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SECOND STEP "THE OUT-RESURRECTION"
Resurrection is not only a blessed hope, it is inescapable. The unjust as well as the just, they that have done good, and they that have done evil, those who form the
Body of Christ, and those who stand before the Great White Throne, each and every one of the seed of the woman, Jew or Gentile, must be raised from the dead. The fact that the Apostle could
preface his reference to resurrection in Philippians 3:11 with an "if" after having expressed his complete surrender to the grace of God in Christ, is of itself an indication that he is not
speaking of the fundamental doctrine of resurrection.
"If by any means I might attain unto." No ambiguity attaches to the original here, the R.V. makes but one alteration, the
exchange of "may" for "might." The simple way of "putting the condition" is attained by using the particle ei, as in Philippians 1:22. In the passage before us ei is combined with the adverb pos "how," and so means "if somehow." The word eipos occurs but four times in the N.T. and in every case the contingency is very real, the possibility of failure is stressed. The passages are:
"If by any means they might attain to Phenice" (Acts 27:12).
"If by any means now at length, I might have a prosperous journey" (Rom.1:10),
"If by any means I may provoke to emulation" (Rom. 11:14).
"If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection" (Phil. 3:11).
The grafting of the Gentile, as a wild olive, failed to provoke Israel to emulation. The attempt to reach Phenice, ended in shipwreck. The original of Philippians 3:11 reads eipos katantteso eis,
the original of Acts 27:12 reads eipos dunainto katantesantes eis. The differences are purely grammatical, katanteso being singular, and katantesantes being plural, and the added word dunainto being the addition of the word meaning "be able."
The experiences of the Apostle recorded in Acts 27 and 28 must have left an indelible impression upon his mind, and as he penned the words, "if by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection," he knew, that there was the possibility of failing to arrive, just as surely as the venture to attain unto Phenice met with such disaster. In the verse following, he
emphasizes the fact that he had not "already attained" but that he followed after," still further adding "brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended." Now it is
certain that Paul could have entertained no doubt concerning his standing in grace and his acceptance in the Beloved, his hope like an anchor was sure, and if he used words that express contingency
and uncertainty, then it is morally certain that he was not speaking of the hope of the believer. In verse 14, he reveals that his uncertainty was related to a "prize," and this attitude of mind he had already exhibited in relation to the same theme in 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:13. The "resurrection," therefore, that was the object of the Apostle's desires here in Philippians 3:11, for which he suffered and was willing to endure, must be something equivalent to "the first resurrection" of Revelation 20:4-6, or the "better resurrection" of Hebrews 11:35. The words "first" and "better" stand visible for all to read in the passages cited, but neither the A.V. nor the R.V. use any such qualifying prefix in Philippians 3:11. The A.V. reads:
"If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."
The R.V. reads:
"If by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead."
But that is all the difference that there is between the two versions. The reader will by this time be desirous of consulting the original, and to this we accordingly
turn. The Received Text reads ten exanastasin ton nekron "the out-resurrection of or from the dead," the Critical Texts read ten exanastasin ten ek nekron "the out-resurrection, that which is out from dead ones." In order to appreciate the intention of the Apostle here, it will be necessary to review the teaching of the N.T. on this great question of resurrection. Two sects divided the religious beliefs of Israel into conflicting camps, the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Of the Sadducees it is written that they say "there is no resurrection" (Matt. 22:23). When the Saviour challenged the faith of Martha concerning the resurrection of her brother Lazarus, she replied in the language of the common creed of the day, "I know that he shall rise again . . . at the last day" (John 11:24). The simplest statement concerning the resurrection is that given by the Apostle before Felix and the Sanhedrin, a belief which Israel and the believer could share "and have hope towards God which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust" (Acts 24:15). Here in the words anastasin nekron we have the most elementary form in which the resurrection of the dead can be expressed, a form used by the Pharisees, and by Paul, by the sister of Lazarus and by the common people, for the Apocrypha, written long before Christ, contains the words anastasin eis zoen "a resurrection unto life."
