if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Parallel Translations
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if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
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yf by eny meanes I myght attayne vnto the resurreccion from deeth.
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If by any meanes I might attaine vnto the resurrection of the dead:
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Philippians 3:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 20:35-36 But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.
- Revelation 20:5 The rest of the dead didn’t live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
- Acts 23:6 But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!”
- Acts 26:7 which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa!
- 2 Corinthians 11:3 But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
- Hebrews 11:35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
- Psalms 49:7 none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him.
- Luke 14:14 and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”
- John 11:24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
- Romans 11:14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them.
- 1 Corinthians 9:22 To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.
- 1 Corinthians 9:27 but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction,
- Acts 27:12 Because the haven was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised going to sea from there, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, and winter there, which is a port of Crete, looking southwest and northwest.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:5 For this cause I also, when I couldn’t stand it any longer, sent that I might know your faith, for fear that by any means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor would have been in vain.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain To life everlasting, which followeth the resurrection of the…
To life everlasting, which followeth the resurrection of the Saints.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 11 If by any means I might attain unto…
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Ver. 11. I might attain to the resurrection] That is (by a metonomy of the subject for the adjunct), that perfection of holiness that accompanieth the estate of the resurrection. True grace never aims at a pitch, but aspireth to perfection. It is a low and unworthy strain in some to labour after no more grace than will keep life and soul together, that is, soul and hell asunder (as one speaketh). But that man for heaven, and heaven for him, that sets up for his mark the resurrection of the dead, that would be as perfect now as the glorified saints shall be at the day of judgment.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Being found in whom, after justification and sanctification, he…
Being found in whom, after justification and sanctification, he doubts not to be glorified, (by a figure of a part, resurrection of the body, for the whole), though he expresseth himself as one that must pass through difficulties ere he attain not only to a spiritual resurrection from sin, but a glorious one of the body from the grave, even such a one as will be an elevation or ascension of the body united to the soul, not only exempted from the grave, but exalted into the air, to be for ever with the Lord, 1Th 4:14,17; from whom he was assured no death should separate him, Rom 8:38,39; 2Ti 4:8; who lived by faith in expectation of the time and the manner of it, 1Co 15:14,19,30,32; 1Pe 1:6,7, that he should be then completely holy in his measure as Christ himself is.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain By the resurrection of the dead, here, is not…
By the resurrection of the dead, here, is not to be understood the general resurrection, for all men shall attain to that, whether they strive for it or no; but he intends that complete holiness, and absolute perfection in grace, which shall attend the state of the resurrection; so he explains it himself in the next verse, Not that I have already attained, &c. or am already perfect; and he shows how diligent he was in endeavouring, in the use of all possible means, to arrive at it, and attain unto it.
Learn, That the glorious resurrection of the just, or grace consummated in glory, is attainable, and deserves and requires the utmost care and diligence of the most holy and zealous Christians to be exerted and put forth, in order to the attaining of it: If by any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain If by any means I, might attain unto the…
If by any means I, might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not in a figurative sense, the resurrection from the death of sin to a life of grace, of which Christ is the efficient cause, for this the apostle had attained to; unless the consummation of that spiritual life, in perfect holiness, should be intended, than which nothing was more desirable by him; nor in a representative sense, for this also he enjoyed in Christ his head, being risen with him, and in him, when he rose from the dead; but in a literal sense and designs not the general resurrection of the just and unjust, which he believed; for he knew that everyone must, and will attain to this, even Pharaoh, Judas, and the worst of men; but the special and particular resurrection of the righteous, the better resurrection, which will be first, and upon the personal coming of Christ, and by virtue of union to him, and in a glorious manner, and to everlasting life and happiness: and when the apostle says, "if by any means" he might attain to this, it is not to be understood as if he doubted of it, which would be inconsistent with his firm persuasion, that nothing should separate him from the love of God, and with his full assurance of faith, as to interest in Jesus Christ; but it denotes the difficulty of attaining it, since through various afflictions and great tribulations a believer must pass, before he comes to it; and also the apostle's earnest desire of it, and strenuous endeavour for it; not caring what scenes of trouble, or sea of sorrow what fiery trials, severe sufferings, or cruel death he went through, so be it he obtained as he believed he should, the glorious and better resurrection; he counted not his life dear to himself, he loved it not unto death, having in view the blissful and happy state after it.
