Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:13-14  NASB

Lies behind/ lies ahead – Making it Greek.  Yes, that’s what Paul does when he writes to the Philippians.  While Hebraic thinking absorbs the past in order to direct action in the future, Paul suggests that the past should be forgotten.  While Hebraic thought looks toward the past for guidance, Paul seems fixated on what will come, not what has already happened.  Could it be that Paul’s thinking finally moved toward Hellenism?  Or is there something else at work here?

Let’s start with the vocabulary (and eliminate the extra English words in the process).  The first thing we notice is that the spatial/temporal prepositions (“behind” and “ahead”) come before the verbs.  Nothing unusual about this in Greek, but literally it should read, “behind lose out of mind,” and “ahead stretching forward.”  Something needs to be lost so that, hopefully, something else will be gained.

What about the verbs?  ĕpilanthanŏmai – to lose out of mind, and ĕpĕktĕinŏmai – to stretch forward.  Not exactly “lies behind” or “lies ahead,” but perhaps close enough.  Until we look at the construction of these words.  The first, ĕpilanthanŏmai, is a combination of ĕpi (“over, upon, towards” in relation to time or place), and lanthanō (“to lie hidden,” “to be ignorant of’).  This is particularly interesting because the Greek idea of truth literally means “uncovering what is hidden.”  So behind Paul’s verb is the idea that it is necessary to hide from mind what has happened in order to experience the next verb, ĕpĕktĕinŏmai.  In other words, Paul is not saying, “Forget the past.”  What he is saying is that the past needs to be covered over.  It’s still there but it’s not present-to-mind.  “Forgetting” is an unfortunate English choice because it could mean erase, delete, or expunge what happened.  This is not what Paul is saying.  He’s focused on the practical application, that is, the necessity of not dwelling in the past.  

Let me offer an example.  “When were you saved?” expects an answer that focuses on a time in the past.  It implies that some particular event changed your spiritual status from “lost” to “saved.”  But biblically, you are being saved.  Today is the day of salvation.  Today you put it in action.  That event in the past was only the precursor to now.  If your “salvation” is marked by a particular date in the past, then you haven’t moved forward.  Your still stuck there.  You need ĕpilanthanŏmai, to put it out of your mind.  It happened.  It’s important.  But now it needs to be tucked away in order for something else to occur.

That something else is ĕpĕktĕinŏmai.  Again we see ĕpi in the construction.  “To move towards.”  You will notice the alliteration in Greek.  Actually, the word translated “ahead” is also alliterative (ĕmprŏsthĕn).  The verb attaches ĕpi to ĕktĕinō; itself a combination of ĕk (“from”) and tĕinō (“to stretch out”).  “Extend yourself,” writes Paul. “Reach for it!”  In both verbs, the preposition ĕpi also acts as an exclamation point!  Both actions are not passive.  They are deliberate, calculated, forceful.  In other words, this isn’t going to happen naturally.  The typical human response is to sit on the laurels, imagining that “once saved, always saved” is a finished product. “Heaven is in the bank; what else is there to do but wait for the Messiah to return.”  Oh, if it were only so easy!

Paul presses on.  The verb is diṓkō.  “To impel, to persecute, to expel, to hasten, to follow zealously, to pursue.”  It could hardly be stronger.  “Reaching for it” takes serious effort.  Real work!  There is no R&R in this devotion to God.  In the end, by the time you reach the goal you are expected to be worn out.  Until then, there’s work to do.  God’s going to keep your nose to the grindstone until you’re finished.  Why else would He keep waking you up every day?

Topical Index: diṓkō, pursue, press on, ĕpĕktĕinŏmai, stretch out, ĕpilanthanŏmai, forget, Philippians 3:13-14