What it Means to Believe in Jesus

  
^Joh8:31To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

  ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

 

  
^Luk1:37“For nothing is impossible with God.”

- angel Gabriel talking with Mary about the birth of Christ,
 who was conceived in her by the Holy Spirit.

^Mat5:3�Blessed are the poor in spirit,
               for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

            .....

           ⁵Blessed are the meek,
                for they will inherit the earth.

           ⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
                for they will be filled.

           ⁷Blessed are the merciful,
                for they will be shown mercy.

           ⁸Blessed are the pure in heart,
                for they will see God.

           ⁹Blessed are the peacemakers,
                for they will be called sons of God.�

^Mat3:1In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea ²and saying, “Repent^4a, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

^Luk1:17�And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous�to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.� - angel of the Lord speaking about John the Baptist

^Luk3:16� ..... He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.� - John the Baptist speaking of Jesus

^Luk3:8�Produce fruit in keeping with repentance^4b. ..... ⁹The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.�

 ¹⁰�What should we do then?� the crowd asked.

 ¹¹John answered, �The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.�

^Luk17:20 ..... “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, ²¹nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you.” 

^Mar1:14 ..... Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ¹⁵ ..... “The kingdom of God is near. Repent^4c and believe the good news!”

^Joh3:16�For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.�

.....

 ³⁶�Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.� - John the Baptist speaking about Jesus

^Joh5:28� ..... a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his* voice ²⁹and come out�those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.�

    * Jesus'

^Joh5:42� ..... I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. ..... ⁴⁴How can you believe if you ..... make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?�

^2The2:10 ..... They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. .....

  ¹² ..... all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

^2Tim3:1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ²People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

 ⁶They are ..... loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, ⁷always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. ⁸ ..... these men oppose the truth—men of depraved^5a minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.

  
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 ¹² ..... everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

^Tit1:15To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. ¹⁶They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

 

 

^Tit2:11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹²It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

 

^Tit3:2 ..... show true humility toward all men.

.....

 ³At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, .....

 ¹³ ..... from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying^1a work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 

^Act3:26“When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.” - speaking about Jesus

^Act5:32“ ..... the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

^Act10:34Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

^Act14:21 ..... they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, ²²strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

^Heb12:7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? ..... ⁹ ..... submit to the Father of our spirits and live! ¹⁰ ..... God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

 

 

^Heb5:8Although he was a son*, he learned obedience from what he suffered ⁹and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him .....

     * Jesus

 

^Heb2:10In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God ..... should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. ¹¹Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

 

 

^2Tim2:3Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs�he wants to please his commanding officer. ⁵Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.

^Jam1:12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

.....

 ²¹ ..... get rid of all moral filth ..... and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

 ²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

.....

 ²⁶If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

 ²⁷Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

^Heb10:35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. ³⁶You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. ³⁷For in just a very little while,

  “He who is coming will come and will not delay.
    ³⁸But my righteous one will live by faith.
   And if he shrinks back,
       I will not be pleased with him.” (Hab 2:3,4)

  ³⁹But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

^Heb12:1 ..... let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, .....

^Act15:8“God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, ..... ⁹ ..... he purified their hearts by faith.”

^Act26:17“ ' ..... I am sending you to them ¹⁸to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified^1b by faith in me.' ” - Jesus speaking to Paul

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 ²⁰“First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent^4d and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.”

^Jam2:14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

 ¹⁸ ..... Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

..... ²⁰You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” (Gen 15:6) and he was called God's friend. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

..... ²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

^Jam3:2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

^1Pet4:1Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. ²As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. ³For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do�living in debauchery^2a, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. ..... ⁵But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

^Heb2:18Because he* himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

   * Christ

^Heb3:1Therefore ..... fix your thoughts on Jesus .....