If by any means I, might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not in a figurative sense, the resurrection from the death of sin to a life of grace, of which Christ is the efficient cause, for this the apostle had attained to; unless the consummation of that spiritual life, in perfect holiness, should be intended, than which nothing was more desirable by him; nor in a representative sense, for this also he enjoyed in Christ his head, being risen with him, and in him, when he rose from the dead; but in a literal sense and designs not the general resurrection of the just and unjust, which he believed; for he knew that everyone must, and will attain to this, even Pharaoh, Judas, and the worst of men; but the special and particular resurrection of the righteous, the better resurrection, which will be first, and upon the personal coming of Christ, and by virtue of union to him, and in a glorious manner, and to everlasting life and happiness: and when the apostle says, "if by any means" he might attain to this, it is not to be understood as if he doubted of it, which would be inconsistent with his firm persuasion, that nothing should separate him from the love of God, and with his full assurance of faith, as to interest in Jesus Christ; but it denotes the difficulty of attaining it, since through various afflictions and great tribulations a believer must pass, before he comes to it; and also the apostle's earnest desire of it, and strenuous endeavour for it; not caring what scenes of trouble, or sea of sorrow what fiery trials, severe sufferings, or cruel death he went through, so be it he obtained as he believed he should, the glorious and better resurrection; he counted not his life dear to himself, he loved it not unto death, having in view the blissful and happy state after it.
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Philippians 3:12
phi 3:12
phi 3:12
phi 3:12Not as though I had already attained,.... Or "received"; he had received much grace out of the fulness of it in Christ; he had received the gift of righteousness, the forgiveness of his sins, and the adoption of children; he had attained to a lively hope of the incorruptible inheritance, and had received a right unto it, and had a meetness for it; but as yet he had not received the thing itself, nor was he come to the end of his race, and so had not received the crown of righteousness laid up for him; he had not yet attained to perfect knowledge, nor perfect holiness, nor perfect happiness: wherefore he adds,
either were already perfect; he was perfect in comparison of others, that were in a lower class of grace, experience, and knowledge, in which sense the word is used in Phi 3:15, and in Co1 2:6; he was so, as perfection intends sincerity, uprightness, and integrity; the root of the matter, the truth of grace was in him; his faith was unfeigned, his love was without dissimulation, his hope was without hypocrisy, his conversation in the world was in godly simplicity, and his preaching and his whole conduct in his ministry were of sincerity, and in the sight of God: he was perfect as a new creature with respect to parts, having Christ formed in him, and all the parts of the new man, though not as to degrees; this new man not being as yet grown up to a perfect man, or to its full growth, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; he was perfect with respect to justification, being perfectly justified from all things, by the righteousness of Christ, but not with respect to sanctification; and though his sanctification was perfect in Christ, yet not in himself; his knowledge was imperfect, something was wanting in his faith, and sin dwelt in him, of which he sometimes grievously complained: now this he says, lest he should be thought to arrogate that to himself, which he had not:
but I follow after; Christ the forerunner, after perfect knowledge of him, perfect holiness from him, and perfect happiness with him: the metaphor is taken from runners in a race, who pursue it with eagerness, press forward with all might and main, to get up to the mark, in order to receive the prize; accordingly the Syriac version renders it, , "I run", and so the Arabic: the apostle's sense is, that though he had not yet reached the mark, he pressed forward towards it, he had it in view, he stretched and exerted himself, and followed up very closely to it, in hope of enjoying the prize:
if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus; he was apprehended of Christ, when he met him in his way to Damascus, stopped him in his journey, laid him prostrate on the ground, and laid hold on him as his own, challenged and claimed his interest in him, Act 9:3, as one that the Father had given him, and he had purchased by his blood; he entered into him, and took possession of him, and took up his residence in him, having dispossessed the strong man armed, and ever since held him as his own; and he apprehended, or laid hold on him, to bring him as he had engaged to do, to a participation of grace here, and glory hereafter; that he might know him himself, and make him known to others; that he might be made like unto him, have communion with him, and everlastingly enjoy him: and these things the apostle pursued after with great vehemence, that he might apprehend them, and be in full possession of them; and which he did, in the way and manner hereafter described.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The resurrection of the dead - That is, the…
The resurrection of the dead - That is, the resurrection to glory.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. The resurrection of the dead.] That is,…
Verse 11. The resurrection of the dead.] That is, the resurrection of those who, having died in the Lord, rise to glory and honour; and hence St. Paul uses a peculiar word which occurs no where else in the New Testament, εξαναστασις. The words, as they stand in the best MSS., are as follow: εις την εξαναστασιν την εκ νεκρων, to that resurrection which is of the dead. This glorious resurrection, and perhaps peculiarly glorious in the case of martyrs, is that to which St. Paul aspired. The word αναστασις signifies the resurrection in general, both of the just and unjust; εξαναστασις may signify that of the blessed only.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain If by any means - Implying, that he meant…
If by any means - Implying, that he meant to make use of the most strenuous exertions to obtain the object.
