Be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Col 1:4  since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 1:9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 1:12  giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. 

2: 6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 

Col 3:1  If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
Col 3:2  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Vision: Colossians (1-3) in diagrams

Put on the New Man

Put on Love

The sons of light

Colossians 1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Key words/phrases to note: 

1. faith in Christ Jesus and love for all the saints (brethren in Christ), 
2. spiritual understanding, inheritance in the light (kingdom of the Son of God), 
3. complete in Christ–our real life, triumphing over the adversaries, having the fullness of God in Christ, Christ is the substance (the rest are shadows), 
4. put on the new man–who we are in Christ, put on love (God is love), 
5. set our mind on things above (where our real life is), 
6. let our hearts be occupied with two things: 
7. let the peace of God rule, let the words of Christ dwell in, 
8. let our word and deeds be done in the name of our Lord Jesus, 
9. always giving thanks to the Father for having adopted us as His children, and we are now the sons of God.

καὶnotes, 2022-10-15

Journey to see God: God's Accounting -obedience counts

Romans 6

English Standard Version (ESV)

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For one who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.¹³ Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, butpresent yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

today's message: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 1

English Standard Version (ESV) Greeting

1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

² To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Thanksgiving
⁴ I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵ that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— ⁶ even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— ⁷ so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁸ who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Divisions in the Church
¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers,^[a] by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. ¹¹ For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. ¹² What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” ¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? ¹⁴ I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵ so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
    and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach^[b] to save those who believe. ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶ For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,^[c] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no human being^[d] might boast in the presence of God.  
³⁰ And because of him^[e] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹ so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Footnotes:

1. 1 Corinthians 1:10 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church; also verses 11, 26
2. 1 Corinthians 1:21 Or the folly of preaching
3. 1 Corinthians 1:26 Greek according to the flesh
4. 1 Corinthians 1:29 Greek no flesh
5. 1 Corinthians 1:30 Greek And from him

What do end times Christians do? preaching, teaching and healing:

 Most Christians today are increasingly aware of what the Lord's will is. No one wants to be condemned by not knowing the will of the Father in heaven. Jesus clearly declared that only those who do the will of the Father can enter heaven. (Matt.7:21)

The utmost question is: What is the will of God? Jesus does the will of the Father in heaven and He knows the will of God. As Paul has urged us, let us emulate Christ.

 Matthew 9:35-38 (NKJV)

The Compassion of Jesus (Learn from His example of an evangelist)

³⁵ Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.^{[a] 36} But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary^[b] and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ³⁸ Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 9:35 NU-Text omits among the people.
2. Matthew 9:36 NU-Text and M-Text read harassed.

Matthew 10 (NKJV)

1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 

 ⁷ And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead,^[c] cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

 ¹⁴ And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.

 ¹⁶ “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. ¹⁷ But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.

  ²² And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.

 ²⁶ Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

 ²⁸ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

 ³² “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.

³⁴ “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 

  ³⁸ And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁹ He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

⁴⁰ “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 

 

Watchman's Bible Study -who cannot discern the signs of the times

The message today is: hypocrites cannot discern the signs of the times because they operate and focus on the level of the flesh (physical level, and mind and emotion -soul level). They are not mindful of the things of God but the things of men. They are not spiritually discerning. Jesus stated clearly that no one can see and enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again of the Spirit. Why cannot many 'Christians' see or hear God and live by the Spirit? The reason is the same as mentioned. To be born again of the Spirit, one must believe and obey the word of God as led by the Holy Spirit. Mere knowledge in the mind will not make one a born-again Christian. The willingness to know God in the Holy Spirit, through being joined to Jesus, and be of one spirit with Him, and the focus on spiritual matters rather than flesh matters, are prerequisites for being a spirit-led Christian, a true son of God. Only sons of God can discern the signs of the times and know Jesus as He is, the Son of God, the Christ. Only sons of God can overcome the devil.

The watchman's Bible study notes are in bracket.

Matthew 16

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Pharisees and Sadducees Seek a Sign

16 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. ² He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; ³ and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites!^[a] You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. ⁴ A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet^[b] Jonah.” And He left them and departed.

Watchman's notes: (The hypocrites do not really mean what they say, pray, proclaim or sing. Even when they quote a lot of Bible words in their 'displays' of religiosity, they would not gain or give life if they are not led by the Holy Spirit. To them signs are mere physical things, something that could give them physical sensation and they feel good about. Jesus had performed many miraculous signs but they still asked for more!)

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵ Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. ⁶ Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
⁷ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”
⁸ But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?^{[c] 9} Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? ¹⁰ Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? ¹¹ How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Watchman's notes: (Even the disciples were not spiritually discerned. Today many Christians have the same problem because they focus on the flesh realm -physical and soul- and ignore the spiritual truth. Only spiritual truth sets one free from bondage, including that of the flesh -the old nature. Jesus said His words are life and spirit.  Reading His word needs spiritual discernment.)

