Brethren, *I* do not count to have got possession myself; but one thing -- forgetting the things behind, and stretching out to the things before,
Paul was already a veteran servant of Christ. Even so, he says he has not yet laid hold of anything. He claims one thing only: the past dropped, the whole man straining ahead.
Laid hold of, and laying hold
Older Bibles say "apprehended" here. The word means to seize, not to understand. One writer shows where it still lives in everyday speech:
He is not speaking here of any mental grasp of things. He uses a word that survives today, so far as I know, only in the language of the police court. We know what it means when a policeman apprehends a man. So it means: that I may lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. What did He lay hold of you and me for? Nothing short of being with Himself and like Him in the glory of God for ever.
The confession of a man far along the road
Paul's refusal to count himself as having arrived says what he valued most:
He was a great apostle. But there was something greater to attain than being an apostle: the "prize of the upward call of God." There was something before his soul which he valued above his service. He desired that he, the chief of sinners, might arrive at the knowledge of Christ. "That I may know Him," he cried, "and the power of His resurrection." He could not rest satisfied short of this attainment. It was poor wretched stuff within him that he had to work with, but he was still pressing forward.
One thing, not many
Paul's aim showed in the smallest parts of his day:
Now, Paul's one object was Christ. Whether he stayed put or travelled, Christ was his object. Whether he preached the gospel or gathered sticks, whether he planted churches or made tents, Christ was his object. By night and by day, at home or abroad, by sea or by land, alone or in company, in public or private, he could say, "One thing I do."
That single aim carries a warning for the rest of us:
This one aim goes far to explain the amazing power and fruitfulness of his life and ministry. The weakness and lack of fruit that so often marks our lives and ministry can largely be traced to the opposite in ourselves: lack of purpose and concentration. We fritter away time and energy on a hundred and one things of no particular value, instead of the one thing that commands us.
What is forgotten
Commentators differ over what Paul is forgetting. One writer takes it as his own past progress, not his sins:
The Apostle does not mean that one ought to overlook, or that he did overlook, his past sins and failures. On the contrary, it is most evil to forget what Christ has suffered for our sakes, and also the many ways in which we have dishonoured God. A man can rejoice so much the more in the Lord if he judges his failure fully… So the Apostle speaks of "forgetting what lies behind." He does not mean his failure. He means his points of progress, the steps or stages in which he had advanced in the knowledge of Christ.
Straining forward — the runner's picture
Another writer applies the forgetting to sins and sorrows alike. He also draws out the force of the word behind "straining forward":
"A RUNNING HOUND NEVER LOOKS AT ITS TAIL."… There is a volume of wisdom in it. Notice that the straining forward in the verse is the word that describes a hound at full stretch. But the Christian who keeps looking back is like a hound that has stopped running. Brooding over the past and mourning over his failure, he feeds on his own tail. Nothing spoils a man's spiritual energy like brooding on the past. Nothing hinders him in the heavenly race like this. It does not matter whether he broods over his sins or his sorrows — the brooding itself is fatal to all spiritual growth and strength.
What holds the whole life together
One writer finds the secret in what Paul still does not have:
It is beautiful to realize that what he lacks now, as we look at him here, is the very thing that makes him a pilgrim and a racer. It is an Object outside himself, something he has not yet attained. Because of its glory for him, he gives his whole energy to pressing on… He leaves behind more than the world. He leaves himself behind too, whatever he might be up to the present. It is Christ before him that gives oneness of purpose and character to his present life.
Summary
- Seized. Christ laid hold of Paul first, and for a definite end — to have him with Himself and like Himself in glory. Everything after that is Paul reaching for what already holds him.
- Unfinished. The apostle who achieved most claimed least. He rated knowing Christ above his own service, and could not rest short of it.
- One. Preaching or tent-making, the object never changed. Scattered time and energy explain fruitless lives.
- Behind. Paul drops his own past progress, not his failures. Brooding, over sin or sorrow, stops the runner dead.
- Before. An Object ahead pulls the Christian on — Christ, who gives one purpose to the whole present life.