The Past Is Passed

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13–14).

Too often people have assumed that Paul is referring to one’s past failures. But in the larger context of the chapter, Paul is actually addressing the past’s successes.

For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless (Philippians 3:3–6).

Paul’s point in mentioning these things — even his zeal for God as revealed by his persecution of the church — is that “whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ” (verses 7–8).

The word “rubbish,” by the way, means more than just trash. The Greek word is only found here in the New Testament, but it is used in other ancient sources as dung — “The vulgar term stresses the force of the renunciation he has made for Christ’s sake” (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, abridged, p. 1052).

OUR TROPHIES ARE TRASH

And so the real point — and maybe even the difficult point to accept — is that our trophies, our successes, when compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ, are not merely to be thrown away, but are as revolting to us as dung.

KNOWING THE LORD

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord” ( Jeremiah 9:23–24).

Do we delight in knowing God? Is He nothing more than an afterthought, or acquaintance? The relationship God is seeking with us is likened to a father/son relationship (Romans 8:12–17; Hebrews 2:10–13). But beyond this relationship, God likens His relationship with the church as a husband and wife (Ephesians 5:25–33; Revelation 21:2, 9).

Again, the past — with its inherent successes and failures — is passed. “Say not, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask this” (Ecclesiastes 7:10). Satan sometimes traps us in the past. We dwell on things that, in the grand scheme, do not matter to our soul’s salvation.

Letting go of past failings is difficult enough, but it is especially challenging to release our minds from dwelling on our past successes. But if we value Christ and an eternal home in Heaven, then we will cling to Him as Paul did — “not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:9–11).