Philippians 3

Paul warns sharply against those who trust in the flesh, the “dogs” who insist on circumcision. Though he had every ground for confidence in his own credentials — circumcised, a Hebrew, a Pharisee, blameless under the law — he counts it all “as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,” even “as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own... but that which comes through faith in Christ.” His passion is “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and... share his sufferings.” Not yet perfect, he presses on: “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we await the Savior who will transform our lowly bodies.