<p>3:12- see on Acts 18:18; 2 Tim. 4:6-8.</p><p><i>Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me</i>- As explained on :11, the final attainment of perfection will be at the resurrection. Relatively late in his career Paul could comment: &ldquo;Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect&rdquo;, alluding to the Lord&rsquo;s bidding to be perfect as our Father is (Mt. 5:48). Through this allusion to the Gospels, Paul is showing his own admission of failure to live up to the standard set. Yet we must compare this with &ldquo;Let us therefore, as many as be perfect&hellip;&rdquo; (Phil. 3:12,15). In 1 Cor. 13:10, he considers he is &lsquo;perfect&rsquo;, and has put away the things of childhood. Thus he saw his spiritual maturity only on account of his being in Christ; for he himself was not &ldquo;already perfect&rdquo;, he admitted. We are counted as if we are in Christ, as if we are Him; but we are to live like that in practice. In a marvellous statement of our mutuality with the Lord, we are to lay hold on what we have been laid hold of for; and what is in view is the final perfection of body and spirit which shall be achieved at the resurrection to life. We have been seized (Gk.), laid hold of, for salvation. The grip is tight, and only by our&nbsp;wilfully wriggling out of it will the Lord not achieve His intention with us.</p>