I might attain unto - I may come to, or may secure this object.
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The resurrection of the dead - Paul believed that all the dead would be raised Act 24:15; Act 26:6-8; and in this respect he would certainly attain to the resurrection of the dead, in common with all mankind. But the phrase, “the resurrection of the dead,” also might be used, in a more limited sense, to denote the resurrection of the righteous as a most desirable object; and this might be secured by effort. It was this which Paul sought - this for which he strove - this that was so bright an object in his eye that it was to be secured at any sacrifice. To rise with the saints; to enter with them into the blessedness of the heavenly inheritance, was an object that the apostle thought was worth every effort which could he made. The doctrine of the resurrection was, in his view, that which distinguished the true religion, and which made it of such inestimable value Act 26:6-7; Act 23:6; 1 Cor. 15; and he sought to participate in the full honor and glory of such a resurrection.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain If by any means I may attain to the…
If by any means I may attain to the resurrection, which is from the dead; i.e. may attain to a happy resurrection, when the dead shall rise again. (Witham) --- This manner of expression does not betray any distrust or fear, but merely insinuates the difficulty of the enterprise, the uncertainty of success, and the ardent desire of the apostle, who sought by every means to arrive at this happiness, either by sufferings and labours, or even by martyrdom. (St. John Chrysostom; Estius)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain If by any means--not implying uncertainty of the issue,…
If by any means--not implying uncertainty of the issue, but the earnestness of the struggle of faith (Co1 9:26-27), and the urgent need of jealous self-watchfulness (Co1 10:12).
attain unto the resurrection of the dead--The oldest manuscripts read, "the resurrection from (out of) the dead," namely, the first resurrection; that of believers at Christ's coming (Co1 15:23; Th1 4:15; Rev 20:5-6). The Greek word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. "The power of Christ's resurrection" (Rom 1:4), ensures the believer's attainment of the "resurrection from the (rest of the) dead" (compare Phi 3:20-21). Compare "accounted worthy to obtain the resurrection from the dead" (Luk 20:35). "The resurrection of the just" (Luk 14:14).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 11. Attain unto the resurrection—No doubt is implied of…
11. Attain unto the resurrection—No doubt is implied of the resurrection of all men, “both of the just and unjust,” for on this point the apostle had put himself on record. Act_24:15. But as Paul here uses for resurrection not simply the ordinary Greek word anastasis, uprising, but exanastasis, out-uprising, millenarians have found a reference to a supposed first resurrection in order of time. Note, 1Co_15:24.
This they find confirmed in the Greek preposition before the dead, a true rendering of the phrase being the out-uprising from (without the article) deads. But of the phrase from deads we have shown that the meaning may be a resurrection from their own dead selves, (Luk_20:35; 1Co_15:12,) that is, a resurrection from being dead. The prefix ex in exanastasis is, we suppose, as is often the case, simply intensive or emphatic, and brings out the meaning of extra-resurrection; that is, the glorious resurrection, or glorious side of the resurrection simultaneous with the inglorious resurrection of the wicked, as in Joh_5:26-29. It was to this glorious extra-resurrection that St. Paul aspired.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. if by any means] For the strong language…
11. if by any means] For the strong language of contingency here cp. 1Co_9:27. Taken along with such expressions of exulting assurance as Rom_8:31-39; 2Ti_1:12; and indeed with the whole tone of “joy and peace in believing” (Rom_15:13) which pervades the Scriptures, we may fairly say that it does not imply the uncertainty of the final glory of the true saint. It is language which views vividly, in isolation, one aspect of the “Pilgrim’s Progress” towards heaven; the aspect of our need of continual watching, self-surrender, and prayer, in order to the development of that likeness without which heaven would not be heaven. The other side of the matter is the efficacy and perseverance of the grace which comes out in our watching; without which we should not watch; which “predestinates” us “to be conformed to the image of the Son of God” (Rom_8:29). The mystery lies, as it were, between two apparently parallel lines; the reality of an omnipotent grace, and the reality of the believer’s duty. As this line or that is regarded, in its entire reality, the language of assurance or of contingency is appropriate. But the parallel lines, as they seem now, prove at last to converge in glory (Joh_6:39-40; Joh_6:44; Joh_6:54; Joh_10:27-29; Rom_8:30; 1Th_5:23-24).
