Philippians 3
EasyEnglish Bible
Christ is more important than anything
3 My Christian friends, there are a few more things that I want to say. You belong to the Lord, so be happy! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again. And it will help to keep you safe.
2 Be very careful! Some people are teaching bad things. They say that you must cut your bodies. They are like dangerous dogs. Do not believe them! 3 But we are truly God's people. And it is not because someone has circumcised us. It is God's own Spirit that leads us to worship God. We thank God because of what Christ Jesus has done for us. We know that it is not human ideas that can save us.[a]
4 For myself, I could have trusted those human ideas. Perhaps somebody may think that they could trust in those things to save them. Then I would have an even better reason to trust in them. 5 I belong to Israel's people, to Benjamin's tribe. I am a true Jew. They circumcised me when I was eight days old. I was a Pharisee, and I obeyed the Jewish rules very carefully. 6 I tried very much to please God. So I caused a lot of trouble and pain for the Christians. I obeyed the rules of God's Law, and nobody could say that I did anything wrong.
7 All those ideas seemed very important to me then. But now they are worth nothing to me, because I trust in Christ. 8 Yes, now that I know Christ Jesus as my Lord, that is the most valuable thing. Nothing else is important at all. I have thrown everything else away, so that I can serve Christ. All those other things are like dirt to me. I think about them like that, so that I can have Christ. 9 I want to be united with him. Because I believe in Christ, God accepts me as right with him. I know that I cannot become right in any other way, even if I obey all of God's Law. When I trust in Christ, God accepts me as right because of my faith.
10 Yes, I want to know Christ better and better. I want to know the power which God showed when Christ rose from death. I want to have the same kind of troubles that he did. I want to obey God like he did in his death. 11 Then I hope that I also will become alive again after death.
Christians do not belong to this world
12 I am not saying that I have already reached that place in my life. I have not yet completely become the person that God wants me to be. But I am trying very hard to reach that place. That was Christ's purpose when he first made me his own. 13 My Christian friends, I do not think that I have reached that place yet. But this is what I do: I do not think about past things that have already happened. Instead, I try hard to reach the things that are in front of me. 14 I am like a runner who wants to reach the end of the race. I run straight towards that place, so that I can win God's gift. Because I belong to Christ Jesus, God has called me to live with him in heaven. That is God's gift to me at the end of the race.
15 All of us should agree to live like that, if we properly understand God's message. If you think differently about these things, God will show you clearly what is right. 16 But we should continue to live in the way that we already know is right.
17 My Christian friends, you should try to live in the way that I do. Carefully watch other people who live like that. We have shown you what is right. 18 Many people live in a way that shows they do not agree with God's message. I have told you about these people many times before. And now I am crying when I tell you about them. I am very sad, because they speak against Christ's death on the cross. 19 In the end, God will destroy them. Their stomach is what they worship. They are proud of things that should make them ashamed. Their thoughts are full of things that belong to this world. 20 But as for us, the home where we belong is in heaven. We are waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ to come from there. He is the one who will come from heaven and save us. 21 He will change these weak bodies that we have now on this earth. He will make them become strong and beautiful, like his own body that he has in heaven. Christ will use his great power to do this. That is the power that he uses to rule over everything.
Footnotes
- 3:3 If we believe in Christ, we become God's people because Christ died on our behalf. God gives us his Holy Spirit to lead us. So we have something much better than a mark on our bodies. Some false teachers were saying that Christians had to be circumcised. They said, ‘Unless that happens, you do not belong to God's people.’ Paul is telling the Christians that they must not believe these people.
Filipeni 3
Nouă Traducere În Limba Română
Falsa dreptate şi adevărata dreptate
3 În cele din urmă, fraţii mei, bucuraţi-vă în Domnul! Mie nu-mi este greu să vă scriu aceleaşi lucruri, iar vouă vă dau siguranţă.
2 Feriţi-vă de câinii aceia! Feriţi-vă de lucrătorii aceia răi, feriţi-vă de mutilatorii aceia! 3 Noi suntem cei care am primit adevărata circumcizie: cei care ne închinăm prin Duhul lui Dumnezeu, care ne lăudăm în Cristos Isus şi care nu ne punem încrederea în lucruri pământeşti, 4 deşi eu aş avea motive să mă laud cu lucrurile pământeşti. Dacă cineva crede că are motive să se încreadă în lucrurile pământeşti, eu şi mai mult: 5 circumcis în a opta zi, din neamul lui Israel, din seminţia lui Beniamin, evreu din evrei, în ce priveşte Legea – fariseu[a], 6 în ce priveşte râvna – persecutor al bisericii, în ce priveşte dreptatea care se bazează pe Lege – fără vină. 7 Însă toate lucrurile care pentru mine erau un câştig le consider ca o pierdere, de dragul lui Cristos. 8 Mai mult decât atât, le consider pe toate o pierdere faţă de valoarea deosebită a cunoaşterii lui Cristos Isus, Domnul meu, datorită Căruia am suferit pierderea tuturor lucrurilor şi datorită Căruia le consider gunoaie, pentru a-L câştiga pe Cristos 9 şi pentru a fi găsit în El, nu având o dreptate a mea, care vine din Lege, ci una care vine prin credinţa în Cristos: dreptatea care vine de la Dumnezeu prin credinţă. 10 Vreau să-L cunosc pe El şi puterea învierii Lui şi părtăşia suferinţelor Lui şi să devin ca El în moartea Lui, 11 pentru ca astfel să ajung, cumva, la învierea din morţi.
Urmărind premiul
12 Nu că deja am şi obţinut sau, mai bine zis, că am şi fost făcut deja desăvârşit, dar urmăresc să apuc premiul pentru care şi eu am fost apucat de Cristos Isus. 13 Fraţilor, eu însumi nu consider că l-am apucat, însă fac un singur lucru: uitând ce este în urmă şi aruncându-mă înainte, 14 urmăresc ţinta, alergând spre premiul chemării de sus al lui Dumnezeu, în Cristos Isus. 15 Aşadar, toţi cei ce suntem maturi să avem acelaşi gând! Iar dacă gândiţi diferit cu privire la vreun lucru, Dumnezeu vi-l va clarifica. 16 Însă, în lucrurile în care am ajuns de aceeaşi părere, să trăim la fel!
17 Urmaţi exemplul meu, fraţilor, şi uitaţi-vă cu atenţie la cei care trăiesc după exemplul pe care vi l-am dat. 18 Căci v-am spus deseori şi vă mai spun şi acum, plângând, că sunt mulţi care trăiesc ca duşmani ai crucii lui Cristos. 19 Sfârşitul lor va fi distrugerea, dumnezeul lor este pântecele, iar gloria lor stă în ruşinea lor; ei se gândesc la lucruri pământeşti. 20 Dar cetăţenia noastră este în ceruri, de unde Îl şi aşteptăm pe Mântuitorul nostru, Domnul Isus Cristos. 21 El va transforma trupul nostru umil şi-l va face asemenea trupului Său glorios, folosind puterea prin care-Şi poate supune toate lucrurile.
Footnotes
- Filipeni 3:5 Fariseii formau o grupare religioasă care cunoştea şi respecta cu stricteţe litera legii, precum şi alte tradiţii (reguli bazate pe o interpretare a legii scrise: legea orală)
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