Chapter 3
There are four paragraphs in this chapter:
1. The priority perspective of super-grace, verses 1-8
2. The parenthesis of grace orientation, verses 9-11.
3. The next objective in life—ultra-super-grace, verses 12-19.
4. What is beyond super-grace, the final objective—surpassing grace, verses 20, 21.
Verse 1 – the command to continue in super-grace. Super-grace is the base from which we move to the final objective in time—ultra-super-grace. “Finally” is
an accusative of general reference from loipoj, plus the definite article. Loipoj is an adjective and it means remaining. Here it is a part of the idiom, with the definite article, and the idiom changes the subject which was being developed in chapter two. The subject is changed to emphasise the importance of reaching that final objective. One super-grace is reached, don’t stop, keep going. There is something even greater.
Since the accusative of general reference is an adverbial accusative it limits by indicating a fact indirectly related to the action of the verb. This transitional use becomes essential as an adverb. Paul is about to conclude the epistle to the Philippians but he must add some vitally important information on the subject of ultra-super-grace. So when we notice that translation “finally” it means that he is shifting now to an objective which is before him, not yet reached.
“my brethren” – the vocative is addressed to believers, members of the royal family of God. It refers to the Philippians as royal family; it refers to us as royal family. The descriptive genitive from the personal pronoun e)gw—both descriptive and possessive: “my brethren.” As a possessive genitive he is saying “All believers in my generation, I am your right pastor.”
“rejoice” – the only way to have happiness is to consistently take in Bible doctrine. It takes a lot of doctrine to have inner happiness. This is the present active imperative of xairw. It is a command to “follow me.” Paul has arrived at this happiness. The customary present tense of this verb denotes what habitually occurs or may be expected to occur when a believer stays with doctrine. The active voice: the super-grace believer produces the action of the verb. The imperative mood is a command to keep moving and never stop—“keep on having inner happiness.”[1]
“in the Lord” – e)n plus the locative of kurioj, indicating that this is a monopoly of those who are members of the royal family of God. It has to do with positional truth. This is the first command to perpetuate super-grace, and this is accomplished by the continuation of the function of GAP.
Translation: “Finally, my brethren, keep on having happiness [+H] in the Lord. To be writing the same doctrines to you, on the one hand, is not irksome, while on the other hand it is a safeguard [basis of security] for you.”
Verse 2 – the opposition set up to keep people from going from super-grace to ultra-super-grace. But you do not have to have suffering to get to ultra-super-grace, you have to have doctrine to get there. When you reach ultra-super-grace by means of the intake of doctrine, then God gives you the mantle of suffering, but it is not all kinds of suffering, it is opposition from Satan day by day which intensifies the blessing that you have. You don’t suffer to get there.
“Beware” – present active imperative of the verb blepw, which means to look, to be alert, to be wary, or to beware. The present tense is an iterative present, it describes what recurs at successive intervals. It is also known as the present tense of repeated action. The active voice: the super-grace believer produces the action of the verb. The imperative is the imperative of command.
“of dogs” – accusative plural direct object from kuwn. The definite article is used as a demonstrative pronoun, calling special attention to a certain kind of dog. The dog that is in view here is the Judaizer, so we translate this, “Beware of those dogs”—false teachers, apostles of apostasy, evangelists of evil.
Summary
1. The phrase “dogs” does not refer to the literal quadruped, it refers to bi-ped Judaizer.
2. The Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written.
3. In the time of writing this passage the dog was an animal which only inspired contempt. The dogs of the ancient world often travelled in packs, were often hungry, and were quite vicious. They were also carriers of disease.
4. The word “dog” was used in the ancient world, as it today, in a very derogatory sense. The Jews called the Gentiles dogs and the nomenclature of derision and a derogatory sense.
5. Basically, the dog of the ancient world was a scavenger. By nature he was unclean, he was the carrier of disease, and he was the carrier of other creatures who carried diseases—like the flea.
6. At the same time the dog of the first century was semi-wild, eating garbage, carrion, refuse.
7. Just as dogs fed on garbage and dead bodies, so the Judaizers fed on the principles and doctrines of evil. Therefore the apostle Paul calls them scavengers of theology.
8. Just as rabid dogs infected others, so the Judaizers infected Paul’s world-wide congregation. They followed him and they constantly tried to insert legalism where Paul had taught grace. They infected with reversionism and evil their victims.
9. The dog cannot be better than his own nature, so the Judaizers cannot exceed the content of evil in their soul.
10. While the Judaizers passed themselves off as religious celebrities Paul in the power of the Spirit, using spiritual language, they were in reality dogs, scavengers, travelling in packs, and providing opposition for the apostle Paul. And while they were a part of the great mantle of opposition, and he could understand them and meet their opposition, his congregation could not. Therefore the warning, “Beware of those dogs.” Hence the derogatory analogy to dogs indicates the personality, the essence of the Judaizers who constantly opposed the great apostle. They were a part of the honour that God bestowed upon him.[2]
Next is the second “beware”, the present active imperative again, same iterative present, and the active voice: alertness produced by super-grace or ultra-super-grace believers who have doctrine resident in the soul. The imperative mood is for a command. This time the object is “evil workers” – accusative plural from the adjective kakoj, a reference to human good. Evil is Satan’s policy. The word for “workers” is e)rgathj. The accusative plural of the definite article is also used as a demonstrative pronoun, and we simply translate, “Beware of those evil workers.” This is describing the same people but in a different term. The evil work here is the work which was accomplished in persecuting Paul, in offering opposition to Paul’s ministry. They are those who do something to set up a system of opposition to the ministry of the teaching of the Word of God. The final one is “beware of the concision.” This is the same morphology for beware again; the accusative singular direct object of katatomh is mistranslated “concision.” Katatomh means “mutilation.” It is a reference to the ritual of circumcision as a means of getting to heaven, the same way some people use baptism today as a means of getting to heaven. The ritual was distorted into something it was never intended to be. The teaching of these Judaizers was, “You have to be circumcised to be saved.” This is all a warning about one category, the Judaizer. These are the apostles of evil, evangelists of reversionism; they have mutilated grace with the addition of ritual as a means of salvation; they took something meaningful, like circumcision, and distorted it into something meaningless, and therefore the word “mutilation” is used. Circumcision had a legitimate function but not as a means of salvation and not as a means of spirituality. They made the ritual of circumcision a prerequisite for salvation as well as for spirituality.
Translation: “Beware of those dogs, beware of those evil workers, beware of that mutilation.”
1. Starting with the garden, evil or Satan’s policy always seeks to take grace as it finds it and mutilate it.
2. Mutilation, then, is taking legitimate Bible doctrine or Bible ritual and distorting it into something legalistic and reversionistic.
3. Mutilation is the Satanic distortion of doctrine so that it appears to be teaching his policy of evil. It is a Biblical concept disguised and coated with evil as appears to teach evil. Many functions of evil today are related to the Word of God, but they are distorted from the Word of God.
Verse 3 – the royal family’s true circumcision based upon the concept of mutilation. Circumcision was regarded as mutilation when it was distorted to become
a spiritual factor. “For we are the circumcision” – the explanatory use of the particle gar is the beginning of the passage. We are now to get an explanation of that last phrase, “beware of that mutilation,” in the previous verse. The nominative plural from the personal pronoun e)gw is in the proleptic or emphatic position, translated “we and only we,” referring to the royal family of God, setting the royal family aside as something very special in God’s plan. The Church Age is special, it is an interruption of the Age of Israel Those who are saved in the Church Age are special, they are royal family of God forever. As royalty they have been given an option that never existed before in history—a completed canon of Scripture with exposure to that complete canon through the teaching of a pastor-communicator by which they can move in a shorter period of time than any other period of history, right to super-grace, and from super-grace to ultra-super-grace, and eventually from ultra-super-grace to dying grace. This is the program, the agenda which God has set up for every believer. This is why we are kept alive under the principle of living grace.
“we are” – present active indicative of the verb e)imi, “keep on being.” The customary present indicates what may be expected when you reach super-grace: you keep on with doctrine. The active voice: the super-grace believer produces the action of the verb. The declarative indicative mood indicates the action of the verb from the viewpoint of historical and doctrinal reality; “the circumcision”—the predicate nominative from the noun peritomh [peri = around; tomh = to cut). It describes the ritual of circumcision.[3] Circumcision has no spiritual significance but is a perfect analogy. It is analogous sometimes to the ritual of baptism, sometimes to some other ritual, like the Lord’s table. In addition to that, it also indicates here that the super-grace believer has no more of the useless part of the foreskin of evil and reversionism. That evil and reversionism is removed as the dead skin is removed.