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

¹³ When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
¹⁴ So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
¹⁶ Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
¹⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed^[d] in heaven.”
²⁰ Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

Watchman's notes: ( Only God, who is the Father in heaven for Christians, can reveal spiritual truth to His children. Why then cannot many Christians understand spiritual truth? The question everyone needs to ask is: am I a child of God? Do I have a spiritual relationship with God as the Father in heaven? Is Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God to me personally?)

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection

²¹ From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
²² Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

 Watchman's notes:(the key difference between the children of God and the children of Satan is: the children of God are mindful of the things of God. God is Spirit. Only those born of the Spirit are His children. They are spiritually discerning. Their focus is on God- hear His word, do His will and live His divine nature, as led by the Holy Spirit.

Take Up the Cross and Follow Him

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. ²⁸ “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

 Watchman's notes:(the spiritual man is not afraid to deny his flesh, his old nature, his 'self'. True disciple has no difficulty to follow Jesus as he walks and lives through the Spirit, living the kingdom of God's life even on earth.)

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 16:3 NU-Text omits Hypocrites.
2. Matthew 16:4 NU-Text omits the prophet.
3. Matthew 16:8 NU-Text reads you have no bread.
4. Matthew 16:19 Or will have been bound . . . will have been loosed

 Watchman's notes: in summary, please read Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 2, 2 Corinthians 10:2-5

Not Carnality but Christ

 The watchman is reminded today of the way we should live in Christ. 

Last night during a home prayer meeting one brethren suggested praying for a local Christian group. When the others started praying, the watchman asked the Lord what to pray for and he was shown a terrible verse, which stated that when Israel asked the prophet to pray they did not mean it. They had no intent to obey what God would speak to them through the answer to prayers by the prophet. So there was no need to pray for them! The stern words were sad. How can any Christian meeting come to such a terrible stage? Yet, history showed that the Israel nation sank to that low over again and again. God sent prophets to warn them but they killed the prophets. The same thing happened to the apostles and many disciples of Jesus when they faithfully proclaimed the word of God -the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Today he asked the Lord further how to pray for such and he was given sterner words in Job 34:21-30, in particular, verses 21, 22, 26, and 30. The assurance is that God’s eyes is on the ways of man and He sees all his steps, and He takes corrective action. One verse stood out: Job 34:30

“that the hypocrite should not reign, lest the people be snarled.”

Therefore, the positive focus for watchman today continues to be on Jesus, the perfection in the love of God, our real life!

Colossians 3

New King James Version (NKJV)

Not Carnality but Christ

3 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

⁵ Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, ⁷ in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
⁸ But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, ¹⁰ and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, ¹¹ where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Character of the New Man

¹² Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. ¹⁴ But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. ¹⁵ And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. ¹⁷ And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Colossians 3

New Living Translation (NLT)

Living the New Life

3 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. ² Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. ³ For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ And when Christ, who is your^[a] life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

⁵ So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. ⁶ Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.^{[b] 7} You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. ⁸ But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. ⁹ Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. ¹⁰ Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. ¹¹ In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile,^[c] circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized,^[d] slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
¹² Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ¹³ Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. ¹⁴ Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
¹⁶ Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

 (Watchman’s study notes: Take note of all the ‘therefore’ , ‘since’, and ‘but now’. )

Today's message for watchman - racing the fastest race

The watchman woke and found that he was in a race, The race is against time. He has an appointed time to operate. The race course is already set. He has to complete the assignment in the appointed time according to the plumb line set in heaven. There is no option. The only hindrance to his finishing the race on time is himself. He must die to self and live to the Holy Spirit. He has no other road map but the Holy Spirit. He has no power except the power of the Holy Spirit (the same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead). There was no one else who could help him but Jesus, the beginner and finisher of his faith.

Philippians 3:7-11 New King James Version (NKJV)

7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

 Philippians 3:7-11 New Living Translation (NLT)

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.[a] For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,

11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

 Footnotes: a. Philippians 3:9 Or through the faithfulness of Christ.

Philippians 3:7-11 Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁷ But whatever former things I had that might have been gains to me, I have come to consider as [^[a]one combined] loss for Christ’s sake.

⁸ Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One),

⁹ And that I may [actually] be found and known as in Him, not having any [self-achieved] righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law’s demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ (the Anointed One), the [truly] right standing with God, which comes from God by [saving] faith.

¹⁰ [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [^[b]which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]

¹¹ That if possible I may attain to the [^[c]spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body].

Footnotes:

1. Philippians 3:7 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies: His “gains” are plural, but they are all counted as one combined “loss” (singular).
2. Philippians 3:10 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
3. Philippians 3:11 Charles B. Williams, The New Testament: A Translation in the Language of the People: A spiritual, moral resurrection—not the final, physical one, which will be the climax.