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Introduction
 Christ dramatically “took hold” of Paul on the Damascus Road. Paul saw a light so bright he was blind for three days. He fell to the ground and had to be led by the hand into Damascus. This was not only a dramatic conversion, it was a violent one also. It was as if Jesus grabbed Paul by the scruff of the neck and slammed him into the Kingdom of God.
The English phrase “took hold” comes from the Greek word lambano. It means to seize, to possess, and to lay hold of so as to make one's own. It is an aggressive word. The violent and aggressive way in which Christ seized Paul was to become for Paul a metaphor to describe the violent and aggressive pursuit he now had towards Christ. He would “take hold” of Christ’s purpose for his life in the way Christ “took hold” of him.
There are three things that stand out in this chapter that Paul desired to take hold of: the position of righteousness, the presence of God, and the purpose of his life
The Position of Righteousness
“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” (Philippians 3:8, 9)
The context of Paul’s discussion concerning righteousness was his bitter and strident description of the Judaizers. He called them dogs, evil workers, and mutilators of the flesh.
“The Judaizers were early converts to Christianity who tried to force believers from non-Jewish backgrounds to adopt Jewish customs as a condition of salvation.” (Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1986)
The Judaizers added a condition to justification: keeping the law of Moses. For them, salvation was through faith in Christ and circumcision. Paul vigorously refuted their position and held to justification by faith alone. Paul did have an impressive pedigree. If anyone could claim justification by his own righteousness, Paul could. His testimony is impressive.
“If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.” (Philippians 3:4-6)
And yet he likened his own righteousness to rubbish. The English word translated rubbish is taken from the Greek word skubalon, the excrement of dogs. Obviously, he did not have a high opinion of his own righteousness.
The same spiritual force that energized the Judaizers is at work today. Just as Paul resisted the teaching of the Judaizers, we must resist the tendency to derive even an iota of righteousness from our own efforts. Any teaching, mentality, or inclination that adds conditions to justification must be rejected.
At conversion, we renounce the attitude that we are partners with God in the process of justification. The rest of our lives then becomes an aggressive fight to “take hold” of the “righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”
The Presence of God
“I want to know Christ…”
The phrase we are examining, “take hold,” implies a struggle. There is a struggle to take hold of the presence of God. If it is valuable, we can be sure that our enemy will try to take it from us. We can be sure of a fight. Because the presence of God is the most valauable thing on earth, we should expect a titanic struggle. And that is exactly what Paul tells us to expect.
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (II Corinthians 11:3)
In other words, get ready for a battle.
The Purpose of His Life
“…that for which Christ took hold of me.”
Everyone is born to do something special. Everyone has a destiny. Paul aggressively desired to discover what his was and attain to it whatever the cost.
“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13, 14)
Destiny was a popular concept in the philosophy and religion of the first century world. But whenever Paul refers to destiny in his writings, his definition is entirely different from the one philosophers and pagan priests used. To them, destiny was an inexorable force that controlled your future and would ultimately have its way regardless of what choices you made to avoid it.
Paul’s definition was: God has planned a great purpose for you as a part of His overall plan, but you must decide to participate in that plan.
Destiny is not inevitable. God requires our continuous and rigorous participation. We must "take hold" of our destiny in the same way God "took hold" of Paul.
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