1. Application — Having a "Mature" Mindset (3:15-16)
C. APPLICATION AND FINAL APPEAL (3:15-4:3)
Having used himself as an example of one who not only rejected his Jewish privileges for the gospel but also lives in the present totally oriented to the future, Paul now explicitly turns to apply this remarkable testimony to the situation in Philippi. But it is an application singularly difficult for the average reader to follow, and full of pitfalls for the scholar. Some things are clear enough: (1) Paul intends his story to be exemplary for them, since he makes that point two times running (vv. 15-16 and 17);1 (2) after this twofold application, the second of which is accompanied by a contrasting indictment (vv. 18-19), he returns in turn (a) to his and their certain future in Christ (vv. 20-21), specifically picking up the latter part of the narrative (vv. 12-14, by way of vv. 10-11), (b) to the imperative to "stand firm in the Lord" (4:1), thus repeating the primary appeal from 1:27, and (c) to the appeal "have one mindset" (4:2-3) from 2:2-5, this time specifically applying it to two leaders of the community. Thus, Paul's application of his story recalls the two major concerns addressed in the two sections of the letter given to their "circumstances": steadfastness (including their keeping a steady gaze on Christ and their sure future) and unity.
But there are difficulties as well: to determine (a) what in his story Paul wants them to emulate in the appeals in vv. 15-16 and 17, and thus to determine precisely what he is after in these appeals; (b) how the various parts described above are related to one another in terms of the "argument" of the letter;2 and (c) how the indictment of vv. 18-19 in particular is related to these materials. These in turn are related (in a typical exegetical circle) to our difficulties in determining with precision the meaning of a considerable number of details along the way.
As a way of approaching these matters, we should note that between the story itself and this application the three-way bond that holds the letter together3 is in full evidence; and this may help us to resolve some of the larger contextual questions. The narrative (vv. 4-14) was devoted altogether to the relationship of Paul to Christ; these appeals now link that with the other two "sides of the triangle" (see p. 13): First, his secure relationship with them allows him to tell his story for purposes of "imitation," as he now explicitly tells them; moreover, he begins (vv. 15-16) and ends (20-21) with verbs in the first plural, rather than second, thus reinforcing that he and they are in this together. Second, the clear aim of all this is with the Philippians' relationship with Christ, which is specifically picked up in the three final appeals (vv. 20-21; 4:1, and 2-3). Thus, there is no evidence, including in vv. 18-19, of "opposition" between him and them; some of them apparently need correction and exhortation, but that is not the same thing as "opposition."4 This suggests further that vv. 18-19, rather than pointing to opponents, function exactly as Paul indicates — as a negative example of some who have stopped "running" and who are thus no longer either friends of the cross or eagerly pursuing the heavenly prize; rather, "their minds are set on present earthly existence," whose only future is "destruction." Even if we cannot identify these people with certainty, and we cannot, their function in the appeal is clearly expressed.
1. Application — Having a "Mature" Mindset (3:15-16)
15All of us who are mature should5 take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 160nly let us live up to what6 we7 have already attained.
Paul just concluded his personal story with a passionate declaration of his pursuit of the prize, knowing Christ fully and completely. He now turns to apply his story to the situation in Philippi. Exactly how — and how much — he expects them to apply it is not at all certain;8 nonetheless, some items seem obvious and are therefore worth noting.
First, in contrast to v. 17, Paul makes this first application in the first person plural.9 Whatever else, this is not the language or mode of polemics.10 In clearly polemical contexts, Paul explicitly indicates the presence of outsiders and dissociates himself from his readers by addressing them with second plural imperatives. But here he does not say, "All of you who are mature, have this mindset." On the contrary, this is application and appeal, pure and simple; the first plural is Paul's way of including himself with his readers when the exhortation applies equally to him as to them,11 and it is his story, after all, that he is urging them to join with him in following. That not all of them would necessarily see things his way is implied, but that much has been implied throughout the letter.
Second, the most striking thing about this application is that it concludes his narrative on the same note with which he begins the Christ narrative in 2:5, thus returning to the crucial verb which dominated the appeal in 2:1-5 (and will occur again in v. 19 and 4:2). Just as he told the Christ story so that they would have a "mindset" (phroneite) in keeping with Christ's, so now he has told his story so that they will "take a view" (phronômen) of things in keeping with his own. Given that he specifically applies both stories by means of this verb, it seems hardly coincidental that Paul's story corresponds at several crucial points with Christ's. But as always for Paul, correct "thinking" leads to right living, so he concludes this application (v. 16) by urging them to conform their lives to their knowledge of Christ, as it has now been put on display through his own story.
