I have told you this many times before, and now I repeat it with tears: there are many whose lives make them enemies of Christ's death on the cross.

We, however, are citizens of heaven, and we eagerly wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven.

I urge you, then---I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord: live a life that measures up to the standard God set when he called you.

Then you will be able to live as the Lord wants and will always do what pleases him. Your lives will produce all kinds of good deeds, and you will grow in your knowledge of God.

You know that we treated each one of you just as parents treat their own children.

We encouraged you, we comforted you, and we kept urging you to live the kind of life that pleases God, who calls you to share in his own Kingdom and glory.

Finally, our friends, you learned from us how you should live in order to please God. This is, of course, the way you have been living. And now we beg and urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to do even more.

or steal from them. Instead, they must show that they are always good and faithful, so as to bring credit to the teaching about God our Savior in all they do.

In this way he has given us the very great and precious gifts he promised, so that by means of these gifts you may escape from the destructive lust that is in the world, and may come to share the divine nature.

to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add endurance; to your endurance add godliness;

These are the qualities you need, and if you have them in abundance, they will make you active and effective in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Since all these things will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people should you be? Your lives should be holy and dedicated to God,

And so, my friends, as you wait for that Day, do your best to be pure and faultless in God's sight and to be at peace with him.

God is my witness that what I say is true---the God whom I serve with all my heart by preaching the Good News about his Son. God knows that I remember you

I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is God's power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles.

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.

When I come to you, I know that I shall come with a full measure of the blessing of Christ.

They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

And because of the proof which this service of yours brings, many will give glory to God for your loyalty to the gospel of Christ, which you profess, and for your generosity in sharing with them and everyone else.

Actually, there is no "other gospel," but I say this because there are some people who are upsetting you and trying to change the gospel of Christ.

So then, dear friends, as you always obeyed me when I was with you, it is even more important that you obey me now while I am away from you. Keep on working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation,

And I trust in the Lord that I myself will be able to come to you soon.

For this reason, ever since I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people,

For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all God's people.

Now Timothy has come back, and he has brought us the welcome news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always think well of us and that you want to see us just as much as we want to see you.

For I hear of your love for all of God's people and the faith you have in the Lord Jesus.

I was so happy when some Christians arrived and told me how faithful you are to the truth---just as you always live in the truth.

Nothing makes me happier than to hear that my children live in the truth.

Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another.

I urge you, then, to make me completely happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind.

So then, my friends, how dear you are to me and how I miss you! How happy you make me, and how proud I am of you!---this, dear friends, is how you should stand firm in your life in the Lord.

Jerusalem is a city restored in beautiful order and harmony.

How wonderful it is, how pleasant, for God's people to live together in harmony!

Jesus knew what they were thinking, and so he said to them, "Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart.

By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ I appeal to all of you, my friends, to agree in what you say, so that there will be no divisions among you. Be completely united, with only one thought and one purpose.

So then, my dear friends, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord's service is ever useless.

Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave, be strong.

Do all your work in love.

And now, my friends, good-bye! Strive for perfection; listen to my appeals; agree with one another; live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

I will give them a single purpose in life: to honor me for all time, for their own good and the good of their descendants.

"I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in me because of their message.

I pray that they may all be one. Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me.

Day after day they met as a group in the Temple, and they had their meals together in their homes, eating with glad and humble hearts,

The group of believers was one in mind and heart. None of them said that any of their belongings were their own, but they all shared with one another everything they had.

We have many parts in the one body, and all these parts have different functions.

In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body.

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.

In the church God has put all in place: in the first place apostles, in the second place prophets, and in the third place teachers; then those who perform miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to help others or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues.

or to heal diseases or to speak in strange tongues or to explain what is said.

Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace that binds you together.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

And goodness is the harvest that is produced from the seeds the peacemakers plant in peace.

My dear friends, I was doing my best to write to you about the salvation we share in common, when I felt the need of writing at once to encourage you to fight on for the faith which once and for all God has given to his people.

The LORD will argue their case for them and threaten the life of anyone who threatens theirs.

After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he talked about faith in Christ Jesus.

Through him God gave me the privilege of being an apostle for the sake of Christ, in order to lead people of all nations to believe and obey.

What it says is this: "God's message is near you, on your lips and in your heart"---that is, the message of faith that we preach.

And you also became God's people when you heard the true message, the Good News that brought you salvation. You believed in Christ, and God put his stamp of ownership on you by giving you the Holy Spirit he had promised.

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

and keep your faith and a clear conscience. Some people have not listened to their conscience and have made a ruin of their faith.

I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith.