotonous stretches of the road easy, the rough places plain, the crooked things straight. Over all reluctant, repellent duties it will bear us, in all weariness it will re-invigorate us. We are saved by hope, and the more brightly there burns before us, not as a tremulous hope, but as a future certainty, the thought, ‘I shall be like Him, for I shall see Him as He is,’ the more shall I set my face to the loved goal and my feet to the dusty road, and ‘press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God.’ Christian progress comes out of the clash and collision of these two things, like that of flint and steel--the consciousness of imperfection and the confidence of success. And they who thus are driven by the one and drawn by the other, in all their consciousness of failure are yet blessed, and are crowned at last with that which they believed before it came.

‘Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house’--the prize won is heaven. But ‘blessed are they in whose hearts are the ways’--the prize desired and strained after is heaven upon earth. We may all live a life of continual advancement, each step leading upwards, for the road always climbs, to purer air, grander scenery, and a wider view. And yonder, progress will still be the law, for they who here have followed the Lamb, and sought to make Him their pattern and Commander, will there ‘follow Him whithersoever He goeth.’ If here we walk according to that ‘whereunto we have attained,’ there He shall say, ‘They will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:16 hold on to the progress we have already made: There must be no slipping or reversal; as believers, our conduct must be consistent with our spiritual understanding.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Php 3:16. Πλὴν, nevertheless) The expectation of a new revelation should not make you yield the position which you now firmly hold.—εἰς ὃ) in that, to which we have attained.—ἐφθάσαμεν, we have attained) at a greater or less distance. They are admonished in order that the others should act with them that are perfect.—στοιχεῖν, to walk) The infinitive, mildly for the imperative; Rom 12:15.—κανόνι)[45] Al. Boern. Clar. Colb. 7. Copt. both the Hilarys,[46] leave out this word; Facundus too, or, by comparing Pelagius, even Sedulius. The clauses thus correspond, τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν, and τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν. Nor even do we follow the Latin Vulgate copies, which transpose the clauses, Covelianus 2 following them in this, since ἐφθάσαμεν and στοιχεῖν more nearly cohere with one another, and στοιχεῖν, which is metaphorical, is explained by the φρονεῖν which follows after. The word κανόνι seems evidently to have been brought hither from Gal 6:16.—τὸ) There is here an Asyndeton.—τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν, to mind the same thing) He returns to this topic, ch. Php 4:2.

[45] AB Memph. Theb. read only τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν: Hilar. 1097, “in ipso ingrediamur.” DGfg (‘convenire,’ for στοιχεῖν) read τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν, τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν. Vulg., with Rec. Text, retains κανόνι, but transposes the Order. Rec. Text has τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν κανόνι τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν.—ED.

[46] Viz., Hilary the deacon, and Hilary of Poitiers.—ED.

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

Php_3:16. A caution added to the precept given in Php_3:15, and the promise coupled with it: Only let there be no deviation in the prosecution of the development of your Christian life from the point to which we have attained! Neither to the right nor to the left, but forward in the same direction! This warning Paul expresses briefly and precisely thus: Only whereto we have attained,according to the same to direct your walk!that is, however ye may be in some point otherwise minded and, therefore, may have to await further revelation, at all events ye ought not to deviatethis must in every case be your fundamental rulefrom that whereto we have already attained in the Christian life; but, on the contrary, should let the further direction of your moral walk be determined by that same. Such a general precept addressed to the Philippians conveys an honourable testimony to the state of their moral constitution on the whole, however different in individuals we may conceive the point to be from which Paul says εἰς ὃ ἐφθ., as is evident from the very fact that he includes himself in the εἰς ὃ ἐφθ., which could not but honour and stimulate the readers. On πλήν, nisi quod, comp. Php_1:18; on φθάνειν εἰς, to attain to anything, comp. Mat_12:28; Luk_11:26; 1Th_2:16 (ἐπί); Rom_9:31; Dan_4:19; Tob_5:18; Plut. Mor. p. 338 A; Apollod. xii. 242. It denotes the having come forward, the having advanced. Ewald takes it: if we had the advantage (see 1Th_4:15, and the common classical usage), that is: in what we already possess much better and higher than Judaism. But this reference to Judaism is not given in the text, which aims to secure generally their further progress in the development of Christian life. On στοιχεῖν with the dative of the rule: to advance (march) according to something, that is, to direct oneself in ones constant conduct by something, see on Gal_5:16; Gal_5:25. The infinitive, however, as the expression of a briefly measured wish or command, without supplying λέγω, δεῖ, or the like (which Buttmann requires, Neut. Gr. p. 233 [E. T. 272]), stands in place of the imperative, as in Rom_12:15; see Hom. Il. i. 20, and Nägelsbach in loc.; Stallbaum, ad Plat. Rep. p. 473 A; Pflugk, ad Eur. Heracl. 314; Fritzsche, ad Rom. III. p. 86. Fritzsche, however, Diss. II. 2 Cor. p. 93, has erroneously made the infinitive dependent on ἀποκαλύψει: praeterea instituet vos, ut, quam ego consecutus sum τῷ βραβείῳ τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως intentam mentem, ejusdem participes fieri ipsi annitamini. Comp. Oecumenius. Decisive against this view is the plural ἐφθάσαμεν, which, according to the context (Php_3:15), cannot apply merely to Paul, as well as the fact that the antithesis of persons (ego … ipsi) is gratuitously introduced. Michaelis, who is followed by Rilliet, closely unites Php_3:16 with the sequel,[170] but in such a way that only an awkward arrangement of the sentences is attained, and the nervous vigour of the concise command is taken away.

The εἰς ὃ ἐφθάσ.which cannot in accordance with the context denote the having attained to Christianity, to the being Christian (Hofmanns view, which yields a meaning much too vague and general)has been rightly explained by Chrysostom and Theophylact as relating to the attainments in the Christian life, which are to be maintained, and in the further development of which constant progress is to be made (ὃ κατωρθώσαμεν, κατέχωμεν, Theophylact). Comp. Schinz and van Hengel. This view is corroborated by the sequel, in which Paul represents himself as model of the walk; and therefore it is not to be referred merely to the measure of the right frame of mind attained (Weiss). Most expositors understand the words as signifying the measure of Christian knowledge acquired (so also Heinrichs, Flatt, Rheinwald, Matthies, Hoelemann, de Wette, Wiesinger), in conformity with which one ought to live. In connection with this, various arbitrary definitions of the object of the knowledge have been suggested, as, for instance, by Grotius: de circumcisione et ritibus; Heinrichs and de Wette: concerning the main substance of the Christian faith apart from secondary matters; Schneckenburger: that man is justified by faith, and not by the works of the law; along with which de Wette lays stress on the point that it is not the individual more or less perfect knowledge (so usually; see Flatt, Rheinwald, Matthies) that is meant, but the collective conviction, the truths generally recognised. But the whole interpretation which refers it to knowledge is not in keeping with the text; for ἐφθάσαμεν, correlative with ΣΤΟΙΧΕῖΝ, presents together with the latter a unity of figurative view, the former denoting the point of the way already attained, and τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν, perseverance in the direction indicated by that attainment. Therefore, if by ΣΤΟΙΧΕῖΝ there is clearly (see Php_3:17) intended the moral conduct of life, this also must be denoted by ΕἸς Ὃ ἘΦΘ. as respects its quality attained up to the present time. Moreover, if ΕἸς Ὃ ἘΦΘ. is to be understood as referring to knowledge, there would be no motive for the prominence given to the identity by τῷ αὐτῷ.

[170] This is thrown out as a suggestion also by Hofmann, according to whom the infinitive clause ought perhaps more correctly to be coupled with συμμιμηταὶ κ.τ.λ., and taken as a prefixed designation of that in doing which they are to be his imitators and to have their attention directed to those, etc. Thus the infinitive would come to stand as infinitive of the aim. But even thus the whole attempt would be an artificial twisting of the passage without reason or use.

REMARK.

