1Pet1:3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. - NIV
Rm15:8For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised
[Jews] to
show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the
patriarchs, 9and in
order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
"Therefore I will praise you
among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name." (2Sam22:50;
Psa18:49)
10And again it is said,
"Rejoice, O Gentiles,
with his people." (Deu32:43)
11And again,
"Praise the Lord, all you
Gentiles,
and let all the peoples extol him." (Psa117:1)
12And again Isaiah says,
"The root of Jesse
will come,
even he who arises to rule the Gentiles [nations];
in him will the Gentiles hope." (Isa11:10)
13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing [as you trust in him],
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. - ESV
Rm11:25Lest you be wise in your own conceits [conceited], I want you to
understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel,
until the fullness [full number] of the Gentiles has come in. 26And
in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
"The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from
Jacob";
27"and this will be my
covenant with them
when I take away their sins." (Isa59:20,21;27:9
Jer31:33-34)
28As regards [with regard to] the gospel, they
are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for
the sake of their forefathers. 29For
the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30Just
as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because
of their disobedience, 31so they too
have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may
now receive mercy. 32For
God has consigned all [bound all men over] to disobedience, that he may have
mercy [them] on all. - ESV
Rm9:10Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father,
our father Isaac. 11Yet, before the twins were born or had done
anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand:
12not
by works but by him who calls--she was told, "The older will serve the
younger." 13Just
as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." (Mal1:23)
14What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!
15For
he says to Moses,
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I
have compassion." (Exo33:19)
16It
does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.
17For
the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that
I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the
earth." 18Therefore
God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to
harden. - NIV
Rm9:19One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us?
For who resists his will?" 20But who are you, O man, to talk
back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you
make me like this?' " 21Does
not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery
for noble purposes and some for common use?
22What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known,
bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction? 23What
if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for
glory-- 24even us, whom he
also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25As
he says in Hosea:
"I will call them 'my people' who are not my people;
and I will call her 'my loved one' who
is not my loved one," (Hos2:23)
26and,
"It will happen that in the very place where it was said
to them,
'You are not my people,'
they will be called 'sons of the living God.' " (Hos1:10)
- NIV
2Jhn1:1The elder to the elect [chosen] lady and her children, whom I love in
[the] truth,
and not only I, but also all who know the truth, 2because of the
truth that abides [lives] in us and will be with us forever: 3Grace,
mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and
from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love. - ESV
2Pet2:9But you are a chosen race [people], a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
people for his own possession [belonging to God], that you may proclaim the excellencies
of him who
called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10Once you were
not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received
mercy, but
now you have received mercy. - ESV
Jud1:20But 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.
22Be merciful to those who doubt; 23snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear�hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
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. - NIV
Challenge: True Life