spring." [1]

But St Paul is again dictating, and we must follow. He has confessed
and affirmed, once for all, his standing and fixity in the Lord, and in
Him alone. Now he must emphasize another aspect of the living truth,
his progress in the Lord; the non-finality of any given attainment in
union with Him.

Ver. 12. +Not as though I had already received+ (_elabon_) the crown
of accomplished glory, +or had been already perfected+, with the
perfection which shall be when "we shall be like Him, for we shall see
Him as He is." +No, I am pressing on+ (_dioko de_), as on the racer's
course, +if indeed+, if as a fact, in blessed finality, +I may seize+
(_katalabo_) +that+ promised crown +with a view to which[2] I was
actually+ (_kai_) +seized by Christ Jesus+, when in His mercy He as it
were laid violent hands upon me, to pluck me from ruin, and to
constrain me into His salvation and His service. Yes, "I press on" to
"seize" that crown, with the animating thought that it was on purpose
that I might "seize" it that the Lord "seized" me; and that so every
stage in the upward and onward course of faith runs straight in the
line of His will whose mighty, gracious grasp is on me as I go.
+Brethren+,

Ver. 13. (I speak the word of pause and of appeal, as if I could stand
by you, and lay my hand upon your arm,) +I+ (_ego_), whatever others
may think and do about _them_selves, +do not account myself+
(_emauton_, emphatic like _ego_) +to have seized+ the crown as yet; no,
one thing (_en de_)--my thoughts, my purposes, are all concentrated on
this _one_ thing--+the things behind forgetting+, as one experience
after another falls behind me into the past, +and towards the things in
front stretching out and onward+ (_epekteinomenos_), like the eager
racer, with head thrown forward and body bent towards his object,
seeking for more and yet more, in the grace and power of my unchangeable

Ver. 14. Saviour, +goal-ward I press on+ (_kata skopon dioko_), "not
uncertainly," with no faltering or divided aim, +unto+ (_eis_), till I
actually touch, +the prize+ (_brabeion_, 1 Cor. ix. 24), the victor's
wreath,[3] the prize +of+, offered by, made possible through, +the high
call of God+, the voice of His prevailing grace[2] coming from _the
heights_ (_ano_) of glory and leading the believer at length up
thither, +in Christ Jesus+; for through Him comes the "call," and its
blessed effect is to unite the "called," the converted, sinne