^Heb1:8But about the Son he* says,

   �Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,
        and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
   ⁹You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
        therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
        by anointing you with the oil of joy.� (Psa 45:6,7)

      ^* God

^Joh1:1That which was from the beginning, ..... this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ²The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. .....

 ⁵This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you:

  God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

 ⁶If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.

  ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

^Heb12:14Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.  

^1Pet1:13Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ¹⁴As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶for it is written: �Be holy, because I am holy.� (Lev 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7)

 ¹⁷Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.

^1Pet1:1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
      To God's elect, strangers in the world, ..... ²who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying^1c work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
      Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

^1Joh2:1 ..... Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ²He is the atoning^3a sacrifice for our sins, .....

³We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.

 ⁴The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

  ⁵But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him.

  This is how we know we are in him: ⁶Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

^Gal6:14May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵ ..... what counts is a new creation.

^Eph4:2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

^Eph4:13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

^Eph4:22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

 ²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

.....

 ³²Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

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^Mat5:44�But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. ..... ⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.�

^Luk6:35�But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.�

  ³⁶�Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.�

^1Joh2:9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.

  ¹⁰Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.

^Rom8:28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

^1Joh3:2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.

  But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

  ³Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

.....

  ⁵But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.

 

 ⁶No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

 ⁷Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.

  He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

 ⁸He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.

 

 ⁹No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

 ¹⁰This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

^1Joh5:1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. .....

  ³This is love for God: to obey his commands.

  And his commands are not burdensome, ⁴for everyone born of God overcomes the world.

  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

 ¹³I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

.....

 ¹⁸We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.

^Heb9:13The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify^1d them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

.....

 ²⁶ ..... But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.

^Heb10:10 ..... we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

..... ¹⁴ ..... by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

.....

 ²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

^Heb13:12 ..... Jesus ..... suffered ..... to make the people holy through his own blood.

^Heb10:26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, ²⁷but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

^2Tim2:19 ..... God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” (Num 16:5) and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

^Act3:26“When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.” - speaking about Jesus

^Joh7:17“If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” -  Jesus  

^Jam4:7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ..... ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

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 ¹⁷Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

^Gal2:20“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

^Rom6:6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,

  that we should no longer be slaves to sin .....

.....

 ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.

  ¹³Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness,

 but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

 ¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

^Rom6:15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are

  slaves to sin, which leads to death,

  or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

 ¹⁷But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.

 ¹⁸You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

 ¹⁹I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body

in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness,

so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

  ²⁰When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.

  ²¹What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!

  ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God,

 the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

 ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

^Rom7:4So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

 ⁵For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.

 ⁶But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

^Rom8:1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

  ²because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

 ³For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, ⁴in order that

the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us,

who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

 ⁵Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires;

 but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

⁶The mind of sinful man is death,

 but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;

 ⁷the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. ⁸Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

 ⁹You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit,

  if the Spirit of God lives in you.

 And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

^Gal3:11 ..... “The righteous will live by faith.” (Hab 2:4) .....

 ¹⁴ ..... by faith we ..... receive the promise of the Spirit.

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²²But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

 

 

^Gal5:5But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. 

 

 

^Rom3:21But now a righteousness from God ..... has been made known, .....

 ²²This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

^Gal3:26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, ..... 

^Gal4:6Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts .....

^Rom8:12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.

¹³For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die;

 but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,

 ¹⁴because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ..... ¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. ¹⁷Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

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^Joh1:33“ 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' ” - John the Baptist saying what God told Him about Jesus

^Joh3:6“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

^Joh6:27“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. ..... ”

 ²⁸Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

 ²⁹Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

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 ³³“For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

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 ³⁵Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

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 ⁶³“The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.”

^Joh7:37On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” ³⁹By this he meant the Spirit, .....

 

^Rom10:4Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

^Rom2:29No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, .....

^1Joh2:14 .....

       I write to you, young men,
       because you are strong,
       and the word of God lives in you,
       and you have overcome the evil one.

 ¹⁵Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

 ²⁸And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

 ²⁹If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

^Mat5:28�But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.�

^Mat13:40�As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴²They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ..... �

^Joh8:31To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

..... 

 ³⁴Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

^2Cor5:17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ ..... ²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin for us [OR, be a sin offering], so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

^2Cor6:4 ..... as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; ⁵in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; ⁶in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; ⁷in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; .....

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 ¹⁶ ..... For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Lev 26:12; Jer 32:38; Eze 37:27)

   ¹⁷“Therefore come out from them
           and be separate, says the Lord.
        Touch no unclean thing,
           and I will receive you.” (Isa 52:11; Eze 20:34,41)
   ¹⁸“I will be a Father to you,
           and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2Sam 7:14; 7:8)

^2Cor7:1Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

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^Gal5:16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

.....

 ¹⁹The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery^2b; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

^Gal6:2Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. ..... ⁴Each one should test his own actions.

^Gal6:7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

  ⁸The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction;

the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

 ⁹Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

^1Tim1:4 ..... God's work�which is by faith. ⁵The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

.....

 ¹⁸ ..... fight the good fight, ¹⁹holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.

 

^Heb13:18Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

^1Tim4:7 ..... train yourself to be godly.

.....

 ¹² ..... set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

..... 

 ¹⁵Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. ¹⁶Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

^1Tim5:8If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

^1Tim6:12Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called .....  

 

 

^2Tim1:7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

 ⁸So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, ..... join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, ⁹who has saved us and called us to a holy life�not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.

^Mat6:14:24�No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.�

^Luk12:33�Sell your possessions and give to the poor.�

^Mat7:13�Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.�

^Luk6:43�No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. ..... ⁴⁵The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.�

^Mat7:19�Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.�

.....

 ²¹�Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.� 

^Luk6:46�Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. ⁴⁸He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.�

 

^Luk13:23Someone asked him, �Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?�

   He said to them, ²⁴�Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.�

^Luk14:25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶�If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters�yes, even his own life�he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.�

 ..... ³³ ..... �any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.�

^Mat13:44�The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.�

^Phi3:7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.

 I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

^Mar8:34 ..... �If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross [daily Luk9:23] and follow me. ³⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul [very self Luk9:25]? ³⁷Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?�

^Mat12:50�For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.�

^Luk8:21He replied, �My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice.�

^Mar9:23� ..... Everything is possible for him who believes.�

^Mar12:28 ..... �Of all the commandments, which is the most important?�

 ²⁹�The most important one,� answered Jesus, �is this: .....

  ³⁰'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' (Deu 6:4-5)

  ³¹The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' �

 

^Mat25:31�When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.�

 ³⁴�Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' �

 ³⁷�Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ..... ' �

..... ⁴⁰� .....'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' �

 ⁴¹�Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' �

..... ⁴⁵� ..... 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' �

 ⁴⁶�Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.�

^Joh13:34“A new command I give you: Love one another.

 As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

  ³⁵By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

^Joh14:6Jesus answered,

�I am the way and the truth and the life.

  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

^Joh14:11“Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.

 ¹²I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

 ¹³And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

 ¹⁵“If you love me, you will obey what I command.

 ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— ¹⁷the Spirit of truth. ..... you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ..... ¹⁹Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

 ²¹Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.

He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

.....

 ²³Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.

My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

 ²⁴He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.”

.....

 ³⁰“I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me,

  ³¹but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”

^Joh15:1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. .....

 ⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you.

 ⁵If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;

..... ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

  ⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

 ⁸This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

 ⁹“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

 ¹⁰If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love,

  just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.

 

¹¹I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

  ¹²My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

 ¹³Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

  ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command.”

.....

 ¹⁶“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

  ¹⁷This is my command: Love each other.”

^1Joh3:11This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. .....

  ¹⁴We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.

