Pressing Toward the Goal

Log in to take the quiz and save your progress.

1. Observe

   Which of the following is one of the seven credentials Paul lists in Philippians 3:5–6 to establish his standing under the law?

   • Educated under Gamaliel in Jerusalem and fluent in Hebrew and Greek
   • Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, who persecuted the church and was found blameless in legal righteousness
   • Born in Tarsus, a Roman citizen, and set apart by God from his mother's womb
   • A student of Moses' writings, a keeper of all 613 commandments, and a temple priest

2. Observe

   According to Philippians 3:13–14, what two things does Paul say he is doing, and what is the prize he is pressing toward?

   • Laying aside past sins and working toward personal holiness, with the prize of a clear conscience
   • Forgetting the things behind, stretching forward to the things before, and pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus
   • Enduring present hardship and hoping for future relief, with the prize of bodily resurrection
   • Denying earthly pleasures and pursuing spiritual disciplines, with the prize of heavenly citizenship

3. Interpret

   Paul counts his former credentials as "refuse" (skybala — often translated "rubbish" or "dung") compared with knowing Christ (Phil 3:8). Does this mean his Jewish heritage and achievements were evil? What is his actual point?

   • Yes — Paul regarded the Mosaic law and Jewish identity as inherently sinful after his conversion.
   • His credentials were morally neutral but practically useless, so he discarded them for efficiency.
   • His achievements were admirable in themselves, but they were obstacles to salvation because they fed pride.
   • The credentials were not evil — they were genuinely valuable by the world's standard and by his own former reckoning as "gain." His point is comparative: in the light of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord, everything else — even the best religious pedigree — falls so far short in value that the comparison makes it look like refuse. This is not self-hatred but radical revaluation; Christ so far surpasses everything else that nothing else can occupy the position of greatest treasure.

4. Interpret

   Philippians 3:20 declares "our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior." How should heavenly citizenship shape the way a believer lives in the present world?

   • It means believers should disengage from politics, culture, and civic life because none of it ultimately matters.
   • It means believers should prioritize accumulating heavenly rewards over earthly relationships and responsibilities.
   • It means the body and its physical needs are unimportant since the real self is already in heaven.
   • Heavenly citizenship does not mean withdrawal from the present world but a different set of loyalties and a different standard of judgment governing how one lives in it. Just as Philippi's Roman citizens were proud of their city's status and lived by Roman values even while in the provinces, believers live by the values and expectations of heaven as their native country while fully present in earthly life — which means their conduct, allegiances, and hopes are shaped by a coming King, not by the present age's rewards.

5. Apply

   Paul says he presses on "forgetting the things which are behind" (Phil 3:13). What past failure or past achievement are you most tempted to be anchored to, and how does pressing forward in Christ offer freedom from it?

   • Past failures should be carefully reviewed so we can learn from them and avoid repeating them
   • Past achievements should be treasured as evidence of God's faithfulness and regularly recounted to others
   • Forgetting the past means suppressing painful memories until they no longer affect your behavior
   • Paul's "forgetting" is not amnesia but a refusal to let either past failures (shame and regret) or past successes (pride and coasting) define the next step. Christ has taken hold of us (v. 12) — which means the forward call is already secured — so clinging to old failures denies grace, and clinging to old victories substitutes past performance for present pressing toward Christ

6. Apply

   Paul warns with tears about those "whose god is the belly" who "think about earthly things" and are "enemies of the cross" (Phil 3:18–19). What does it look like in ordinary life to have earthly desires functioning as a god, and how does heavenly citizenship reorder those desires?

   • Earthly desires are a god only when they involve explicitly sinful behavior; ordinary pleasures are safe
   • Heavenly citizenship means eliminating earthly pleasures to focus entirely on spiritual disciplines
   • The warning applies only to specific false teachers Paul knew, not to ordinary believers in ordinary life
   • When comfort, reputation, security, or appetite consistently take the first place in daily decisions — shaping what we protect, pursue, or sacrifice for — they are functioning as a god regardless of whether we label them that way. Heavenly citizenship recorders these by reminding us that we await a Savior who will transform even our bodies; present appetite is real but provisional, and holding it loosely is the natural posture of someone whose ultimate home and treasure lie elsewhere

Your journal

Write your own answers — they save automatically, and only you can see them.

Log in to write and save journal answers.