Rm11:13Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify [make much of] my ministry 14in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump [batch], and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing [sap from the] root of the olive tree, 18do not be arrogant toward the [those] branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19Then you will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." 20That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast [firm] through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. - ESV
Rm11:22Note [consider] then the kindness and the severity of God: severity
toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you,
provided you continue
in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23And even they,
if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the
power to graft them in again. 24For if you were cut from what is by
nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated
olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into
their own olive tree. - ESV
1Jhn2:23No
one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses [acknowledges] the Son
has the Father also. 24Let [see
that] what you heard from the beginning abide [remain(s)] in you. If what you
heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and
in the Father. 25And this is the
promise that he made to us [what he promised us] --eternal life. - ESV
2Pet2:4For if God did
not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into
gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; 5if
he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly
people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6if
he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made
them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7and
if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of
lawless men 8(for
that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his
righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)� 9if
this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold
the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. 10This
is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature
and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander
celestial beings; 11yet
even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring
slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. 12But
these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute
beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like
beasts they too will perish.
- NIV
2Pet2:13They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse6 in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. 14With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed�an accursed brood! 15They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey�a beast without speech�who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness. - NIV
2Pet2:17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity2�for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," (Pro26:11) and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." - NIV
2Pet3:15Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.
16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to
understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this,
be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure
position.
18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. - NIV
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.
8In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.
9But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
10Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals�these are the very things that destroy them.
11Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion. - NIV
2 - deprave: to make bad, to corrupt morally, degrade with
unsound principles or moral values. ^
6 - carouse: a drunken revel, intense pleasure or satisfaction taken while
drunk. ^
Also see: God Helps Us
Challenge: True Life