And because of God's gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you.

But in this letter I have been quite bold about certain subjects of which I have reminded you. I have been bold because of the privilege God has given me

of being a servant of Christ Jesus to work for the Gentiles. I serve like a priest in preaching the Good News from God, in order that the Gentiles may be an offering acceptable to God, dedicated to him by the Holy Spirit.

Out of the fullness of his grace he has blessed us all, giving us one blessing after another.

But by God's grace I am what I am, and the grace that he gave me was not without effect. On the contrary, I have worked harder than any of the other apostles, although it was not really my own doing, but God's grace working with me.

There is nothing in us that allows us to claim that we are capable of doing this work. The capacity we have comes from God;

it is he who made us capable of serving the new covenant, which consists not of a written law but of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

But God in his grace chose me even before I was born, and called me to serve him. And when he decided

to reveal his Son to me, so that I might preach the Good News about him to the Gentiles, I did not go to anyone for advice,

Surely you have heard that God in his grace has given me this work to do for your good.

and if you will read what I have written, you can learn about my understanding of the secret of Christ.)

The secret is that by means of the gospel the Gentiles have a part with the Jews in God's blessings; they are members of the same body and share in the promise that God made through Christ Jesus.

I am less than the least of all God's people; yet God gave me this privilege of taking to the Gentiles the Good News about the infinite riches of Christ,

That teaching is found in the gospel that was entrusted to me to announce, the Good News from the glorious and blessed God.

I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength for my work. I thank him for considering me worthy and appointing me to serve him,

to serve as an apostle in the place of Judas, who left to go to the place where he belongs."

Even if others do not accept me as an apostle, surely you do! Because of your life in union with the Lord you yourselves are proof of the fact that I am an apostle.

For by God's power I was made an apostle to the Gentiles, just as Peter was made an apostle to the Jews.

James, Peter, and John, who seemed to be the leaders, recognized that God had given me this special task; so they shook hands with Barnabas and me, as a sign that we were all partners. We agreed that Barnabas and I would work among the Gentiles and they among the Jews.

I will be bold and speak only about what Christ has done through me to lead the Gentiles to obey God. He has done this by means of words and deeds,

by the power of miracles and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. And so, in traveling all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum, I have proclaimed fully the Good News about Christ.

Now, however, that truth has been brought out into the open through the writings of the prophets; and by the command of the eternal God it is made known to all nations, so that all may believe and obey.

And so the word of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew larger and larger, and a great number of priests accepted the faith.

The weapons we use in our fight are not the world's weapons but God's powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments;

And after you have proved your complete loyalty, we will be ready to punish any act of disloyalty.

When he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him,

Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles also? Of course he is.

People from one end of the world to the other honor me. Everywhere they burn incense to me and offer acceptable sacrifices. All of them honor me!

A curse on the cheater who sacrifices a worthless animal to me, when he has in his flock a good animal that he promised to give me! For I am a great king, and people of all nations fear me."

Simon has just explained how God first showed his care for the Gentiles by taking from among them a people to belong to him.

Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us in his dear Son!

Let us, then, who were the first to hope in Christ, praise God's glory!

But you are the chosen race, the King's priests, the holy nation, God's own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his own marvelous light.

At one time you were not God's people, but now you are his people; at one time you did not know God's mercy, but now you have received his mercy.