His resurrection." This is the energy spoken of at the end of the chapter by which He is

"of power" even to subdue all things unto Himself.

Laying hold upon this resurrection, however, the apostle's next step is to enter into the

fellowship of Christ's sufferings, not for salvation, but for the subsequent outworking of

that salvation. This leads to conformity unto the death of Christ, and this, again, is a

preclude to one thing, viz., "If by any means I may attain unto the out-resurrection, that

which is out from among the dead ones".

While fellowship with the sufferings of Christ is not necessary to assure any member

of the body of his place in the blessed hope, it is essential if the added prize is sought.

"If by any means I may attain unto" is absolutely foreign to the standing in grace that

is taught in the epistle to the Ephesians. It belongs properly to the epistle that urges the

believer to go on, with the added prize in view. The reader should read on in this

third chapter. No break is discoverable in the argument. The apostle is pressing on with

the goal in view, and calls upon others to do likewise. He warns against some who mind

earthly things, and places them in contrast with those who remember that their citizenship

is in heaven. Just as I Thess. 4: and I Cor. 15: place together resurrection and

"change" before the respective companies in view, so does the apostle in Philippians.

The out-resurrection is explainable in the terms of the "change" of those who await the

Saviour. Just as I Cor. 15: declares that, though all shall not sleep, yet all shall be

changed, so is it here. All will not pass through death and the grave, but all who have

attained this out-resurrection know that their glory will be entered when this body of

humiliation is conformed to the body of His glory.

Again let us ask the question, What is this body of humiliation? The reference to

Phil. 3: 10 gives us an inkling of the truth, that it has special reference to those who not

only believe the teaching of the epistles of the mystery, but enter into fellowship with and

conformity to the Lord's death and sufferings, and this is substantiated by a closer

examination of verse 21. The word we translate "humiliation" is tapeinoseos, and fuller

light upon its meaning will be found in chapter 2: There the death of Christ, even the

death of the cross, is introduced not as a basis of salvation, but as an example to follow,

the whole reference being introduced by the words, "Let this mind be in you":--

"He humbled Himself", etapeinosen heauton. Here is the body of His humiliation,

closely associated with the death of the cross, and leading on to subsequent and related

exaltation and glory. Heb. 12: 1-3 is a close parallel and should be studied together with

Phil. 2: 5-12.