By his death on the cross Christ destroyed their enmity; by means of the cross he united both races into one body and brought them back to God.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to which God has called you.

He did this to prepare all God's people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ.

For a husband has authority over his wife just as Christ has authority over the church; and Christ is himself the Savior of the church, his body.

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it.

in order to present the church to himself in all its beauty---pure and faultless, without spot or wrinkle or any other imperfection.

(None of us ever hate our own bodies. Instead, we feed them, and take care of them, just as Christ does the church;

As the scripture says, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one."

For this reason you must obey the authorities---not just because of God's punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.

Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts.

For the body itself is not made up of only one part, but of many parts.

And if the ear were to say, "Because I am not an eye, I don't belong to the body," that would not keep it from being a part of the body.

As it is, however, God put every different part in the body just as he wanted it to be.

As it is, there are many parts but one body.

On the contrary, we cannot do without the parts of the body that seem to be weaker;

which the more beautiful parts do not need. God himself has put the body together in such a way as to give greater honor to those parts that need it.

If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness.

He is the head of his body, the church; he is the source of the body's life. He is the first-born Son, who was raised from death, in order that he alone might have the first place in all things.

And now I am happy about my sufferings for you, for by means of my physical sufferings I am helping to complete what still remains of Christ's sufferings on behalf of his body, the church.

The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one body. And be thankful.

Yes, may you come to know his love---although it can never be fully known---and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.

So the one who came down is the same one who went up, above and beyond the heavens, to fill the whole universe with his presence.

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

There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service.

But when all things have been placed under Christ's rule, then he himself, the Son, will place himself under God, who placed all things under him; and God will rule completely over all.

For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God.

For the full content of divine nature lives in Christ, in his humanity,

and you have been given full life in union with him. He is supreme over every spiritual ruler and authority.

As a result, there is no longer any distinction between Gentiles and Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarians, savages, slaves, and free, but Christ is all, Christ is in all.