There has been enough time for you to be teachers---yet you still need someone to teach you the first lessons of God's message. Instead of eating solid food, you still have to drink milk.

Solid food, on the other hand, is for adults, who through practice are able to distinguish between good and evil.

This is the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him.

No one can deny how great is the secret of our religion: He appeared in human form, was shown to be right by the Spirit, and was seen by angels. He was preached among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, and was taken up to heaven.

It was on the basis of the levitical priesthood that the Law was given to the people of Israel. Now, if the work of the levitical priests had been perfect, there would have been no need for a different kind of priest to appear, one who is in the priestly order of Melchizedek, not of Aaron.

Keep walking on straight paths, so that the lame foot may not be disabled, but instead be healed.

The road the righteous travel is like the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come.

You must be perfect---just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

but when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear.

All these promises are made to us, my dear friends. So then, let us purify ourselves from everything that makes body or soul unclean, and let us be completely holy by living in awe of God.

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

I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to himself.

So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God's call through Christ Jesus to the life above.

So we preach Christ to everyone. With all possible wisdom we warn and teach them in order to bring each one into God's presence as a mature individual in union with Christ.

Greetings from Epaphras, another member of your group and a servant of Christ Jesus. He always prays fervently for you, asking God to make you stand firm, as mature and fully convinced Christians, in complete obedience to God's will.

Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

But after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who calls you to share his eternal glory in union with Christ, will himself perfect you and give you firmness, strength, and a sure foundation.

No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in union with us, and his love is made perfect in us.

The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock.

He is like a man who, in building his house, dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. The river flooded over and hit that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

Using the gift that God gave me, I did the work of an expert builder and laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each of you must be careful how you build.

Some will use gold or silver or precious stones in building on the foundation; others will use wood or grass or straw.

In this way they will store up for themselves a treasure which will be a solid foundation for the future. And then they will be able to win the life which is true life.

But the solid foundation that God has laid cannot be shaken; and on it are written these words: "The Lord knows those who are his" and "Those who say that they belong to the Lord must turn away from wrongdoing."

Turn to the LORD and pray to him, now that he is near.

Let the wicked leave their way of life and change their way of thinking. Let them turn to the LORD, our God; he is merciful and quick to forgive.

"Now I, the Sovereign LORD, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what you have done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you.

I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign LORD. "Turn away from your sins and live."

"I will fill the descendants of David and the other people of Jerusalem with the spirit of mercy and the spirit of prayer. They will look at the one whom they stabbed to death, and they will mourn for him like those who mourn for an only child. They will mourn bitterly, like those who have lost their first-born son.

"Turn away from your sins," he said, "because the Kingdom of heaven is near!"

From that time Jesus began to preach his message: "Turn away from your sins, because the Kingdom of heaven is near!"

'I don't want to,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

For John the Baptist came to you showing you the right path to take, and you would not believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. Even when you saw this, you did not later change your minds and believe him.

So they went out and preached that people should turn away from their sins.

Peter said to them, "Each one of you must turn away from your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God's gift, the Holy Spirit.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that he will forgive your sins. If you do,

When they heard this, they stopped their criticism and praised God, saying, "Then God has given to the Gentiles also the opportunity to repent and live!"

God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways.

To Jews and Gentiles alike I gave solemn warning that they should turn from their sins to God and believe in our Lord Jesus.

First in Damascus and in Jerusalem and then in the whole country of Israel and among the Gentiles, I preached that they must repent of their sins and turn to God and do the things that would show they had repented.

For the sadness that is used by God brings a change of heart that leads to salvation---and there is no regret in that! But sadness that is merely human causes death.

who is gentle as you correct your opponents, for it may be that God will give them the opportunity to repent and come to know the truth.

And then they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the Devil, who had caught them and made them obey his will.

Since this is true, how much more is accomplished by the blood of Christ! Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals, so that we may serve the living God.

What human nature does is quite plain. It shows itself in immoral, filthy, and indecent actions;

they are envious, get drunk, have orgies, and do other things like these. I warn you now as I have before: those who do these things will not possess the Kingdom of God.

In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sins.

that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God's grace that you have been saved.

No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him.

"I am telling you the truth: those who hear my words and believe in him who sent me have eternal life. They will not be judged, but have already passed from death to life.

Jesus said in a loud voice, "Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in him who sent me.

"Do not be worried and upset," Jesus told them. "Believe in God and believe also in me.

Through him you believe in God, who raised him from death and gave him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.

So those who believe in the Son of God have this testimony in their own heart; but those who do not believe God, have made a liar of him, because they have not believed what God has said about his Son.

Whoever has the Son has this life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.