Philippians 3:4–14

^4sthough I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ^5tcircumcised on the eighth day, ^uof the people of Israel, ^vof the tribe of Benjamin, ^ua Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, ^wa Pharisee; ^6xas to zeal, ^ya persecutor of the church; ^zas to righteousness under the law,³ blameless. ⁷But ^awhatever gain I had, ^bI counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸Indeed, I count everything as loss because of ^cthe surpassing worth of ^dknowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I ^ehave suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having ^fa righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but ^gthat which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— ^10hthat I may know him and ⁱthe power of his resurrection, and ^jmay share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹that by any means possible I may ^kattain the resurrection from the dead.

Straining Toward the Goal

¹²Not that I have already ^lobtained this or ^mam already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: ⁿforgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for ^othe prize of the upward ^pcall of God in Christ Jesus.