See Hooker’s Sermon Of the Certainty and Perpetuity of Faith in the Elect, especially the closing paragraphs.
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I might] Lit., and here better, with R.V., I may.
the resurrection of the dead] The better supported reading gives, as R.V., the resurrection from the dead. The phrase implies a certain leaving behind of “the dead”; and this is further emphasized in the Greek, where the noun rendered “resurrection” is the rare word exanastasis, i.e. the common word (anastasis) for resurrection, strengthened by the preposition meaning “from.” This must not, however, be pressed far; later Greek has a tendency towards compounding words without necessarily strengthening the meaning. It is the setting of the word here which makes an emphasis in it likely.—It has been inferred that St Paul here refers to a special and select resurrection, so to speak, and that this is “the first resurrection” of Rev_20:5-6, interpreted as a literal resurrection of either all saints or specially privileged saints, before that of the mass of mankind. (Such an interpretation of Revelation 20 appears as early as Tertullian, cent. 2, de Monogamiâ, c. x.). But against this explanation here lies the fact that St Paul nowhere else makes any unmistakable reference to such a prospect (1Co_15:23-24 is not decisive, and certainly not 1Th_4:16); and that this makes it unlikely that he should refer to it here, where he manifestly is dealing with a grand and ruling article of his hope. We explain it accordingly of the glorious prospect of the Resurrection of the saints in general. And we account for the special phrase by taking him to be filled with the thought of the Lord’s Resurrection as the pledge and, so to speak, the summary of that of His people; and His Resurrection was emphatically “from the dead.”—Or it may be that we have here to explain “the dead” as a term of abstract reference, meaning practically “the state of the dead,” the world of death.—In any case, the phrase refers to “the resurrection of life” (Dan_12:2; Joh_5:29); “the resurrection of the just” (Luk_14:14); differenced from that of “the unjust” (Act_24:15), whether or no in time, certainly in an awful distinction of conditions and results. The blessed resurrection is here called “the resurrection” as the blessed life is called “the life” (e.g. 1Jn_5:12). The antithesis is not non-resurrection, and non-existence, but such resurrection, and such existence, as are ruin and woe.—It is observable that the Apostle here implies his expectation of death, to be followed by resurrection; not of survival till the Lord’s Return. Cp. 2Co_4:14.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain If by any means I might attain unto the…
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. The apostle uses the language of humble expectation. For the particles, "if by any means" (ei pwv), comp. Act_27:12 Rom_1:10 Rom_11:14. The verb "attain" means to arrive at the end of a journey; it presents the figure of a pilgrimage. Read, with R.V and the best manuscripts, the resurrection from the dead. This phrase (used also in Luk_20:35 and Act_4:2) means the resurrection of the blessed dead. (comp. 1Co_15:23 1Th_4:16) This meaning is strengthened here by the repetition of the preposition with the word "resurrection" (exanastasiv). The general resurrection is always called the resurrection of the dead.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain If by any means I might attain unto the…
Php_3:11
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead
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St.
Paul in the context reckoneth up his gain by Christ
Viz., his justification and sanctification; but his gain reacheth further, even to glorious resurrection.
I. The benefit to be obtained by Christ. How is this a privilege since there is a resurrection of the wicked? (Act_24:15). But theirs is one to condemnation (Joh_5:29), and so a fall rather than a rising. Therefore the faithful are only called the Children of the Resurrection (Luk_20:36). The word here is not ἀνάστασις, but εξανάστασις, to express the full and blessed resurrection that no evil shall follow (Luk_14:14).
