Righteousness through Faith in Christ
(Romans 3:21–31)

1Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, it is not uneasy to me to write what I have already said, and it is an advantage to you.

2be upon your guard against snarlers, against the contrivances of the crafty, against the spurious breed; 3for we are the genuine sons of Abraham, who worship God in the spiritual manner, and value no other dependance than that on Jesus Christ, without confiding in any external advantages: 4which I might do more justly than any other man can pretend to: 5being circumcised the eighth day, of the family of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew by descent, by sect a Pharisee. 6if zeal is to be regarded, I persecuted the church; if the integrity prescrib'd by the law, I am without reproach;

7these advantages I renounce for Christ, 8nay I think them disadvantages when put in competition with the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord: for whose sake I abandon all these things, and count them as straw, that I may gain Christ, 9and be his true disciple, not professing that justification, which is derived from the law, but that which is from the gospel, 10the justification which God grants to those who acknowledge Christ and the power of his resurrection, who suffer after his example, and die to sin, as he died to the world, 11in order to obtain the resurrection of the just.

Pressing on toward the Goal

12for I am not yet secure of the prize, I have not yet finish'd my course: but I press to obtain the reward, which Jesus Christ invited me to. 13I don't imagine, my brethren, that I am arriv'd at the goal; but this I do, unmindful of what is pass'd, I stretch towards that which is in view, 14I press towards the mark for the prize to which God has called me from above by Jesus Christ. 15Let us therefore, who have been instructed, have this in view: and if you are sollicitous about any thing else, God will reveal even that unto you. 16in the mean while, as we are already advanc'd so far, pursue your course, and keep it still in view:

Citizenship in Heaven

17tread in my steps, my brethren, and fix your eyes upon those who follow the example I give you. 18for there are many that wander about, of whom I have frequently told you, and now repeat it with tears, that they are enemies to the cross of Christ: 19who in the, end will be ruin'd, who place their religion in sensuality, their glory in that which is their shame, and fix their thoughts upon this earth. 20but we are the denisons of heaven, from whence we expect the saviour Jesus Christ our Lord. 21it is he, that will change our vile body into a like form with his glorious body, by displaying that power which is able to subdue all things unto himself.