That, at least, is the how of things; our difficulties lie with the what and why. Although very compressed and some of its grammar ambiguous,12 what Paul says is in three parts:13
(1) A direct application: Therefore,
as many of us as are teleioi, this let us "think" (phronōmen).
(2) A qualification: And if you "think" (phroneite) anything differently,
this also God will reveal to you.
(3) A rejoinder (to the qualification):
In any case, unto whatever we have attained [already, is implied],
[let us] conform to the same.
He thus begins by urging that they have this mindset, the one revealed in his story; then, as a kind of aside, he indicates that God will reveal to them where their "mindset" might need further help on unnamed matters; but he concludes by returning to the application, now in terms of behavior — of their living up to what God has already revealed, which they know well (rejoicing in the Lord even in present suffering, which conforms them to Christ's death, and to live in the present as those in eager pursuit of the eschatological prize). The basic assumption of the application, in any case, is mutuality between him and them, not fundamental differences of opinion on things that really matter. The passage overall is much too placid regarding central issues of Paul's understanding of the gospel to be construed as polemical.
15 The inferential "therefore" with which this sentence begins14 tells the story as to Paul's intent in rehearsing his pilgrimage: "In consequence of what I have been narrating," he says, "let us now hear the application." Which begins: "As many of us as are teleioi."15 This is a clear play on "I have not yet been brought to completion" in v. 12, and appears to be a bit tongue in cheek. After all, he includes himself in the present designation. So he who is "not yet" teleios ("completed") in the sense of eschatological hope, is "already" teleios ("mature"), along with them, in terms of how they live in the present as they await the final glory.16 Thus teleioi probably means "mature" in the sense outlined in v. 16; those who live in keeping with what they have already attained are thus "complete" to that degree, even though the final completion, when all are fully conformed into the likeness of the Christ whom they desire to know above all else, still remains.
But who are intended by "as many as"? At the least he intends to include himself,17 and apparently all others who share his point of view. Very often, therefore, this is understood to be partitive (= some do, and some don't).18 But that would be a highly unusual use of this pronoun19 for Paul. Technically, it is a correlative (= as many as . . . these), which seldom intends to say anything about those who do/are not, but only about those who do/are. Thus Rom 8:14, "as many as (= all who) are led by the Spirit, these are the children of God." This does not mean that God has some other children who are not led by the Spirit, but that being led of the Spirit characterizes all who are truly God's children.
Likewise here, in expanded form Paul probably intends, "As many as (= all who) are 'mature,' let us be those who have set our minds in keeping with mine described above." The awkwardness of the sentence comes from Paul's condensing the second clause into an imperative, and by including himself. Most likely, then, Paul intends to include all of them with himself in this imperative.20 His concern lies in both parts of the sentence: that they "set their minds" in the same way as his own just described; and that this is precisely the frame of mind that characterizes "the mature" in Christ. On the verb itself see the discussion on 2:2. That he should use this verb here indicates that what is at stake for Paul is first of all a basic frame of mind, a way of looking at everything, which in turn leads to a way of behaving.