“which worship God in the Spirit” – incorrect translation. It is “who worship in the Spirit of God.” The word “worship” is the present active participle from latreuw. It means to serve at the altar, to carry out religious duties, and finally it comes to mean “worship” in the Koine Greek of the New Testament. It is a function of the royal priesthood. The present tense is a descriptive or pictorial present which presents to the mind a picture of events in the process of occurrence. The events in the process of occurrence: to listen to the teaching of the Word of God is the highest point of worship. The active voice: the super-grace believer has produced this action of the verb ,many times, that’s how he has reached super-grace. And the SG believer continues to produce the action of the verb as he moves on to the next objective. The participle is circumstantial. The universal royal priesthood of the believer plus the fact that every believer in the Church Age is also royal family of God—spiritual aristocracy—implies a unique form of worship in this dispensation. The uniqueness is found in the locative singular of pneuma, and it should be translated “in the Spirit.” There is a descriptive genitive with that from qeoj, indicating that this is God the Holy Spirit; “who worship” is an articular participle, the definite article is used as a relative pronoun, it refers to super-grace believers in the royal family of God who worship in the Spirit of God. The filling of the Spirit is necessary for the function of GAP, the highest form of worship. The filling of the Spirit is also necessary in any other facet of worship. As a result of this form of worship we have the final phrase:
“and rejoice in Christ Jesus” – the continuative use of the conjunction kai here means this is an extension of worship. But the word “rejoice” here is not rejoice [+H], here it is the present active participle of a different verb, kauxaomai, which means to boast, to glory, to pride one’s-self in something. This is super-grace esprit décor, and it comes from maximum doctrine in the soul. It is used by Paul for boasting in someone else in relationship to a high spiritual condition. Boasting about Christ connotes love, concentration, appreciation. It is an expression of category #1 love capacity in super-grace. The present tense is retroactive progressive present denoting what began in the past, when the person becomes a super-grace believer, and continues while a person is in super-grace on the way to ultra-super-grace and continues to dying grace. This is also called the present tense of duration. It might be translated, therefore, “and glorying [boasting, being confident in].” The middle voice is a deponent verb, middle in form but active in meaning. The super-grace believer produces the action of the verb. The participle is circumstantial, it is the highest form of worship—boasting in the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of maximum doctrine in the soul.
“and have no confidence in the flesh” – this includes a transitional kai, plus the negative o)uk, plus the perfect active participle of peiqw which means to obey, it is related to strict discipline, to personal obedience, self-discipline. The perfect tense of peiqw does not mean obedience, it means, just as translated, “confidence.” This is an intensive perfect for a completed action, emphasising the existing results of that action. In other words, a total confidence. When the believer is on the way from super-grace to ultra-super-grace he develops an unshakeable confidence which, by the time he reaches ultra-super-grace, gives the ability to cope with any disaster, any problem, any Satanic opposition. The active voice: the super-grace believer advancing produces the action. The participle is circumstantial. There is also the preposition e)n plus the locative of sarc, and e)n plus sarc has two meanings here. It means, first of all, to have no confidence in human abilities or thinking or talent, or any other factor which seeks to intrude upon the intake of doctrine. It also comes to have a relationship to the infirmities of the flesh; in other words, adversity.
Translation: “For we are the true circumcision [for the Church Age], who worship God in the Spirit of God, and glory [boast] in Christ Jesus, also do not have confidence in the flesh.”
1. It was the will of God that Paul’s third missionary journey should go west into Spain. Instead Paul went east. Romans 15:24 tells us that Paul was to go to Spain. So when Paul was in Ephesus, writing to the Romans, that he should have gone to Spain. In Romans 15:25, however, he states what is not the Lord’s will. In Romans 15:28 he said he would go to Rome by way of Spain. The only problem with that was that the Lord did not include Jerusalem in Paul’s agenda for the third missionary journey. It was Paul’s idea, not the Lord’s. And while he eventually intended to do the Lord’s will this emotional lapse was to cost him in a very serious way.
2. After Paul’s visit to Ephesus and the riot of the silversmiths’ union he was headed west. He was still in compliance with his orders in Acts 20, but in verse 1 the riots shook him up. In Macedonia is where Paul slipped into emotional reversionism. It was west of Ephesus and en route to Spain, but that is a s far west as Paul ever went. When he got to Corinth he was still headed in the right direction but he then turned, and from Corinth he sailed for Troy—east. From Troy Paul would not even go back to Ephesus. From there he proceeded on his way to Jerusalem—Acts 20:16. Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus in order that he might not have to spend time in the Roman province of Asia. He was hurrying to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.
3. Paul was warned twice not to go to Jerusalem by the Holy Spirit—Acts 21:4-9; 21:10-13.
4. Paul is now in reversionism, he disobeyed completely—Acts 21:14-17.
5. When Paul arrived in Jerusalem—Acts 21—he was now in full emotional reversionism, and therefore he was now susceptible to whatever the inclination of the geographical area—called Judaism, which is a form of reversionistic legalism. The church in Jerusalem was so infected that it had lost its leadership in the Christian world. It was now as low as a church could be in its reversionism. The unbelievers were involved in a massive form of Judaism that would end up in the fifth cycle of discipline in 40 years. When Paul went in to meet with the pastors of Jerusalem he took some bad advice from the leaders of the Jerusalem church—Acts 21:20,24. No Bible teacher ever has to compromise in order to gain a hearing for the teaching of doctrine. They suggested he go into the temple and offer a vow. This was a compromise of doctrine. No one has to set up a system of rapport; the Word of God stands on its own. Paul got into the compromise of legalism—Acts 21:26.
6. This was the beginning of Paul’s discipline. Acts 21:27-32, one week later Paul went back in order to complete the function of his vow in the temple. He was spotted by the Judaisers from Asia, the very people who stoned him at Lystra. When they saw him in the temple they were immediately suspicious and they immediately aroused the people.
7. It became obvious that Paul was not safe, even in the Mark Anthony barracks, and at the first time he left the barracks he would be assassinated. He was removed to Caesarea where he stayed for two years—A.D. 59-60. This was the time of his reversion recovery. He appealed to Caesar and when he eventually arrived in Rome, because no one could make much out of the indictment, it was decided to merely put him under house arrest until he could come face to face with Nero.
8. Paul spent two years there, and during that time he put down all of the super-grace doctrine that is put down in the prison epistles—Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.
Verse 4 – Paul’s human celebrityship. “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh” starts with the conjunction kaiper. The word per doesn’t occur except as a part of another word, and it emphasises the meaning of the word to which it is affixed. Here it means “Although” or “Even though.” It indicates that Paul had a greater basis for confidence in the flesh than any of his critics. He is pointing out that none of the people have attained the ability that he attained in Judaism, and yet they are trying to say security is in human celebrityship, in human success. Paul had gone all of the way to the top in Judaism, his critics were struggling up the latter. His critics, his enemies, these who are being used of Satan are all wrapped up in the human celebrityship of Judaism. Therefore Paul has a great opportunity. He walked out on Judaism when he was higher than any of them, and in order to establish the point he must first of all discuss his human celebrityship.
“I might have” is the present active participle of e)xw, plus the proleptic use of the personal pronoun e)gw. Together these make up a very strong phrase of confidence—human confidence. “Even though I myself might be having.” The present tense is a pictorial present, it represents to the mind the facts which have occurred in this case. Paul had reached the top in the field of Judaism. The active voice: the apostle Paul produced the action in the past. The participle is concessive in which Paul recognises his own superiority over his critics who are struggling in the field of Judaism, whereas he attained in the field of Judaism.
“confidence” is the accusative singular direct object of pepoiqhsij, and it is about as strong a word for confidence as you can get; “in the flesh” – the preposition e)n plus the sarc in the locative case, and “flesh” here merely means ‘in the human sphere.’
“If” introduces the first class condition, the conditional particle e)i plus the indicative. This is the protasis of a first class condition, if and it is true. A conditional clause is the statement of a supposition, the fulfilment of which is assumed to secure the realisation of the potential fact expressed in the companion clause. This means that every one of these clauses has a protasis and an apodasis.
“any” – an enclitic indefinite particle tij, “anyone.” This means the whole wide world here; “other” is a)lloj, meaning other of the same category; “think” is not quite that in this passage, it is the present active indicative of dokew which means to assume. This is what Paul’s critics assume. They are looking down their nose at Paul and saying, “We are high in Judaism, and Paul as a Christian is way down here and will never be a good Christian because he isn’t high enough in Judaism.” That is an assumption on their part and therefore dokew is used in the concept of subjective opinion or assumption. The present tense is a customary present, it denotes what habitually occurs among those who are Paul’s critics and struggling in Judaism. The active voice: the Judaisers are producing the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for reality, and this goes with the first class condition.
“that he might trust” – perfect active infinitive of peiqw. This word has three different meanings. In the present tense it is used for obedience. In the aorist tense it is used for faith. But in the perfect tense it is used for confidence. This is the intensive perfect tense here in which we have a completed action emphasising the existing results or status quo. The active voice: the Judaisers produce the action of the verb. The infinitive is one of result. However, the infinitive of result can be expressed in three categories—actual result, intended result, or conceived result. Here we have a conceived result, therefore it goes on to take the position they have assumed.
“I more” – this is Paul’s superiority and supremacy in the field of legalistic Judaism.
Translation: “Even though I myself might be having confidence in the flesh. If anyone [of the same category] assumes to have confidence in the flesh, I more.”
Verse 5 – the false perception of the old standards of Judaism is given in this and the next verse. Paul has to get these Christians away from the false concept of human celebrityship, and get their eyes off of that and get their focus on the barrier that they must break through, and not be deterred by human celebrityship in the field of Judaism.
The verse starts with ritual confidence: circumcision, the dative of advantage from peritomh, the word for “circumcision.” Many of these people got into Judaism as Gentiles, and therefore they were circumcised in later life. To them circumcision was a big thing, it came to them late in life. But Paul was circumcised by being born a Jew and was therefore circumcised on the eighth day which was considered the first day on which an operation was safe on a baby, because the eighth day was the first day of babyhood when the blood would coagulate. The Judaisers took the ritual without the reality of salvation and therefore used it as a basis for being critical of Paul. Paul did not teach circumcision as necessary for salvation, for spirituality, and therefore they were very antagonistic.
