Philippians 3

Watch out for those people who tell you that you must DO things to be saved, to be close to God, to be declared "righteous" in his sight. It is we who worship by the Spirit of God that are truly saved, sanctified, and righteous in his sight. For we rely on what Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort.

Though, if anyone could have confidence in themselves, I could! I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin... indeed, I am what you'd call a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law -- which I obeyed without fault. I was, by the standards of these people, "righteous." I was so zealous... I even harshly persecuted the church.

But these very credentials that some people are wave around as something special, I now consider worthless. Whatever was to my profit by human standards I now consider garbage compared with the privilege of knowing Jesus my Lord, my Master, my Friend. For his sake I have discarded everything I once thought was significant, so that I may embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Jesus. No, I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know him personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself.

I don't mean to say I've already achieved these things or that I've already reached perfection. But I press on to make it my own because Christ has made me his own. I have chosen to focus on one thing: forgetting the past - especially what was to my profit - and looking ahead to where he is leading, I fix my eyes on the goal where God is beckoning us onward to Christ.

I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.