4. I could, of course, put my trust in such things. If anyone thinks they 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,
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.
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 refuse, 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.