Attaining to the Resurrection

 
 
 
by George Sidney Hurd
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“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11)
 
What did Paul mean when he said, “if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead”? I believe that Peter may have had this verse in mind when he said that some of Paul’s statements were hard to understand, upsetting the faith of the untaught and unstable (2Peter 3:14-16). Admittedly, failing to take into account Paul’s unique manner of expressing certain truths, this verse troubled me until recently. It seemed to be in conflict with the context and the overall teaching of Paul. Most of the commentaries I consulted were not helpful. Whatever Paul meant by “the resurrection from the dead,” the conditional phrase “if by any means” (εἴ πως, ei pōs) undeniably expresses his uncertainty as to whether or not he would attain to it and cannot be reasonably explained as mere humility on his part. There was never any doubt in Paul’s mind as to whether or not he, or any other born again believer, would be resurrected at Christ’s second coming. This certainty is expressed in numerous passages:
 
“knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.” (2 Cor 4:14)
 
“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Cor 5:1)
 
“We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed —  52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Cor 15:51-52)
 
“For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” (1 Cor 15:21-22)
 
Paul says that the moment we believed, we were sealed by the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption (Eph 1:13-14; 4:30). Far from merely hoping that by some means he might attain to the resurrection, he said, “I know whom I have believed, and I am certain that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him, against that day” (2 Tim 1:12).
 
It is evident that there was absolutely no doubt in the mind of Paul as to whether or not all born again believers would be resurrected or changed at Christ’s second coming for His Church. Some have argued that the reason for Paul’s uncertainty in Philippians 3:11 was because he believed that only the overcomers would take part in the first resurrection and, for that reason, he couldn’t be certain that he would be resurrected at Christ’s return until he had finished the course. Just imagine! If even Paul was uncertain as to whether or not he would be resurrected when Christ comes for His bride, where would that leave the rest of us?  However, as I point out in my article, The Overcomers, everyone who has been born of God is an overcomer (1John 5:4). The body of Christ is not divided between the overcomers and the rest. All will be resurrected at the end of this age when Christ returns. As Jesus said:
 
“This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:39-40)
 
I believe that the key to understanding what Paul was referring to in Philippians 3:11 is to see it in context. In verses 7 through 16 he is not talking about our physical resurrection at Christ’s second coming, but rather about our spiritual resurrection from the dead, fully entering into our new resurrection life in Christ, pressing on in order to lay hold of that new life that Jesus Christ has called us to. It isn’t until the end of the chapter that Paul mentions our physical resurrection from the dead, and he presents it as something already certain to occur. He said:
 
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” (Phil 3:20-21)
 
Obviously, his certainty that he was already a citizen of heaven and that Christ would transform his body, making it like His own glorified body when He comes in glory in verse 20, leaves no room for the interpretation which presents him in verse 11 as though he were uncertain as to whether or not he would attain to his physical resurrection from the dead.
 
While scholars are definitely in the minority who see the resurrection that Paul was striving to attain to in verse 11 as being strictly a spiritual one, this understanding is not unique to me. In Vines Expository Dictionary he said:
 
“In Phil 3:11 καταντάω, katantaō (to attain) is used of the paramount aims of the apostle's life, ‘if by any means,’ he says, ‘I might attain unto the resurrection from the dead,’ not the physical resurrection, which is assured to all believers hereafter, but to the present life of identification with Christ in His resurrection.” [1]
 
Dan Haley Jr. also sees the resurrection Paul was seeking to attain unto as being a spiritual resurrection. Commenting on Philippians 3:11 he says:
 
“this in type is a resurrection from among the dead that are still in their trespasses.”  [2]
 
Aside from the fact that in the same chapter Paul expressed his certainty concerning his resurrection from the dead at Christ’s second coming, what further contextual basis is there for seeing the resurrection of verse 11 as being spiritual rather than physical? I see two main factors which to me indicate that Paul was referring to a spiritual resurrection: 1) Paul’s frequent references to a spiritual resurrection, and 2) The flow of the immediate context.
 
1) Paul’s frequent references to a spiritual resurrection
 
A recurring theme throughout Paul’s epistles is that of our new resurrection life in Christ. In fact, he speaks of our spiritual resurrection more often than our bodily resurrection at Christ’s return. In Ephesians 2:4-7 he says:
 
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
 
Similarly, in Colossians 2:12-13 he says:
 
“buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses.”
 
