8. It’s far more than that! I consider everything else worthless because I’m much better off knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. It’s because of him that I think of everything as worthless. I threw it all away in order to gain Christ
9. and to have a relationship with him. This means that I didn’t receive God’s approval by obeying his laws. The opposite is true! I have God’s approval through faith in Christ. This is the approval that comes from God and is based on faith
10. that knows Christ. Faith knows the power that his coming back to life gives and what it means to share his suffering. In this way I’m becoming like him in his death,
11. with the confidence that I’ll come back to life from the dead.
12. It’s not that I’ve already reached the goal or have already completed the course. But I run to win that which Jesus Christ has already won for me.
13. Brothers and sisters, I can’t consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and
14. I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus.
15. Whoever has a mature faith should think this way. And if you think differently, God will show you how to think.
16. However, we should be guided by what we have learned so far.
17. Brothers and sisters, imitate me, and pay attention to those who live by the example we have given you.
18. I have often told you, and now tell you with tears in my eyes, that many live as the enemies of the cross of Christ.
19. In the end they will be destroyed. Their own emotions are their god, and they take pride in the shameful things they do. Their minds are set on worldly things.