1 P or lo demás, hermanos, gócense en el Señor. A mí no me molesta escribirles las mismas cosas, y para ustedes es mejor.

So now, my Christian brothers, be happy because you belong to Christ. It is not hard for me to write the same things to you. It is good for you.

2 T engan cuidado de los perros, cuídense de los malos obreros y de los que mutilan el cuerpo.

Watch out for false teachers. Watch out for sinful men. They want you to depend on the religious act of becoming a Jew for your hope.

3 P orque nosotros somos la circuncisión; somos los que servimos a Dios en el Espíritu, los que nos gloriamos en Cristo Jesús y no ponemos nuestra confianza en la carne.

The act of becoming a Jew has nothing to do with us becoming Christians. We worship God through His Spirit and are proud of Jesus Christ. We have no faith in what we ourselves can do.

4 A unque también yo tengo de qué confiar en la carne. Si alguno piensa que tiene de qué confiar en la carne, yo más:

I could have reason to trust in the flesh. If anyone could feel that the flesh could do something for him, I could.

5 f ui circuncidado al octavo día, y soy del linaje de Israel, de la tribu de Benjamín; soy hebreo de hebreos y, en cuanto a la ley, fariseo;

I went through the religious act of becoming a Jew when I was eight days old. I was born a Jew and came from the family group of Benjamin. I was a Jewish son of Jewish parents. I belonged to the group of the proud religious law-keepers.

6 e n cuanto a celo, perseguidor de la iglesia; en cuanto a la justicia que se basa en la ley, irreprensible.

I followed my religion with all my heart and did everything I could to make it hard for the church. No one could say anything against the way I obeyed the Law. Christ Must Be Lord of Our Lives

7 P ero todo lo que para mí era ganancia, lo he estimado como pérdida, por amor de Cristo.

But I gave up those things that were so important to me for Christ.

8 Y a decir verdad, incluso estimo todo como pérdida por la excelencia del conocimiento de Cristo Jesús, mi Señor. Por su amor lo he perdido todo, y lo veo como basura, para ganar a Cristo

Even more than that, I think of everything as worth nothing. It is so much better to know Christ Jesus my Lord. I have lost everything for Him. And I think of these things as worth nothing so that I can have Christ.

9 y ser hallado en él, no por tener mi propia justicia, que viene por la ley, sino por tener la justicia que es de Dios y que viene por la fe, la fe en Cristo;

I want to be as one with Him. I could not be right with God by what the Law said I must do. I was made right with God by faith in Christ.

10 a fin de conocer a Cristo y el poder de su resurrección, y de participar de sus padecimientos, para llegar a ser semejante a él en su muerte,

I want to know Him. I want to have the same power in my life that raised Jesus from the dead. I want to understand and have a share in His sufferings and be like Christ in His death.

11 s i es que de alguna manera llego a la resurrección de entre los muertos.

Then I may be raised up from among the dead.

12 N o es que ya lo haya alcanzado, ni que ya sea perfecto, sino que sigo adelante, por ver si logro alcanzar aquello para lo cual fui también alcanzado por Cristo Jesús.

I do not say that I have received this or have already become perfect. But I keep going on to make that life my own as Christ Jesus made me His own.

13 H ermanos, yo mismo no pretendo haberlo alcanzado ya; pero una cosa sí hago: me olvido ciertamente de lo que ha quedado atrás, y me extiendo hacia lo que está adelante;

No, Christian brothers, I do not have that life yet. But I do one thing. I forget everything that is behind me and look forward to that which is ahead of me.

14 ¡ prosigo a la meta, al premio del supremo llamamiento de Dios en Cristo Jesús!

My eyes are on the crown. I want to win the race and get the crown of God’s call from heaven through Christ Jesus.

15 A sí que, todos los que somos perfectos, sintamos esto mismo; y si ustedes sienten otra cosa, también esto se lo revelará Dios.

All of us who are full-grown Christians should think this way. If you do not think this way, God will show it to you.

16 P ero en aquello a que hemos llegado, sigamos una misma regla y sintamos una misma cosa.

So let us keep on obeying the same truth we have already been following.

17 H ermanos, sean ustedes imitadores de mí, y fíjense en los que así se conducen, según el ejemplo que ustedes tienen de nosotros.

Christian brothers, live your lives as I have lived mine. Watch those who live as I have taught you to live.

18 P orque por ahí andan muchos, de los cuales muchas veces les dije, y llorando vuelvo a decirlo, que son enemigos de la cruz de Cristo.

There are many whose lives show they hate the cross of Christ. I have told you this before. Now I tell you again with tears in my eyes.

19 E llos sólo piensan en lo terrenal. Su dios es el vientre, su orgullo es su vergüenza, y su fin será la perdición.

Their god is their stomach. They take pride in things they should be ashamed of. All they think about are the things of this world. In the end they will be destroyed.

20 P ero nuestra ciudadanía está en los cielos, de donde también esperamos al Salvador, al Señor Jesucristo;

But we are citizens of heaven. Christ, the One Who saves from the punishment of sin, will be coming down from heaven again. We are waiting for Him to return.

21 é l transformará el cuerpo de nuestra humillación, para que sea semejante al cuerpo de su gloria, por el poder con el que puede también sujetar a sí mismo todas las cosas.

He will change these bodies of ours of the earth and make them new. He will make them like His body of shining-greatness. He has the power to do this because He can make all things obey Him.