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The Letter of Paul to the Philippians 3

3 Finally, my fellow believers, rejoice in who God is, and rejoice about what he has done and is doing. Though I will now write to you about the same things that I mentioned to you before, this is not tiresome for me, and it will protect you from being led astray by those who teach things that are not true.

2 Guard yourselves against the ones who are like dirty dogs. Guard yourselves against the ones who teach what is false. Guard yourselves against the ones who cut their bodies. 3 But as for us—we ourselves are what it truly means to be circumcised. The Spirit of God enables us to truly worship God, and we glory in the Messiah Jesus rather than trusting in religious acts such as circumcision. 4 However, if anyone thinks they could trust in religious acts, I could; and I even more than others. I will tell you why.

5 I was circumcised eight days after I was born. I am from the people of Israel and am a descendant of the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew who has retained the Hebrew language and way of living. As regards obeying the laws of Moses, I was a Pharisee, and therefore I strictly obeyed all the laws of Moses and teachings of the scribes. 6 With regard to being passionate about what I believed, I was so extremely passionate about what I believed that I caused those who followed Jesus to suffer. With regard to doing what God required in the law of Moses and doing what the scribes required concerning it, I was without fault.

7 But all the things that I formerly trusted in, these same things I now consider to be worthless because of the Messiah. 8 Instead, even more, I now regard all things as worthless compared to how great it is to know the Messiah, Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have willingly given up all things and I think of them as feces to throw away in order that I might have the Messiah. 9 I have willingly given up the things I formerly trusted in so that I might be fully united with the Messiah by believing in him, and not by obeying the laws that God gave to Moses. I do this because I know that the only way to please God is by believing in the Messiah. 10 I want to know the Messiah better and better. I want to continually experience him working powerfully in my life, just like God worked powerfully when he caused the Messiah to become alive after he had died. I also want to be continually willing to suffer in order that I may obey God, just like the Messiah suffered in order that he might obey God. I want to become like him in his death. 11 I want all of this because I somehow want God to cause me to live again after I have died.

12 I do not claim that I have already attained this. Nor do I say that God has already finished working in me to make me like Jesus. But I earnestly try to become more and more like Jesus, because this is why Jesus the Messiah took hold of me. 13 My fellow believers, I certainly do not think that I have already become completely like Jesus. Nor have fully known him. Rather, I have determined to forget about the things that are in the past and to work hard for the things that are in front of me. 14 Instead, I concentrate only on continuing to become more and more like Jesus until I die. As a result, because of my relationship with Jesus the Messiah, God will reward me in heaven. 15 So then, all of us who are mature believers should think this same way. But if you think differently about anything I have just written, God also will show this to you. 16 However, regarding the true things that God has already revealed to us, let us all conduct our lives according to these things.

17 My fellow believers, join together in imitating me, and observe closely those people who live as we do. 18 There are many people who act in a way that shows that they oppose the message about the Messiah dying on the cross. I have told you about these people many times before, and now I am sad, even crying, as I tell you about them again. 19 God will severely punish these people. These people serve their physical desires rather than God, and they are proud of the very things of which they should be ashamed. These people only think about earthly things instead of heavenly things. 20 As for us, we are citizens of heaven, and it is from heaven that we eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus the Messiah to return and rescue us. 21 God will change the weak and humble bodies that we have now to be bodies like the glorious resurrected body of Jesus. He will do this by his power, by which he is able to control all things.

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