Philippians 3:6

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Acts 8:3 : 3 But Saul was trying to destroy the church; entering one house after another, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
  • Acts 22:3-4 : 3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated with strictness under Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors, and was zealous for God just as all of you are today. 4 I persecuted this Way even to the point of death, tying up both men and women and putting them in prison,
  • Acts 26:9-9 : 9 Of course, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus the Nazarene. 10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote against them when they were sentenced to death.
  • Gal 1:13-14 : 13 For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.
  • Phil 3:9 : 9 and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness– a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.
  • 1 Tim 1:13 : 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor, and an arrogant man. But I was treated with mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief,
  • Rom 7:9 : 9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive
  • Rom 9:31-32 : 31 but Israel even though pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain it. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but(as if it were possible) by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
  • Rom 10:2-5 : 2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth. 3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law:“The one who does these things will live by them.”
  • 1 Cor 15:9 : 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
  • Acts 26:5 : 5 They know, because they have known me from time past, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.
  • Acts 9:1-9 : 1 The Conversion of Saul Meanwhile Saul, still breathing out threats to murder the Lord’s disciples, went to the high priest 2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he was going along, approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 So he said,“Who are you, Lord?” He replied,“I am Jesus whom you are persecuting! 6 But stand up and enter the city and you will be told what you must do.” 7 (Now the men who were traveling with him stood there speechless, because they heard the voice but saw no one.) 8 So Saul got up from the ground, but although his eyes were open, he could see nothing. Leading him by the hand, his companions brought him into Damascus. 9 For three days he could not see, and he neither ate nor drank anything. 10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision,“Ananias,” and he replied,“Here I am, Lord.” 11 Then the Lord told him,“Get up and go to the street called‘Straight,’ and at Judas’ house look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him so that he may see again.” 13 But Ananias replied,“Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to imprison all who call on your name!” 15 But the Lord said to him,“Go, because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, placed his hands on Saul and said,“Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, his strength returned.For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus,
  • Acts 21:20 : 20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to him,“You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all ardent observers of the law.
  • 2 Sam 21:2 : 2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke with them.(Now the Gibeonites were not descendants of Israel; they were a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had made a promise to them, but Saul tried to kill them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)
  • 2 Kgs 10:16 : 16 Jehu said,“Come with me and see how zealous I am for the LORD’s cause.” So he took him along in his chariot.
  • Matt 5:20 : 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!
  • Matt 23:25 : 25 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
  • Mark 10:20-21 : 20 The man said to him,“Teacher, I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws since my youth.” 21 As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said,“You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
  • Luke 1:6 : 6 They were both righteous in the sight of God, following all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Phil 3:4-5
    2 verses
    85%

    4– though mine too are significant. If someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials, I have more:

    5I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as a Pharisee.

  • Gal 1:13-15
    3 verses
    80%

    13For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it.

    14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.

    15But when the one who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace was pleased

  • Acts 22:3-8
    6 verses
    78%

    3“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated with strictness under Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors, and was zealous for God just as all of you are today.

    4I persecuted this Way even to the point of death, tying up both men and women and putting them in prison,

    5as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to make arrests there and bring the prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

    6As I was en route and near Damascus, about noon a very bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.

    7Then I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

    8I answered,‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me,‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’

  • Phil 3:7-9
    3 verses
    77%

    7But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ.

    8More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things– indeed, I regard them as dung!– that I may gain Christ,

    9and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness– a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.

  • 1 Tim 1:13
    74%

    13even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor, and an arrogant man. But I was treated with mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief,

  • Acts 26:9-14
    6 verses
    73%

    9Of course, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus the Nazarene.

    10And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote against them when they were sentenced to death.

    11I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme. Because I was so furiously enraged at them, I went to persecute them even in foreign cities.

    12“While doing this very thing, as I was going to Damascus with authority and complete power from the chief priests,

    13about noon along the road, Your Majesty, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining everywhere around me and those traveling with me.

    14When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by kicking against the goads.’

  • Acts 26:4-5
    2 verses
    73%

    4Now all the Jews know the way I lived from my youth, spending my life from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.

    5They know, because they have known me from time past, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.

  • Gal 1:22-24
    3 verses
    73%

    22But I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.

    23They were only hearing,“The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news of the faith he once tried to destroy.”

    24So they glorified God because of me.

  • 1 Cor 15:9
    71%

    9For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

  • Rom 10:2
    71%

    2For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth.

  • Acts 9:1-4
    4 verses
    71%

    1The Conversion of Saul Meanwhile Saul, still breathing out threats to murder the Lord’s disciples, went to the high priest

    2and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

    3As he was going along, approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

    4He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

  • Acts 22:19-20
    2 verses
    71%

    19I replied,‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues who believed in you.

    20And when the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing nearby, approving, and guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.’

  • Phil 3:12
    70%

    12Keep Going Forward Not that I have already attained this– that is, I have not already been perfected– but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me.

  • Acts 9:21
    70%

    21All who heard him were amazed and were saying,“Is this not the man who in Jerusalem was ravaging those who call on this name, and who had come here to bring them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

  • Acts 24:14
    69%

    14But I confess this to you, that I worship the God of our ancestors according to the Way(which they call a sect), believing everything that is according to the law and that is written in the prophets.

  • 1 Cor 9:20-21
    2 verses
    69%

    20To the Jews I became like a Jew to gain the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law(though I myself am not under the law) to gain those under the law.

    21To those free from the law I became like one free from the law(though I am not free from God’s law but under the law of Christ) to gain those free from the law.

  • Gal 2:16
    68%

    16yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

  • Rom 2:18
    68%

    18and know his will and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law,

  • 2 Cor 11:5
    68%

    5For I consider myself not at all inferior to those“super-apostles.”

  • Acts 13:39
    68%

    39and by this one everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you.

  • Phil 1:11
    68%

    11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

  • Rom 9:3
    67%

    3For I could wish that I myself were accursed– cut off from Christ– for the sake of my people, my fellow countrymen,

  • Acts 24:16
    67%

    16This is the reason I do my best to always have a clear conscience toward God and toward people.

  • Acts 26:21
    67%

    21For this reason the Jews, after they seized me while I was in the temple courts, were trying to kill me.

  • Acts 22:11
    67%

    11Since I could not see because of the brilliance of that light, I came to Damascus led by the hand of those who were with me.

  • 2 Tim 3:10
    67%

    10Continue in What You Have Learned You, however, have followed my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance,

  • 2 Cor 11:22
    67%

    22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.