Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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The True Righteousness
1 In conclusion, my brothers, be
joyful in your union with the
Lord. I don't mind repeating what I
have written before, and you will be
safer if I do so.
2 Watch out for those
who do evil things, those dogs, those
-- --
men who insist on cutting the body.
3 It is we, not they, who have received
the true circumcision, for we
worship God by means of his Spirit
and rejoice in our life in union with
Christ Jesus. We do not put any
trust in external ceremonies.
4 I
could, of course, put my trust in
such things. If anyone thinks he can
trust in external ceremonies, I have
even more reason to feel that way.
5 I
was circumcised when I was a week
old. I am an Israelite by birth, of the
tribe of Benjamin, a pure-blooded
Hebrew. As far as keeping the Jewish
Law is concerned, I was a Pharisee, note
6 and I was so zealous that I persecuted
the church. As far as a
person can be righteous by obeying
the commands of the Law, I was
without fault. note
7 But all those things
that I might count as profit I now
reckon as loss for Christ's sake.
8 Not only those things; I reckon
everything as complete loss for the
sake of what is so much more valuable,
the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. For his sake I have thrown
everything away; I consider it all as
mere garbage, so that I may gain
Christ
9 and be completely united
with him. I no longer have a righteousness
of my own, the kind that is
gained by obeying the Law. I now
have the righteousness that is given
through faith in Christ, the righteousness
that comes from God and
is based on faith.
10 All I want is to
know Christ and to experience the
power of his resurrection, to share in
his sufferings and become like him
in his death,
11 in the hope that I myself
will be raised from death to life.
Running toward the Goal
12 I do not claim that I have already
succeeded or have already become
perfect. I keep striving to win
the prize for which Christ Jesus has
already won me to himself.
13 Of
course, my brothers, I really do not note
think that I have already won it; the
one thing I do, however, is to forget
what is behind me and do my best to
reach what is ahead.
14 So I run
straight toward the goal in order to
win the prize, which is God's call
through Christ Jesus to the life
above.
15 All of us who are spiritually mature
should have this same attitude.
But if some of you have a different
attitude, God will make this clear to
you.
16 However that may be, let us
go forward according to the same
rules we have followed until now.
17 Keep on imitating me, my brothers.
Pay attention to those who follow
the right example that we have
set for you. note
18 I have told you this
many times before, and now I repeat
it with tears: there are many whose
lives make them enemies of Christ's
death on the cross.
19 They are going
to end up in hell, because their god is
their bodily desires. They are proud
of what they should be ashamed of,
and they think only of things that
belong to this world.
20 We, however,
are citizens of heaven, and we eagerly
wait for our Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, to come from heaven.
21 He will change our weak mortal
bodies and make them like his own
glorious body, using that power by
which he is able to bring all things
under his rule.
-- --
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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