By "this"21 (NIV, "such a view of things") Paul probably intends the whole narrative, including the rejection of his Jewish past. But it especially includes his "participation in Christ's sufferings, by being conformed to his death" and his "eager pursuit of the eschatological prize," since that is the focus of vv. 18-19 and 20-21 : those who are "enemies of the cross" and who have "set their minds on present earthly things" are set in sharp contrast to us, whose "citizenship is in heaven, from whence we eagerly await the Savior."22
But then Paul makes a surprising qualification:23 "and if24 you think (phroneite) anything differently,25 this also God will reveal26 to you." Our difficulties are several, some of them related to what is said: (a) what Paul intends by "anything differently" (NIV, "on some point") in the first clause, which is picked up by the "this" in the second clause; (b) the force of the "also" in the second clause; (c) and the nature of God's revealing "this" to them. These in turn impact the larger, and in some ways more difficult, contextual questions: how this sentence relates to what immediately precedes (v. 15a) and follows (v. 16) and how — or whether — it relates to the narrative of vv. 4-14. All of which is complicated for us by the tenor of the sentence, which does not carry even a whiff of the odor of controversy; indeed, it is almost nonchalant — a kind of "throw away" sentence — which makes one think that no great issue can be in view.27
It is common to read this as though there were some in the community in opposition to Paul. But this view has nearly insuperable difficulties. First, there is no hint elsewhere in the letter — nor in this sentence for that matter — that there is friction between him and them on some matter(s). Moreover, if this had been written in response to opposition, one would have expected something much more specific, like: "if any ftines] of you think differently on these matters,"28 Instead he addresses the whole community,29 and does so by repeating the verb phroneite from the first clause (phronōmen). Finally, the sentence that follows, which serves as a rejoinder to this momentary qualification, shows signs neither of anxiety on Paul's part nor of disagreea-bleness on theirs.
But if not addressing opposition, what then? Most likely, in light of the present context as well as the whole letter, it is best understood within the setting of friendship. In context Paul is especially concerned that they follow his example, which happens also to be part and parcel of a "patron/client" friendship. But throughout the letter he studiously avoids any hint of this kind of "superior to inferior" expression of friendship between him and them; in fact he goes out of his way to make sure that their friendship is understood in terms of mutuality.30 That seems to be what is also going on here. On the one hand, he really is exhorting them to follow his example (as v. 17 will make even more clear); on the other hand, "exhortation" in this case is not "command," nor does it assume that all will see eye to eye with him on all matters. The emphasis in this sentence, after all, is not on any anticipated "disagreement" they might have with him, but on God's continuing to work among them through divine revelation. The sentence is thus predicated on their mutual friendship and mutual trust, which is so secure that Paul can simply leave it in God's hands to "reveal" to them what further understanding they may need on matters wherein they might not be ready fully to agree with him.
That would suggest, finally, in terms of the details, that the "something differently" and "this also" of his sentence do not so much reflect specifics that Paul has in mind, but generalities. Here is the offer of friendship; they may freely disagree with him at points — on many matters — and if any matter counts for something, Paul trusts God to bring them up to speed here as well. What both the immediate and larger contexts of this letter — not to mention what we know of Paul elsewhere — disallows is that "something differently" can refer either to their living a cruciform lifestyle or to the vigorous pursuit of the heavenly prize.31 Paul goes on in vv. 18-19 to describe people who have abandoned these; and there the vigor and pathos return in such a way that forecloses on such eternally significant matters as belonging to this more "optional" approach to "thinking anything differently."
16 Having allowed that they might see something differently from himself, but stipulating that God will redirect their collective "frame of mind" in any case, he returns to his first point, expressed now in terms of behavior. "In any case," he rejoins, "on the matter at hand you need not wait for divine revelation." At the same time he returns also to the first plural, "unto that which we have attained, to behave in conformity to 'the same.' " Some matters in this sentence are easier than others. First, the conjunctive adverb32 is used in this case to bring closure to the two preceding clauses. It therefore means, "under any circumstances," whether you see all things fully my way or not, "all of us, you and me together, must behave in conformity to the same standard." Second, the verb "behave in conformity to,"33 which originally meant "to be drawn up in a line" (esp. as a military term), is used by Paul only figuratively, meaning to "bring one's life or behavior into conformity to" something (the Spirit; the "rule" that neither circumcision or uncircum-cision counts for a thing, but only the new creation).
The difficulties have to do with (a) what Paul is referring to in saying "unto that which we have attained,"34 (b) what "the same" refers to, to which he is urging35 conformity, and (c) how these two relate to one another. Most likely:
(a) With the clause "unto that which we have attained," which can only mean "already," Paul seems to be calling them to live in keeping with how they have already followed Christ,36 before they have received this letter.37 Given Paul's longtime — and loving — relationship with this church, and his frequent stops there, it is hard to imagine that he is telling them anything new in this letter. Indeed, in v. 1 he has said quite the opposite, that it is not burdensome for him to write the same things again as a safeguard. Thus, both the Christ narrative, which is foundational for his, and his own story do not present something new; rather they tell the "old, old story" all over again. This is that to which he and they have already attained, even if some are now slackening off in some way and for some reason.
