"To know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the communion of His passions, being formed together with His death, if somehow I would reach the resurrection which is from the dead."
(Philippians 3:11)
Paul wasn't here saying that the resurrection was conditional. He wasn't talking about the resurrection at the end of time at all per se. Instead, in the context of everything he had just said in Philippians 3, he was talking about reaching the state in which he would be in the resurrection in the here and now. That is, in the entire context, he was talking about stripping everything away that he had to and submitting to and cooperating with the Spirit of Christ to such a degree that, somehow, he might already attain that state of transformation and total "synchronization" with Jesus Christ.
Paul knew the resurrection was coming. He was not content to wait. He chased it down, he pursued it, disciplining himself like an athlete to seek total control by the Spirit of Christ at all times. Reaching this point, attaining this state was the prize, the laurel wreath he was chasing, and it was and remains the prize all disciples of Jesus Christ are to seek. Because it is only in submitting to and cooperating with the Spirit of Christ that we are truly His disciples. It is only in disengaging from our own malfunctioning flesh and coming under His control that we become like Christ, and that we live what is meant to be a "normal Christian life." It is only when Jesus Christ is manifest within us and through us that we are genuinely and actually Christian.
Paul knew this, and he was done playing games. He was done keeping the Torah. He was done keeping rules and laws to be seen as good, dutiful, or right. It was either Jesus Christ through him, or it was nothing.
We would do well to remember this.
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