Philippians 3:15

Imitate Paul

15 Therefore as many as [are] perfect, {let us hold this opinion}, and if you think anything differently, God will reveal this also to you.

Philippians 3:15 Meaning and Commentary

Philippians 3:15

Let us therefore, as many as be perfect
Not absolutely, but comparatively, with respect to other believers, in a lower class of knowledge and experience; and not with respect to degrees, but parts; and regards such who were not children, but of riper age in divine things, unless the words are spoken ironically:

be thus minded;
as the apostle was, to count what were gain to him, loss for Christ; to reckon all things but loss and dung, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ; to be willing to suffer the loss of all things, to win him, ( Philippians 3:8 ) ; to desire to be found in him, and in his righteousness, and not a man's own, ( Philippians 3:9 ) ; to know more of him in his person, righteousness, sufferings, death, and resurrection from the dead, ( Philippians 3:10 ) ; and to attain to such a state, and yet to disclaim all perfection, and acknowledge their imperfection, ( Philippians 3:11 Philippians 3:12 ) ; and to forget things behind, and reach to those before, ( Philippians 3:13 ) ; and press towards the mark, Christ, for the prize of eternal glory, ( Philippians 3:14 ) :

and if in anything ye be otherwise minded;
as to seek for justification by the works of the law, or partly by Christ and partly by the law, and to imagine and expect perfection in this life:

God shall reveal even this unto you;
such errors will be made manifest sooner or later; the day will declare them, and such wood, hay, and stubble, will be burnt up by the fire, which will reveal every man's work, ( 1 Corinthians 3:12 1 Corinthians 3:13 ) .

Philippians 3:15 In-Context

13 Brothers, I do not consider myself to have laid hold of [it]. But [I do] one [thing], forgetting the things behind and straining toward the things ahead,

14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

15 Therefore as many as [are] perfect, {let us hold this opinion}, and if you think anything differently, God will reveal this also to you.

16 Only to what we have attained, to the same hold on.

17 Become fellow imitators of me, brothers, and observe those who walk in this way, just as you have us [as] an example.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "let us think this"