(b) It is possible that "the same" means something like "to the same as mine as outlined in my story above," or "to one and the same 'rule' that we have always lived by."38 More likely, however, it does not here refer to some external "rule" that he and they have in common,39 but refers specifically to "that which we have already attained" in the preceding clause,40 exemplified in the gospel.
(c) If so, then the clause functions as we have suggested, as a rejoinder following his momentary qualification in v. 15b. What he is therefore calling them to is to live in conformity to the gospel as that has been spelled out repeatedly in their hearing, and as it has now been repeated in the Christ narrative in 2:6-11 and in his own that has just preceded (vv. 4-14). What he and they have already "attained" is an understanding of the gospel in which the life of the Crucified One is the paradigm for those who would be his followers; and they may do so with joy because they are "already but not yet"; the power of the resurrection by which they now participate in his sufferings, thus being conformed to his death, is also the guarantee of their own sure future, toward which he has just urged them to follow him in eager pursuit.
The best explanation of the "why" of all this, therefore, is the one we have suggested right along, that in the face of opposition and some internal dissension, some of them have lost their vision for and focus on their crucified and risen Lord, including his coming again. Even in a Roman prison Paul has not lost his vision; here he urges them to follow his example and to see their participation in Christ's sufferings as Christ's way of "conforming them to his death," so that they, with Paul, may joyously gain the prize of his eternal presence.
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1. And will do so again in 4:9, as the final wrapup to the larger section (3:1-4:9).
2. Or indeed whether they are related at all, or whether this is simply a form of first-century "stream of consciousness." But most likely Paul knows very well where he is going; and in any case, the first assumption of exegesis should be that authors are intentional, whether we can discover that intent or not.
3. See the Introduction, pp. 13-14.
4. And to speak of the "heresy at Philippi," as some do (e.g., Gnilka, Collange) is to move far beyond the evidence, especially in terms of what Paul explicitly says.
5. This reflects Paul's φρονώμεν, which is almost certainly original; a few witnesses (X L 326 1241s pc Clement) read the indicative. Collange (followed by Martin) leans toward this reading, which he turns into an interrogative, but for strictly presuppositional, not textual, reasons. The indicative could have been an error of hearing; more likely it represents an attempt to smooth out the text (= "As many as are mature, we think this way").
6. This reflects the τω αύτω στοιχείν of Paul's original text (read by Ρ1 6 Ρ4 6 N* A Β Ivid 6 33 1739 pc b co Hilary Augustine). Under the influence of the similar appeal in Gal 6:16 and Phil 2:2, the Western and Byzantine traditions added, in different configurations, κανόνι, τό αύτο φρονεΐν (= "let us conform to the same rule, thinking the same thing"). This is an obviously secondary attempt to make sense of Paul's otherwise laconic clause. Very likely it captures the larger concern.
7. P16 (apparently) and a few MSS of the Sahidic version have turned this first plural into a second plural; while that reflects Paul's primary concern, it misses the rhetoric of this appeal.
8. Jones (58) calls these two verses "one of the few passages in the Epistle that are difficult to interpret." That may be a bit sanguine as to the rest of the epistle, but it does reflect a reality about this passage. Here is a place where the scholarly pitfalls noted above (p. 351) are especially in evidence; but many of these are of our own making, partly resulting from a number of (sometimes unquestioned) presuppositions, which deeply affect how these verses are read: (a) The unwarranted paragraph break at v. 12 (which the grammar disallows; see on vv. 12 and 15), and the inclusion of vv. 15-16 in this new "paragraph" (thus vv. 12-16); (b) that vv. 12-14 in particular are directed against "opponents," whose language Paul is using against them; (c) and related to (b), that there is some kind of "theological" tension between "parties" in Philippi, and that Paul is addressing now one and then the other; and (d) that the word play in v. 15 determines the meaning of the text, rather than the grammar and context (this is blatant in Jones; it is unquestioned by many). To read the epistle as a letter of friendship and exhortation, as suggested in this commentary, brings about a quite different reading of the same data.
