'Brethren, I do not consider myself to have attained.' If even Paul had not yet attained and did not have complete certainty about his glorious resurrection, this is scarcely possible for those who have not accomplished even the smallest part of his virtues.
The Apostle says here: I do not yet consider myself to have attained complete perfection. I have not yet accomplished everything.
True, elsewhere he says, 'I have fought the good fight,' and the rest (see 2 Tim 4:7). But here he says, 'I do not consider myself to have attained.'
Whoever reads these two passages will understand the reason for both sayings. These words were spoken much earlier, and those near his death.
'I do not consider myself,' he says, 'to have attained.' I think only of one thing: to stretch forward.
This is the meaning of his words: 'forgetting what lies behind and stretching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal.'
See how clearly he showed by these words what moved him to stretch forward.
Whoever thinks of himself that he is already perfect and lacks nothing for the fullness of virtue ceases to strive, as though he had attained everything.
On the contrary, whoever thinks he is still far from the goal will never cease to strive toward it.
We too must always think this, even if we have done very much good. For if Paul, after countless deaths and so many afflictions, thought this of himself, much more should we.
The Apostle says: I have not lost heart or come to despair because, after completing such a course, I have not attained.
Rather, I still strive and still struggle. I have only one thing in view: how I may truly succeed.
So must we also act: we must forget good deeds and leave them behind us.
A swift runner thinks not of how much of the course he has run, but of how much still remains.
And let us think not of how many good deeds we have accomplished, but of how many still remain for us to accomplish.
For what use is what we have done, when something still remains unfinished?
The Apostle did not say, 'I do not think of it,' or, 'I do not remember.' He said, 'forgetting,' in order to make us more attentive.
For we become most zealous when we devote all diligence to what has not yet been done, and consign what has been done to oblivion.
When we stretch forward, it means that we try to take something before we have reached it.
For one who stretches forward tries to get ahead of his still-running feet by extending the rest of his body forward and stretching out his hands.
But this comes from great zeal and from intense desire. In this way one must strive.
In heaven abides He who gives the reward. In heaven the reward is prepared.
See what a distance there is: it must be run. See what a height there is: one must fly there on wings of the spirit.
Otherwise one cannot pass through that height. Train your feet to step firmly, for there are many slippery places.
If you fall, you will lose much. Yet if you do fall, rise, since even in this case it is possible to conquer.
Never step on slippery things, and you will not fall. Run on firm places, with your head toward heaven and your eyes toward heaven.
Look upward, where the reward is. The very sight of the reward strengthens resolve.
Fear of torments does not allow one to feel weariness, and the long road appears short.
What is this reward? Not a palm branch, but what? The Kingdom of Heaven, eternal rest, glory with Christ, and countless blessings that cannot be expressed in words" (Chrysostom).
Nothing need be added to this inspired speech of Chrysostom for the proper understanding of these texts.
One remark concerns the translation: "with diligence." In Greek it stands as κατα σκοπον.
Σκοπος is the marker toward which those who undertake to outrun one another had to run. They fix their eyes upon it and strain all their strength toward it, to reach it sooner than others.
"I press on toward this marker," or "according to this marker," means according to its indication and in the direction where it stands.
For "the prize," in Greek there stands επι βραβειον. Βραβειον is the same as what we now call a prize in races.
Επι indicates for the sake of what. Thus the Apostle, adapting himself to the customs of the arena, says: I press toward the marker for the sake of such and such a reward.
What is the reward? The upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. And what is this? The Kingdom of Heaven.
The Apostle strives not toward the Kingdom itself, but toward a certain marker. If he reaches it, he will receive the Kingdom of Heaven, or, according to the discourse, be counted worthy of the glorious resurrection.
What is the marker? Christian spiritual perfection, which consists in the purification of our nature from sin and the passions.
This is done by ascetic labors of self-mortification and by enduring involuntary sorrows. These make the ascetic and struggler a participant in the healing sufferings of Christ.
Whoever reaches this marker possesses the Kingdom of Heaven. For nothing unclean will enter there.
The whole divine economy of our salvation is directed toward this: to provide us with everything necessary for attaining it.
For the sake of communion in the sufferings of Christ, the grace of the Holy Spirit overshadows the one who has communed in them.
He becomes wholly penetrated and embraced by His fire, like metal made incandescent. This is the image of the pure or dispassionate man.
To him belong both the glorious resurrection and the Kingdom of Heaven.
THEOSIS