Philippians 3:7-21
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Righteousness from God. 7 [But] whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss[a] because of Christ.(A) 8 More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ,(B) the righteousness from God, depending on faith 10 to know him and the power of his resurrection and [the] sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death,(C) 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.(D)
Forward in Christ.[b] 12 (E)It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity,[c] but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ [Jesus]. 13 Brothers, I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession. Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.(F) 15 Let us, then, who are “perfectly mature” adopt this attitude. And if you have a different attitude, this too God will reveal to you. 16 Only, with regard to what we have attained, continue on the same course.[d]
Wrong Conduct and Our Goal.[e] 17 Join with others in being imitators of me,[f] brothers, and observe those who thus conduct themselves according to the model you have in us.(G) 18 For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ.(H) 19 Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with earthly things.(I) 20 But our citizenship[g] is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.(J) 21 He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.(K)
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- 3:7 Loss: his knowledge of Christ led Paul to reassess the ways of truly pleasing and serving God. His reevaluation indicates the profound and lasting effect of his experience of the meaning of Christ on the way to Damascus some twenty years before (Gal 1:15–16; Acts 9:1–22).
- 3:12–16 To be taken possession of by Christ does not mean that one has already arrived at perfect spiritual maturity. Paul and the Philippians instead press on, trusting in God.
- 3:12 Attained perfect maturity: possibly an echo of the concept in the mystery religions of being an initiate, admitted to divine secrets.
- 3:16 Some manuscripts add, probably to explain Paul’s cryptic phrase, “thinking alike.”
- 3:17–21 Paul and those who live a life centered in Christ, envisaging both his suffering and resurrection, provide a model that is the opposite of opponents who reject Christ’s cross (cf. 1 Cor 1:23).
- 3:17 Being imitators of me: not arrogance, but humble simplicity, since all his converts know that Paul is wholly dedicated to imitating Christ (1 Cor 11:1; cf. also Phil 4:9; 1 Thes 1:6; 2 Thes 3:7, 9; 1 Cor 4:6).
- 3:20 Citizenship: Christians constitute a colony of heaven, as Philippi was a colonia of Rome (Acts 16:12). The hope Paul expresses involves the final coming of Christ, not a status already attained, such as the opponents claim.
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