What Paul means in Php_3:16 may be illustrated thus:

Here B is the point of the development of Christian life εἰς ὃ ἐφθάσαμεν, which, in the case of different individuals, may be more or less advanced. The τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν takes place, when the path traversed from A to B is continued in the direction of C. If any one should move from B in the direction of either D or E, he would not τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν. The reproach of uncertainty which Wiesinger brings against this canon, because a ἑτέρως φρονεῖν may take place which does not lie in the same direction, and generally because the power of sin might hinder the following out of this direction, would also apply in opposition to every other explanation of the εἰς ὃ ἐφθ., and particularly to that of the knowledge attained; but it is altogether unfounded, first, because the ἑτέρως φρονεῖν only refers to one or another concrete single point (τι), so that the whole of moral attainmentthe collective developmentwhich has been reached is not thereby disturbed; and, secondly, because Paul in this case has to do with a church already highly advanced in a moral point of view (Php_1:5 ff.), which he might, at all events generally, enjoin to continue in the same direction as the path in which they had already travelled. Very groundless is also the objection urged by Hofmann, that the εἰς ὃ ἐφθ. must necessarily be one and the same for all. This is simply to be denied; it is an utterly arbitrary assumption.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Phi 3:16 . πλήν . It is quite common as introducing a parenthesis. “Only one thing! So far as we have come, keep the path” (Weizs.). For the word Cf. Schmid, Atticismus , i., p. 133, and Bonitz’s Index to Aristotle. εἰς ὃ ἐφθάς . In later Greek (as in modern) φθάνω has lost all idea of anticipation and simply means “come,” “reach”. Cf. 2Co 10:14 (and see See Hatz., Einl, p. 199; Sources of N.T. Greek , p. 156). “So far as we have come.” In what? Weiss thinks in right φρονεῖν , connecting the words immediately with τοῦτο φρονῶμεν . Kleiss supposes the νόμος δικαιοσύνης , referring to the earlier part of the chap. (esp Phi 3:9 ). Does he not rather mean the point reached on the advance towards the goal (the κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκειν ), which is the subject directly before his mind? The very use of στοιχεῖν seems to justify this interpretation. τῷ αὐτῷ . It is, at first sight, natural to refer τ . αὐτ . immediately to ὅ preceding. And this may be right. But there is much force in the interpretation of Lipsius, who renders “let us walk on the same path” (so also Hlst.). The exhortation would then be directed against the difference of opinion and feeling which were certainly present in the Church at Philippi, and is suggested to Paul by the ἑτέρως φρον . of Phi 3:15 . That this was an early interpretation is shown by the v.l. of TR. The words κανονι το αυτο φρονειν (not found in the best MSS.) are evidently a gloss on the text. “Only, so far as we have come, let us keep to the same path.” τῷ αὐτῷ is an instance of a dative common after verbs of “going” and “walking” in N.T. Cf. Buttm., Gram. , p. 184. στοιχεῖν . An imperatival infinitive found in Hom., Aristoph., Inscrptions (see Meisterhans, Gram. d. att. Inschrr. , § 88 A; Viteau, Le Verbe , p. 147). Probably this usage is closely connected with the origin of the infinitive, which was a dative, as is shown, e.g. , by the infinitive in English, e.g. , “to work”. This might easily become an imperative, “to work”! Analogous is the use of χαίρειν and ὑγιαίνειν in Letters. στ . is only found in late writers, although, from the frequency of στοῖχος , we may infer that it must have existed in earlier times. Literally it means “march in file”. Moule well observes that στ . more than περιπατεῖν (the common word) suggests the step , the detail.

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

The expectation of a new revelation is not to make you less careful in walking according to whatever degree of knowledge of divine things and perfection you have already attained. God makes further revelations to those who walk up to the revelations they already have (Hos 6:3).

rule, let us mind the same thing--omitted in the oldest manuscripts. Perhaps partly inserted from Gal 6:16, and Phi 2:2. Translate then, "Whereunto we have attained, let us walk on (a military term, march in order) in the same (the measure of knowledge already attained)."

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 16. Whereto we have already attained] Let us not lose that part of the race which we have already run, let us walk by the same rule-let us keep the white line continually in view, let us mind the same thing, always considering the glorious prize which is held out by God through Christ Jesus to animate and encourage us.

The MSS., versions and fathers of the Alexandrian recension or edition, and which are supposed by Griesbach and others to contain the purest text, omit the words κανονι το αυτο προνειν, and read the verse thus: Whereunto we have already attained let us walk; or, according to what we have already attained, let us regulate our life, There is so much disagreement about the above words in the MSS., c., that most critics consider them as a sort of gloss, which never made an original part of the text. Dr. White says, Certissime delenda "Most certainly they should be obliterated."

