So the Council warned them even more strongly and then set them free. They saw that it was impossible to punish them, because the people were all praising God for what had happened.

With great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God poured rich blessings on them all.

Jesus grew both in body and in wisdom, gaining favor with God and people.

but they could not find a way to do it, because all the people kept listening to him, not wanting to miss a single word.

And when you serve Christ in this way, you please God and are approved by others.

For God's promise was made to you and your children, and to all who are far away---all whom the Lord our God calls to himself."

But more and more people were added to the group---a crowd of men and women who believed in the Lord.

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and many people were brought to the Lord.

When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the Lord's message; and those who had been chosen for eternal life became believers.

And so those whom God set apart, he called; and those he called, he put right with himself, and he shared his glory with them.

And Isaiah exclaims about Israel: "Even if the people of Israel are as many as the grains of sand by the sea, yet only a few of them will be saved;

It is the same way now: there is a small number left of those whom God has chosen because of his grace.

What then? The people of Israel did not find what they were looking for. It was only the small group that God chose who found it; the rest grew deaf to God's call.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior was revealed,

he saved us. It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that he saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us.