---
title: Philippians 3:12
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/philippians-3-12/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/philippians-3-12.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Philippians 3:12
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Philippians 3:12

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "Not that I have already received it or am already made perfect, but I am pressing on to see if I may also lay hold on that for which Christ Jesus selected me."

## JW Usage

The Watchtower invokes Philippians 3:12 to support the doctrine of two-stage justification: present standing is real but provisional, and final salvation depends on continued pressing on. Paul "had not already received it" — Witnesses are encouraged to read this as confirmation that no one can claim assurance of salvation in this life, only after surviving Armageddon and the post-millennial test.

## Protestant Usage

The "it" Paul has not yet received is the consummated resurrection life of v. 11, not the imputed righteousness of v. 9. Paul carefully separates the two in this same passage: he already has "the righteousness from God that depends on faith" (v. 9, present tense) and presses on toward the prize of the upward call (v. 14, future tense). Pair Philippians 3:12 with Romans 5:9 ("having now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God") — Paul's a fortiori logic guarantees future salvation from the already-given justification. There is no two-stage justification in Paul; there is justification (already given) plus sanctification (in progress) plus glorification (still future). The "pressing on" is sanctification, not the search for an uncertain final verdict.

## NWT Issue

The NWT renders katelēmphthēn ("laid hold of me") as "Christ Jesus selected me." The Greek verb is the same one Paul uses for his own pressing — "I am pressing on to lay hold of (katalabō) that for which Christ Jesus laid hold of (katelēmphthēn) me." Paul's metaphor is mutual seizure: he reaches for what Christ has already grasped him for. "Selected" flattens this into vocational appointment ("Christ chose me for ministry"), losing the mystical-union image of Paul being taken hold of by the risen Christ. Standard English translations preserve "laid hold of" or "took hold of" because the metaphor matters: Paul's pressing on is the response to Christ's prior grasp, not the working of an autonomous vocation.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Initial and Final Justification](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/initial-vs-final-justification.md) — The two-stage framework and Romans 5:9 [Salvation]