¹³ Brethren, I do not count myself to have ^[a]apprehended; but one thing I do, ^(A)forgetting those things which are behind and ^(B)reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is ^(A)fit for the kingdom of God.”

The Race of Faith

12 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, ^(A)let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and ^(B)let us run ^(C)with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the ^[a]author and ^[b]finisher of our faith, ^(D)who for the joy that was set before Him ^(E)endured the cross, despising the shame, and ^(F)has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Pressing Toward the Goal

¹² Not that I have already ^(A)attained,^[a] or am already ^(B)perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

Striving for a Crown

²⁴ Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? ^(A)Run in such a way that you may ^[a]obtain it. ²⁵ And everyone who competes for the prize ^[b]is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for ^(B)an imperishable crown. ²⁶ Therefore I run thus: ^(C)not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. ^27 (D)But I discipline my body and ^(E)bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become ^(F)disqualified.

⁸ Yet indeed I also count all things loss ^(A)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

The Peril of Not Progressing

6 Therefore, ^(A)leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to ^[a]perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from ^(B)dead works and of faith toward God,

¹¹ Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, ^(A)to be content: ^12 (B)I know how to ^[a]be abased, and I know how to ^[b]abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. ¹³ I can do all things ^(C)through ^[c]Christ who strengthens me.