“an Hebrew of the Hebrews” – E(braioj e)c E(braioj, “a Hebrews from the Hebrews.” This refers to Jewish nationalism and patriotism. It also refers to the conservative Jewish culture in contrast to the liberal Hellenistic culture. The Jews at this time in history were hopelessly divided. Some of them had become liberals, they had fallen for the Hellenistic culture brought in by Alexander the Great. Others stuck to the Torah, the Word of God as it existed for them, and they were conservative whereas the Hellenistic crowd were liberal. It is good to be conservative but it doesn’t get one into heaven, and this is what Paul means here.
Next we have his religious confidence. Before he was saved he was like the rich young ruler; “as touching the law” – the preposition kata plus the accusative singular of nomoj, should be translated “with reference to the law.”
“a Pharisee” – Farisaioj. This was the party of the scribes in the Sanhedrin. The word actually means a separatist, a conservative. They believed in keeping Israel separate from the other nations because of the unique mission, and because of its purpose and function in life, and because of its great history. The Pharisees represent religious confidence in legalism. Saul of Tarsus was the worst sinner who ever lived because he was the most religious of the Pharisees.
Translation: “Circumcision on the eight day, from the race of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew from the Hebrews; with reference to the law, a Pharisee.”
In every one of these Paul excelled his critics.
Verse 6 – the function of confidence. “Concerning zeal” – kata plus the accusative of zhloj is “with reference to zeal.” Now he gets to the fact where Judaisers persecuted Christians and are persecuting Paul. They had become his life-time enemies and they were so vindictive that they hounded him all of the way to death.
“persecuting” – present active participle of diwkw. It means to persecute, as here, it also means to press or to pursue. This is a historical present. The active voice: Saul of Tarsus produces the action. The participle is circumstantial. The linear aktionsart is very strong. Until the very moment of his salvation Paul had a tremendous desire, and that was to kill all Christians in existence. This was his obsession. Whereas the Judaisers opposed Paul and only persecuted grace type believers Paul persecuted all kinds of believers when he was a Judaiser.
“touching the righteousness” – dikaiosunh here is used for self-righteousness or human righteousness: “with reference to self-righteousness.”
“which is in the law” – in the sphere of the law. We have to insert the aorist active participle of the verb ginomai, found in the original but not translated, which means to occur or to become. The aorist tense here is a constative aorist, it contemplates the action of the verb in it entirety. It takes keeping the law as a way of life and resultant self-righteousness and arrogance, and gathers it up into one entirety. Paul was always smug and self-righteous. He kept the law and as he did his arrogance and smugness increased. He had a totally sanctimonious attitude at the point of his salvation.
“blameless” is the predicate adjective from a)memptoj, and it means to be blameless or having become blameless.
Translation: “With reference to zeal, persecuting the church; with reference to self-righteousness in the law, having become blameless.”
Verse 7 – the new perspective, the new standard. “But what [quality of] things”—‘what things’ is the qualitative relative pronoun o(stij. These had once been quality things to Paul. It is a reference to the standards of human celebrityship, to the false standards and erroneous perspectives of the unbeliever in reversionism.
“were” is the imperfect active indicative of e)imi (in contrast to ginomai). The imperfect tense is a customary imperfect for what has regularly or ordinarily occurred in past time. The active voice: Paul as Saul of Tarsus produced the action of the verb in the field of legalistic self-righteousness, and he was the greatest smug,
self-righteous, legalistic unbeliever in that field of celebrityship. The indicative mood is for the reality of the fact.
“gain” is incorrect. This is the nominative plural of kerdoj, referring to all of these gains, the seven fields of celebrityship which have been enumerated. These seven gains formed the basis for his celebrityship and his confidence in the flesh. These are the things that the Judaisers used in their claims for celebrityship.
“those” – demonstrative pronoun nominative plural from o(utoj, a near demonstrative referring to something in the same sentence—those same gains.
“I counted” – perfect middle indicative of the verb e(geomai which means to be a guide, to have knowledge as a guide, to be an expert in something, true knowledge. Here it is to conclude as an expert. Paul concludes as an expert. This is a dramatic perfect which is the rhetorical use of the intensive perfect, it places great emphasis on the results which have been completed and the action that follows. In the middle voice the subject acts with a view toward participating in the outcome of the action of the verb. This middle voice stresses the subject as the agent of the action—indirect middle. The indicative mood is declarative for the reality of the fact that Paul, having broken through the maturity barrier, now recognises that every area of human celebrityship, when it conflicts with doctrine, is out.
“loss” – the accusative singular of zhmia. This is in the singular in contrast to kerdoj in the plural. All of his human celebrityship areas he put together and calls them “gains.” Now he lumps them once more, superimposing divine viewpoint on that plural, and makes them one loss. Many gains, areas of celebrityship, are now one loss.
“for Christ” is dia plus the accusative of Xristoj which means “because of Christ.”
Translation: “What category of things were gains to me, these same things I myself have concluded loss because of the Christ.”
1. This is the perspective of the one who breaks the maturity barrier. This is the attitude of the believer who is occupied with Christ.
2. This attitude is not acquired by renouncing or giving up any human recognition or human achievement.
Verse 8 – “Yea doubtless, and.” Five Greek particles: a)lla men o)un ge kai. This is rare. This means, “Listen, get you mind off your distractions.” It is a
very strong attention-getter in the Greek. The adversative conjunction a)lla means something different is coming up. It is often translated as an adversative “but.” Here it is translated “In fact.” It is both emphatic and confirmatory, therefore it is followed by an affirmative particle to show that this is not adversative but confirmatory—men. Therefore the two words are translated, “Most emphatically.” The third inferential is o)un, “therefore, and indicates a conclusion; a conclusion with emphasis. The fourth, ge, emphasises the word with which it is used. It is an enclitic particle appended to the word it refers to, and therefore it is translated intensively here—“even.” The fifth particle is kai, used as an adjunctive conjunction. When put together in English and given a literal translation as close as possible to the Greek, it goes like this: “Most emphatically therefore, even I also.” The idiom means that it is not what the words say, it is what I am saying to you. So forget the words, just start concentrating. This is designed to attract the attention of the hearers. From now on they need to concentrate.
“I count” – present middle indicative of the verb e(geomai which means to guide. Paul is an expert in theology, and therefore when he uses this word in the power of the Spirit it is not arrogance, it is the total confidence that comes from authority, from study, from spiritual growth. He is speaking as a super-grace believer on his way to ultra-super-grace. Therefore, the present tense is an aoristic present for punctiliar action in present time. The present time is Paul having recovered from reversion, having recovered all of the doctrine he had lost in reversionism, and having learned more things, is now ready to take the congregation at Philippi another step forward. The punctiliar is his conclusion based on his recovery and new doctrine which has now come to him. The middle voice is a permissive middle in which the agent, super-grace believer Paul, is represented as voluntarily yielding himself to the results of the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of dogmatic reality. This is a dogmatic fact—“I conclude.” This is the conclusion of one who knows, the conclusion of an expert.
“all things” – accusative neuter plural from the adjective paj, plus the definite article to designate the formers gains, “the all things.” By application it refers to any human celebrityship, and human achievement, talent, success, popularity.
“but” is not found in the original; is the present active infinitive of e)imi—“to be,” present linear aktionsart, “to always be.” This is a static present, there will never be a time when they are not in the status quo of maturity. He is now representing the viewpoint of one who has broken the maturity barrier.
“loss” – accusative singular direct object from the noun zhmia.
“for the excellency of the knowledge is a prepositional phrase: the preposition dia plus the accusative which means “because” or “for the sake of.” And with that in the accusative the present active participle of u(perexw. The verb generally means to have power over, to be in authority over. It means here “surpassing.” With it is a descriptive genitive of gnwsij for “knowledge.” Since he is not talking about the doctrine resident in his own [e)pignwsij] soul he is talking about the principle—“for the sake of the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of.”
“Christ Jesus my Lord” – Xristou I)hsoutou Kuriou mou, used to indicate Paul’s occupation with the person of Christ as a believer who has broken the maturity barrier.
“for whom” is dia plus the accusative of the relative pronoun o(j and should be translated “because of whom” or “for the sake of whom.”
“I have suffered the loss” – aorist passive indicative of zhmiow, which means to forfeit or to suffer loss, as translated in the KJV. We translate it, “I have forfeited.” This is the culminative aorist tense, it views the event in its entirety but regards it from the viewpoint of existing results. Here is the process of spiritual growth denoting the attainment of that process. Paul receives the action of the verb by his reversion recovery, by breaking through the maturity barrier, by moving into super-grace, and seeing the next objective and going toward it. The indicative mood views the action of the verb from the viewpoint of reality.
“of all things” – the all things, the accusative plural of paj again, with the definite article indicating that this refers to human celebrityship, human ability, human talent; anything with which a human being can take credit, or whereby any human standard places one in a concept of fame, reknown or celebrityship.
“and” – continuative use of the conjunction kai; “do count” – incorrect. This is the present middle indicative of e(geomai again, he is still the expert and he concludes now in the present tense as an expert—“and keep on concluding.” This is a retroactive progressive present tense denoting a conclusion that started in the past when he broke the barrier to maturity and continues into the present time as he presses toward ultra-super-grace. The middle voice: the agent, Paul, participates in the results of the action of the verb. It therefore has a reflexive connotation, “I myself keep on concluding.” The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement coming up.
