In
Philippians 3: Paul disclaimed any righteousness of his own
(merited through birth, outward circumcision, zeal, etc.) and
placed his trust in Christ — "the right-eousness which is
of God by faith" (v.9). Then he says, "That I may know
him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of
his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by
any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead
(vv. 10-17). Did he, in the underscored passage, show doubts
about his bodily resurrection?
I
think not. Paul's striving for the resurrection
was a striving to attain unto the perfected "new life"
in Christ. Now, think with me.
In
Romans 6: Paul raised what we hope was a hypothetical
case: Shall we continue in sin in order to have the more grace
(forgiveness)? He answers, in essence, of course not. We are
dead to sin, having died with Jesus. (We put our former way of
life behind us, crucifying self.) How can a "dead man"
live a life of sin? Here is the negative side of the matter.
Then,
on the positive side, Paul says that, following his death and
burial, Christ "liveth unto God" (v. 10), and
indicates that we are to so live. This "resurrected
life" is the ...new man" life of growth toward
perfection in Christ Jesus.
This
seems to be the point in the Philippian letter. Paul
acknowledges that attaining unto this new life, in its fullest
sense; this "resurrection from the dead" (former life
of sin); is only for those who "conform unto his death,
having a