II. The submission of a self-denying believer to use any means to obtain it. The words seem to express a doubtfulness, but indeed they do not (2Co_5:1), for there is no uncertainty in Gods promise. Why doth he then thus express himself?
1. To intimate the difficulty, thereby to quicken his desire and diligence.
2. To express the variety of the means by which God bringeth His people to glory (Php_3:10).
3. To set forth his full submission (Luk_14:26).
4. His unwearied diligence and earnest endeavour to obtain this happiness, whatever it cost him.
5. The value of this benefit, and his vehement desire to attain it. (T. Manton, D. D.)
The doctrine here taught is that the blessedness of the saints at the resurrection is so great that we should be content to use any means and run any hazards to attain it.
I. What is the happiness of the saints in that day.
1. Our personal inherent blessedness is glory revealed in us (Rom_8:18).
(1) The body hath its felicity.
(a) Because the man cannot be happy till the body be raised again. The soul alone doth not constitute human nature.
(b) It is agreeable to the wisdom and goodness of God that the body which had its share in the work should share the reward.
(c) The estate of those who die will not be worse than that of those who are only changed at Christs coming, or there would be a disparity.
(d) In the heavenly state there are objects which can only be discerned by the bodily senses--the human nature of Christ, e.g.
(e) As Christ was taken to heaven bodily, so shall we, for we bear the image of the heavenly one (Php_3:21; 1Co_15:42-44).
(2) For the happiness of the soul. We shall be satisfied with the vision of God and transformed Into his likeness (1Co_13:12; 1Jn_3:2; 2Co_3:18).
2. Adherent privileges.
(1) Justification: We have that now by faith; then we shall have our absolution from the Judges mouth.
(2) Adoption. We have that light now (Joh_1:12)--then the full fruition thereof (Rom_8:23).
(3) Redemption. That day is called the day of redemption (Eph_4:30), because then we are completely delivered from all misery, both of soul and body (Eph_1:14).
II. The means whereby God bringeth us thither.
1. The way of our holiness and the active part of our obedience.
(1) Dying to sin (Rom_8:13; Gal_6:8).
(2) Living to God. The spiritual life is heaven begun (2Pe_3:14; Luk_21:36; Act_24:15-16).
2. As to passive obedience observe--
(1) That no suffering must be excepted out of our resignation (Mat_16:25; Luk_14:26).
(2) This must be endured cheerfully.
III. The reason why, rather than fail, we must submit to any means which God hath appointed.
1. From the absolute dominion and prerogative of God, both to make laws and to put us on what trials He pleaseth to appoint.
2. From the goodness and suitableness of His laws.
(1) There is wisdom in them.
(2) We have no reason to be discouraged, for Divine help is assured (2Ti_4:17-18).
(3) The Divine comfort is to be had (1Pe_4:14; Rom_5:5).
3. The great difficulty lieth not in a respect of the end, but the means; and so the trial of our sincerity must be rather looked for there.
4. The hope propounded will bear this submission. Immortal happiness is most durable, and endless misery most terrible; the world is vanity, heaven real. (T. Manton, D. D.)
The resurrection
I. There is a happy estate hereafter which begins with the resurrection. More happy than that which Adam lost or from which the angels fell.
II. The beginning of this happy estate is at the resurrection.
1. All good shall be perfected.
2. All evil cease.
3. Body as well as soul, perfected being, shall enjoy the fulness of the one and immunity from the other.
III. The apostle makes the resurrection the last thing, thereby establishing an order (Luk_24:26; 2Ti_2:12). Calvary comes before Olivet in the experience of both Christ and His people.
IV. It is hard to come to heaven because of this Divine order.
1. Away then with all idle and secure thoughts of sparing ourselves. We must come to health by physic.
2. In all crosses let us not look into the state we are in so much as that we are going to. We are going to a palace and should not be dejected because of the narrowness of the way (Heb_12:21).
3. Labour for a right esteem of the things of this world. They are momentary and fading:
4. Labour to strengthen our graces.
(1) Faith to assure us that we are Gods children, and have heaven laid up for us.
(2) Hope which makes us cheer fully endure in expectation of what faith believes.
