When Paul, in Philippians 3:12 says Not that I have already attained the perfection means in the mind of Paul, the full knowledge of the sufferings of Jesus Chrsit, and the power of His resurrection.
That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.
11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Did the angels created by God who rebelled against Him have
an angelic sinful nature?
Or were they creatures endowed with freedom, like men? Pride and rebellion, where do they come from? Evil thoughts of self-glorification or vanity, where
do they come from?
By taking refuge behind the excuse of ‘I was born sinful’ these men reject the notion of free will, which is nevertheless one of the foundations of moral responsibility and divine justice.
Not wanting to assume their responsibilities, they prefer to attribute their actions to a fatality of nature rather than to personal choices, which amounts to refusing the call to holiness and purity that God demands of each one.
In the passage from Philippians 3:10-16,
Not that I have already obtained it or have already been made perfect,
Paul, in his humility, claims not yet to have attained perfection in the sense of fully knowing the fullness of Christ, the glory to come, the heavenly crown, and the fellowship of his sufferings by becoming conformed to him in his death (verse
10).
However, he pursues this goal with ardor to seize it. In verse 15 Paul says, “Let us, therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded.” In context, he is referring to the degree of spiritual perfection already attained by some
believers in their knowledge of Christ and in the power of His
resurrection (verse 10).
In verse 16 he says, “Inasmuch as we have attained, let us keep pace.” He exhorts believers to continue in the state of perfection already attained in step
with their spiritual progress.
In Philippians 3:8, Paul emphasizes that he has forsaken all things, considering them as rubbish, in order to gain Christ.
He rejects the lusts of the flesh, the pride of life, and
everything that has to do with sin. His life is completely dedicated to Christ.
This passage, as a whole, therefore has absolutely nothing to do with any excuse for occasional sins, as the lying movements claim. Paul is not speaking here of an unattainable “moral perfection,” but of an ever deeper
knowledge of Christ, while at the same time witnessing to a life freed from sin.