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

16 Nevertheless, so far as we have attained Even the Greek manuscripts themselves differ as to the dividing of the clauses, for in some of them there are two complete sentences. If any one, however, prefer to divide the verse, the meaning will be as Erasmus has rendered it. For my part, I rather prefer a different reading, implying that Paul exhorts the Philipplans to imitate him, that they may at last reach the same goal, so as to think the same thing, and walk by the same rule For where sincere affection exists, such as reigned in Paul, the way is easy to a holy and pious concord, As, therefore, they had not yet learned what true perfection was, in order that they might attain it he wishes them to be imitators of him; that is, to seek God with a pure conscience, (2 Timothy 1:3,) to arrogate nothing to themselves, and calmly to subject their understandings to Christ. For in the imitating of Paul all these excellences are included — pure zeal, fear of the Lord, modesty, self-renunciation, docility, love, and desire of concord. He bids them, however, be at one and the same time imitators of him; that is, all with one consent, and with one mind.

Observe, that the goal of perfection to which he invites the Philippians, by his example, is, that they think the same thing, and walk by the same rule He has, however, assigned the first place to the doctrine in which they ought to harmonize, and the rule to which they should conform themselves.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(16) Let us walk . . .—In this verse the last words appear to be an explanatory gloss. The original runs thus: Nevertheless—as to that to which we did attain—let us walk by the same. The word “walk” is always used of pursuing a course deliberately chosen. (See Act_21:24; Rom_4:12; Gal_5:25.) The nearest parallel (from which the gloss is partly taken) is Gal_6:16, “As many as walk by this rule, peace be upon them.” In this passage there seems to be the same double reference which has pervaded all St. Paul’s practical teaching. He is anxious for two things—that they should keep on in one course, and that all should keep on together. In both senses he addresses the “perfect;” he will have them understand that they have attained only one thing—to be in the right path, and that it is for them to continue in it; he also bids them refrain from setting themselves up above “the imperfect;” for the very fact of division would mark them as still “carnal,” mere “babes in Christ” (1Co_3:1-4).

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

16. Nevertheless] Better, with R.V., only; a word, like the Greek, of less contrast and easier transition.

attained] Not the same Greek verb as that in Php_3:12, though R.V. (with A.V.) gives the same English. The verb here is properly used, in classical Greek, of anticipation (so 1Th_4:15), arrival beforehand, rapid arrival. Later, and so ordinarily in N.T., it loses much at least of this speciality, and means little besides “to reach,” “to arrive.” Still, a shadow of the first meaning may be traced in most places; a suggestion of an arrival which is either sudden, or achieved in spite of obstacles. The latter idea would be in place here, where the metaphor of the race with its difficulties is still present; as if to say, “whereunto we have succeeded in arriving.”—The verb is in the aorist, but the English perfect is obviously right.

let us walk by the same &c.] The Greek verb is in the infinitive, “to walk”; a frequent idiomatic substitute for the mood of command or appeal. Apparently this construction is always used in address to others (see Alford here), and thus we should render “walk ye &c.”—The verb here rendered “walk” means not only movement on the feet in general, but orderly and guided walking, stepping along a line. The appeal is to take care of Christian consistency in detail, up to the full present light, on the unchanging principles of the Gospel, which are essentially “the same” for all. And there is a reference, doubtless, in the words “the same,” to the Philippians’ tendency to differences of opinion and feeling.

The words after “by the same” are an excellent explanation, but not part of the text. Read, in the same [path or principle].

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.

Brethren, be followers together of me,.... Not that the apostle set up himself as the head of a party, which is what he always blamed in others; he did not assume a dominion over the faith of men, or seek to lord it over God's heritage; nor did he desire any to be followers of him, any further than he was a follower of Christ; and in what he was, whether in doctrine or practice, he desires to be followed in: and here he has a particular regard to what went before, concerning reckoning what was gain loss; accounting all things but dung, in comparison of the knowledge of Christ, looking to his righteousness alone for justification, Phi 3:9; disclaiming perfection, yet forgetting things behind; reaching towards things before, and pressing to the mark for the prize, Phi 3:13; and walking according to the rule of God's word; in which things he had some that followed him, who were his spiritual children, and to whom he had been useful in conversion and edification; see Co1 4:15; and he would therefore have these Philippians followers of him, "together" with them; and which contains in it an encouraging reason, or argument, since others were followers of him; or together with one another, he was desirous, that one and all of them might follow him; that they might all go in the same way, profess the same truth, be found in the practice of the same things, worship the Lord with one consent, pursue the same ends, and draw all the same way; and so be as the church was, like a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariot, Sol 1:9,

