“Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.”
“As-many therefore as (are) perfect, let-us-be thus minded. And if in-anything ye-are differently minded, this also God shall-reveal to-you. Only unto what we-have-(succeeded)-in-reaching, (let us) walk in-the-same steps.”
Philippians 3:15-16
In verse 12 the Apostle told us he was “not already perfected” (vs. 12). It may seem strange that now he speaks of “as many as are perfect” (vs. 15). There is really no contradiction at all. In verse 12, the Apostle was looking forward to the end of the race, when he would be with Christ in glory, and his “vile body” would be changed, that it might be “like unto His glorious body” (vs. 21). Then he will be “perfected,” but not until then. But in the verse before us, he is looking at us down here. He has been giving a most thrilling description of the Christian race: and in this verse he may be thinking of a runner who has trained well, and is, as we say, “in perfect condition.”
In the dining room in our school there were five long tables, with about 30 boys at each table. One of these was called “the training table,” and any boy who seriously wish to train for a race, or other sports, sat at this table. The food here was plain, no pies or fancy puddings, as at the other tables: but the boys at the training table knew they must deny themselves— and they did so gladly— for the sake of the prize they hoped to gain. As you looked at some of these boys, with their daily training and self-denial, you could not but say, of some at least, “They are a type of perfect boyhood.” When he speaks of those who are ‘perfect’, I think the Apostle is thinking of those who seek to run the spiritual race with all their hearts, as these boys sought to run their school races. Please read 1 Cor. 9:24-27.
The word perfect is also used in another way in the Scriptures, as in Heb. 5:14: “Strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age.” Here “full age,” or maturity, refers to spiritual maturity. The words “them that are of full age” (Heb. 5:14) are literally: “the ones being perfect”: that is, spiritually mature. And it may be that this is the thought in the Apostle’s mind: or, perhaps, he had both in mind: one full grown, spiritually; in perfect training. And to all such the Apostle says: “Let us be thus minded” (vs. 15). Let us have the same mind towards the race that Paul has just described so vividly: “Let everything go that would interfere with your running; do not hesitate; let the eye be single. Saints in this condition, with Christ as their one object, the Word of God as their one guide, will not be long in seeing eye to eye.” (Lincoln).
We have already seen that the Apostle had grave cause for fearing that some of the saints in Philippi did not see eye to eye, and in the fourth chapter of our Epistle, he must speak of this still more plainly: but now he is pointing out the remedy. We have also noticed before how often the Apostle speaks of how we are “minded.” I think ten times in this Epistle does he speak of this: and ten, you will remember, speaks of responsibility. We are responsible for the way our minds work: and this is a serious matter, for “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). And you will recall in the second chapter of our Epistle the Spirit of God tells us: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (ch. 2:5). O Beloved, if only we would obey this single injunction, we would all be of one mind: our strife and our quarrels would all disappear. You remember Christ said, “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:29). That tells us the mind of Christ.
Another has said— “Meekness never takes offense, and lowliness never gives offense.” It is: “Only by pride cometh contention” (Prov. 13:10). Notice the big “I” in the center of that word. That is the one who causes the trouble. So the Apostle after saying: “Let us be thus minded,” (vs. 15) continues: “And if in anything ye are differently minded, this also God shall reveal to you.” I think differently minded, means that some are not of the mind just described, the mind the Apostle had in running the race. I do not think the Apostle is thinking of evil and blasphemous teaching that would mean disloyalty to Christ if we had to do with it. But there are many matters in which we may go on together in happy fellowship, even though we may not be entirely agreed. And the remedy is very sweet: leave them with the Lord, and God Himself shall reveal this to us. It might be well for us to lay this to heart, for sometimes we are tempted to take it on ourselves to try and compel our brethren to have our mind: and we seem sometimes to forget that I do not know everything, and it is possible I might make mistakes myself. And even if I could succeed in forcing my brother to accept my ideas; have I gained anything, unless the Spirit of God teaches him? And it may be the Spirit of God has something to reveal to me also. In 1 Thess. 4:9 we read: “Ye yourselves are taught of God.” But let us remember that it is: “The meek will He teach His way” (Psa. 25:9). May He give us that spirit that is willing to learn of Him!
And notice that we do not learn these truths of God by study. ‘All spiritual realities have a veil over them to our sight till God lifts it up to disclose first one portion and then another of the whole thing’. The word translated ‘shall reveal’, is literally, ‘shall unveil’. God lifts the veil that hangs over these spiritual things, so that we can see them as they truly are. I think it is this veil that keeps even dear children of God from being able to see truths that God has, perhaps, unveiled to us: and we cannot understand why our brethren do not see them too. “Things which eye has not seen.... God has revealed (unveiled) to us by His Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:9 N.T.). ‘And this, which is spoken of as an accomplished act in general, is a gradual and progressive act for the individual’. So we need patience one with another.
“Only unto what we have succeeded in reaching, (let us) walk in the same steps.”
We have been speaking about running, now we are to speak about walking, and in the last chapter of our Epistle we must speak about standing.
The word translated reaching, seems always to indicate not merely reaching, but reaching with some difficulty (Moule), so the word succeeded attempts to express this. But if we have succeeded in any measure in reaching that mind that seeks those things above, that has Christ alone for its object, that is ready to deny ourselves, to sit (so to speak) at the training table, to keep up our daily exercise, forgetting the things behind, and straining onward to the things before, not tempted with an ice cream or cake (that which they represent in spiritual things), let us hold this fast. And remember that to him that bath shall more be given.
And there is another thing you will find, and that is there is a strong bond between those who have this mind; those who sit at the training table, and train in real dead earnest, are drawn very close together. Another has said: “Devotedness to Jesus is the strongest bond between human hearts.”
These are the ones the Apostle exhorts to “walk in the same steps” (2 Cor. 12:18). The word we have translated in this way is a special word, that really means to walk in line, in single file: and intimates a number of people walking together. It was used especially of soldiers marching in file to battle: each keeping step with the other. In the Athenian military oath the promise was given, not to desert the solder by whom (not by whose side, but by whose regulating step as it were) the man walked. (Vaughan).
Peter tells us that Christ has left us an example (a copy, as we say, to write after) “that ye should follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). And if we are all following in His steps, we will all be of one mind. In Eph. 4 we learn more about our walk: “I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation (or, calling) wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
“BEHOLD,
HOW GOOD AND HOW PLEASANT
IT IS FOR BRETHREN
TO DWELL TOGETHER
IN UNITY”
Lo, how pleasant and how well,
When in unity saints dwell:
Like the hands and feet together,
Serve and love and help each other.
Like the precious ointment poured
On to Aaron’s head and beard:
Flowing to his garment’s skirt,
Making all the house smell sweet.
As the dew of Hermon’s mount
Of refreshment is the fount:
So when brethren dwell in love
Blessings flow from Thee above.
All Thy words are true and sure,
They bring peace and pleasant now:
Peace, how good and pleasures pure:
E’en like heaven here below.
(From Chinese)