We now have the accusative plural, not singular. “Dung” is in the singular, but here is the accusative plural of skubalon, and it should be translated in the plural “piles of dung.”[4]
“that I may win Christ” – aorist active subjunctive from kerdainw. The word means to gain. This is a culminative aorist, it views the action of the verb in its entirety but emphasises the existing results of moving on to ultra-super-grace. Paul produces the action of the verb. The subjunctive mood is potential, Paul has not reached ultra-super-grace, he has not yet gained Christ. This is the first hint that after one breaks the maturity barrier there is still some place to go after that.
“in order that I may gain Christ” – by gaining Christ he means to go on from super-grace to ultra-super-grace. Paul will not be detracted or deterred away from doctrine by the great blessings that he had.
Translation: “More emphatically, therefore, even I also myself conclude the all things [of human celebrityship] to be loss for the sake of the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: because of whom I have forfeited the all things [of human celebrityship and achievement] and keep on concluding them piles of dung, in order that I may gain Christ.”
Verse 9 – the first of three verses which are a parenthesis on grace orientation. This versed is grace orientation, phase one. “And be found in him” – the ascensive use of kai begins the parenthesis, “Also.” The aorist passive subjunctive from the verb e(uriskw. The word means to discover, to find—“Also that I may be found.” The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it refers to a momentary action when anyone historically discovers Paul and the impact of his life. No man ever had a greater impact in life than the apostle Paul. This the fact that discovering Paul is an action extending over a period of time in history. Whenever the discovery is made it should be related to positional sanctification, related to the fact that with Paul, the worst sinner who ever lived, there was a moment in his life when he was taken by God the Holy Spirit and entered into union with Christ. The passive voice: the interpreter of history who discovers Paul—any believer who grows up enough to realise that Pauline doctrine in the Scripture is the highest peak of Bible doctrine anywhere—can see the emphasis of his life related to saving grace and to his salvation. The subjunctive mood is used here simply because we have the word i(na, a conjunction that demands the subjunctive, and it is found in the previous verse. The reason that there must be a subjunctive instead of a declarative here is because i(na demands this to set up what is known as a final clause, stating a goal, objective or purpose. “Also that I may be found.” The reality of being found is the reality of spiritual growth.
“in him” – e)n plus the locative singular of the intensive pronoun a)utoj. The intensive pronoun emphasises the uniqueness of the person of Jesus Christ. It is a reminder to us of the fact that none of us would have salvation were it not for the fact that Jesus Christ humbled himself and became a member of the human race. There is no greater manifestation of grace than positional sanctification at salvation through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.
“not having” is a combination of the negative mh and the present active participle of e)xw, which means to have and to hold. The present tense is historical, it is used when a past event is viewed with the vividness of a present occurrence. The active voice: the apostle Paul produces the action of not standing on his own personal self-righteousness or the high attainment of celebrityship in the field of Judaism. The participle is circumstantial.
“my own righteousness” – accusative singular direct object of dikaiosunh. Here the word is used in a self-righteous connotation: “not having self-righteousness.” Paul’s self-righteousness as an unbeliever far exceeded his critics, but he does not want to be remembered for his attainments in the field of Judaism, or that he was so great in the field of self-righteousness. This is a righteousness in opposition to grace.
“which is” is not found in the original; “of the law” – e)k plus the ablative of nomoj, a reference to the Mosaic law: “not having mine own righteousness from the law.” It is derived and developed by keeping the law.
“but” – the adversative conjunction a)lla, setting up a contrast. The contrast is between Paul’s high achievement in the field of self-righteousness and imputed righteousness. Here is the difference between grace and legalism.
“that” is the accusative singular definite article, that’s all. But it is used here to refer to that same righteousness; “which is” is not found in the original, it is merely used to smooth out the translation.
“through the faith” – dia plus the genitive of pistij should be translated “by means of faith.”
“in Christ” – objective genitive singular from Xristoj, referring to the moment of salvation. When salvation is in view it is faith that is mentioned, nothing else.
“the righteousness” – accusative singular of the definite article, still referring to dikaiosunh; “which is of God”—e)k plus the ablative of qeoj, “from the source of God.”
“by faith” is “at the point of faith.”
Translation: “Also that I may be discovered in him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that righteousness which is acquired by means of faith in Christ, that righteousness from the source of the God at the point of faith [in Christ].”
Verse 10 – phase two grace orientation. “That I may know him”—the articular aorist active infinitive from the verb ginwskw. The ingressive aorist contemplates the action of the verb at its beginning. The beginning of phase two is the function of GAP leading to super-grace status. In other words, you can’t know Christ unless you take in doctrine. Active voice: Paul in super-grace produces the action of “knowing him.” The infinitive is the articular infinitive. This is an Attic idiom, and it denotes here a purpose. Then, the accusative singular direct object with the infinitive, and this a)utoj emphasises again the uniqueness of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Translation: “That I may come to know him”—through the constant function of GAP.
“and the power of his resurrection” – this phrase not only anticipates appreciation for phase three, which comes when the maturity barrier is broken, but at the same time it indicates the importance of knowing God the Father and God the Holy Spirit through the daily function of GAP. This includes a transitional use of kai, plus the accusative singular direct object from dunamij, meaning inherent power, therefore omnipotence, plus the descriptive genitive singular a)nastasij—“resurrection.” Plus, once more, the possessive genitive singular from the intensive pronoun a)utoj, emphasising Jesus Christ.
Summary: “And the power of his resurrection.”
1. Inasmuch as Jesus Christ was raised by the dunamij, the omnipotence of two members of the Trinity, this becomes a mandate to become cognisant of the other two members of the Trinity.
2. To know the power/omnipotence of His resurrection is to have maximum knowledge of doctrine through the constant function of GAP.
3. The more doctrine the believer knows the more he understands the power of His resurrection—the power that raised Christ from the dead, the power behind the historical resurrection.
4. This means knowing the power of God the Father who raised Christ from the dead—1 Thess. 1:10; 1 Peter 1:2.
5. This means knowing the power of God the Holy Spirit who raised Christ from the dead—Romans 8:11; 1 Peter 3:18.
6. The power of resurrection is only one of many historical manifestations of God’s unlimited and infinite power in the devil’s history. The devil is the ruler of this world, the resurrection took place in the devil’s world, and the devil couldn’t prevent it.
7. So the more doctrine the believer absorbs, the greater becomes his understanding of God’s power.
8. The super-grace believer has just begun to know and appreciate the power of God. The ultra-super-grace believer has maximum cognisance in this sphere. While the power of His resurrection gives appreciation for phase two it also anticipates the glories, the blessings, the decorations of SG2.
“and the fellowship of his sufferings” – the continuative use of kai, plus the accusative singular direct object from koinwnia, “fellowship” or “association,”
but better here is the true translation, “participation.” The ultra-super-grace believer wears the mantle of continual Satanic opposition, and that mantle is participation in His sufferings. This means totally underserved suffering wrapped like a mantle around the ultra-super-grace believer. The blessings of SG2 are intensified. The descriptive genitive plural of paqhma indicates the fact that this is the mantle—“suffering.” This is undeserved suffering. The plural indicates the continuation of the suffering, the mantle of suffering.
“being made conformable”—present passive participle of summorfizw [sum = with; morfh = form], which means to invest with the same form. But in the passive, used here, it means to take on the same form. This is a customary present of the participle for what habitually occurs in the life of the ultra-super-grace believer. The passive voice: the USG believer receives the action of the verb—maximum opposition from Satan and the forces of evil. The participle is circumstantial. The circumstances belong to the USG believer only.
“unto his death” – dative of reference from the noun qanatoj, referring to the oppositional sufferings of Christ connected with His death. It does not refer to His unique sufferings in bearing our sins, for there is no way that we can participate in these sufferings or take on the form of these sufferings. But there were many types of opposition which came from Satan and the forces of evil prior to the cross, during the time that He was on the cross, excluding bearing our sins. But this dative of reference does not emphasise the fact that all USG believer receive the same suffering or pressures from the forces of Satan.
Translation: “That I may come to know him [function of GAP], and the power of his resurrection, and the participation in his sufferings, taking on the same form of sufferings, with reference to his death [of Christ].”
Verse 11—phase three grace orientation. “If” is the conjunction e)i, plus the enclitic particle pwj, and it should be translated, “If in some way.” The conjunctive particle plus the enclitic particle does not mean doubt or uncertainty that Paul will reach phase three, but ignorance as to how he will die.
“I might attain” – aorist active subjunctive of katantaw. Paul is not concerned about how he is going to die, he just wants to get to the objective before he does.
“unto the resurrection of the dead” – incorrect. It should be translated, “that I might cross the goal line to the resurrection, away from dead ones.” This includes the preposition e)ij plus the accusative of e)canastiij—“to the resurrection,” and then e)k plus the ablative plural of nekroj, and nekroj here refers to the spiritually dead ones who are under the second death. In history the believer and unbeliever are mixed together, but by resurrection we are away from the dead ones. In eternity the separation is based upon attitude toward Jesus Christ. The aorist tense of katantaw, crossing the goal line, is a culminative aorist. It views the goal in its entirety but emphasises the existing results—possession of a resurrection body and the potentiality of decoration. The active voice: the writer, Paul, and all believers produce the action. The subjunctive mood indicates the potential manner in which the resurrection body is received.
Translation: “If in some way [death or the Rapture] I might cross the goal line to the resurrection away from the dead ones.”
Verse 12 – the decision to advance to the next objective stated. “Not as though” – this includes the strong Greek negative oux ([o)u, o)uk, o)ux—the form merely changes because of what is following the negative: vowel, consonant, rough breathing]. Then the conjunction o(ti, used here to introduce a negative conclusion—“Not that.”