and mark them which walk so; as the apostle did, and those that were followers of him; these he would have them mark, observe, attentively look to; not as others, who cause offences and divisions, and obey not the word, in order to shun, avoid, and keep no company with; but to imitate and follow, and next to Christ, the mark, to make use of them as inferior ones:

as ye have us for an ensample, or "type"; believers should be ensamples one to another, especially ministers of the word; pastors of churches are not to be lords over God's heritage, but to be ensamples to the flock, Pe1 5:3, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit; in faith, in purity, as the apostle exhorts Timothy, Ti1 4:12, and in these things they are to be followed by believers.

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

16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

Ver. 16. Let us walk by the same rule] To wit, of the word; and then you may say, Lord, if I be deceived, thou hast deceived me. Or it may be rendered thus, Let us proceed by one rule; for the word στοιχωμεν is military, and signifies to go on in order, according to the general’s commands; who else may justly punish our prosperous disobediences, our disorderly successes.

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.

Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule - This is a most wise and valuable rule, and a rule that would save much difficulty and contention in the church, if it were honestly applied. The meaning is this, that though there might be different degrees of attainment among Christians, and different views on many subjects, yet there were points in which all could agree; there were attainments which they all had made, and in reference to them they should walk in harmony and love. It might be that some had made much greater advances than others. They had more elevated views of religion; they had higher knowledge; they were nearer perfection. Others had had less advantages of education and instruction, had had fewer opportunities of making progress in the divine life, and would less understand the higher mysteries of the Christian life. They might not see the truth or propriety of many things which those in advance of them would see clearly.

But it was not worth while to quarrel about these things. There should be no angry feeling, and no fault-finding on either side. There were many things in which they could see alike, and where there were no jarring sentiments. In those things they could walk harmoniously; and they who were in advance of others should not complain of their less informed brethren as lacking all evidence of piety; nor should those who had not made such advances complain of those before them as fanatical, or as disposed to push things to extremes. They who had the higher views should, as Paul did, believe that God will yet communicate them to the church at large, and in the meantime should not denounce others; and those who had less elevated attainments should not censure their brethren as wild and visionary. There were common grounds on which they might unite, and thus the harmony of the church would be secured.

No better rule than this could be applied to the subjects of inquiry which spring up among Christians respecting temperance, slavery, moral reform, and the various doctrines of religion; and, if this rule had been always observed, the church would have been always saved from harsh contention and from schism. If a man does not see things just as I do, let me try with mildness to Teach him, and let me believe that, if he is a Christian, God will make this known to him yet; but let me not quarrel with him, for neither of us would be benefited by that, nor would the object be likely to be attained. In the meantime, there are many things in which we can agree. In them let us work together, and strive, as far as we can, to promote the common object. Thus we shall save our temper, give no occasion to the world to reproach us, and be much more likely to come together in all our views. The best way to make true Christians harmonious is, to labor together in the common cause of saying souls. As far as we can agree, let us go and labor together; and where we cannot yet, let us “agree to differ.” We shall all think alike by-and-by.

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

Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained; however, let us, or we ought to, walk in obedience to Christ, love to him and each other, according to the light we have already received, trusting he would make known his mind more clearly to us. Our using the light we have well, is the ready way to have more: it behoves us, then, to live suitably to that degree of the knowledge of Christ we have attained, 1Jo 2:3-5 but still within our lines, with regard to the same rule.

Let us walk by the same rule: whether in this metaphorical allusion the apostle do borrow his phrase from architects, soldiers, or racers, is not much material. Be sure he had an eye to that

same rule which was well known to them, and by which he regulated himself, and therefore it was such a canon as really had a Divine stalnp upon it, that very canon in exact conformity whereunto God’s Israel might be sure of the best peace, Gal 6:16; Phi 4:7. The unerring word of God, exemplified in the condescending love of Christ, whom he had proposed to their imitation, in whom he was found, and the fellowship of whose sufferings he desired to know more perfectly, being heavenly-minded, in opposition to those who became enemies to his cross, Phi 3:18,19; With Gal 6:14,15; the rule of faith, love, and a Christian life, or heavenly conversation, which he doth elsewhere call a walking in the Spirit, and according to the Spirit, in opposition to walking in and after the flesh, Rom 8:1,5; Ga 5:16.

