Reference: Love, Lover, Lovely, Beloved
Hastings
LOVE, LOVER, LOVELY, BELOVED
1. 'Love' (noun and verb, native Eng.) represents a single Heb. word, which ranged, like the Eng. term, from (1) sensuous, and often (though not necessarily) evil, desire (as in Ge 25:28; 2Sa 13:4; Jer 2:33), through (2) family affection and natural friendship (Ge 22:2; Ex 21:5; 1Sa 18:16; 2Sa 1:26), up to (3) the highest spiritual passion. Under (3) comes (a) Jahweh's love to Israel, to the righteous, etc. (De 4:37; 7:7 f., 1Ki 10:9; Ho 3:1; 9:5; 11:4; 14:4; Zep 3:17; Jer 2:2; Isa 43:4; 48:14; 63:9; Mal 1:2; Ps 11:1; 47:4; 78:68; 87:2; 146:8; Pr 3:12; 8:17; 2Ch 2:11; 9:8); and (b) Israel's love to Jahweh, His name, word, ways, etc. (e.g. in Ex 20:6; De 6:5 etc., Ne 1:5; 1Ki 3:3
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while a voice came from Heaven, saying, "This is My Son, the dearly loved, in whom is My delight."
"*You* are the salt of the earth; but if salt has become tasteless, in what way can it regain its saltness? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown away and trodden on by the passers by.
"You have heard that it was said, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy.' But I command you all, love your enemies, and pray for your persecutors; read more. that so you may become true sons of your Father in Heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the wicked as well as the good, and sends rain upon those who do right and those who do wrong.
that so you may become true sons of your Father in Heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the wicked as well as the good, and sends rain upon those who do right and those who do wrong. For if you love only those who love you, what reward have you earned? Do not even the tax-gatherers do that? read more. And if you salute only your near relatives, what praise is due to you? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You however are to be complete in goodness, as your Heavenly Father is complete.
You however are to be complete in goodness, as your Heavenly Father is complete.
Look at the birds which fly in the air: they do not sow or reap or store up in barns, but your Heavenly Father feeds them: are not you of much greater value than they? Which of you by being over-anxious can add a single foot to his height? read more. And why be anxious about clothing? Learn a lesson from the wild lilies. Watch their growth. They neither toil nor spin, and yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his magnificence could array himself like one of these. And if God so clothes the wild herbage which to-day flourishes and to-morrow is thrown into the oven, is it not much more certain that He will clothe you, you men of little faith? Do not be over-anxious, therefore, asking 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For all these are questions that Gentiles are always asking; but your Heavenly Father knows that you need these things--all of them. But make His Kingdom and righteousness your chief aim, and then these things shall all be given you in addition.
Cure the sick, raise the dead to life, cleanse lepers, drive out demons: you have received without payment, give without payment.
Do not two sparrows sell for a halfpenny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's leave.
Another parable He spoke to them. "The Kingdom of the Heavens," He said, "is like yeast which a woman takes and buries in a bushel of flour, for it to work there till the whole mass has risen."
He was still speaking when a luminous cloud spread over them; and a voice was heard from within the cloud, which said, "This is My Son dearly beloved, in whom is My delight. Listen to Him."
"'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,'" He answered, "'with thy whole heart, thy whole soul, thy whole mind.' This is the greatest and foremost Commandment.
"Then the King will say to those at His right, "'Come, my Father's blessed ones, receive your inheritance of the Kingdom which has been divinely intended for you ever since the creation of the world. For when I was hungry, you gave me food; when I was thirsty, you gave me drink; when I was homeless, you gave me a welcome; read more. when I was ill-clad, you clothed me; when I was sick, you visited me; when I was in prison, you came to see me.' "'When, Lord,' the righteous will reply, 'did we see Thee hungry, and feed Thee; or thirsty, and give Thee drink? When did we see Thee homeless, and give Thee a welcome? or ill-clad, and clothe Thee? When did we see Thee sick or in prison, and come to see Thee?' "But the King will answer them, "'In solemn truth I tell you that in so far as you rendered such services to one of the humblest of these my brethren, you rendered them to myself.' "Then will He say to those at His left, "'Begone from me, with the curse resting upon you, into the Fire of the Ages, which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels. For when I was hungry, you gave me nothing to eat; when thirsty, you gave me nothing to drink; when homeless, you gave me no welcome; ill-clad, you clothed me not; sick or in prison, you visited me not.' "Then will they also answer, "'Lord, when did we see Thee hungry or thirsty or homeless or ill-clad or sick or in prison, and not come to serve Thee?' "But he will reply, "'In solemn truth I tell you that in so far as you withheld such services from one of the humblest of these, you withheld them from me.'
for this is my blood which is to be poured out for many for the remission of sins--the blood which ratifies the Covenant.