  Anyone who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

 ¹⁶This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? ¹⁸Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. ¹⁹This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence ²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

 ²¹Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²²and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

  ²³And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

 ²⁴Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

^1Joh4:7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

          Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

 ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning^3b sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 
  ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

 ¹³We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

.....

      ¹⁶ ..... God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

 ¹⁷In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.

..... ¹⁹We love because he first loved us. ²⁰If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. ²¹And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

^Eph5:1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children ²and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

 ³But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.

.....

  ⁵For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

 

  ⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. ⁷Therefore do not be partners with them.

^1The4:3It is God's will that you should be sanctified^1e: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; ..... ⁷For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. ⁸Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

^Rom1:4 ..... Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.

^Rom2:6God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” (Psa 62:12; Pro 24:12) ⁷To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. ⁸But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

^Heb6:4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, ⁶if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance^4e, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

 ⁷Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. ⁸But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

 ⁹Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. ¹⁰God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. ¹¹We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. ¹²We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

^Heb3:12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. ¹⁴We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. ¹⁵As has just been said: 

   “Today, if you hear his voice,
        do not harden your hearts
     as you did in the rebellion.” (Psa 95:7,8)

  ¹⁶Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? ¹⁸And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

^Heb4:1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ²For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. ³Now we who have believed enter that rest, .....

..... ⁹There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. ¹¹Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

^Jud1:5Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home�these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. ⁷In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

 ¹⁴Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied ..... : �See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones ¹⁵to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.� ¹⁶These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires .....

.....

 ²⁰But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. ²¹Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

.....

 ²⁴To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy� ²⁵to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

 

^Rom15:16 ..... so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified^1f by the Holy Spirit.

..... ¹⁸I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God .....

 

 

 

^Rom16:25Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, ..... ²⁶ ..... so that all nations might believe and obey him— ²⁷to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

^1Cor1:4I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. ..... ⁸He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

^Eph5:25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

^2Pet1:2Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

 ³His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

 ⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

.....

 ¹⁰Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, ¹¹and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

^Rom12:2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

.....

 ⁹ ..... Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

.....

 ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

 

 

^Rom13:14 ..... clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

 

 

^Rom14:23 ..... everything that does not come from faith is sin.

^Gal5:6 ..... The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

^1Cor13:6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

  ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 ⁸Love never fails. .....

 

 

^1Cor16:14Do everything in love.

^1Cor6:9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders ¹⁰nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified^1g, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

^1Cor7:19 ..... Keeping God's commands is what counts.

^1Cor8:3But the man who loves God is known by God.

 

^2Cor1:12 ..... Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God's grace.

..... 

 ²¹Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, ²²set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

.....

 ²⁴ ..... it is by faith you stand firm.

.....

^1Pet1:4 ..... you, ⁵who through faith are shielded by God's power .....

....

 ²²Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

^1Pet2:1 ..... rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. ² ..... crave pure spiritual milk .....

 

^1Pet3:8 ..... all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. ⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 

.....

   ¹²�For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
        and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
     but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.� (Psa 34:15-16)

^1Pet5:5 ..... All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

   �God opposes the proud
      but gives grace to the humble.� (Pro 3:34)

  ⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

^1Pet2:21 ..... Christ suffered for you .....

  ²⁴He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

^2Cor3:18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

^2Cor4:13It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” (Psa 116:10) With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, .....

 

^Mat10:32�Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. ³³But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.� - Jesus

 

^Eph6:16 ..... take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

^Phi2:3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

 

^Eph5:21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

^Gal5:13 ..... serve one another in love.

^Phi2:12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed ..... continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

 ¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved^5b generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe ¹⁶as you hold out the word of life .....

^Phi4:4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

  ⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all.

 The Lord is near.

^Col1:21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ²²But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ²³if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.

 ²⁷ ..... God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

 ²⁸We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. ²⁹To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

^Col2:9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. ¹¹In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, ¹²having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

 

^Col3:1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. .....

 ⁵Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. ⁷You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

.....