“I had already attained” – the word already is the adverb h)dh, and it means “already” or “by now”; the aorist active indicative of the verb lambanw which generally means to receive or to attain or obtain. It is a reference to receiving or attaining the ultra-super-grace. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it denotes a momentary status quo. In one moment of time Paul looked out ahead and saw that he had not yet attained that ultra-super-grace objective. By the time he wrote 2 Timothy he could write as an ultra-super-grace believer. What is not accomplished in Philippians is later accomplished in the pastoral epistles. The active voice: Paul produces the negative action, he has not yet attained the ultra-super-grace status. The indicative mood is declarative for historical reality at the time of writing.
“either were already perfect” – the disjunctive particle h), used to relate similar terms where one term can take the place of another. It is translated “or.” With it is the adverb h)dh, meaning “already,” plus the perfect passive indicative of teteleiow, which means to reach an objective here, not to be perfect. “Not that I have already attained [ultra-super-grace] or have before now reached the objective.” The perfect tense is the perfect of existing state, in which the past is dropped from his thought. It cancels out any thinking about the past. ‘Forgetting those things which are behind.’ Not only does it drop the past from the thinking but it calls attention to the existing status quo. In the past Paul had been reversionistic. He has recovered. At the time of writing he is in super-grace and now getting ready to press on to the final objective—ultra-super-grace. The passive voice: Paul has not yet received USG. The indicative mood is declarative representing the action of the verb from the viewpoint of historical reality.
“but” is the adversative use of the conjunctive particle de, setting up a contrast between Paul’s set-back in reaching USG and his determination to keep on pressing. He is not discouraged, he is going to keep on moving on. That should remind us of a principle: There is no such things as spiritual greatness, or even human greatness, where failures are allowed to discourage. None of can ever be in any way detracted by our failures.
“I follow after” – this is a military word, the present active indicative of diwkw. It means to hotly pursue, to press a retreating enemy, to drive on, to move in, to close in. The retroactive progressive present denotes what has begun in the past with consistent +V towards doctrine and continues into the present time with the daily function of GAP. The active voice: Paul produces the action of the verb after his reversion recovery. By pressing on with Bible doctrine Paul in a short four years has not only attained reversion recovery but he has broken through the maturity barrier and is now a super-grace believer. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal idea from the viewpoint of historical reality.
“if that” – the particle e)i, not used here as a conditional particle but with the subjunctive mood, and is translated “wether, if.” With it is kai, translated “also,” and together all this is translated, “but I keep pressing on, if also I may apprehend.” But there is no “apprehend” here. This is the aorist active subjunctive from the verb katalambanw [kata = down or according to; lambanw = receive or attain], which means to attain according to a norm or standard. It is one of the strongest words for seizing or grasping, or taking possession of something. Here it has the concept of attaining by the intake of doctrine. Kata indicates that there is a norm by which this is accomplished. The objective can only be taken under a certain norm or standard—the daily function of GAP. The culminative aorist here views the attainment of USG in its entirety but it emphasises the existing results. The active voice: Paul produces the action of the verb. He sees the objective and he presses on. The subjunctive mood is a potential subjunctive implying future reference, and also qualifying reaching the objective by the daily, continual attitude toward Bible doctrine.
“for which also” – the preposition e)pi plus the relative pronoun o(j, plus the adjunctive use of kai, and it should be translated “on account of which [USG].”
“I am apprehended” – aorist passive indicative of katalambanw, to seize and hold or, in the passive voice, to be overtaken. So Paul was seized and held. He was on the Damascus road closing in on his objective, but on his way the Lord stopped him dead—seized him and held him, as it were. He is referring to the point of his salvation on the Damascus road. The culminative aorist views the moment of salvation in its entirety but it emphasises the results—the eternal security, the fact that the apostle Paul was on his way to murder Christians, and on his way to Damascus was stopped and turned around. From his salvation he was turned around to become the greatest believer in history and to reach objectives never before attained.
Translation: “Not that I have already attained [USG status], or before now have reached [the USG life]: but I press on, that I may attain [the objective], on account of which I was overtaken by Christ Jesus.”
1. Everything which Christ did to save the believer has a meaning, both in time and in eternity.
2. God has both purpose and meaning for the individual believer and the objective for every believer.
3. Christ overtook man in time but He provided the objective and the blessings in eternity past.
4. Once saved or overtaken the objectives of time include living grace, super-grace, ultra-super-grace, and dying grace.
5. All of these objectives are related to the most fantastic blessings.
6. As each objective is reached the blessings both intensify and multiply.
7. Only reversionism hinders these objectives, but Paul has recovered from his reversionism and being still alive moves from one mature objective to another—from super-grace to ultra-super-grace.
Verse 13 – the estimate of the situation. It begins with the vocative a)delfoi, used
simply to designate the royal family of God.
“I count not myself” – present middle indicative of the verb logizomai [logoj =
word, speak, communicate; omai = the middle form by which this is converted into a verb]. The present middle indicative means to evaluate, to estimate, to consider. Since Paul is dealing with himself, and because of the type of middle voice we have here (direct middle), we translate this, “I evaluate myself.” This is something that believers must do periodically, objectively, totally apart from any subjective concept. Subjectiveness is a great hindrance to the advance in the spiritual life, and inevitably a subjective believer starts reacting to various things—authority, teaching, personalities—and always winds up in reversionism unless it is caught in time. Paul is not simply evaluating himself for himself, he is evaluating himself for us. The present tense is an aoristic present, punctiliar action in present time. The middle voice is the direct middle, it refers to the results of the action directly to the agent (Paul), and it does so with reflexive force. The evaluation or estimate of the situation applies to that moment in A.D. 62. during Paul’s first Roman imprisonment. The indicative mood is declarative, it represents the verbal idea from the viewpoint of reality. There is also the first person singular of the pronoun e)gw in the proleptic form, it has strong emphasis and it is even legitimate to translate it, “I, even I, evaluate myself.” Also the accusative singular direct object from the reflexive pronoun e)mautou, and this throws the action of the verb back on the subject. We do not have a negative here. Instead there is a negative adverb o)upw, which means “not yet.” This is quite different from a negative; it does not mean “not.”
“to have apprehended” – perfect active infinitive of katalambanw [kata = preposition of norm and standard; lambanw = to receive]. Put together, this compound means to reach an objective according to a specified norm or standard—the function of GAP. And being organised and stabilised in super-grace he is now moving to the next objective on the other side of the maturity barrier. He says, “Brethren, I evaluate myself as to not yet have attained.” He has not yet reached ultra-super-grace. Eventually he wrote the pastoral epistles as an ultra-super-grace believer. The perfect tense of katalambanw is called the perfect of existing state in which the past is dropped from the thought and attention is focussed on the present moment. This is important because it shows whether you are objective about yourself or not. The active voice plus the negative adverb o(upw indicates that Paul has not yet completed the action of reaching USG. The infinitive is the infinitive of intended result in which the result is indicated as fulfilling a deliberate objective. It is his objective to move on.
“but this one thing I do” – the Greek begins e(n de. The de is an enclitic particle used as a conjunction after a negative adverb of time, and it is translated “however” or “but.” Then a nominative neuter singular from the numeral e(ij [e(n], and being in the neuter it sets up a contrast to the many avenues of reversionism. It therefore has to be translated, “however, one thing on which I concentrate.” He points out the importance of that perfect tense of existing state by using a verb, showing that he will not be handicapped by his past failures. This is great objectivity. Any failures any of us have had in the past should never handicap us. As long as we are alive, God has a purpose for us.
“forgetting” – present middle participle of e)pilanqanomai [e)pi = on, over, near, after; lanqanomai = to forget], which simply comes to mean to forget something that has already happened that can be regarded as a failure. Here it means constantly forgetting. The present tense is retroactive progressive present denoting what has happened in the past and continues into the present time. Paul is to forget the fact that he went into reversionism. He is not going to forget his failure because he obviously writes about it from time to time, but he is going to forget it as a handicap. It is not a handicap. He is not going to feel sorry for himself. You never advance while dragging your feet, while handicapping yourself in some past failure. The middle voice this time is the permissive middle, it represents the agent (Paul) as voluntarily yielding himself to the results of the action—advancing to USG. The participle is a telic participle, it expresses a purpose for the believer in phase two.
“those things which are behind” – ta men o)pisw. This precedes the participle in the Greek text. Ta is a plural of the definite pronoun; men is an affirmative particle used to emphasise something else, i.e. the adverb of place o)pisw. The phrase means literally, “the things behind.” It is good to translate it into legitimate English: “what lies behind.”
Principle
1. This refers to Paul’s reversion, as well as any past sin or carnality that might disturb him. Our past failures are never to be a deterrent in our spiritual advance. The only deterrent is death.
2. Carnality, is handled by the rebound technique. Then forget it and move on.
3. Reversionism is handled by persistent +V related to the daily function of GAP.
4. The recovery is completed when the believer has reached the maturity barrier and breaks through into super-grace.
5. Paul has followed this patter—reversion recovery, re-entry into the super-grace status, and therefore the prison epistles represent doctrine of the advance.
“and” – postpositive conjunctive particle de, used here in the transitional sense; “reaching forth” – present middle participle from e)pekteinw [e)pi = on, over, after, near; ekteinw = to stretch out], which means to stretch out after, farther, to reach out toward, to strain for. This is pressing, pursuing vigorously—“and pressing toward the objective.” The present tense is a customary present, it denotes what habitually occurs when a believer is positive toward and seeking to reach all the phase two objectives before his death. The middle voice here is the permissive middle, it represents Paul as the agent voluntarily yielding himself to the results of the action, therefore seeking to secure the results of the action in his own interest. The participle is a telic participle denoting Paul’s phase two objective and the closing in on the target.
