Philippians 3

Knowing Christ

3Finally, my brothers, rejoice ⁱin the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a protection for you.

²Watch out for “dogs,” ^jwatch out for evil ^kworkers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh. ³For we are the circumcision, ^lthe ones who serve by the Spirit ^mof God, boast in Christ Jesus, ⁿand do not put confidence in the flesh— ⁴although I once also had confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵circumcised the eighth day; ^oof the nation of Israel, ^pof the tribe of Benjamin, ^qa Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, ^ra Pharisee; ⁶regarding zeal, ^spersecuting ^tthe church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, ^ublameless. ^v

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 ^wof knowing Christ ^xJesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ ^y9and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, ^zbut one that is through faith in Christ ^a—the righteousness from God based on faith. ^b10My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, ^cbeing conformed to His death, ^d11assuming 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 fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold ^eof it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. ¹³Brothers, I do not ^fconsider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind ^gand reaching forward to what is ahead, ¹⁴I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly ^hcall in Christ Jesus. ⁱ¹⁵Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal ^jthis also to you. ¹⁶In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained. ¹⁷Join in imitating me, brothers, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. ¹⁸For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross ^kof Christ. ¹⁹Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory ^lis in their shame. They are focused on earthly things, ²⁰but our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious ^mbody, ⁿby the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself.