“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” (Philippians 3:12)
In this spiritual inventory Paul admits he is far from perfect. He is still growing in his relationship with the Lord. He has not attained the full righteousness of Christ. He also has not reached the full measure of what it means to partake in Christ’s suffering and he certainly has not achieved the resurrection of his body from the dead. Yet he was not discouraged as some in Philippi were. He, who could claim to be more spiritual than any one, was not perfect. He was not all that he could be in Christ. God had called him to a purpose, to be like Christ. Paul knew he was not there yet. He still had to press on for he had far to go.
And so do we. We that we ought to take a good look at ourselves and evaluate our present state in the Christian life. We must know where we are so that we can determine how best to proceed in the course. We must acknowledge that we have not reached the goal. We are not perfect. We are not sinless, we are flawed and unrighteous, We do not know and serve Christ to the fullest extent possible. We are not fully righteous in our behavior. There is no shame in admitting this. We are still in this body of flesh and are still prone to sin. We do have the Spirit of God, however, who helps us to persevere in the race and prevail despite obstacles. We are righteous but not yet. We are perfect, but not yet. The righteousness of Christ and the perfection of His Spirit are guaranteed as our inheritance, but we still must run this life before we obtain them in the next. All of us must push on to the goal with faith and perseverance.