9. On this use of the first person plural in paraenetic sections of his letters, see above on v. 3.
10. Cf. Meyer (173): "A tone of irony... is utterly alien to the heartfelt character of the whole discourse, which is, moreover, in this application . . . so expressed as to include the apostle in common with his readers." So also Kennedy, Caird, Kent, Loh-Nida, O'Brien; contra Lightfoot, Jones, Schmithals, Beare, Gnilka, Collange, Martin, Bruce, Hawthorne, Silva. The difficulties with this latter point of view, besides the fact that a straight reading of the text is so much against it, is highlighted when one reads the secondary literature through in chronological order. Those who see the text as polemical in some way either avoid the grammar altogether (for good reason, one might add), or indicate the difficulties with the grammar — which exist primarily because of the presuppositions — and then try to settle them by the method of exegetical "divide and conquer" (where a series of unusual [and unlikely] meanings is proposed for individual words or phrases, which are then adopted en masse as Paul's overall intent; see esp. Hawthorne on v. 15b; cf. η. 23).
11. Cf., e.g., Rom 14:19; 1 Cor 15:49.
12. So that it is capable of different readings, both as a whole and in some of its parts. For example, to rework Caird's paraphrase (143-44), Paul might mean either:
The point of view I have been expressing is the mark of a mature believer. If at any point you think otherwise, I can rely on God to reveal to you the correctness of my point of view. In any case, the one thing that matters is we should all act in accordance with the level of understanding already attained.
or:
The point of view I have been expressing is the mark of mature believers like you and me. Granted this fundamental mindset, you may be sure that if there is anything on which you hold unsound opinions, God will lead you to the truth about that as well. The main thing is that we must conduct our life together by that one standard we all share.
On the former option, see Meyer (and most interpreters); for the latter see Lightfoot, Kennedy, Caird.
13. Cf. Lohmeyer (148): "drei rhetorischen Zweizeilen" (three rhetorical two-clause sentences).
14. Gk. ούν; unfortunately, as in 2:1, again left untranslated by the NIV; and scarcely noted even in the technical commentaries. Lohmeyer (147) and O'Brien (433) are notable exceptions. Hawthorne also notes it, but makes no effort to show how it functions. This clearly inferential conjunction, plus the total lack of any kind of paragraphing signal in v. 12, where the grammar demands a continuation of vv. 10-11, is what makes the common paragraphing (vv. 12-16) so suspect. In fact, just as in 2:1 and 2:28, this conjunction marks a turning point in the argument, in this case toward the application of what has been narrated from v. 4 — not just from v. 12!
15. On the basic meaning of this word, see nn. 11 and 23 on v. 12; cf. the discussion on 1 Cor 2:6 in Fee, First Corinthians, 102-3 (cf. on 14:20), where it refers to being "adults" as over against acting like children (cf. Eph 4:13).
16. As much as anything, missing the clearly eschatological thrust of vv. 10-11 and 12-14 with its "already but not yet" prespective has caused no end of generally irrelevant comments on this word play that seem quite foreign to Paul's concerns. Only O'Brien, among English commentaries over the past century, uses the language of eschatology to explain this text.
17. Although Schmithals (Paul, 74) thinks otherwise, that with this sentence "Paul . . . addresses his opponents, the τέλειοι, and sets himself at a distance from them." It isdifficult to see how the grammar of this sentence, especially the first person plural verbs (φρονώμεν/έφθάσαμεν), allows for such an interpretation. On the inclusive "we" see the discussion on 3:3.
18. So Michael (164): "at the same time hinting that they have not all reached maturity"; cf. Kent (143), whose stance is the boldest ("exhorts those who are mature;... promises those who think differently"; cf. Silva [205], "the group of readers whose error Paul is addressing"). That is especially difficult to wrest from Paul's grammar, where the όσοι and first plural would ordinarily include them all and the second plural in the next clause can be read as "dividing the house" only by a severe wrenching of the text. Under any circumstances, Paul himself uses no explicit language indicating that he thinks of them as a divided community over this "issue."
19. Gk. öσοι, the correlative conjunction (= "as many as") used absolutely, but picked up as the subject of the next clause. Thus, e.g., Rom 2:12 ("as many as sinned apart from the Law shall perish apart from the Law; and as many as sinned having the Law will be judged by the Law"); in both halves of this sentence the "as many as" refers to all the people who fit the category. All others fit another category. What is not implied is that this fits a large number within the category, but not all.