“unto those things which are before” – toij de e)mprosqen. The dative plural of the definite article toij, the enclitic particle de, plus the adverb e)mprosqen meaning in front or ahead. The particle de is used with men as a correlative setting up a contrast between the “behind things” of reversionism and the “ahead things,” super-grace and USG. His objective is objectivity. He is in SG looking toward USG, but not looking back toward his failure of reversionism—“and straining toward what lies ahead,” pressing toward the objective.
Translation: “Brethren, I evaluate myself to have not yet attained ultra-super-grace: but one thing on which I concentrate, forgetting what lies behind [reversionism], and straining toward what lies ahead [USG].”
1. No greater emphasis on the importance of Bible doctrine can exist than in performing all these functions found in this passage—forgetting failures of the past and pressing from one objective in maturity to another.
2. The constant function of GAP not only causes reversion recovery but is the means of achieving all of the objective of maturity—super-grace, ultra-super-grace, dying grace.
3. Bible doctrine resident in the soul is also the key to avoiding the trap of being held up by past failures—becoming subjective, hypersensitive, and therefore becoming unhappy, discontented, or any of the reactor factors in life
4. Past failure, therefore, must not interfere with present victories.
5. Past discipline must not hinder present blessing.
6. Past apostasy must not hinder present glorification of Jesus Christ.
7. Therefore, never let your failures keep you down. All believers have failed, but not all believers have recovered and moved on to tactical victory.
8. Only the sin unto death can block reversion recovery.
9. As long as you are alive, keep pressing.
Verse 14 – the advance of positive volition. “I press” is the present active indicative of diwkw, which means to advance to the objective. The present tense is retroactive progressive present, denoting what has begun in the past and continues into the present time through the daily function of GAP. The active voice: Paul produces the action of the verb; “toward the mark” – the preposition kata plus the accusative of skopoj which means a goal or a mark. “I keep advancing toward the objective.”
“for the prize” – a decoration that glorifies God forever. The preposition e)ij plus the accusative of brabeion which means reward, prize, a prize of victory. But it doesn’t mean just a prize, it means to receive a decoration, and with that decoration a certain amount of money or some other form of plunder or booty. It means to have a decoration and that decoration represent some kind of financial remuneration, land remuneration. It means to be made a wealthy and successful person and to wear a decoration that says you are a wealthy and successful person. So we translate this, “for the purpose of the reward.”
“of the high calling” is an adverb, a)nw, and it means above or upward. With it is the genitive singular from the noun klhsij—“calling.” That refers to station here, station in life, position in life. This is the possessive genitive and is translated, “belonging to that upward station in life.” There is a genitive singular definite article used as a demonstrative pronoun, calling attention to the special emphasis on the believer’s paragraph SG3.
“of God” – the ablative of source from qeoj, plus the ablative singular of the definite article used as an intensive pronoun to identify God the Father as the author of the divine plan known as grace—“from that self-same God.”
“in Christ Jesus” – e)n plus the instrumental of Xristoj, “by means of Christ Jesus.” All believers enter the plan of God by means of Jesus Christ, the only saviour.
Translation: “I keep advancing to the objective for the purpose of reward belonging to that upward station [phase three] from that self-same God [the Father] by means of Christ Jesus.”
Principle: God will provide under the principle of living grace the time plus the necessities for breaking the maturity barrier.
Verse 15 – “Let us therefore.” Nominative plural masculine from the correlative relative pronoun o(soj, “as many as,” and with it the inferential particle o)un in which we draw an inference from the previous three verses.
“be perfect” – predicate nominative plural from the adjective teleioj, which connotes being fully developed. It means mature in the sense here of having reached the super-grace status, “mature ones.”
“be like-minded” – present active subjunctive from the verb fronew, which means to think objectively. The objective mental attitude is the divine viewpoint of life based on maximum doctrine resident in the soul. The present tense is a retroactive progressive present, denoting what has happened in the past and continues into the present time. The objective mental attitude begins with the advance toward super-grace through the accumulation of doctrine in the soul. It continues as the believer follows the colours to the high ground of super-grace. The subjunctive mood is a hortatory subjunctive in which the writer having recovered from reversionism, having attained super-grace status, invites the readers to join him in a course of action—objectivity in mental attitude as you advance.
Mental attitude, good or bad, is the sum total of what you think. It is thinking reflected in function, in life. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.” A thought
can make or break you. The thoughts of the soul determine the real person. Every thought in the right lobe of the believer can be categorised. The simplest categorisation is divine viewpoint versus human viewpoint, but there are other categories as well. Human viewpoint is any thinking which is in opposition to Bible doctrine. It is the thinking of, sometimes, carnality; most frequently reversionism; it is the thinking of evil. It sometimes is simply the thinking which is anti-establishment. Divine viewpoint is the thinking of the believer who has doctrine in his soul. Doctrine is the design of divine viewpoint. All divine viewpoint is not based on doctrine found in the Bible but doctrine that the believer has transferred from the page of the Bible to his own soul. Divine viewpoint, therefore, is thinking doctrine. Without doctrine in the soul one cannot possibly have divine viewpoint. The maximum expression of divine viewpoint occurs when the maturity barrier is broken through.
No person’s thinking ever exceeds his vocabulary. Vocabulary is divided into two categories generally: non-technical and technical. Non-technical is vocabulary you need to get along in life—yes, no, if you please, etc. To acquire a technical vocabulary in any field requires study. Studying is one of the most important functions in life—any kind of study.
Thinking is the real personality. Personality is related to thinking—that is, real personality. There are two kinds of personality: real and pseudo. Pseudo personality is what a person wants you to think they are in order to impress you or to gain something from you, and real personality is what people really think. Proverbs 23:6.7. What goes on in the soul is the real person. One of the greatest blessings in life is to get rid of the pseudo personality. No one sheds his pseudo personality until he breaks the maturity barrier.
The conflict of mental attitude to the believer is found in Isaiah 55:6-9—positive volition toward doctrine in time. “Seek the Lord” means as long as you are alive you have to GAP it. You have to increase your vocabulary. Without vocabulary you cannot have category, and without category there is no spiritual growth. Every soul of every born again believer is designed to store both vocabulary and to come to categorical thinking as far as the Word of God is concerned, and without it you never grow up.
There is a command to go to divine viewpoint. Since doctrine is the mind of Christ, as per 1 Corinthians 2:16, attitude toward doctrine determines viewpoint in life. Phil. 2:5, “Keep on having this mental attitude in you, which also was in Christ Jesus.” This is talking about taking divine thought and putting it into the soul of an imperfect believer. This command is obeyed by the consistent function of GAP; maximum doctrine resident in the soul is the source of the fulfilment of this command. Cf. 2 Corinthians 10:4-6.
Rapport in the royal family of God is based on divine viewpoint. The function of the royal priesthood demands a new mental attitude—2 Timothy 1:7; Romans
12:2.
Divine viewpoint from doctrine produces confidence (not arrogance)—2 Corinthians 5:1, 8 (take delight).
Areas of life which involve mental attitude are many: stability of mental attitude—James 1:8; prosperity is a mental attitude having overt repercussions—Philippians 4:8; giving—2 Cor. 7,8,9; worldliness—Romans 12:2; Colossians 3:2; evil—Matthew 9:4; arrogance—Galatians 6:3; inner beauty—1 Timothy 2:9,10,
15.
Mental attitude receives its greatest test in advance from super-grace to ultra-super-grace—Philippians 3:15.
“and” is an incorrect translation of the conjunction kai. We have seen the adjunctive, the ascensive and the transitional use of kai. Here is the emphatic use of kai which should be translated “in fact.”
“if” is the conditional particle e)i, plus the indicative, introducing a first class condition.
“in anything” – accusative neuter plural from the indefinite pronoun tij, and with the accusative direct object fronew it should be translated so far, “In fact if you are thinking somewhat differently.” It comes to mean, “In fact if you have a different attitude.” This is addressed to the Philippians, many of whom had reached super-grace and are now being challenged to move to the next objective which is ultra-super-grace.
“ye be minded” is the present active indicative of fronew, the verb of objective thinking. It is used here for mental attitude. With the adverb “otherwise,”
which is e(teroj, it comes to have a different meaning. It means to hold different opinions because of your mental attitude. In other words, you form your opinions on the basis of people you do not like, people to whom you react. In other words, you cannot go from SG to USG if something malfunctions in your mental attitude. Paul knew the situation in Philippi. He had discovered that in the absence of their pastor, Epaphroditus, there had been a kind of power grab. There had been some bad feeling and people were beginning to think, not in terms of divine viewpoint but in their reaction to each other. So their thinking had become different—“otherwise minded.” They are not thinking on the basis of what the Bible says, they are thinking in terms of their reactions in life.
“God” – o( qeoj; “shall reveal” – the future active indicative of a)pokaluptw [a)po = ultimate source; kaluptw = reveal] which means to reveal from ultimate source, to disclose. It means here that God is the ultimate source of the revelation, but not the immediate source. The revelation comes through the Bible, the canon of Scripture, the means by which He has chosen to reveal everything. This is a gnomic future for a statement of fact or performance anticipated under antithetical conditions—the mental attitude. The antithetical conditions also indicate the manner in which God will reveal—under conditions of +V. A person has +V toward doctrine but doesn’t like the personality who communicates it. God will therefore put him under that situation to break him of building a mental attitude and opinions on reaction. The active voice: God produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the standpoint of dogmatic reality.
