How positive was the apostle Paul that he’d be raised from the dead?
It seems that no other man could have ever been more positive based on the Biblical testimony of his conversion and his claims of having had more than one personal revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why, then, would he have recorded something that seems so uncertain in his letter to the saints in Christ Jesus who [were] in Philippi?
“…[that I might] know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, in some way, I shall attain to the resurrection from among the dead.” [Phil. 3:10-11] [my emphasis]
“If, in some way?” Seriously?
Think about that. If Paul believed the coming resurrection of the righteous dead wouldn’t include everyone who belongs to Christ, that would contradict what he wrote in his letter to the church in Corinth:
“For as in Adam all die, so also, in Christ, all shall be made alive.” [1Cor. 15:22] [my emphasis]
Perhaps the key to understanding his attitude can be found a couple of sentences later:
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” [Phil. 3:14] [my emphasis]
In context, the “upward call” would literally define the voice of Jesus Christ when He calls forth the dead from their tombs. [see: Jn.5:28-29, 1Cor. 15:51-52, 1Thes. 4:13-18, Rev. 20:1-6] And the Greek expression “εἴ πως” (ā-pōs) [in Phil. 3:11 above], meaning “if somehow,” or “if, in some way” has to be taken at face value. The grammar here doesn’t allow for a loose interpretation.
Consider then that being raised from the dead wasn’t the goal Paul was seeking at all. That was a certainty, given that he belonged to Christ. [Eph. 1:7-8, 13; 2Cor. 4:13-14] He wasn’t pressing on for the upward call itself, but rather for God’s prize of that upward call .
But what exactly was it?
The grammar in Phil. 3:11 implies that the resurrection will function on two levels. The Greek word “ἀνάστασις” [âh-nâ’-stâh-sîs: resurrection] is recorded forty-two times in the New Testament, but only once here in the Accusative Case using the prepositional prefix “ἐξ,” [êks], meaning “out of:” ἐξανάστασιν. This suggests that, not only will the dead rise from the dead, but then some will also emerge out of that group to claim a winner’s prize.
Imagine that. Unlike kid’s soccer today, the winners take the prize!
Remember, everyone who belongs to Christ has already been brought into fellowship with Him on an equal footing. [Gal. 3:26-29] However, striving not to be disqualified from a race by running to win it rather than to merely finish it was an important concept in Paul’s mind:
“I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win…but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” [[1Cor. 9:23-24, 27] [my emphasis]
Not only that, in his second letter to Timothy, Paul seems to reveal more fully the extent of winning the prize in the race. It appears that I will live with Christ [be resurrected] if I have died [to sin] with Him. But there’s a condition to reigning with Him:
“…if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules….for this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.
It is a trustworthy statement:
For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him.
If we endure, we will also reign with Him.
If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” [2Tim. 2:5,10-13] [my emphasis]
The idea that obedience and hard work will be rewarded proportionally at the coming resurrection of the righteous dead at the end of this age can hardly be disputed. [see: Dan. 12:2; Matt. 22:1-14] Some of God’s people will be raised to experience an abundant life—others, shame.
And indeed, some of them will shine like the brightness of the expanse.
“Therefore, as many as are mature, let us have this attitude.” [the apostle Paul, Phil. 3:15]