Charles Ellicott Commentary Philippians 3:12

"Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus." — Philippians 3:12 (ASV)

Not as though . . .—The tenses are varied here. Not as though I ever yet attained, or have been already made perfect. To “attain,” or receive (probably the prize, see Philippians 3:14), is a single act, while “to be perfected” is a continuous process. Clearly, St. Paul has no belief, either in any indefectible grasp of salvation or in any attainment of full spiritual perfection on this side of the grave. We may note our Lord’s use of the word “to be perfected” to signify His death (Luke 13:32), and a similar application of the word to Him in Hebrews 2:10 and Hebrews 5:9; also, the use of the words “made perfect” to signify the condition of the glorified (Hebrews 11:40 and Hebrews 12:23).

If that I may apprehend that for which also I am (rather, was) apprehended of Christ Jesus.—The metaphor throughout is of the race, in which he, like an eager runner, stretches out continually to “grasp” the prize. But (following the same line of thought as in Philippians 3:7-8), he is unwilling to lay too much stress on his own exertions, and so he breaks in on the metaphor by the remembrance that he himself was once grasped, at his conversion, by the saving hand of Christ, and so was only put in a condition to grasp the prize.

The exact translation of the words we render “that for which,” etc., is doubtful. Our version supplies an object after the verb “apprehend,” whereas the cognate verb “attained” is used absolutely, and the expression as it stands here is rather cumbersome. Perhaps it would be simpler to render it “inasmuch as” or “seeing that” (as in Romans 5:12 and 2 Corinthians 5:4). The hope to apprehend rests on the knowledge that he had been apprehended by One “out of whose hand no man could pluck” him.