Or, “being conformed.” The apostle desired to be like his Master in everything, even to being like Him in His death. This conformation was fulfilled in two ways:

 (1) By Paul’s daily life. He shared in Christ’s meekness and submissiveness, His unselfish love and devotion, and His anguish over human sin. In conforming to Christ’s spirit Paul could truly say: “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31); “I am crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). Paul’s self-abnegation and his self-sacrificing life served as a powerful witness to the effectiveness of the Saviour’s death (see on 2 Cor. 4:10).

 (2) By Paul’s willingness to die if death should be necessary, and ultimately by his death. Martyrdom was no remote possibility for Paul. For many years he had faced death, and did not now shrink from it (see Acts 20:22-24).

 He who is united with Christ (v. 9), and personally experiences the operation of the power of His resurrection, will inevitably come to share in Christ’s sufferings (see on Matt. 10:17-24; 20:22, 23; 2 Cor. 1:5; Col. 1:24; 1 Peter 4:13). This sharing is not in a merely theoretical or ethical sense, although this is doubtless involved; it is actual (cf. 2 Tim. 3:12). He who lives Christ’s life will encounter some of the opprobrium Christ met (John 15:18-21; 17:14). Paul was fully aware of this (see on Acts 9:16), and did not shrink from the prospect. Rather he welcomed it as bringing him into still more intimate union with his Saviour. A partial record of the apostle’s sufferings (2 Cor. 11:23-27) reveals the impressive extent to which he did share in his Master’s pains and sorrows.

 Gr. koinōnia (see on Acts 2:42; Rom. 15:26; Phil. 1:5), here used in the sense of “partnership.”

 Paul was not merely wanting to get acquainted with the power that effected Christ’s resurrection; he longed for that power to operate in him also. For this wish to be fulfilled Paul would have to live a life like Christ’s. Hence he is virtually expressing the desire to have the same sin-conquering power in his life that Christ had in His. The decisive display of that power will be in Paul’s own resurrection from the dead. See on Rom. 4:25; 6:4-11. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is needed to resurrect a sinner dead in his sins, and to re-create him in the divine image.

 Rather, “come to know.” This clause is closely connected with v. 8, where the highest gain is shown to be a personal knowledge of Christ Jesus. To possess this knowledge Paul abandoned all things. He knew that the only way to gain this intimate knowledge of the Son of God was through union with Him (v. 9).