It is, therefore, somewhat disconcerting to read in Mark 9:10 of the disciples that they questioned one with another, "what the rising from the dead should mean?" Are we to
understand that the very disciples who had been selected to witness the Transfiguration on the mountain, were not so mature in their faith as an unconverted Pharisee? Did Martha outstrip the
Apostles in this article of faith? Once again, therefore, we must turn to the actual words as recorded in the original before attempting a conclusion. The words that troubled the disciples
were those used by the Lord when He said, "till the Son of Man were risen from the dead," ek nekron anaste, "risen OUT FROM dead ones." It is the presence of this word
ek that caused the questioning. It was something additional to the common creed. It was this resurrection ek nekron that declared Christ to be the Son of God with power (Rom. 1:4). The
first to rise out from the dead was Christ, as Paul testifies in Acts 26:23.
"That Christ should suffer, and that He should be the first that should rise out from dead ones."
We now take one further step forward and discover a reference that is nearer to the form found in Philippians 3, tes anastaseos tes ek nekron in Luke 20:35.
"But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection that which is out from dead ones."
Here it will be observed that not only have we words similar to those used in Philippians 3:11, but a similar context--"accounted worthy to obtain." Believers
can be accounted worthy to obtain that age and the out-resurrection, they may be accounted worthy to escape the dreadful things that are coming on the earth and to stand before the Son of Man, they
were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name; and the persecutions which they endured were a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that they may be counted worthy of the kingdom of
God, for which they suffered (Luke 20:35, 21:36, Acts 5:41, 2 Thess. 1:5).
The word "obtain" in Luke 20:35 is used by the Apostle in 2 Timothy 2:10, "that they may also
obtain that salvation which is with eternal glory," where the context associates "suffering" with "reigning," and in Hebrews 11:35, "that they might obtain a better
resurrection" which is an obvious parallel with the "out resurrection" of Philippians 3:11. While Paul was sure of the "hope' of his calling, he could not be sure of
attaining unto the "prize" of this same calling, and associated with that prize is the special resurrection, the out-resurrection and the desire for conformity unto the death of Christ,
which we have been considering.
In the verse following, the Apostle makes it very clear that this uncertainty is legitimate, and one or two added words are employed in making this fact
clear. "Not as though I had already attained," ("not that I have already obtained" R.V.), "either were already perfect" ("or am already made perfect"
R.V.), "but I follow after" ("but I press on" R.V.). "If that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus" ("if so be that I may
apprehend that for which also I was apprehended by Christ Jesus")(Phil. 3:12 R.V.). The A.V. repeating the word "attain" in Philippians 3:12 gives a continuity to the
Apostle's argument, but as two very different words are employed katanto in verse 11, and lambano in verse 12, the R.V. is preferable. The change from "attaining" to "obtaining" moreover, reveals a change in the Apostle's objective. He sought first to "attain" to the out-resurrection, and then subsequently to "obtain" the prize. This comes out clearly when we remember that lambano "obtain" occurs in 1 Corinthians 9:24, 25, "one receiveth the prize," "they do it to obtain a corruptible crown."
It is, moreover, evident from the Apostle's language, that one who "obtained" the prize, could be considered as "perfect." Here the Greek word teteleiomai "I have been perfected" awaits the triumphant teteleka "I have finished" of 2 Timothy 4:7, where once again we have the race course, the conflict, and the crown. The reader will recognize that in both of these Greek words, there is the common root tel which means that the "end" has been reached, the race run. Telos "end" (Phil. 3:19) gives us teleo "to reach an end, and finish" (2 Tim. 4:7); and so teleioo "to make perfect" (Phil. 3:12), and teleios "perfect" (Phil. 3:15). The Apostle said, "I follow after," and what he sought for was that he might "lay hold of" that for which he had been "laid hold of" by Christ. Meanwhile his "confidence" in Philippians 1 and his "diffidence" in Philippians 3 give us the two sides of truth that present a perfect whole.
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The Prize