“even this” is the ascensive use of kai; plus the accusative singular direct object from the demonstrative pronoun o(utoj, which emphasises any thought or attitude which is contrary to the absolute norm of Bible doctrine.
“unto you” is the dative of indirect object from the personal pronoun su, meaning you are an individual in God’s sight. It indicates the one in whose interest the Bible teaching is conducted.
Verse 16 – to command to advance to the final objective short of dying grace, i.e. the USG status. “Nevertheless” – the adverb plhn used as a conjunction. This actually breaks off a discussion on mental attitude. Enough has been said. This can be better translated in modern English, “However,” because it indicates the discussion on mental attitude is terminated. This adverb recognizes the importance of advancing after recognizing some of the problems that you face, and that there is an objective beyond super-grace.
“thereto” is simply a prepositional phrase, the preposition e)ij plus the accusative neuter singular of the relative pronoun o(j. It is simply translated in modern English, “to which.” It refers to super-grace status recently attained by the apostle Paul.
“we have already attained” – there is no adverb h)dh here for “already.” We simply have the aorist active indicative of the verb fqanw which means to have just arrived, to come up to, to reach, to attain. We literally translate, “However the objective to which we have attained.” The aorist tense is a dramatic aorist, it states a present reality—super-grace status—with the certitude of a past event. The idiom emphasizes the attainment of super-grace which was achieved when Paul was at Caesarea. The active voice: super-grace Paul produces the action of the verb, namely recovery from the Jerusalem reversionism and now advancing to USG. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal idea from the viewpoint of historical reality.
“let us walk by the same rule” – this includes the instrumental singular from the definite article which is used here as a demonstrative pronoun. The demonstrative pronoun is going to put great emphasis on the function of GAP as the means of achieving reversion recovery. Also there is the instrumental singular from the intensive pronoun a)utoj which emphasizes the function of GAP and resulting doctrine in the soul as the means of spiritual advance—“by that same [function of GAP].” Plus the present active infinitive of the verb stoixew, which does not mean to walk. It means to march, to be under discipline. You can walk without being under discipline but you cannot march without being under discipline. It is advancing in steps with others, performing maneuvers with a group of people, all of who are under the same discipline. The emphasis here is on discipline. No one ever advances apart from the discipline of Bible teaching. Advancing in rank implies the perpetuation of academic discipline in moving from SG to USG. We have in stroixew a present tense. There is no spiritual advance apart from the academic discipline of Bible teaching and the assembly of the local church. The customary present tense, then, denotes what habitually occurs when the believer recognizes the authority of his right pastor and continues under the function of GAP. Whether he likes him or dislikes him is totally inconsequential. The active voice: the believer having reached super-grace must continue to advance to the next objective. The infinitive is used as the imperative mood. That is why it is called the imperative infinitive in which the infinitive is substituted for the imperative mood of command, the imperative mood of the finite verb. Therefore the translation, “keep advancing in ranks to the next objective.”
“let us mind the same thing” – there is nothing right about that translation! Six words for three words in the Greek, and it is not correct in any way—tw a)utw fronein. The words tw a)utw means “the same,” and fronein means to think or to mind—to think or to mind the same thing. But that isn’t what is really here. The problem is that this is not here at all, someone wrote that in! Whoever did was tampering with the Word of God; he wanted it to say something it didn’t. The original manuscripts of the Greek to not have this in them. But instead of that we have the instrumental singular from kanwn, the title for the Bible. It is the Greek word which means rule or standard. It refers to the sum total of Christian doctrine in the Word of God.
Translation: “However, the objective to which we have obtained [SG] by that same function [GAP], let us keep advancing in ranks by means the same canon [Bible].”
The transfer of what is in the Scripture to your own soul is the mechanical means of fulfilling this command.
1. This verse is a command to keep advancing in the spiritual life.
2. This can only be accomplished by the same methods by which all progress is made: the continuation and persistence in the function of GAP under one’s right pastor-teacher.
3. The pastor is under authority also. He is under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is under the authority of the written Word and he cannot exceed his orders and bend the Word of God to say something it doesn’t.
4. Normal function and production of the royal priesthood begins when you break the maturity barrier.
5. It follows that USG not only intensifies blessing but production. It also increases to the maximum the glorification of Jesus Christ.
Verse 17 – no believer can advance beyond the spiritual growth of his right pastor-
teacher. “Brethren” is the vocative plural of a)delfoi, a reference to the royal family of God, and/or the Church Age believer.
“be” is a present active imperative from the verb e)imi. The present tense is a customary present, it denotes what habitually occurs or may be reasonably expected to occur when the believer is perpetually under the teaching of the pastor, and the pastor is perpetually studying the Word of God. The active voice refers to the believer producing the action of the verb by advancing to the next objective, USG. The imperative mood is a command to mature believers, not to babies.
“followers together” – not a good translation. This is a predicate nominative in the plural from the substantive summimhthj. It means co-imitators. Co-imitators of whom? The next phrase answers, an objective genitive singular from the personal pronoun e)gw, referring to the writer, the apostle Paul as an advancing believer. He is advancing from SG to USG. The prison epistles—Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians—lead believers to SG; the pastoral epistles lead believers to USG.
“and mark them” – the continuative use of kai, plus the present active imperative from the verb skopew which means to regard in the sense of looking for, to the observe and have respect for. This is academic discipline of the function of GAP—“be having respect for.” The present tense is a customary present for what may be reasonably expected to occur from a believer who is positive toward Bible doctrine and understands the importance of the Word as over against any human personality in any Christian situation. The active voice: the positive believer produces the action of the verb by looking for and having respect for his right pastor. How does one have respect for his right pastor? On the basis of his message only! Not on the basis of his personality, his life, or any other human factor involved. It must be the message for it is the message that he has in his soul from his Bible study which is the basis of his personal advance, and also the basis of the congregation’s personal advance. With this is the accusative plural direct object, plus the definite article used as an attributive intensive pronoun emphasizing the identity of your right pastor.
“which walk so” – the word which includes an adverb o(utw, referring to what precedes. It is translated literally, “in this manner.” With that is peripatew in the present active participle. The word means to walk, used here for advancing—“constantly walking in this manner.”[5] The present tense of peripatew is the present of duration, it denotes what has been happening in the past and continues into the present time, namely the study and growth of the apostle Paul, the study and growth of certain pastor-teachers in every generation because they are prepared to study and prepared to stay with the Word, and prepared therefore for growth. The active voice: positive volition on the part of the pastor produces the action of the verb. The participle is circumstantial.
“so as” – the comparative adverb kaqwj which means “just as”; “he has” – present active indicative from the verb e)xw. This is an aoristic present tense, used for punctiliar action in present time. The moment that these things are discovered in the Scripture the believer becomes aware that there is a such a thing as his right pastor. He becomes aware of what his right pastor should have in essence: he should be a constant self-disciplined, dedicated student of the Word of God. As a result of this the pastor will consistently grow, and in his consistent growth he will lead the congregation to his stage of growth as he moves along. The active voice: when the believer reaches a certain stage of growth he produces the action of this verb, having Paul as an example of advancing from SG to USG. Paul is the pattern of reversion recovery, the pattern of advance to SG by braking the maturity barrier, and the example of going from super-grace to ultra-super-grace.
The word “us” is included, the accusative plural direct object from the personal pronoun e)gw. Us includes both Paul and Timothy. Both went into reversionism at different times; they both recovered from reversionism; they both broke the maturity barrier and went to SG, and then to USG.
“for an ensample” – accusative singular direct object from the noun tupoj, which means an example, a pattern a model.
Translation: “Brethren, be co-imitators of me [advance to his spiritual growth by listening to the message], and be looking for the same type [studying and growing pastors], constantly walking in this manner just as you have us [Paul and Timothy] for a pattern.”
Verse 18 – the opposition of reversionism. The verses begins with the explanatory use of the conjunctive particle gar. It indicates the necessity for the continuation of the function of GAP after reaching super-grace status.
“many” – the nominative masculine plural from the adjective poluj, referring to the large number of believers who when historical disaster occurred, or because they reacted to something else, fell into reversionism, got under the influence of evil. In that first century the reversionistic believer was the greatest enemy of Christianity, not the unbeliever. The believer was fighting the believer, and Satan used believers in a special way; so much so that this verse is going to be very harsh on those believers.
“walk” – present active indicative of the verb peripatew. Walking has to do with modus vivendi, the way of life of the reversionistic believer. The present tense is the retroactive progressive present which denotes reversionism begun in the past and continuing into the present time. The active voice: believers in various stages of reversionism produce the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality—wide-spread reversionism and the influence of evil in the first century was the enemy of the truth.
“of whom” – the accusative plural from the relative pronoun o(j. This is the adverbial accusative of reference and therefore it is translated “concerning whom.”
“I have told” – the imperfect active indicative of legw (to talk, to speak, to tell), translated “I have communicated.” The customary imperfect denotes what has regularly occurred in the past. The active voice: Paul constantly taught that the reversionistic believer under the influence of evil produces the action of the verb. The indicative: historical reality for Paul’s constant teaching on the subject.
“you often” – he never stopped. This is the dative plural indirect object from the personal pronoun su, and it should be correctly translated “you all”; pollakij – many times. This describes how frequently and faithfully Paul warned the royal family of God about reversionism; “and now” – nun, the adverb of time.