Then He said to them, "Go the whole world over, and proclaim the Good News to all mankind.
And His compassion is, generation after generation, Upon those who fear Him.
"Glory be to God in the highest Heavens, And on earth peace among men who please Him!"
"Now, O Sovereign Lord, Thou dost send Thy servant away in peace, in fulfilment of Thy word, Because mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, read more. Which Thou hast made ready in the sight of all nations-- A light to shine upon the Gentiles, And the glory of Thy people Israel."
Nevertheless love your enemies, be beneficent; and lend without hoping for any repayment. Then your recompense shall be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Nevertheless love your enemies, be beneficent; and lend without hoping for any repayment. Then your recompense shall be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
"But alas for you Pharisees! for you pay tithes on your mint and rue and every kind of garden vegetable, and are indifferent to justice and the love of God. These are the things you ought to have attended to, while not neglecting the others.
"Dismiss your fears, little flock: your Father finds a pleasure in giving you the Kingdom.
"No servant can be in bondage to two masters. For either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will cling fast to one and scorn the other. You cannot be bondservants both of God and of gold."
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
And the Word came in the flesh, and lived for a time in our midst, so that we saw His glory--the glory as of the Father's only Son, sent from His presence. He was full of grace and truth.
No human eye has ever seen God: the only Son, who is in the Father's bosom--He has made Him known.
The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and exclaimed, "Look, that is the Lamb of God who is to take away the sin of the world!
And just as Moses lifted high the serpent in the Desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, in order that every one who trusts in Him may have the Life of the Ages." read more. For so greatly did God love the world that He gave His only Son, that every one who trusts in Him may not perish but may have the Life of Ages.
For so greatly did God love the world that He gave His only Son, that every one who trusts in Him may not perish but may have the Life of Ages. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. read more. He who trusts in Him does not come up for judgement. He who does not trust has already received sentence, because he has not his trust resting on the name of God's only Son. And this is the test by which men are judged--the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness more than they loved the Light, because their deeds were wicked.
For the Father loves the Son and reveals to Him all that He Himself is doing. And greater deeds than these will He reveal to Him, in order that you may wonder.
but I know you well, and I know that in your hearts you do not really love God.
For God's bread is that which comes down out of Heaven and gives Life to the world."
I am the living bread come down out of Heaven. If a man eats this bread, he shall live for ever. Moreover the bread which I will give is my flesh given for the life of the world."
and you shall know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free."
"If God were your Father," said Jesus, "you would love me; for it is from God that I came and I am now here. I have not come of myself, but *He* sent me.
The father whose sons you are is the Devil; and you desire to do what gives him pleasure. *He* was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth--for there is no truth in him. Whenever he utters his lie, he utters it out of his own store; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
You do not know Him, but I know Him perfectly; and were I to deny my knowledge of Him, I should resemble you, and be a liar. On the contrary I do know Him, and I obey His commands.
"I am the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his very life for the sheep. The hired servant--one who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep--no sooner sees the wolf coming than he leaves the sheep and runs away; and the wolf worries and scatters them. read more. For he is only a hired servant and cares nothing for the sheep. "I am the Good Shepherd. And I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I am laying down my life for the sheep.
So the sisters sent to Him to say, "Master, he whom you hold dear is ill."
Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
"See how dear he held him," said the Jews.
Now just before the Feast of the Passover this incident took place. Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father; and having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
A new commandment I give you, to love one another; that as I have loved you, you also may love one another.
In my Father's house there are many resting-places. Were it otherwise, I would have told you; for I am going to make ready a place for you.
He who has my commandments and obeys them--he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will clearly reveal myself to him."
"If any one loves me," replied Jesus, "he will obey my teaching; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
"You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and yet I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I am.
Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me.
By this is God glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine.
If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love.
It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you. Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. read more. But they will inflict all this suffering upon you on account of your bearing my name--because they do not know Him who sent me. "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin; but as the case stands they are without excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them, as I have, such miracles as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin; but they have in fact seen and also hated both me and my Father.
And they will do these things because they have failed to recognize the Father and to discover who I am.
for the Father Himself holds you dear, because you have held me dear and have believed that I came from the Father's presence.
that they may all be one, even as Thou art in me, O Father, and I am in Thee; that they also may be in us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send me. And the glory which Thou hast given me I have given them, that they may be one, just as we are one: read more. I in them and Thou in me; that they may stand perfected in one; that the world may come to understand that Thou didst send me and hast loved them with the same love as that with which Thou hast loved me.
I in them and Thou in me; that they may stand perfected in one; that the world may come to understand that Thou didst send me and hast loved them with the same love as that with which Thou hast loved me. "Father, those whom Thou hast given me--I desire that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see the glory--my glory--my gift from Thee, which Thou hast given me because Thou didst love me before the creation of the world.
"Father, those whom Thou hast given me--I desire that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see the glory--my glory--my gift from Thee, which Thou hast given me because Thou didst love me before the creation of the world.
"Father, those whom Thou hast given me--I desire that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see the glory--my glory--my gift from Thee, which Thou hast given me because Thou didst love me before the creation of the world. And, righteous Father, though the world has failed to recognize Thee, I have known Thee, and these have perceived that Thou didst send me.
And, righteous Father, though the world has failed to recognize Thee, I have known Thee, and these have perceived that Thou didst send me. And I have made known Thy name to them and will make it known, that the love with which Thou hast loved me may be in them, and that I may be in them."
So she ran, as fast as she could, to find Simon Peter and the other disciple--the one who was dear to Jesus--and to tell them, "They have taken the Master out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have put Him."
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others do?" "Yes, Master," was his answer; "you know that you are dear to me." "Then feed my lambs," replied Jesus.
and yet you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samaria and to the remotest parts of the earth."
I am already under obligations alike to Greek-speaking races and to others, to cultured and to uncultured people:
because what may be known about Him is plain to their inmost consciousness; for He Himself has made it plain to them. For, from the very creation of the world, His invisible perfections--namely His eternal power and divine nature--have been rendered intelligible and clearly visible by His works, so that these men are without excuse. read more. For when they had come to know God, they did not give Him glory as God nor render Him thanks, but they became absorbed in useless discussions, and their senseless minds were darkened. While boasting of their wisdom they became utter fools, and, instead of worshipping the imperishable God, they worshipped images resembling perishable man or resembling birds or beasts or reptiles. For this reason, in accordance with their own depraved cravings, God gave them up to uncleanness, allowing them to dishonour their bodies among themselves with impurity. For they had bartered the reality of God for what is unreal, and had offered divine honours and religious service to created things, rather than to the Creator--He who is for ever blessed. Amen. This then is the reason why God gave them up to vile passions. For not only did the women among them exchange the natural use of their bodies for one which is contrary to nature, but the men also, in just the same way--neglecting that for which nature intends women--burned with passion towards one another, men practising shameful vice with men, and receiving in their own selves the reward which necessarily followed their misconduct. And just as they had refused to continue to have a full knowledge of God, so it was to utterly worthless minds that God gave them up, for them to do things which should not be done. Their hearts overflowed with all sorts of dishonesty, mischief, greed, malice. They were full of envy and murder, and were quarrelsome, crafty, and spiteful. They were secret backbiters, open slanderers; hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful; inventors of new forms of sin, disobedient to parents, destitute of common sense, faithless to their promises, without natural affection, without human pity.
faithless to their promises, without natural affection, without human pity. In short, though knowing full well the sentence which God pronounces against actions such as theirs, as things which deserve death, they not only practise them, but even encourage and applaud others who do them.
Or is it that you think slightingly of His infinite goodness, forbearance and patience, unaware that the goodness of God is gently drawing you to repentance?
Or is it that you think slightingly of His infinite goodness, forbearance and patience, unaware that the goodness of God is gently drawing you to repentance?
