Section 11
a high calling, a heavenly calling. God has called us to gain Christ as our real land. In typology, God called Israel with an earthly calling to gain the good land. Now God has called us with a heavenly calling to gain Christ.
Once again I wish to emphasize that we need to take care of certain facts in 3:14. No matter how we may interpret Paul's word concerning the goal and the prize, we cannot deny that both are facts with certain points. Even if you do not agree with the interpretation that the prize is the top enjoyment of Christ in the millennial king dom, you still need to take care of the fact that there is a prize for you to obtain. To receive the prize we must reach the goal, and to reach the goal we must run the race. These facts are of great importance.
As we consider these facts, we need to apply them to our situation according to the context of Philippians 3. In this chapter Paul shows us our need to gain Christ. Christ is the goal and also the prize. Do not be distracted by the effort to understand just what kind of prize you will obtain when you reach the goal. What is crucial is that you realize that, according to the divine revelation, God has set forth Christ as your goal