For we are the true circumcision–we who render to God a spiritual worship and make our boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in outward ceremonies:
I call God to witness –to whom I render priestly and spiritual service by telling the Good News about His Son– how unceasingly I make mention of you in His presence,
But seeing that we have died to that which once held us in bondage, the Law has now no hold over us, so that we render a service which, instead of being old and formal, is new and spiritual.
You have not for the second time acquired the consciousness of being –a consciousness which fills you with terror. But you have acquired a deep inward conviction of having been adopted as sons– a conviction which prompts us to cry aloud, »Abba! our Father!«
Pray with unceasing prayer and entreaty on every fitting occasion in the Spirit, and be always on the alert to seize opportunities for doing so, with unwearied persistence and entreaty on behalf of all God's people,
Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Christ Jesus: To all God's people in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the ministers of the Church and their assistants.
I do not say that I have already won the race or have already reached perfection. But I am pressing on, striving to lay hold of the prize for which also Christ has laid hold of me.