Philippians

The Merits of the Christian

Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. It’s not a burden for me to write the same things again, and it’s safer for you.

Be on guard against the dogs, the evildoers, and those who mutilate the flesh.

For we are the true circumcised, who serve by the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus—not in ourselves.

I, myself, do not lack those human qualities in which people have confidence. If some of them seem to be credited with such qualities, how much more am I!

I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I was born of the race of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin; I am a Hebrew, born of Hebrews. Concerning the law, I am a Pharisee,

and my zeal for the law was so strong that I persecuted the Church. As for being righteous according to the law, I was blameless.

But once I found Christ, all those things that I might have considered profit, I now see as a loss.

More than that, everything seems to me as nothing compared to the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have let everything fall away, and I now consider all as garbage, if I may gain Christ in return.

May I be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but the righteousness that God grants to those who believe.

May I get to know him, experience the power of his resurrection, share in his sufferings,

and become like him in his death, and thereby, God willing, attain the resurrection from the dead!

I do not believe I have already reached the goal, nor do I consider myself perfect, but I press on until I conquer Christ Jesus, as I have already been conquered by him.

No, brothers and sisters, I do not claim to have won the prize yet. I say only this: forgetting what is behind me, I race forward and run toward the goal,

my eyes on the prize for which God has called us from above in Christ Jesus.

Let all of us who claim to be perfect have the same mindset, but if there is anything on which you differ, God will make it clear to you.

Meanwhile, let us go forward from the point we have each attained.

Paul’s Example

Unite in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and observe those who walk according to our way of life.

For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. I have told you this many times, and now I say it with tears:

they are headed for destruction; their stomachs are their gods, and they are proud of what should be their shame. They only think about earthly things.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for the Savior from there, Jesus Christ, the Lord.

He will transform our humble bodies to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control.