Or is it that you think slightingly of His infinite goodness, forbearance and patience, unaware that the goodness of God is gently drawing you to repentance?
and that this hope never disappoints, because God's love for us floods our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
and that this hope never disappoints, because God's love for us floods our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For already, while we were still helpless, Christ at the right moment died for the ungodly. read more. Why, it is scarcely conceivable that any one would die for a simply just man, although for a good and lovable man perhaps some one, here and there, will have the courage even to lay down his life.
Why, it is scarcely conceivable that any one would die for a simply just man, although for a good and lovable man perhaps some one, here and there, will have the courage even to lay down his life. But God gives proof of His love to us in Christ's dying for us while we were still sinners.
What follows? This comparison. Through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and so death passed to all mankind in turn, in that all sinned. For prior to the Law sin was already in the world; only it is not entered in the account against us when no Law exists. read more. Yet Death reigned as king from Adam to Moses even over those who had not sinned, as Adam did, against Law. And in Adam we have a type of Him whose coming was still future. But God's free gift immeasurably outweighs the transgression. For if through the transgression of the one individual the mass of mankind have died, infinitely greater is the generosity with which God's grace, and the gift given in His grace which found expression in the one man Jesus Christ, have been bestowed on the mass of mankind. And it is not with the gift as it was with the results of one individual's sin; for the judgement which one individual provoked resulted in condemnation, whereas the free gift after a multitude of transgressions results in acquittal. For if, through the transgression of the one individual, Death made use of the one individual to seize the sovereignty, all the more shall those who receive God's overflowing grace and gift of righteousness reign as kings in Life through the one individual, Jesus Christ.
For if, through the transgression of the one individual, Death made use of the one individual to seize the sovereignty, all the more shall those who receive God's overflowing grace and gift of righteousness reign as kings in Life through the one individual, Jesus Christ. It follows then that just as the result of a single transgression is a condemnation which extends to the whole race, so also the result of a single decree of righteousness is a life-giving acquittal which extends to the whole race. read more. For as through the disobedience of the one individual the mass of mankind were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the mass of mankind will be constituted righteous. Now Law was brought in later on, so that transgression might increase. But where sin increased, grace has overflowed; in order that as sin has exercised kingly sway in inflicting death, so grace, too, may exercise kingly sway in bestowing a righteousness which results in the Life of the Ages through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Abandonment to earthly things is a state of enmity to God. Such a mind does not submit to God's Law, and indeed cannot do so.
You have not for the second time acquired the consciousness of being--a consciousness which fills you with terror. But you have acquired a deep inward conviction of having been adopted as sons--a conviction which prompts us to cry aloud, "Abba! our Father!"
Now we know that for those who love God all things are working together for good--for those, I mean, whom with deliberate purpose He has called. For those whom He has known beforehand He has also pre-destined to bear the likeness of His Son, that He might be the Eldest in a vast family of brothers; read more. and those whom He has pre-destined He also has called; and those whom He has called He has also declared free from guilt; and those whom He has declared free from guilt He has also crowned with glory.
Who shall separate us from Christ's love? Shall affliction or distress, persecution or hunger, nakedness or danger or the sword?
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither the lower ranks of evil angels nor the higher, neither things present nor things future, nor the forces of nature, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God which rests upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And what if God, while choosing to make manifest the terrors of His anger and to show what is possible with Him, has yet borne with long-forbearing patience with the subjects of His anger who stand ready for destruction,
As for brotherly love, be affectionate to one another; in matters of worldly honour, yield to one another.
And so there remain Faith, Hope, Love--these three; and of these the greatest is Love.
If any one is destitute of love to the Lord, let him be accursed. OUR LORD IS COMING.
in whom the god of this present age has blinded their unbelieving minds so as to shut out the sunshine of the Good News of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God. (For we do not proclaim ourselves, but we proclaim Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bondservants for the sake of Jesus.) read more. For God who said, "Out of darkness let light shine," is He who has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory, which is radiant on the face of Christ.