Let us mind the same thing: in like manner, all of us who are spiritual, grown Christians, should be so affected, being of one accord, one mind, and one judgment, in imitation of Christ; so far that the adult, or better grown Christians, should not despise the weak or less grown, neither should they judge the adult; but in the fundamental articles, those main principles of the Christian institution wherein we all agree, in that common salvation towards which we all press, agreeable to the analogy of faith, we should still be perfecting holiness in the fear of God, by the same rule of faith, and loving and mutual condescension, by the unity of our judgments in the main business of religion, the concord of our affections, the concurrence of our ends, our consent and delight in the same truth: we should declare to the church of God, in our differences Christ is not divided, but in the variety of persuasions in lesser matters, (not fundamental), the purity, holiness, and peace of the church is still preserved, Phi 2:14. The main principles attained wherein dissenting parties agree, being the measure of all other doctrines, to hold nothing inconsistent with the majesty or truth of the foundation; to walk circumspectly, and in order, according to that wherein is a harmony; not to break our rank, or leave our station, contrary to received prescripts; wherein every Christian is to exercise a judgment of discerning for himself, Rom 14:23, and not impose on each other, (as that sort of Christian Jews who did compel the Christian Gentiles, Gal 2:14,15, &c.) superadding no preter-evangelical doctrine, Gal 1:8,9; to live godly, agreeably to known truths; to serve God soberly and prudently, (with due moderation), in our places, consonantly to the measure of the rule God hath distributed to us, 2Co 10:13, holding the truths wherein we agree in love, unity, and constancy. It being more reasonable that the many truths wherein we agree, should cause us to join in love, which is a Christian duty, rather than the few opinions wherein we disagree, should cause a breach in affection, which is a human infirmity.

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

16. Walk by the same rule—Different persons have reached different points along the common path in which all genuine believers are walking, and, however it may be as to any future enlightenment, all are to walk onward in the same direction. Only those who use the light they have, have a right to expect more. The last clause of this verse, beginning with the word rule, is rejected from the best texts.

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

Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Omit, with the best manuscripts, the words from "rule" to "thing," and translate, R.V, only, whereunto we have already attained, by that same (rule) let us walk; or, more literally, only, what we arrived at, by that same walk. Let there be no falling back; let us, at each point in our Christian course, maintain and walk according to that degree of grace at which we arrived. This explanation seems more probable than the other view, which understands the words, "by the same," of the rule of faith as opposed to the works of the Law.

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

But let us take care not to lose the ground we have already gained. Let us walk by the same rule we have done hitherto.

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

16. Only, whereunto we have already attained. The meaning is, Those who have not reached the status I have described, let them make the right use of all the light, ability and knowledge they have obtained.

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.

16. στοιχεῖν. So the sentence ends א*AB, 17, copt sah, Hil Aug. אcKL, the mass of cursives, syrr æth add the words κανόνι, τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν. So Wordsw., alone among recent editors. Lightfoot writes ad loc., “the words after στοιχεῖν in the received text (κανόνι, τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν) are interpolated from Gal 6:16, Php 2:2. Of these κανόνι is a correct gloss, while τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖν expresses an idea alien to the context.”

16. πλὴν. “Only.” He qualifies the thought of certain present differences of view, by a plea for all the agreement possible.

εἰς δ ἐφθάσαμεν. “(As regards) the point we have reached.” Φθάνειν, in classical Greek, implies properly arrival beforehand, out-stripping; and so 1Th 4:15, οὐ μὴ φθάσωμεν τοὺς κοιμηθέντας. Later, and ordinarily in N.T., it loses much of this speciality, and means little but “to arrive.” Yet in most places a shadow of its proper meaning can be traced; the arrival is usually either sudden or difficult. Cp. Mat 12:28, ἄρα ἔφθασεν ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ: Rom 9:31, εἰς νόμον δικαιοσύνης οὐκ ἔφθασε. Here we may trace a hint of difficulty; the thought of the toilsome race is still present; as if to say, “as regards the point we have succeeded in reaching.”—On the rendering of ἐφθάσαμεν by an English perfect, see above, note on ἔλαβον, Php 3:12.

τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν. “Take your steps on the same (principle).” Στοιχεῖν, more than περιπατεῖν, suggests the step, the detail. Cp. Rom 4:12, τοῖς στοιχοῦσι τοῖς ἴχνεσι, κτλ.—The use of “the infinitive for the imperative” is familiar in classical Greek, especially in the earlier writers; e.g. Soph. O.T. 462, κἂν λάβῃς μʼ ἐψευσμένον φάσκειν ἔμʼ ἤδη μαντικῇ μηδὲ φρονεῖν. The construction is regularly used in address to others (see Alford here), not in appeals to self; we render here therefore, “Take your steps, &c.”

Here, as in so many places, the Apostle makes a sidelong reference to the need of the spirit of unity at Philippi. “As regards the point they have reached,” they are besought to cultivate a conscious harmony in principle and practice.

On the reading of this verse, see critical note.

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.

16.] Exhortation to them to be unanimous in following this his example. In order to understand this somewhat difficult passage, we must remember (1) that the description of his own views and feelings which he holds up for their imitation (συμμιμηταί μου γίν.) began with having no confidence in the flesh, ver. 4, and has continued to ver. 14. Also (2) that the description commencing with ὅσοι οὖν τέλειοι, is taken up again from ver. 3, ἡμεῖς γάρ ἐσμεν ἡ περιτομή, οἱ πνεύματι θεοῦ λατρεύοντες, κ. καυχώμενοι ἐν χ. Ἰησοῦ, κ. οὐκ ἐν σαρκὶ πεποιθότες. These two considerations will keep us from narrowing too much the τοῦτο φρονῶμεν, and from misunderstanding the ὅσοι οὖν τέλειοι. As many of us then (refers to ver. 3: see above) as are perfect (mature in Christian life, = those described above, ver. 3), let us be of this mind (viz. that described as entertained by himself, vv. 7-14): and if in any thing (accusative of reference: see Kühner, Gramm. ii. 220 ff.) ye be differently minded (for ἑτέρως, cf. Od. α. 232 ff., μέλλεν μέν ποτε οἶκος ὅδʼ ἀφνειὸς κ. ἀμύμων | ἔμμεναι, ὄφρʼ ἔτι κεῖνος ἀνὴρ ἐπιδήμιος ἦεν | νῦν δʼ ἑτέρως ἐβάλοντο θεοί, κακὰ μητιόωντες: Demosth. p. 298. 22, εἰ μέν τι τῶν δεόντων ἐπράχθη, τὸν καιρόν, οὐκ ἐμέ φησιν αἴτιον γεγενῆσθαι, τῶν δʼ ὡς ἑτέρως συμβάντων ἁπάντων ἐμὲ καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν τύχην αἰτίαν εἶναι. Hence it gives the meaning of diversity in a bad sense. The difference referred to seems to be that of too much self-esteem as to Christian perfection: see below), this also (as well as the rest which he has revealed) will God reveal to you (i.e. in the progress of the Christian life, you will find the true knowledge of your own imperfection and of Christ’s all-sufficiency revealed to you by God’s Spirit, Eph 1:17 ff. ὅρα πῶς συνεσταλμένως τοῦτό φησιν. ὁ θεὸς ὑμᾶς διδάξει, τουτέστιν, ὑμᾶς πείσει, οὐχὶ διδάξει ἁπλῶς. ἐδίδασκε μὲν γὰρ ὁ Παῦλος, ἀλλʼ ὁ θεὸς ἐνῆγε. καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν, ἐνάξει, ἀλλʼ ἀποκαλύψει, ἵνα δόξῃ μᾶλλον ἀγνοίας εἶναι τὸ πρᾶγμα. οὐ περὶ δογμάτων ταῦτʼ εἴρηται, ἀλλὰ περὶ βίου τελειότητος, κ. τοῦ μὴ νομίζειν ἑαυτοὺς τελείους εἶναι· ὡς ὅγε νομίζων τὸ πᾶν εἰληφέναι, οὐδὲν ἔχει. Chrys.

τοῦτο must not be taken as Œc., Grot., &c. as representing the fact, that ye ἑτέρως φρονεῖτε, but is the thing, respecting which ye ἑτ. φρ.).

16.] Let not however this diversity, respecting which some of you yet await deeper revelations from God’s Spirit, produce any dissension in your Christian unity.