“tell” – present active indicative of legw, this time a descriptive present for teaching in the process of occurrence. The active voice: Paul continues faithful teaching and warning to both the Philippians and believers of all generations. The indicative mood is declarative for the historical reality of the Pauline epistles as a part of the canon of Scripture, the gist of his teaching which is a monument forever to the importance of persistence in study and teach, and the true concept of communication by which all believers grow. There is no word for “you” in the original manuscript.
“and now tell you” – continue telling; “weeping” – the ascensive use of the conjunction kai plus the present active participle from klaiw. This is an aoristic present for punctiliar action in present time. It was a momentary weeping. Inside, Paul could think of all those people he had known in the past and how he enjoyed them, and yet at the very moment that he writes these people have not only turned against Paul but they have turned against the cross. They are anti-Christian Christians, and yet they were former friends.
“that they are” – they have made themselves; “the enemies” – accusative plural direct object from e)xroj, used here to describe reversionistic believers[6] under the influence of evil; “of the cross” – descriptive genitive singular from stauroj, referring to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The cross epitomizes the principle of grace.
“of Christ” – possessive genitive of the proper noun Xristoj, plus a definite article used as an intensive pronoun to emphasise the uniqueness of the person of Christ” – “they have made themselves the enemies of the cross of that same Christ.”
Translation: “For many [reversionists under the influence of evil] keep walking concerning whom I have communicated to you many times, and now continue communicating even though weeping, that they have made themselves the enemies of the cross of that same Christ.”
Verse 19 – four characteristics of reversionism. “Whose” is the descriptive genitive plural from the relative pronoun o(j which has as its antecedent the reversionist of the previous verse who becomes the enemy of the cross. What happens to them?
“end” – nominative subject singular of the noun teloj, and it means termination, cessation, conclusion. The termination here refers to the termination of life. Then add what is not found in the text, the present active indicative of e)imi, a static present. This is what happens to those who are believers and the enemies of God: they keep on being. We translate: “Whose termination of life is.” Then we have a predicate nominative singular. This is how we know that e)imi is to be added. It is from the noun a)poleia, and it denotes destruction which causes waste or destruction which one experiences. The former is a transitive meaning and the latter is intransitive. The intransitive is correct here for this passage, hence destruction that one experiences is translated here, “ruin.” We are to understand here that the word “ruin” refers to the administration of the sin unto death to the born again believer who is the enemy of the cross.[7]
The second category: Reversionists are influenced by emotional revolt: “whose god is their belly” – descriptive genitive plural from the relative pronoun o(j, which has as its antecedent the reversionist who is described in the first category as being headed toward the sin unto death. Now we find that every reversionist has a god, and the god is definitely not God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit. While the word is qeoj is does not refer to any member of the Trinity. The present active indicative of e)imi must be included because we have a predicate nominative coming up—not found in the text but understood by the Greek text; “their belly” is a predicate nominative from the noun koilia. The word is used here for emotion. There is also a definite article used as a possessive pronoun. The literal translation is: “whose god is his emotion.” The god of all reversionists is their emotion; how they feel is their dictator.[8]
The third characteristic: They require fame on the basis of dishonour. The word “glory” is the nominative singular of doca. This is one of the few times that doca is not used for fame and renown and honour, but is used simply for human fame based upon some system of cheating, some system of dishonesty, some lack of integrity or dishonour. Again, there is the present active indicative of e)imi because there is a predicate nominative coming up—“is” is understood in the Greek to be there although it does not occur in the text because of the presence of the phrase “in their shame,” a prepositional phrase, e)n plus the instrumental of a)isxunh, which means dishonour. Also the possessive genitive plural of the intensive pronoun a)utoj. Dishonour belongs to them as a way of life—“whose fame is by means of their dishonour.”
The final principle: They are under the influence of evil—“whose mind” is incorrect. There is a definite article used as a relative pronoun in the articular present active participle from fronew. The word is used here to hold an opinion, and we translate this, “who keep on thinking [holding opinions] about earthly things.” The present tense of the participle is retroactive present, it denotes what was begun in the past and continues into the present time. They are under the influence of evil. The active voice: the reversionistic believer produces the action of the verb—thinking evil. The participle is circumstantial.
Translation: “Whose termination of life is destruction [ruin or the sin unto death], whose God is his emotion, whose fame is by means of their dishonour, who keep thinking about [or, holding opinions on] earthly things [evil].”
Verse 20 – what is the final destination of the royal family? “For” is the explanatory use of the conjunction gar, it introduces the final destination of all members of the royal family. In other words, whether a believer makes it or not, whether he grows in grace, whether he understands that the road to glory is from saving grace at the cross to living grace, to super-grace, to USG, to dying grace, and then to surpassing grace, there is perfect security for him. That is grace! It is found in phase three—the concept of ultimate sanctification.
“our conversation” – the possessive genitive plural from the personal pronoun e)gw, plus the nominative singular subject from politeuma [poluj = from which we get politics, etc, and it means a state, a commonwealth. It means whole body of people constituting a nation or a state or a body politic. It also refers to a body of people united by a common interest. In theatrical use in the Greek language it applied to a company of actors who shared the receipts instead of receiving salaries.] Paul uses this word politeuma when he writes to the Philippians because it is an excellent analogy to the members of the royal family of God who live in the devil’s world. The Philippians were Romans who lived in Philippi, and all around them were Greeks, Macedonians, Jews, all kinds of people. But in Philippi they were a politeuma of Rome. Rome was just as much Rome in that spot in northern Greece as it was anywhere else. Paul is using that word as an illustration to these people, for here is the royal family of God living in the devil’s world, and yet it is just as much royal family as anyone in heaven in the analogy. So politeuma means any member of the royal family. It isn’t conversation, but we might call it the sphere of our citizenship or the sphere of our aristocracy. “For our aristocracy is” – present active indicative of the verb u(parxw, which doesn’t mean “to be” [e)imi] at all. It means to exist. “For our aristocracy exists.” This is a static present tense representing a condition, an aristocracy of the royal family of God which will always exist—“keeps on existing.” The active voice: believers of the royal family of God produce the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative representing the action of the verb from the viewpoint of dogmatic reality.
“in heaven” – e)n plus the locative of o)uranoj, “in heaven,” or “in the sphere of heaven.”
“also” is incorrect. This is the ascensive use of kai and should be translated “even”; “from whence” – should be “from which [place].”
“we look” – present active indicative from a)pekdexomai. It means to eagerly wait and it connotes anticipation. The present tense is a customary present denoting what habitually occurs in the life of the SG or USG believer. But the ultimate sanctification belongs to the reversionist too. The active voice: anyone who has broken the barrier to maturity is anticipating, so they produce the action. The indicative mood is declarative, the verbal action is presented from the viewpoint of reality.
Translation: “For our aristocracy exists in heaven; even from which place [heaven] we eagerly anticipate the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The anticipation is the Rapture. So we anticipate the transfer of the entire aristocracy, the Church.
Verse 21 – ultimate sanctification. “Who” is a nominative singular relative pronoun o(j. The antecedent is the Lord Jesus Christ; “shall change” – future active indicative from the verb metasxhmatizw which means to change a form, or to transform. However, in the middle voice it means to change or disguise one’s self, while the active voice means to transform. We are changed from the form of our present body to a permanent body that will last forever. Therefore, “Who will transform” is the correct translation. The future tense here is a predictive future, it denotes a future event, the Rapture of the Church, the moment when all of us receive exactly the same type of resurrection body, minus the old sin nature and minus human good. The active voice: the Lord Jesus Christ produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood is declarative for future historical reality.
“our vile body” is incorrect. The word “vile” doesn’t occur. The Greek says, “the body of our humble station. Our life is considered a humble station compared to eternity. The body we have at the present time is not vile, it is an excellent body. The only thing bad about the body is that it contains and old sin nature.
“that it may be” is not found in the original; “fashioned” means “in conformity with,” the accusative neuter singular direct object from summorfoj.
“his glorious body” – a reference to the resurrection body. This is the associative instrumental case of swma, referring to the resurrection body of Christ and we will have one exactly like it, minus the scars in the hands and the feet.
“according to the working” is a prepositional phrase, kata plus the accusative of the noun e)nergeia, operating power.
“he is able” – the intensive pronoun a)utoj is the subject here [he and only he], it emphasizes the identity of Jesus Christ. It is in the accusative because we have an accusative of general reference with the infinitive. Then dunamai in the present active infinitive, which means He has the ability from His deity to do all these things. The static present represents a perpetual existing state: Christ always had the ability; Christ is God. The active voice: Christ produces the action. This is the infinitive of intended result. This is a deliberate objective on the part of Jesus Christ on behalf of all members of the royal family of God.
“even to subdue” is literally “to bring under his authority,” the aorist active infinitive of u(potassw. It also means that even though God cannot bring the reversionistic believer under His authority now, there will be a time when He will. Not now because of the angelic conflict. The believer must be free to go with doctrine or to reject doctrine, as per God’s grace plan.
“all things” – refers to angels, to human beings. It refers to the fact that all creatures will be under God’s authority. Even though today in life they have free will this will be changed. All unbelievers and fallen angels will be in the lake of fire under the authority of God. All believers, regardless of how they have failed or succeeded, and all elect angels, will be totally under the authority of God.
Translation: “Who will transform the body of our humble station in conformity with the body of his glory [resurrection body], according to the operational power from which this same one [Jesus Christ] keeps on being able also to bring under authority all of these creatures.”
Phase three is the end of the angelic conflict and the bringing of all creatures under authority.