The experiences of the apostle recorded in Acts 27 must have left an indelible impression upon his mind, and as

he pressed the words `if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection' he knew, by actual experience, that there

was the possibility of failing to arrive just as surely as the venture to attain unto Phenice met with disaster.

Moreover, in the verse following he emphasizes the fact that he had not `already attained', but that he `followed

after', still further adding `brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended'. Contingency is the very atmosphere of

the context. Now it is certain that Paul could have entertained no doubt concerning his standing in grace, or of his

acceptance in the Beloved; his hope, like an anchor, was sure, and if he used words that expressed contingency and

uncertainty, then it is morally certain that he was not speaking of the hope of the believer. In verse 14 he reveals that

his uncertainty was related to a `prize', and this attitude of mind he has already exhibited in relation to the same

theme in 1 Corinthians 9:24 to 10:13.

The `resurrection' therefore that was the object of the apostle's desires here in Philippians 3:11, for which he

suffered and was willing to endure, must be something equivalent to `the first resurrection' of Revelation 20:4-6, or

the `better resurrection' of Hebrews 11:35.

The words `first' and `better' stand visible for all to read in the passages cited, but neither the Authorized Version

nor the Revised Version use any such qualifying prefix in Philippians 3:11. The Authorized Version reads :

`If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead',

and the Revised Version reads:

`if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead'.

but that is all the difference there is between the two versions. The reader will by this time be desirous of consulting

the original, and to this we accordingly turn.

The Received Text reads ten exanastasin ton nekron `the out-resurrection of or from the dead'; The Critical Texts

read ten exanastasin ten ek nekron `the out-resurrection, that which is out from the dead ones'.

In order to appreciate the intention of the apostle here it will be necessary to review the teaching of the New

Testament on this question of resurrection.

Two sects divided the religious beliefs of Israel into conflicting camps, the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Of the

Sadducees it is written that they say `there is no resurrection' (Matt. 22:23). When the Saviour challenged the faith

of Martha concerning the resurrection of her brother Lazarus, she replied in the language of the common creed of

the day `I know that he shall rise again ... at the last day' (John 11:24). The simplest statement concerning the

resurrection is that given by the apostle before the Sanhedrin, a belief which Israel and the believer could share `and

have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the

just and unjust' (Acts 24:15). Here in the words anastasin nekron we have the most elementary form in which the

resurrection of the dead can be expressed, a form used by Pharisees, by Paul, by the sister of Lazarus and by the

common people, for the Apocrypha, written long before Christ, contains the words anastasin eis zoen `a resurrection

unto life'.

It is therefore somewhat disconcerting to read in Mark 9:10 of the disciples that they questioned one with

another `what the rising from the dead should mean'. Are we to understand that the very disciples who had been

selected to witness the transfiguration on the mountain, were not so mature in the faith as an unconverted Pharisee?

Did Martha outstrip the apostles in this article of faith? Once again therefore we must turn to the actual words as

recorded in the original before attempting a conclusion.

The words that troubled the disciples were those used by the Lord when He said : `Till the Son of Man were

risen from the dead' ek nekron anaste `risen OUT FROM dead ones'. It is the presence of this word ek `out' that caused

the questioning. It was something additional to the common creed. It was this resurrection ek nekron that declared

Christ `to be the Son of God with power' (Rom. 1:4). The first to rise out from the dead was Christ, as Paul testifies

in Acts 26:23 :

`That Christ should suffer, and that He should be the first that should rise out from dead ones'.