Philippians 3

Knowing Christ

¹In addition, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a safeguard for you.²

³Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh.⁴⁵For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh —⁶⁷although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more:⁸⁹circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee;¹⁰¹¹regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.¹²

¹³But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.¹⁴¹⁵More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ¹⁶¹⁷and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ — the righteousness from God based on faith.¹⁸¹⁹My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death,²⁰²¹assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.²²

Reaching Forward to God’s Goal

²³Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.²⁴²⁵Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead,²⁶²⁷I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.²⁸²⁹Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you.³⁰³¹In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.³²³³Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us.³⁴³⁵For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.³⁶³⁷Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things.³⁸³⁹Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.⁴⁰⁴¹He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.⁴²