20. Or at least in the sense suggested by Meyer (endorsed by O'Brien), that with this word "Paul leaves it to the conscientious judgment of every reader whether he [or she] . . . belongs to the number of the τέλειοι."
21. Gk. τοϋτο φρονώμεν. On the pronoun with φρονείτε, see n. 25 on 2:5. Here it unquestionably points backward; the differences of opinion lie with what in vv. 4-14 the τοϋτο refers to. See next n.
22. In context, both the immediate context of vv. 10-14 and 20-21 and the larger context of the letter that includes the Christ narrative in 2:6-11, one seems esp. hard pressed to limit the "this" to vv. 12-14, despite the large number of scholars who do so (mostly because they have already started a new "paragraph" at v. 12). Thus only a few see it as suggested here (e.g., Vincent, Barth; Fowl, DPL, 429). Otherwise Lightfoot ("the rule to forget the past and press ever forward"), and inter alia Meyer, Müller, Beare, Hendriksen, Loh-Nida, Bruce, Hawthorne, Silva, O'Brien. Many of these see the "mindset" to be limited to the language of "perfection"; thus, the only true "perfection" in the present is that which humbly acknowledges lack of perfection. But that is not only unnecessarily limiting (as vv. 17 and 4:9 indicate), but contextually unjustifiable; it misses the eschatological perspective of this passage by too much.
23. At least it seems "surprising" to us. Here our inability to fill their shoes as the letter was being read for the first time among them makes understanding especially difficult. Thus for us this is a "strangely prolix sentence" (Barth, 111).
24. Gk. xαί εί; although this could conceivably be an expression of intensive concession (= "even though"), that is unlikely, since in the only two certain instances of this idiom (xαί preceding a form of εί) in Paul ( 1 Cor 8:5; Gal 1:8) there are other indicators that make the concessive meaning certain; whereas the combination occurs in several instances where it is conjunctive (= "and if"), as here (cf. Rom 11:16; 13:9; 1 Cor 6:2; et al.). Hawthorne suggests that the xαί is adversative, that the εί = "since in fact," and that the τι is adverbial = "somewhat different," thus turning the whole sentence into a word over against the whole community ("But since you have a somewhat different attitude"); cf. η. 10 above.
25. Gk. τι έτερως; the adverb occurs only here in the NT. Although it is correctly observed (e.g., Meyer) that the context implies an unfavorable sense, it is perhaps too much so to make it read "amiss" (as Lightfoot; cf. Caird). For Hawthorne's reading of the τι, see preceding n.
26. Gk. αποκαλύψεt, Paul's regular verb for divine revelation, either the revelation of God's ways and the like, including prophetic utterances (e.g., 1 Cor 2:10; 14:30; Gal 1:16; 3:23 ; Eph 3:5) or of God's actions (e.g., Rom 1:18; 8:18). When Paul intends something lesser, he uses other verbs (as in 1:13, "manifest"). In Pauline theology such "revelation" as here intended would be the work of the Holy Spirit. Lincoln (Paradise, 94) sees this sentence as "ironical," reflecting on the "opponents' " boasting in "revelations." But that is a dubious reading of 2 Cor 11-12 into the present text (see n. 60 on v. 3).
27. The best way to see this is to read it in contrast to another sentence (1 Cor 14:37-38) where Paul also anticipates that some might not share his view of things. In a clearly polemical context — as throughout the letter the Corinthians (at least many of them) are at odds with Paul on the matter at hand — Paul says, "If anyone thinks he or she is a prophet or a Spirit person, let them acknowledge what I am writing to you is the Lord's command; if they ignore this, they themselves will be ignored [by God, is implied]." The present sentence is a far cry from that one. While comparable in the sense that both sentences anticipate some differences of opinion with him, there is no resemblance between them in terms of tone and style. Thus, despite much that is written to the contrary, the casual nature of this sentence undermines the view that Paul is being polemical, either here or in the larger section (3:1-4:3). All the more so, when one considers that what he has just narrated about himself — righteousness from God based on faith, knowing Christ by participating in his sufferings so as to be conformed to the likeness of his death, eager pursuit of the eschatological goal of knowing Christ fully — are absolutely central matters to his theology. If they were at odds with him on any of these things, or if outsiders were among them leading them down forbidden paths, then this most casual of responses demonstrates that a leopard can change its spots after all!