For the love of Christ overmasters us, the conclusion at which we have arrived being this--that One having died for all, His death was their death, and that He died for all in order that the living may no longer live to themselves, but to Him who died for them and rose again.
and that He died for all in order that the living may no longer live to themselves, but to Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore for the future we know no one simply as a man. Even if we have known Christ as a man, yet now we do so no longer. read more. So that if any one is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old state of things has passed away; a new state of things has come into existence. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and has appointed us to serve in the ministry of reconciliation. We are to tell how God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not charging men's transgressions to their account, and that He has entrusted to us the Message of this reconciliation.
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me; and the life which I now live in the body I live through faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up to death on my behalf.
Our freedom has been thus purchased in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing belonging to Abraham may come upon the nations, so that through faith we may receive the promised Spirit.
in order to purchase the freedom of all who were subject to Law, so that we might receive recognition as sons.
Yet just as, at that time, the child born in the common course of nature persecuted the one whose birth was due to the power of the Spirit, so it is now.
*We* have not, for through the Spirit we wait with longing hope for an acceptance with God which is to come through faith.
The Spirit, on the other hand, brings a harvest of love, joy, peace; patience towards others, kindness, benevolence;
For He pre-destined us to be adopted by Himself as sons through Jesus Christ--such being His gracious will and pleasure--
Among them all of us also formerly passed our lives, governed by the inclinations of our lower natures, indulging the cravings of those natures and of our own thoughts, and were in our original state deserving of anger like all others. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the intense love which He bestowed on us,
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the intense love which He bestowed on us, caused us, dead though we were through our offences, to live with Christ--it is by grace that you have been saved--
For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves. It is God's gift, and is not on the ground of merit--
and that by a revelation the truth hitherto kept secret was made known to me as I have already briefly explained it to you. By means of that explanation, as you read it, you can judge of my insight into the truth of Christ read more. which in earlier ages was not made known to the human race, as it has now been revealed to His holy Apostles and Prophets through the Spirit-- I mean the truth that the Gentiles are joint heirs with us Jews, and that they form one body with us, and have the same interest as we have in the promise which has been made good in Christ Jesus through the Good News, in which I have been appointed to serve, in virtue of the work which God, in the exercise of His power within me, has graciously entrusted to me.
in which I have been appointed to serve, in virtue of the work which God, in the exercise of His power within me, has graciously entrusted to me. To me who am less than the least of all God's people has this work been graciously entrusted--to proclaim to the Gentiles the Good News of the exhaustless wealth of Christ, read more. and to show all men in a clear light what my stewardship is. It is the stewardship of the truth which from all the Ages lay concealed in the mind of God, the Creator of all things--
I pray that Christ may make His home in your hearts through your faith; so that having your roots deep and your foundations strong, in love, you may become mighty to grasp the idea, as it is grasped by all God's people, of the breadth and length, the height and depth-- read more. yes, to attain to a knowledge of the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, so that you may be made complete in accordance with God's own standard of completeness.
yes, to attain to a knowledge of the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, so that you may be made complete in accordance with God's own standard of completeness.
yes, to attain to a knowledge of the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, so that you may be made complete in accordance with God's own standard of completeness.
till we all of us arrive at oneness in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and at mature manhood and the stature of full-grown men in Christ.
Therefore I warn you, and I implore you in the name of the Master, no longer to live as the Gentiles in their perverseness live, with darkened understandings, having by reason of the ignorance which is deep-seated in them and the insensibility of their moral nature, no share in the Life which God gives. read more. Such men being past feeling have abandoned themselves to impurity, greedily indulging in every kind of profligacy. But these are not the lessons which you have learned from Christ; if at least you have heard His voice and in Him have been taught--and this is true Christian teaching-- to put away, in regard to your former mode of life, your original evil nature which is doomed to perish as befits its misleading impulses, and to get yourselves renewed in the temper of your minds and clothe yourselves with that new and better self which has been created to resemble God in the righteousness and holiness which come from the truth.
Let all bitterness and all passionate feeling, all anger and loud insulting language, be unknown among you--and also every kind of malice.
Let all bitterness and all passionate feeling, all anger and loud insulting language, be unknown among you--and also every kind of malice.
Therefore be imitators of God, as His dear children.
For be well assured that no fornicator or immoral person and no money-grubber--or in other words idol-worshipper--has any share awaiting him in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.
For be well assured that no fornicator or immoral person and no money-grubber--or in other words idol-worshipper--has any share awaiting him in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.
