Thomas Aquinas Commentary Philippians 3:15-21

"Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you: only, whereunto we have attained, by that same [rule] let us walk. Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them that so walk even as ye have us for an ensample. For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is perdition, whose god is the belly, and [whose] glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, [that it may be] conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself." — Philippians 3:15-21 (ASV)

Above, he showed how he was lacking in final perfection; now he urges others to have the same attitude. He does this first by giving an exhortation, and second, by stating what is necessarily expected of them (Philippians 3:16).

He says, “Let those of us who are mature think this way”—that is, think what I think: that I am not perfect. But if we are perfect, how can we think that we are not perfect? I answer that some are perfect with the perfection of this life, but not with the perfection of the life of heaven. In heaven, their entire intention will be actually directed toward God; but in this life, they are perfect habitually when they do nothing contrary to God.

He says, “those of us,” because the more perfect a person is, the more imperfect he considers himself to be. As Job said, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5). And as Hebrews says, “Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14).

Regarding the verse, “And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you,” a Gloss provides four interpretations, the first two being more literal:

1. I say that you should think as I do—that is, that you are imperfect. Yet if you think otherwise (better of yourselves than I do of myself), this very thing has been granted to you by divine revelation. When something loftier is revealed to you than to me, I will not contradict but will yield to your revelation. Nevertheless, I do not want you to separate from the unity of the Church because of this revelation; but in unity, let us hold true to what we have attained. This unity consists in the unity of the truth of faith and the rightness of good action, and both must be preserved: “Mend your ways, heed my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace” (2 Corinthians 13:11). The same holds for a good life and good actions: “Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16).
2. If on account of ignorance or weakness you think differently from what is true, let us admit it humbly and not defend it stubbornly: “You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes” (Matthew 11:25).
3. We should be of the same mind—that is, that we have not yet attained our goal. But if in anything you now think differently than you will in the future, because “now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12), God will reveal it in the future: “The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness... and strips the forests bare; and in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’” (Psalms 29:9).
4. Whether you understand dimly here or clearly in the future, God will reveal it, because faith is from God. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Then, when he says, “join in imitating me,” he urges them to imitate him and others but to avoid the wicked. First, he makes his point; second, he gives the reason (Philippians 3:18).

He says, therefore: Because I regard these things as dung that I may gain Christ, “brothers, join in imitating me” in this. “The sheep hear his voice” (John 10:3). I am the shepherd; you are my sheep by imitating me: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). And “take note of”—that is, carefully consider—those who live in such a way as you have an example in us. You have this example in my life and teaching: “Set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12); “being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3).

Next, when he says that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ, he gives the reason for his admonition, considering first those who are to be avoided, and second, those who are to be followed (Philippians 3:20). But so that this warning does not seem to come from hatred, he first mentions his affection, and second, he describes the ones to be avoided (Philippians 3:18b).

He says, therefore: I say that the ones to follow should be observed, because some walk differently—that is, from bad to worse: “They walk about in darkness” (Psalms 82:5). About them I have often told you when I was with you, and now I tell you even with tears of compassion: “Oh, that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Jeremiah 9:1).

He gives the reason for this when he calls them “enemies of the cross of Christ.” He describes them first by their work and second by their intention.

Their work is to practice enmity against the cross of Christ. That is, they say that no one can be saved without observing the ceremonies of the Law, by which they nullify the power of the cross of Christ: “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). And what will be the result? For us, it is certainly life through the cross of Christ, but for the others, it is the opposite, because they incur death. Therefore, he says, “their end is destruction”—that is, eternal death.

Then he describes their intention, first revealing the intention itself and second, the result of that intention (Philippians 3:19). He says, “their god is the belly.” This is as if to say that they spread this doctrine—that is, that the ceremonies of the Law must be observed—for their own gain and glory, to satisfy their appetites. “For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own belly, and by fair and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the simpleminded” (Romans 16:18). “All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied” (Ecclesiastes 6:7).

He says “god” because it is unique to God to be the first principle and the ultimate end. Therefore, those who make something their ultimate end make it their god. Furthermore, they seek their own glory, contrary to what is stated in John 8:50: “Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it and he will be the judge.” The result will be their shame: “I will change their glory into shame” (Hosea 4:7).

This is what will happen to those “whose minds are fixed on earthly things”—that is, those who are pleased by and seek earthly things. They will be ashamed because their condition is temporary: “If you live according to the flesh you will die” (Romans 8:13).

Then he describes the ones to be imitated when he says, “our commonwealth is in heaven.” He describes this in three parts: first, the heavenly commonwealth in them; second, their expectation (Philippians 3:20b); and third, the usefulness of this hope (Philippians 3:21).

He says: They seek earthly things, but we do not, because “our commonwealth is in heaven.” This means our life is perfected by contemplation, as it is written, “We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). It is also perfected by our affection, because we love only heavenly things, and by our actions, in which there is a representation of heaven: “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:49).

But why is our commonwealth there? Because that is the source from where we expect the most help: “I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where does my help come?” (Psalms 121:1). Also, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Therefore, he says, “and from it we await a Savior.” As Isaiah says, “Blessed are the eyes that look for him” (Isaiah 30:18), and as Luke writes, “Be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks” (Luke 12:36).

This coming involves three things:

1. The general resurrection. Therefore he says, Christ “will change our lowly body,” which is subject to death: “Man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm” (Job 25:6); “What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power” (1 Corinthians 15:42–43). He will change, or reform, this lowly body, conforming it to His form: “He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).
2. The imitation of the saints. Therefore he says, our bodies will be made “to be like his glorious body.” The body of Christ, of course, is glorified by the glory of His divinity, and He merited this by His passion. Therefore, whoever shares in the power of the divinity by grace and imitates the passion of Christ shall be glorified: “He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne” (Revelation 3:21); “We shall be like him” (1 John 3:2); “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43).
3. The power by which He does this. It is “by the power” of his Godhead, that is, by the power in Him “which enables him even to subject all things to himself.” For all will be subject to Christ: some for salvation, and some for punishment. Toward the first He will exercise mercy, and toward the second, justice: “You have given him dominion over the works of your hands” (Psalms 8:6); “For God has put all things in subjection under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:27); “Whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise” (John 5:19).