Filipenses 3:17

This verse is transitional. It applies equally well to what precedes and to what follows.

Paul’s advice might appear to some as egocentric. Nonetheless the reason he encouraged others to follow his example was that he was following Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:1). Those who walked after Paul’s pattern of life included Timothy and Epaphroditus. In Philippians, Paul typically gave warnings and then followed them up with encouragements in the form of good examples.

"At issue throughout is living a cruciform existence, discipleship marked by the cross and evidenced by suffering on behalf of Christ." [Note: Fee, Paul’s Letter . . ., p. 363.]

Paul introduced this section with an exhortation to rejoice (Philippians 3:1) and a warning against Judaizing false teachers who would rob the readers of their joy (Philippians 3:2). He then explained his own view of the Christian life (Philippians 3:3-14) and gave a final admonition to adopt his attitude (Philippians 3:15-17). This was appropriate since his view differed radically from what the Judaizers taught, and it expressed the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11).

Paul had previously used the examples of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5-11), himself (Philippians 2:17-18), Timothy (Philippians 2:19-24), and Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25-30) to challenge his readers. In this section his own example encourages us again to make Jesus Christ the focus of our lives. Many Christians are not very effective because they try to do too many different things. Paul had one clearly defined goal in relation to Christ: to get to know His Savior better and better.