⁶ I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].^(A)

⁹ And this I pray, that your love may abound more and more [displaying itself in greater depth] in real knowledge and in practical insight, ¹⁰ so that you may learn to recognize and treasure what is excellent [identifying the best, and distinguishing moral differences], and that you may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ [actually living lives that lead others away from sin]; ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God [so that His glory may be both revealed and recognized].

¹² Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on ^[a]so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own.^{(A) 13 [b]}Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ All of us who are mature [pursuing spiritual perfection] should have this attitude. And if in any respect you have a different attitude, that too God will make clear to you.