- Strive for Perfection (3:12)
Paul makes it clear that he hasn’t arrived to perfection. There are those that teach and believe that Christians can be perfect in this life. They teach that you can reach a point where you are perfect here on earth and no longer sin. Perhaps there were similar teachings around in Paul’s days. But Paul makes it clear that he hadn’t achieved perfection. He was striving after it but hadn’t reached it. Perfection is our goal as believers but it will not be fully realized until we are in Heaven.
If we think we have arrived to perfection and are sinless we deceive ourselves (1 Jn. 1:7-9).
The great America Baptist missionary to Burma, Adoniram Judson once wrote, “even the great pioneer missionaries acknowledge their own shortcomings. Adoniram Judson understood about himself, that we haven’t arrived to perfection. If we arrive to perfection we can never live on this earth. When we know that we lack perfection, this should make us humble and more loving to others and also be patient with other believers and forgiving when they fail. We need to be aware of sin in our lives and confess it and turn from it. Seeing areas in our lives that are lacking can be good motivation to press on and grow and mature.
2. Forget our past (3:13)
Paul was forgetful of his past. Paul was not saying that he didn’t actually remember his past but did not want to let his past discourage him or defeat him. He was determined to press on and to keep running the race.
John MacArthur says: Paul made a break with everything in his past, both good and bad. Religious achievements, virtuous deeds, great successes in ministry, as well as sins, missed opportunities and disasters must all be forgotten. They do not control the present or the future. Believers cannot live on past victories, nor should they make us weak by the guilt of past sins.
Churches are full of spiritual cripples, paralyzed by the grudges, bitterness, sins, and tragedies of the past. Others try to survive in the present by reliving past successes. They must break with that past if they are to pursue the spiritual prize. God is interested in what believers do now and in the future. “No one after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk.9:62). The clearest vision belongs to those who forget the past. We need to be like Paul and when it comes to the past we need to forget it. We can’t let past failures paralyze us from doing what is right today. We can’t allow the past victories we achieved to cause us to become complacent and lazy today.
Good runners know that when they are competing in a race that they cannot look back or it will hinder them from doing their best. Forget the past. Don’t let it hinder your progress as you press on today. Joseph is a good example for us when it comes to forgetting the past. Remember how fearful his brothers were after all the wrong they had done to him and their father was no longer alive. They thought that now that their father was dead, Joseph might try to settle the score with them for all the wrong they had done against him. But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones. And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them” (Gen.19-21)
Joseph didn’t literally forget what had happened to him. He was well aware of their mistreatment of him. He says, “you meant evil against me.” What Joseph does is to act as if the wrong had not been done. He forgives his brothers and treats them kindly. He didn’t live in the past or hanging on in order to hurt them or take grudges against his brothers. He is willing to move on and forget the poor treatment and treat his brothers far better than they deserve.
That is what we need to do when it comes to the past. Joseph did not let his past hinder him from pleasing and honoring God. We need to do the same. Don’t allow the past to be a hindrance in the race you are running. Press on and forget the past. When it comes to perfection, we need to be realistic, when it comes to the past we need to be forgetful and when it comes to the prize we need to be focused.
3. Be Focused: (3:14)
Paul was focused on the goal. He was focused on the prize. A good runner is focused on the finish line.
The Christian life should be like a sword with one point, not like a broom ending in many straws. Such a single purpose forgets the past, reaches toward the future, and presses on. There is no time or place for side issues, diversions to the right or to the left. There is no place for hands on the plow with eyes looking back. Paul was a one-track man, but you can go a long way on one track!” We need to keep our focus on the goal which is the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
The Greek games must have been in Paul’s mind as he wrote of the prize. The winner in those games was called to the place where the judge sat in order to receive his prize. Paul may have referred to ultimate salvation in God’s presence, or to receiving rewards at “the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Cor. 5:10).
Paul was focused on eternity and what awaited him at the end of his life. We can get so mired down in this earth and we may lose our focus on eternity and the prize in store for us. Our focus needs to be clear and fixed on the eternal things. The house we live in and the car we drive and the clothes we wear aren’t going to matter in eternity. What will matter is whether our lives are pleasing to God and is bringing Him glory or not.
Paul’s focus was clear. He was pressing toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. When it came to the prize, Paul was focused.