Philippians 3:14

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I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14 (NKJV)

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14 (NIV)

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14 (KJV)

I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Philippians 3:14 (NLT)

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14 (ESV)

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14 (NASB)

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:14 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.

Philippians 3:14 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward — to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.

Philippians 3:14 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

New Covenant Meaning

Pressing On Means Forgetting What Is Behind

Philippians 3:14 cannot be read in isolation from verse 13, where Paul describes the posture behind the pressing: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead. The pressing on of verse 14 is inseparable from the forgetting of verse 13. You cannot press forward while dragging the past. Paul is clear that he does not consider himself to have already arrived (v. 12). He is not performing from a place of having achieved enough. He is moving toward what is ahead, and that movement requires releasing what is behind. This is not denial of the past. It is refusing to let the past define the trajectory of the future.

The Prize Is a Calling, Not a Competition

The prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus is not something Paul is competing against other people to win. It is the prize that comes from responding to a call. God has called him upward, toward a life that is higher and fuller than what the flesh produces. The prize is the fullness of knowing Christ and being conformed to Him (v. 10). It is not a reward for being better than others. It is the outcome of a life spent moving toward the one who called you. Every believer has received this upward call. The pressing on is the daily response to a call that has already been issued.

In the New Covenant, Philippians 3:14 sits in a chapter where Paul has counted everything else as loss for the excellence of knowing Christ Jesus (v. 8). The pressing on is not an attempt to earn what Paul does not have. It is a sustained movement toward the one who has already laid hold of him (v. 12). Hebrews 12:1-2 uses the same racing imagery: run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. The goal is always Jesus. The prize is the fullness of what God has called you to in Him. And He who calls is faithful, and He will also do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Application for Your Life

Let Go of What Is Behind

One of the most practical instructions in this passage is the forgetting of verse 13. Past failures, past sins, past seasons of spiritual defeat can become anchors that keep you from pressing forward. Paul's answer is not to minimize the past. It is to release it. What is behind is behind. In Christ, your sins are forgiven and your record is clean. The call is forward. You cannot fully press toward the goal while looking back. Receive the grace that covers what is behind and point yourself toward what is ahead.

Press On with Intentionality

The word press carries weight. It describes active, deliberate movement. Paul is not drifting toward the goal. He is pressing. This is not anxious striving for approval. It is intentional pursuit of the one who has already called you. Pressing on means reading the word when you do not feel like it. Praying when the breakthrough has not come yet. Choosing the Spirit-led life when the flesh pulls in another direction. It is consistency in the direction of the goal. The upward call is a real call, and responding to it requires the real choice, day after day, to keep moving toward it.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, I press on toward the goal for the prize of Your upward call in Christ Jesus. I forget what is behind. I release the failures, the seasons of wandering, the times I fell short. That is behind me. I reach forward to what is ahead. You have called me upward, toward the fullness of knowing Christ, toward everything You have prepared for me. I choose today to keep pressing. Not in my own strength, but in the strength of the one who has already laid hold of me. I am not turning back. In Jesus name. Amen.