 ¹² ..... clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

 

 

 

^1The2:10You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. ¹¹For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, ¹²encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

^1The3:12May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. ¹³May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

^1The5:13 ..... Live in peace with each other. ..... ¹⁴ ..... be patient with everyone.

 ¹⁵Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

 ¹⁶Be joyful always; ¹⁷pray continually; ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

 

.....

 ²¹ ..... Hold on to the good. ²²Avoid every kind of evil.

^1The5:23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify^1h you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

^2The1:3We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. ⁴Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

 ⁵All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you ⁷and give relief to you who are troubled ..... ⁸He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord .....

..... ¹¹With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.

^Tit1:1Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—

 ²a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, .....

^Rev1:5 ..... To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

^Rev2:1�To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

      These are the words of him who ..... walks among the seven golden lampstands*: ²I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. ⁴Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. ⁵Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent^4f and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷ ..... To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.�

    * the words are Jesus', and the lampstands are the churches

.....

 ¹¹� ..... He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.�

.....

 ¹⁷� ..... To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.�

.....

 ²⁶�To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations� 

 ²⁷'He will rule them with an iron scepter;
       he will dash them to pieces like pottery' (Psa 2:9)

� just as I have received authority from my Father. ²⁸I will also give him the morning star.�

^Rev3:1�To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

      ..... I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ²Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. ³Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent^4g. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. ⁴Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. ⁵He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.�

.....

 ¹²�Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.�

 ²⁰�Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. ²¹To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.�

^Rev4:8 ..... �Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,
                   who was, and is, and is to come.�

^Rev15:2And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They ..... ³ ..... sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb:

   “Great and marvelous are your deeds,
        Lord God Almighty.
     Just and true are your ways,
        King of the ages.
    ⁴Who will not fear you, O Lord,
        and bring glory to your name?
     For you alone are holy.
     All nations will come
        and worship before you,
     for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

^Rev19:6Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

   �Hallelujah!
        For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
   ⁷Let us rejoice and be glad
        and give him glory!
     For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
        and his bride has made herself ready.
   ⁸Fine linen, bright and clean,
        was given her to wear.� (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)

 ⁹Then the angel said to me, �Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' ” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

 ¹⁰� ..... hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.�

^Rev20:10And the devil ..... was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

^Rev21:1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ²I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

 ⁵He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

 ⁶He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.”

 “To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.”

 ⁷“He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

 ⁸“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

.....

 ²²I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. ²⁷Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

^Rev22:3No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. ⁴They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ ..... And they will reign for ever and ever.

^Rev22:10Then he told me, “..... the time is near. ¹¹Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” - angel speaking to John

 ¹²“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

 ¹⁴“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. ¹⁵Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

 ¹⁶“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. ..... ”

¹⁷ ..... Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

1 - sanctify: to free from sin, purify, and set apart for a sacred purpose.   1a: ^  1b: ^  1c: ^  1d: ^  1e: ^  1f: ^  1g: ^  1h: ^

2 - debauchery: indulgence in pleasure that lacks moral restraint, extreme indulgence in sensual pleasure.   2a: ^  2b: ^

3 - atonement: to restore to friendship or harmony, settle, resolve  ---  to repair, the act of making amends or giving satisfaction for a wrong or injury, something done or given as amends or satisfaction, the payment of damages for an offense or injury  ---  the reconciliation of God and humankind through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.   3a: ^  3b: ^

4 - repent: to turn from sin/harmdoing and dedicate oneself to the correction of one's life to God's principles: to feel regret and sorrow, to change one's mind.   4a: ^  4b: ^  4c: ^  4d: ^  4e: ^  4f: ^  4g: ^

5 - deprave: to make bad, to corrupt morally, degrade with unsound principles or moral values.   5a: ^  5b: ^

Faith   and   Love

Index  

Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION�. NIV�. Copyright�1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.