“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,”
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own — Paul's disclaimer ('not that I have already') establishes honest realism: he has not achieved perfection (teleiōs). 'Press on' (diōkō, pursue, chase) is athletic metaphor. 'Make it my own' (katalambanō) is grasping what is offered. The reversal: though he presses toward Christ, Christ has already made Paul his own (katalampanō). Human striving and divine possession coexist.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a note on this verse