Each time he tells us that we were spiritually raised from among the dead, he follows up by appealing to us to live according to our new reality as those who are alive from the dead. In Ephesians 4:17-18 he says:
 
“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.”
 
Likewise, in Colossians 3:1-5, after telling us in chapter 2 that we have been raised with Christ, he calls upon us to live accordingly:
 
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
 
This is a recurring pattern in Paul’s epistles. In Romans 6 Paul argues that if we have been united with Christ in His death and resurrection, we should walk accordingly.
 
“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom 6;3-4).
 
Even though we have been spiritually raised with Christ from the dead, we must learn to walk in this new life by faith. Paul continues saying that it is not enough to know that we have been raised with Christ: we must reckon or consider it to be true and, instead of letting sin reign in us, yield our members as those who are alive from the dead:
 
“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (Rom 6:11-13)
 
So, even though we have been raised from the dead with Christ, we have yet to fully attain to the resurrection from the dead in our daily walk. Paul said: “For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor 4:11). Every regenerated believer has Christ’s resurrection life within him. However, as long as we are in this body of flesh, we have the law of sin in our members and, for that reason, we must daily present ourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, making no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. Just as with Paul in Philippians 3, we must seek to attain to that resurrection life, laying hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of us (Phil 3:11-12).
 
2) The flow of the immediate context indicates a spiritual resurrection
 
“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize (βραβεῖον, brabeion) of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. 17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern…
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” (Phil 3:10-21)
 
Here we can see that, while Paul considered our citizenship in heaven and our receiving a glorified body at the Lord’s return as being certain (vv. 20-21), there was a prize to be obtained or apprehended. The moment we were born again we received an incorruptible inheritance and were sealed unto the day of redemption, kept by the power of God until we are changed or resurrected (Eph 1:13-14; 1Peter 1:3-5). Christ’s unending resurrection life is not a prize to be won, but a gift to be received (Rom 5:15; 6:23). In verse 12 he said that he had not yet attained to the resurrection from the dead. That would go without saying if in fact he was referring to his bodily resurrection at Christ's second coming. ​
 
Whenever Paul speaks of salvation, it is always presented as a free gift of God’s grace (Eph 2:8-9; 2Tim 1:9; Titus 3:5-7, etc.). However, when he speaks of our participation in sanctification and ministry, he often presents it as though we were athletes in the Greek Olympics, pressing to obtain the prize (βραβεῖον, brabeion) which he refers to as a crown or wreath (στέφανος, stephanos). Since I consider this subject in more detail in my blog, Rewards for Good Works, I will not go into more detail here, except to point out that this is the language he uses here to describe his goal to be conformed to Christ’s death in order to attain to the resurrection from the dead, or the fullness of Christ’s indwelling resurrection life, laying hold of that for which Christ laid hold of him. He repeatedly says that he was pressing on in order to attain to the goal which was the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The “upward call” alludes to when the athletic contestants who won the competition were called to ascend to the judgment seat (βῆμα, bēma) which was situated on an elevated platform in the arena, in order to receive their prize, which was a crown (perishable wreath, stephanos). [3] The difference is that we compete for an imperishable wreath (1Cor 9:25).
 
While our works will be tested at the Bema Seat of Christ, it is for rewards or loss of rewards, not salvation, since salvation is a gift of God. If we as born again believers fail to run well, we can be disqualified and not receive a reward (1Cor 9:24-27), but we will nevertheless be saved. As Paul says of all those who have built upon that foundation which is Christ:
 
“Each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” (1 Cor 3:13-15)
 
Therefore, 1) understanding that salvation is a free gift of God and that all who have been saved and born again are already citizens of heaven and will be changed or bodily resurrected at Christ’s second coming; 2) considering Paul’s frequent references to a spiritual resurrection, calling upon us to walk in newness of Christ’s resurrection life, rather than allowing sin to reign in our mortal bodies and 3) considering that he presents attaining to this resurrection from the dead as a prize to be attained to, rather than a gift he had already received, it becomes evident that the resurrection from the dead Paul was referring to in Philippians 3:11 was his spiritual resurrection out from among the dead, and not a bodily resurrection.
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[1] Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, NT:2658.

[2] Dan Haley Jr., The Out Resurrection, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H149cn5KjYU ,
26:10
 
[3] F. F. Bruce, Philippians, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series, 1989.
Gordon D. Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, New International Commentary on the New Testament, 1995

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