Brothers and sisters, I don’t consider that I’ve taken hold of it yet. But here’s the one thing I do: Forgetting what’s behind me and pushing toward what’s ahead of me,
I haven’t yet received these things or reached my goal. But Christ Jesus took hold of me so that I could reach it, and so I keep pushing myself forward to take hold of it.
In fact, I consider everything to be worthless compared with knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Knowing him is worth much more than anything else. Because of him I’ve lost everything, but I look at it all as garbage so that I can know Christ better.
So let’s move on beyond the basic teachings about Christ and grow up as believers. Let’s not start all over from the beginning. We already know that we need to turn away from doing things that lead to death. We know that we must have faith in God.
And so, my dear friends, as you’ve always obeyed God—not just while I was with you, but even more now that I’m not with you— continue to work out your own salvation. Do it with fear and trembling.