Philippians 3:14
ESV - 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
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The ultimate reward of the Christian is to receive eternal life in God's presence in heaven. This is the "high calling" to which Paul is referring in this verse. To press on toward it means to exert deliberate, maximum effort for the purpose of reaching or attaining it, just as a runner in a race drives for the finish line. (Of course, the possibility of eternal life in heaven for the Christian occurs only through God's grace and Jesus' saving work, rather than anything that we do or can do in this life. But that does not excuse the Christian from continually striving toward that goal through service and obedience to God, in love and gratitude to Him for the salvation that He has made possible.)
The calling is 'to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus.' (Rom 8:29) To this end one has to strive hard. The calling is 'to go on to maturity.' (Heb. 6:1) Our model is Jesus the first born. We press on so that we may be transformed in our character to be like Jesus.
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