Married men, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up to death for her;
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever wins respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovable, whatever is of good repute--if there is any virtue or anything deemed worthy of praise--cherish the thought of these things.
It is God who has delivered us out of the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us into the Kingdom of His dearly-loved Son,
It is God who has delivered us out of the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us into the Kingdom of His dearly-loved Son,
And you, estranged as you once were and even hostile in your minds, amidst your evil deeds,
And you, estranged as you once were and even hostile in your minds, amidst your evil deeds,
if, indeed, you are still firmly holding to faith as your foundation, without ever shifting from your hope that rests on the Good News that you have heard, which has been proclaimed in the whole creation under Heaven, and in which I Paul have been appointed to serve. Now I can find joy amid my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my own person whatever is lacking in Christ's afflictions on behalf of His Body, the Church. read more. I have been appointed to serve the Church in the position of responsibility entrusted to me by God for your benefit, so that I may fully deliver God's Message-- the truth which has been kept secret from all ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His people, to whom it was His will to make known how vast a wealth of glory for the Gentile world is implied in this truth--the truth that 'Christ is in you, the hope of glory.' Him we preach, admonishing every one and instructing every one, with all possible wisdom, so that we may bring every one into God's presence, made perfect through Christ. To this end, like an earnest wrestler, I exert all my strength in reliance upon the power of Him who is mightily at work within me.
having been buried with Him in your baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith produced within you by God who raised Him from among the dead.
Clothe yourselves therefore, as God's own people holy and dearly loved, with tender-heartedness, kindness, lowliness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another and readily forgiving each other, if any one has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, you also must forgive. read more. And over all these put on love, which is the perfect bond of union; and let the peace which Christ gives settle all questionings in your hearts, to which peace indeed you were called as belonging to His one Body; and be thankful.
and not give attention to Jewish legends and the maxims of men who turn their backs on the truth. To the pure everything is pure; but to the polluted and unbelieving nothing is pure, but on the contrary their very minds and consciences are polluted. read more. They profess to know God; but in their actions they disown Him, and are detestable and disobedient men, and for any good work are utterly useless.
not speak evil of any one, nor be contentious, but yield unselfishly to others and constantly manifest a forgiving spirit towards all men. For there was a time when we also were deficient in understanding, obstinate, deluded, the slaves of various cravings and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another.
For there was a time when we also were deficient in understanding, obstinate, deluded, the slaves of various cravings and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another.
For there was a time when we also were deficient in understanding, obstinate, deluded, the slaves of various cravings and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another. But when the goodness of God our Saviour, and His love to man, dawned upon us, not in consequence of things which we,
But when the goodness of God our Saviour, and His love to man, dawned upon us, not in consequence of things which we,
But when the goodness of God our Saviour, and His love to man, dawned upon us, not in consequence of things which we,
But when the goodness of God our Saviour, and His love to man, dawned upon us, not in consequence of things which we, as righteous men, had done, but as the result of His own mercy He saved us by means of the bath of regeneration and the renewal of our natures by the Holy Spirit,
as righteous men, had done, but as the result of His own mercy He saved us by means of the bath of regeneration and the renewal of our natures by the Holy Spirit, which He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
which He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; in order that having been declared righteous through His grace we might become heirs to the Life of the Ages in fulfilment of our hopes.
because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have towards the Lord Jesus and which you manifest towards all God's people;
Blessed is he who patiently endures trials; for when he has stood the test, he will gain the victor's crown--even the crown of Life--which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
But when a man is tempted, it is his own passions that carry him away and serve as a bait.
Every gift which is good, and every perfect boon, is from above, and comes down from the Father, who is the source of all Light. In Him there is no variation nor the slightest suggestion of change. In accordance with His will He made us His children through the Message of the truth, so that we might, in a sense, be the Firstfruits of the things which He has created.
The religious service which is pure and stainless in the sight of our God and Father is to visit fatherless children and widowed women in their time of trouble, and to keep one's own self unspotted from the world.
What causes wars and contentions among you? Is it not the cravings which are ever at war within you for various pleasures?
You unfaithful women, do you not know that friendship with the world means enmity to God? Therefore whoever is bent on being friendly with the world makes himself an enemy to God. Or do you suppose that it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "The Spirit which He has caused to dwell in our hearts yearns jealously over us"?
Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. The man who speaks evil of a brother-man or judges his brother-man speaks evil of the Law and judges the Law. But if you judge the Law, you are no longer one who obeys the Law, but one who judges it.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in His great mercy has begotten us anew to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance imperishable, undefiled and unfading, which has been reserved in Heaven for you, read more. whom God in His power is guarding through faith for a salvation that even now stands ready for unveiling at the End of the Age. Rejoice triumphantly in the prospect of this, even if now, for a short time, you are compelled to sorrow amid various trials. The sorrow comes in order that the testing of your faith--being more precious than that of gold, which perishes and yet is proved by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the re-appearing of Jesus Christ. Him you love, though your eyes have never looked on Him. In Him, though at present you cannot see Him, you nevertheless trust, and triumph with a joy which is unspeakable and is crowned with glory, while you are securing as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
knowing, as you do, that it was not with a ransom of perishable wealth, such as silver or gold, that you were set free from your frivolous habits of life which had been handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ--as of an unblemished and spotless lamb. read more. He was pre-destined indeed to this work, even before the creation of the world, but has been plainly manifested in these last days for the sake of you who, through Him, are faithful to God, who raised Him from among the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are resting upon God. Now that, through your obedience to the truth, you have purified your souls for cherishing sincere brotherly love, you must love another heartily and fervently. For you have been begotten again by God's ever-living and enduring word from a germ not of perishable, but of imperishable life.
And it is to this you were called; because Christ also suffered on your behalf, leaving you an example so that you should follow in His steps.
And if it is difficult even for a righteous man to be saved, what will become of irreligious men and sinners?
But whoever obeys His Message, in him love for God has in very deed reached perfection. By this we can know that we are in Him.
My dearly-loved friends, it is no new command that I am now giving you, but an old command which you have had from the very beginning. By the old command I mean the teaching which you have already received.
Any one who professes to be in the light and yet hates his brother man is still in darkness.
Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If any one loves the world, there is no love in his heart for the Father.
We are not to resemble Cain, who was a child of the Evil one and killed his own brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own actions were wicked and his brother's actions righteous.
We know what love is--through Christ's having laid down His life on our behalf; and in the same way we ought to lay down our lives for our brother men. But if any one has this world's wealth and sees that his brother man is in need, and yet hardens his heart against him--how can such a one continue to love God?
The man who obeys His commands continues in union with God, and God continues in union with him; and through His Spirit whom He has given us we can know that He continues in union with us.
Dear friends, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
And we have seen and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God--God continues in union with him, and he continues in union with God. read more. And, as for us, we know the love which God has for us, and we confide in it. God is love, and he who continues to love continues in union with God, and God continues in union with him.
And, as for us, we know the love which God has for us, and we confide in it. God is love, and he who continues to love continues in union with God, and God continues in union with him. Our love will be manifested in all its perfection by our having complete confidence on the day of the Judgement; because just what He is, we also are in the world. read more. Love has in it no element of fear; but perfect love drives away fear, because fear involves pain, and if a man gives way to fear, there is something imperfect in his love.
Love has in it no element of fear; but perfect love drives away fear, because fear involves pain, and if a man gives way to fear, there is something imperfect in his love. We love because God first loved us.
We love because God first loved us.
We love because God first loved us. If any one says that he loves God, while he hates his brother man, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother man whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
If any one says that he loves God, while he hates his brother man, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother man whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And the command which we have from Him is that he who loves God must love his brother man also.
and from Jesus Christ, the truthful witness, the first of the dead to be born to Life, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins with His own blood,
Dismiss your fears concerning all that you are about to suffer. I tell you that the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be put to the test, and for ten days you will have to endure persecution. Be faithful to the End, even if you have to die, and then I will give you the victor's Wreath of Life.
And now they sing a new song. "It is fitting," they say, "that Thou shouldst be the One to take the book And break its seals; Because Thou hast been offered in sacrifice, And hast purchased for God with Thine own blood Some out of every tribe and language and people and nation,
All this shall be the heritage of him who overcomes, and I will be his God and he shall be one of My sons.
"In future there will be no curse," he said, "but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in that city. And His servants will render Him holy service and will see His face,