28. Although that is exactly how some read the text, despite what Paul actually says (e.g., Kent, Loh-Nida).
29. Thus, whatever else, Paul is not here allowing for individual judgments on his teachings, as Caird points out.
30. On this matter see both the Introduction, pp. 4-7, and (esp.) the discussion of 4:15-17 below. See also the discussion of 1:3-8, 12, 27; 2:1-2, 12, 17-18, 19-24; 3:1; 4:10, 14, 18-20.
31. Cf. n. 25; so also Meyer (176): "Certainly, therefore, the variations [= τι έτέρως], which Paul so forbearingly and confidently and without polemical handling commits to revealing correction on the part of God, were not on matters of principle or of an anti-Pauline character" (cf. Vincent, 113).
32. Gk. πλήν; used by Paul for "breaking off a discussion and emphasizing what is important" (BAGD); cf. 4:14; 1 Cor 11:11; Eph 5:33.
33. Gk. τω αύτω στοιχεΐν; in Paul see Gal 5:25 and 6:16 (cf. Rom 4:12), both of which throw light on this usage. In 5:25 he urges them, "since we have been brought to life by the Spirit, let us behave in conformity to the Spirit" (= in keeping with the "fruit of the Spirit"); 6:16 is very much like the present passage, xαί όσοι τφ κανόνι τούτφ στοιχήσουσιν ("as many as conform to this 'rule' ").
34. Gk. έφθάσαμεν; used by Paul to mean to "reach a certain point (geographically)" (2 Cor 10:14) or, as here, to "attain" to a certain level of Christian conduct (cf. Rom 9:31). As Meyer correctly observes, this verb implies that "progress" has already been made (see on 1:25).
35. The verb is actually an infinitive. Burton (Moods, 146) considers it the one certain instance in the NT of an imperatival infinitive; but that would seem to need a degree of qualification, since the first person plural in the preceding clause (είς δ έφθάσαμεν) makes a straight imperative cumbersome at best — and without analogy in Paul. If imperatival, it is better to see it as hortatory ("let us behave").
36. Meyer (179) has rightly pointed out that this sentence in its entirety has to do with "living the gospel," not with "knowledge." Thus Paul is not here pointing to a certain level of "understanding," but of Christian behavior. Plummer (80) thinks "what we have attained" is equivalent to "the principle that we must never cease striving to make advance"; but that accords poorly with the verb στοιχεΐν.
37. Reading this passage as though in a polemical context presents no end of difficulties for its advocates, who must invariably read between the lines what Paul does not so much as hint at. Thus, e. g., V. Hasler (EDNT, 3.422, on the entry for φθάνω) considers this verb to indicate that they are to be "content with [!] what they have already attained," vis-à-vis "striving enthusiastically after a higher level of faith not limited to a fellowship in suffering with the crucified Lord." Whereas the entry by E. Plümacher (under στοιχέω, 3.278) sees Paul as counteracting those "sure of their own spiritual maturity" that they "should hold true to, stay in agreement with what has been (spiritually) attained." To make these kinds of claims, the "we" must be treated as nonexistent (e.g., Jones), or as a rhetorical ploy that does not really include Paul ("hypothetical," Plummer). But that runs roughshod over what can be clearly demonstrated about this feature of Pauline paraenesis (see the disc, on v. 3 above).
38. Which seems to be the understanding that lies behind the textual corruption found in the MajT (see n. 6 above; cf. KJV, "let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing").
39. As, e.g., Lightfoot (154): "the rule of faith as opposed to works" (based on the parallel in Gal 6:16): cf. Hendriksen (177): "The rule has been established . . . : 'We are still far from perfect, but in Christ we should strive to become perfect" and GNB (endorsed by Loh-Nida), "let us go forward according to the same rules."
40. So also, inter alia, Vincent, Müller, Beare. Despite the fact that so many are prepared to add an understood noun or "rule" to "the same" (see preceding n.), Paul's syntax in particular seems to point in the direction here suggested. Both clauses begin with their respective modifiers; the symmetry in Paul's sentence, as well as the lack of a noun following τω αύτφ, suggests that it refers to the immediately preceding pronoun. Thus:
είς δ έφθάσαμεν, Unto that which we have attained,
τω αύτφ στοιχεΐν. to the same let us conform our conduct.