Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I count not myself - whatever others count as to themselves. He who counts himself perfect must deceive himself (1 John 1:8); yet each must aim at perfection to be a Christian at all (Matthew 5:48).
Forgetting those things which are behind. Looking back ends in going back: so Lot's wife (Luke 9:62; Luke 17:32). If we cease pulling the oar against the current, we are carried back. God's word is, "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward" (Exodus 14:15). The Bible, as our landmark, shows whether we are progressing or retrograding.
Reaching forth, х epekteinomenos (G1901)] - 'stretching out after the things in front,' after higher stages of holiness, with hand and foot, like a runner in a race the body bent forward. Christians are humbled by the contrast between what they are and what they desire to be. The eye reaches before, drawing on the hand; the hand reaches before, drawing on the foot (Bengel) (Hebrews 6:1).