⁴although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵circumcised the eighth day;^az of the nation of Israel,^a of the tribe of Benjamin,^b a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law,^c a Pharisee; ⁶regarding zeal,^d persecuting^e the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law,^f blameless.^g

⁷But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. ⁸More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value^h of knowing Christⁱ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ^j ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law,^k but one that is through faith in Christ^A—the righteousness from God based on faith.^l ¹⁰My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings,^m being conformed to his death,ⁿ ¹¹assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

REACHING FORWARD TO GOD’S GOAL

¹²Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold^o of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. ¹³Brothers and sisters, I do not^A consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind^p and reaching forward to what is ahead, ¹⁴I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly^B call in Christ Jesus.^q

Read in Logos

Philippians 3:12: Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Footnotes

AOr through the faithfulness of Christ
AOther read not yet
BOr upward

Cross references

az Gn 17:12,25; 21:4; Lv 12:3; Lk 1:59; 2:21
a Rm 9:6
b Ps 68:27
c Ac 5:34; 22:3; Gl 1:14; 5:4
d Rm 10:2
e Ac 22:2–5; 26:9–11; 1Co 15:9; Gl 1:13; 1Tm 1:13; 2Tm 3:12
f Rm 3:21; 9:31; 10:4–5; Gl 2:21; 3:21
g Lk 1:6; Rm 7:9–10
h Php 2:3
i Jn 17:3; 2Co 4:6; Gl 4:8–9; Php 1:15; Col 2:2; 1Jn 4:8
j 1Pt 3:1
k Rm 10:5
l Rm 3:22; 10:4; Gl 2:21; Heb 11:7
m Rm 8:17; 2Co 1:5–7; Col 1:24; 1Pt 4:13; 5:1,9
n Rm 6:5; 8:36; 2Co 4:7–12; 12:9–10; Gl 6:17
o Jn 1:5; 12:35; Rm 9:30; 1Co 9:24; Eph 3:18
p Lk 9:62; 17:31
q Rm 16:7; Eph 2:6; Php 1:1,15; 1Pt 5:14