The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians , Chapter 3 . Further, my brothers and sisters , be joyful because you belong to the Lord . It is no trouble for me to write about some important matters to you again . If you know about them , you will have a safe path to follow . Watch out for those dogs . They are people who do evil things .
When they circumcise , it is nothing more than a useless cutting of the body . But we have been truly circumcised . We serve God by the power of His Spirit . We boast about what Christ Jesus has done . We don't put our trust in who we are or what we can do . I have many reasons to trust in who I am and what I have done .
Someone else may think they have reasons to trust in these things , but I have even more . I was circumcised on the eighth day . I am part of the people of Israel . I am from the tribe of Benjamin . I am a pure Hebrew . As far as the law is concerned , I am a Pharisee . As far as being committed is concerned , I opposed and attacked the church .
As far as keeping the law is concerned , I kept it perfectly . I thought things like that were really something great , but now I consider them to be nothing , because of Christ Even more . I consider everything to be nothing compared to knowing Christ Jesus , my Lord . To know Him is worth much more than anything else .
Because of Him I have lost everything , but I consider all of it to be garbage . So I can know Christ better , I want to be joined to Him . Being right with God does not come from my obeying the law . It comes because I believe in Christ . It comes from God , because of faith . I want to know Christ better .
Yes , I want to know the power that raised him from the dead . I want to join him in his sufferings . I want to become like him by sharing in his death . Then , by God's grace , I will rise from the dead . I have not yet received all these things . I have not yet reached my goal . Christ Jesus took hold of me so that I could reach that goal .
So I keep pushing myself forward to reach it . Brothers and sisters , I don't consider that I have taken hold of it yet . But here is the one thing I do I forget what is behind me . I push hard towards what is ahead of me . I push myself forward toward the goal to win the prize . God has appointed me to win it .
The heavenly prize is Christ Jesus himself . So all of us who are grown up in the faith should see things this way . Maybe you think differently about something , but God will make it clear to you . Only . Let us live up to what we have already reached . Brothers and sisters , join together in following my example .
You have us as a model , so pay close attention to those who live as we do . I have told you these things many times before . Now I tell you again , with tears in my eyes . Many people live like enemies of the cross of Christ . The only thing they have coming to them is death . Their stomach is their God . They brag about what they should be ashamed of .
They think only about earthly things . But we are citizens of heaven and we can hardly wait for a Savior from there . He is the Lord Jesus Christ . He has the power to bring everything under His control . By His power he will change our earthly bodies . They will become like His glorious body .