Nevertheless (notwithstanding that some of you, &c. as above. On πλήν, see Devarius, and Klotz’s note, i. 188; ii. 725) as far as we have attained (towards Christian perfection: ὃ κατωρθώσαμεν, Thl.: including both knowledge and practice, of both which he spoke above in his own case. On the construction, see reff.), walk by the same (path) (reff.: Polyb. xxviii. 5. 6, βουλόμενοι στοιχεῖν τῇ τῆς συγκλήτου προθέσει: see Fritz. ad Rom_3. p. 142. On the elliptic usage of the infinitive for the imperative see Kühner, ii. p. 342, where many examples are given. It appears from these that the usage occurs in the 2nd person only: which determines this to be not ‘let us walk,’ but ‘walk ye’). The exhortation refers to the onward advance of the Christian life—let us go on together, each one in his place and degree of advance, but all in the same path.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. πλὴν: ‘nevertheless’; ‘notwithstanding.’ (Comp. i. 18.) Though there may be things concerning which you need further revelation, ‘nevertheless,’ the condition of your receiving this is your walking according to your present attainment of light and knowledge.

εἰς ὅ: ‘whereunto’; to whatever divinely revealed knowledge. Thus ὅ carries on the thought of ἀποκαλύψει. You need further revelation, nevertheless, walk according to such revelation as you have received. Notice the καὶ before τοῦτο (vs. 15), implying previous revelation.

ἐφθάσαμεν: ‘we have attained.’ The verb means, primarily, ‘to come before,’ ‘to anticipate,’ as 1Th 4:15. In N.T. it mostly loses the sense of anticipation, and signifies simply ‘to come’ or ‘arrive at,’ though occasionally with a sense of suddenness or surprise, as Mat 12:28; 1Th 2:16.

τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν: ‘by that same walk.’ That same knowledge already revealed. For the dative of the norm or standard, see Act 15:1; Gal 5:16, Gal 5:25, Gal 5:6:16; Win. 31:6 b.

Στοιχεῖν from στοίχος, ‘a row.’ Hence ‘to walk in line.’ (Comp. Act 21:24; Gal 6:16.) ‘To march in battle-order’ (Xen. Cyr. vi. 3, 34). Comp. συνστοιχεῖ (Gal 4:25), ‘answereth to;’ i.e. belongs to the same row or column with. Hence the letters of the alphabet were called στοιχεία, and also the elements or parts of a system. (See Gal 4:3, Gal 4:9; Col 2:8; 2Pe 3:10.)

The infin. here for the imperat., as Rom 12:15.

TR after στοιχειν adds κανονι το αυτο φρονειν with אc KLP, Syr.utr; this was inserted from Gal 6:16; DEFG, 31, 37, 80, It., Vulg., Goth., Arm., read το αυτο φρονειν τω αυτω στοιχειν; Dc E, Vulg., Goth., Arm., add κανονι.

Alf., Mey., Dw., refer εἰς ὅ to the grade of moral and spiritual progress already attained. But this involves an awkwardness in the correlation of εἰς ὅ and τῷ αὐτῷ. Ἑἰς ὃ in that case would imply a common point of attainment which it is impossible to determine, and which does not agree with ἑτέρως φρονεῖτε. Lightf. explains τῷ αὐτῷ as the rule of faith opposed to works, and thinks that the words were added as a parting caution against ‘the dogs,’ ‘the concision,’ etc. He renders, ‘let us walk by the same rule whereunto we attained.’ But the rule is not the point of attainment, but only the way to it. Kl. explains ἐφʼ ὃ of a potential attainment in the possession of the law of righteousness which Israel had not attained in its pursuit (Rom 9:30). This norm, in virtue of which they are new creatures, is the rule by which they are to walk. This seems forced.

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

Nevertheless. Rev., only. Notwithstanding the minor points in which you may be otherwise minded.

Whereto we have already attained [εις ο εφθασαμεν] . Whatever real christian and moral attainment you may have made, let that serve as a rule for your further advance. The character of this standard of attainment is illustrated by the words in ver. 15, be thus minded, and by those in ver. 17, as ye have us for an example. The individual variations are not considered. He regards rather the collective development, and assumes the essentials of christian attainment on the part of his readers. For attained, see on we are come, 2Co 10:14.

Let us walk by the same rule [τω αυτω στοιχειν] The idea of a regulative standard is implied, but rule kanoni must be omitted from the Greek text. Rev. brings out the antithesis better : whereunto we have already attained, by that same rule let us walk. Omit let us mind the same thing.

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