Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 243
Phili p p ia n s
3:9–4:5
231
worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus
my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as
garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer
count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become
righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with
himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty
power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing
in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection
from the dead!
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I
have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection
for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters,
I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past
and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the
race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus,
is calling us.
Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree
on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold
on to the progress we have already made.
Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from
those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it
again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they
are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction.
Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think
only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the
Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our
Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring
everything under his control.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you
and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work.
Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to
the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner, to help
these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good
News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers,
whose names are written in the Book of Life.
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone
see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming
soon.