(3) Love to Christ which made Paul desire to be with Him which was best of all (Php_1:23). (R. Sibbes, D. D.)
The resurrection
(ἐξανὰστασις) of the saints
I. Is distinguished from that of the wicked--by its glory (Php_3:21). Dan_12:2 --By its precedence (1Th_4:16; 1Co_15:23). Rev_20:5 --By its results (Joh_5:29).
II. Is an object of Christian ambition--requiring faith--consecration--effort.
III. Will amply repay every sacrifice--of self-gratification--earthly advantage--life. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The resurrection of the just
No one could be more convinced than Paul of the blessedness in which the saint enters at death, and he was wonderfully qualified by visions and revelations to entertain this conviction. Yet he sets his heart upon that which could only be remote. What, then, must be that sequel which can fix and overwhelm such a mind, that while an instantaneous heaven lies before it, is transported beyond it to splendours which it agonizes to attain?
I. What is that entire satisfaction and climax for which the text teaches us to long and labour. Immortality as an idea was not unknown to the pagans, but the resurrection is the almost exclusive doctrine of Scripture.
1. That resurrection will be simultaneous, and the judgment of all will immediately succeed it.
2. Yet it is not unnatural that this common event should sometimes be specially regarded and personally applied. In the language of Paul to the Corinthians it is argued in the case of believers from their union with Christ. He mentions not the wicked who shall rise for different reasons. They could never wish to attain the resurrection. The first resurrection (1Th_4:15) is shared by the dead over those who have never died, and that of Rev_20:6, is of souls.
3. St. Paul desired but a share in the general resurrection, attended as that event would be to him and all the people of God with consequences of surpassing happiness and glory.
4. Yet searching the experience of present Christians we do not find this hope ardently cherished. Thousands are contented with the salvation and glorification of the soul; this is to be deplored as the slight of a matchless good. Apart from the resurrection man is incomplete.
II. What are the scriptural representations of its accompaniments and consequences.
1. The mutual recognition of saints in heaven. Is violence to be done to memory, and can love be changed? Can a spirit made perfect be wanting in sympathies which so much purified it from imperfection?
2. The happiness of our future condition is made chiefly to depend on our resemblance to Christ.
3. There the saints shall be fully acknowledged. They who here were unknown and hated shall there shine forth as the sun.
4. Christians shall be glorified with their Master.
5. We therefore find the righteous in Scripture earnestly seeking and exultantly hailing this resurrection. Why? Because--
(1) It is the triumph of Christ.
(2) The full redemption of the believer.
(3) The restitution of our entire nature.
(4) Purposes will then be indicated which our present mixed being has not hitherto revealed, for both mind and body; the latter will then be a perfect instrument for the soul.
(5) A congeniality will be established between the risen saints and the materialism of their glorious abode.
(6) In the reintegration of our manhood shall be displayed the most perfect spectacle of the beauty of holiness.
(7) There will be endless progression.
III. What are the determinations by which it is to be won. The manner or method supposes far higher means than those we can command. The power of the resurrection alone secures our confidence. The means, however, in this connection, refer not to the causative but the moral; to the influence of present character and conduct on this event. We often mark the influence of former conduct on our present condition; and so we exist and act for all the future of our immortality.
1. What prayer, then, should we devote to this attainment?
2. What anticipation should familiarize it?
3. What preparation should facilitate it? Mortify therefore your members.
4. What counterpart should we exhibit of it. (R. W. Hamilton, D. D.)
The attainment of the resurrection
I. Pauls aim. How can that future rising be attained at all by mans effort in time?
1. Paul has been speaking of a spiritual fellowship with Christs sufferings and death and rising, and then as a direct result he passes to this, from which we infer that the resurrection in the future is the result of mans spiritual life in the present. Men fancy that the future glory of the risen Christian is by a kind of miracle suddenly added beyond the grave. Paul regards it as a glory daily growing now, to be manifested then. It is an outgrowth of fellowship with Christ, and its blessedness will be greater or less according to the perfection of that fellowship.
2. In what manner was this Christian life a constant attainment of the resurrection? The power of Christs resurrection is the influence in the soul which renders its life a gradual growth towards the rising glory of man.
(1) The risen Christ is the pledge of a risen life. Christ did not rise merely to prove our immortality; if that were all its meaning it would only deepen mans fear. We do not want immortality unless we know that our life, throwing off its sins, shall rise upwards to God. Rising to God Christ showed that man is accepted by the Father, rising in the human, He showed how, through Him, human life should rise into life Divine.
(2) The rising of Christ is a power to elevate life. We have fellowship not with the past, but with the living Jesus: we are moulded by the power not only of a dying Saviour, but of the living friend. He carries our sympathies upwards with Himself to God and the spiritual world.
(3) Hence arises the gradual attainment of the resurrection, every experience of our risen life makes us feel the necessity of the future; yet every experience is an actual attaining of that future.
II. Pauls endeavour. The necessity of this agonizing endeavour arises from two facts.
1. The difficulty of accomplishing it. This is so--
(1) Because our souls are subject to the influences of three great worlds.
(a) By its fascinations this old earth appeals to our hearts, and seems by many arms to bind us to itself as our home.
(b) The dark world of unbelief and indifference awakening the carnal nature renders the Christian life an inevitable struggle.
(c) At the same time through the love of God and the Cross of Christ heaven is attracting the soul.
(2) Because of the incessant and dominant power of our easily besetting sin. This power arises largely in that every man thinks his own weakness small and insignificant.
(3) And then listen to Paul after his high attainments telling us that he has to keep his body under lest he should be a castaway.
2. The glory of its attainment. You know how this raised Paul to exertion. He moved onwards to eternity under the constant influence of its attraction. Alas! how feebly we feel this as a motive for endeavour. We lash ourselves into exertion by fear, when we might be so cheered into it by sweet hope as to become unconscious of toil. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)
The attainment of the resurrection dependent on fellowship with Christ
Just as the perfect beauty of the flower lies dormant in the seed, and through its burial in the cold earth is invisibly developing itself, to bloom forth at the voice of spring, so the perfect beauty of the resurrection is hidden in the Christian now; and, by all his toil and struggle, that germ of glory is growing. Just as the mental power and strong determined will of the man are hidden in the child, and are maturing unconsciously through all the wonder of its infancy, so the resurrection manhood of the soul is lying in it during this childhood of Time; and by the education of fellowship with Christ, and struggle to be Christ-like, is advancing to its final splendour. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 11. If by any means I might attain to…
11. If by any means I might attain to the resurrection from the dead. This great consummation of a glorious resurrection to a heavenly life is worth attaining by every sacrifice, and by every possible means.
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.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 11. “If, perchance, I may attain unto the resurrection,…
ARGUMENT 11
THE GOAL
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11. “If, perchance, I may attain unto the resurrection, which is out from the dead.” Here is a positive allusion to the first resurrection conferred on the bridehood of Christ at the premillennial rapture of the saints. It is much to be deplored that this most inspiring theme of apostolic preaching was permitted to drop out of the pulpit as one of the mournful results of the Constantinian apostasy, and by some means this wonderful passage was spoliated of its beauty and force during the Dark Ages, and brought to light in the Sinaic manuscript discovered by Tischendorf in 1859, which I now hold in my hand. The English reading of this wonderful passage is not only destitute of force, but intelligence. Modern theologians have vainly attempted to explain away the first resurrection by identifying it with regeneration. Such a construction is utterly untenable, running into Swedenborgianism, making the second resurrection also spiritual, and altogether doing away with the resurrection of the body. We see here that this premillennial resurrection, when our Lord rides down on the clouds and calls his bride to meet him in the air, is the goal on which Paul’s eye was fixed in his indefatigable race for glory. This qualification for the transfiguration and consequent readiness for the Lord’s return to the earth, was the most inspiring theme of the apostolic age, thrilling Paul and his comrades with an irrepressible enthusiasm amid all their persecutions, privations, and conflicts. It is a significant fact that the popular Churches are silent on the two most absorbing themes of the apostolic ministry; i.e., entire sanctification and the Lord’s return to the earth.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:11 To experience the resurrection from the dead is…
3:11 To experience the resurrection from the dead is to be saved from judgment and receive eternal life (see Rev 20:4-6). Paul was aware of God’s holiness and the severity of the final judgment (Rev 20:11-15); he knew he must persevere in his pursuit of Christ and salvation (cp. Gal 5:5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.