"Do not suppose that I have come to set aside the law or the prophets. I have not come to set them aside but to fill them up to the brim. For I solemnly say to you, heaven and earth would sooner pass away than the dotting of an 'i' or the crossing of a 't' from the law, until it all becomes in force. read more. Whoever, therefore, breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others so to do, will be ranked as least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices them and teaches others so to do, will be ranked as great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven at all. "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You must not murder,' and 'Whoever murders will have to answer to the court.' But I say to you: "Everyone who harbors malice against his brother, will have to answer to the court, and whoever speaks contemptuously to his brother, will have to answer to the supreme court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You cursed fool? will have to pay the penalty in the pit of torture. So if, in the very act of presenting your gift at the altar, you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your grit right there at the altar, and first go and make peace with your brother, and then come back and present your gift. Be quick to come to terms with your opponent while you are on the road to court with him, so that he may not turn you over to the judge and the judge turn you over to the officer, and you be put in prison. I solemnly say to you, you will never get out at all until you have paid the last penny. "You have heard it was said, 'You must not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman so as to have an evil desire for her at once has already committed adultery with her in his heart, So if your right eye causes you to do wrong, pluck it out of your way; for it is better to have one part of your body suffer loss than to have your whole body go down to the pit. And if your right hand causes you to do wrong, cut it off and put it out of your way, for it is better to have one part of your body suffer loss than to have your whole body go down to the pit. "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I tell you that whoever divorces his wife for any other ground than unfaithfulness, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a wife who is thus divorced commits adultery. "Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You must not swear falsely, but you must perform your oaths as a religious duty.' But I tell you not to swear at all, either by heaven, for it is God's throne, or by the earth, for it is His footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. Never swear by your own head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. But your way of speaking must be a simple 'Yes' or 'No.' Anything beyond this comes from the evil one. "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist the one who injures you, but if anyone slaps you on one cheek, turn him the other, too; and if anyone wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat, too. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two. If anyone, whoever he may be, keeps on begging you, give to him; if anyone wants to borrow from you, do not turn him away. "You have heard that it was said, 'You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, practice loving your enemies and praying for your persecutors, to prove that you are sons of your Father in heaven, for He makes His sun rise on bad as well as good people, and makes the rain come down on doers of right and of wrong alike. For if you practice loving only those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even the tax-collectors practice that? And if you say 'Good morning' to your brothers only, what more than others are you doing? So you, my followers, ought to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is."

So you, my followers, ought to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is."

So you, my followers, ought to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is."

So you, my followers, ought to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is."

So you, my followers, ought to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is."

Then you must practice dealing with others as you would like for them to deal with you, for this is the summing up of the law and the prophets.

Then Peter came up to Him and asked, "Lord, how many times may my brother wrong me and I have to forgive him? As many as seven?" Jesus answered him: "I tell you, not as many as seven, but as many as seventy times seven!

Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back here and follow me."

As He was again starting on a journey, a man ran up to Him, and knelt to Him, and was asking Him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?" And Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me perfectly good? No one is perfectly good but God Himself. read more. You know the commandments: Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Practice honoring your father and mother." But he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these commandments ever since I was a child." Then Jesus looked at him and loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing. Go, sell everything you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back and follow me." But his countenance fell at that command, and he went away in deep distress, for he owned a great deal of property. Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have money to get into the kingdom of God!" His disciples were startled at this statement. But Jesus again said to them as He continued the topic, "My children, how hard it is to get into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to get into the kingdom of God." They were perfectly dumbfounded, and said to Him, "Then who can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said, "This is impossible for men, but everything is possible for God." Then Peter started to say to Him, "We have left everything we had and followed you." Jesus said, "I solemnly say to you, there is no one who has given up home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farm for me and for the good news, who will not receive now in this life a hundred times as much in houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, but along with them persecution, and in the world to come eternal life. But many who are first now will be last then, and last now who will be first then."

He said to him, "You have answered correctly. Continue to do this, and you will live."

Then a certain member of the council asked Him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to get possession of eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me perfectly good? No one is perfectly good but God Himself. read more. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Practice honoring your father and mother.'" But he said, "I have kept all these commandments ever since I was a child." When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell everything you have, and distribute the money among the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back and follow me." But when he heard that, he was very sad, for he was surpassingly rich. So when Jesus saw it, He said, "How hard it is for those who have money to get into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to get into the kingdom of God." But those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" So He said, "The things impossible for men are possible for God." Then Peter said to Him, "We have left our very own, homes and all, and have followed you." So He said to them, "I solemnly say to you, there is no one who has given up home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the kingdom of God, who will not receive in return many times more in this world, and in the next eternal life."

So here is the comparison: As through one man sin came into the world, and death as the consequence of sin, and death spread to all men; because all men sinned. Certainly sin was in the world before the law was given, but it is not charged to men's account where there is no law. read more. And yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the way Adam had, against a positive command. For Adam was a figure of Him who was to come. But God's free gift is not at all to be compared with the offense. For if by one man's offense the whole race of men have died, to a much greater degree God's favor and His gift imparted by His favor through the one man Jesus Christ, has overflowed for the whole race of men. And the gift is not fit all to be compared with the results of that one man's sin. For that sentence resulted from the offense of one man, and it meant condemnation, but the free gift resulted from the offenses of many, and it meant right standing. For if by one man's offense death reigned through that one, to a much greater degree will those who continue to receive the overflow of His unmerited favor and His gift of right standing with Himself, reign in real life through One, Jesus Christ. So, as through one offense there resulted condemnation for all men, just so through one act of uprightness there resulted right standing involving life for all men. For just as by that man's disobedience the whole race of men were constituted sinners, so by this One's obedience the whole race of men may be brought into right standing with God. Then law crept in to multiply the offense. Though sin has multiplied, yet God's favor has surpassed it and overflowed, so that just as sin had reigned by death, so His favor too might reign in right standing with God which issues in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What is our conclusion then? Are we to continue to sin for His unmerited favor to multiply? Not at all! Since we have ended our relation to sin, how can we live in it any longer? read more. Or, do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into union with Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? So through baptism we have been buried with Him in death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father's glorious power, so we too should live an entirely new life. For if we have grown into fellowship with Him by sharing a death like His, surely we shall share a resurrection life like His, for we know that our former self was crucified with Him, to make our body that is liable to sin inactive, so that we might not a moment longer continue to be slaves to sin. For when a man is dead, he is freed from the claims of sin. So if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, for we know that Christ, who once was raised from the dead, will never die again; death has no more power over Him. For by the death He died He once for all ended His relation to sin, and by the life He now is living He lives in unbroken relation to God. So you too must consider yourselves as having ended your relation to sin but living in unbroken relation to God.

Wretched man that I am! Who can save me from this deadly lower nature? Thank God! It has been done through Jesus Christ our Lord! So in my higher nature I am a slave to the law of God, but in my lower nature, to the law of sin.

But you are not living on the plane of the lower nature, but on the spiritual plane, if the Spirit of God has His home within you. Unless a man has the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

Stop living in accordance with the customs of this world, but by the new ideals that mold your minds continue to transform yourselves, so as to find and follow God's will; that is, what is good, well-pleasing to Him, and perfect.

Your love must be true. You must always turn in horror from what is wrong, but keep on holding to what is right.

Stop owing anybody anything, except the obligation to love one another, for whoever practices loving others has perfectly satisfied the law. For the commandments, "You must not commit adultery; you must not murder; you must not steal; you must not have an evil desire," and any other commandment if there is any, are summed up in this command, "You must love your neighbor as you do yourself." read more. Love never does a wrong to one's neighbor; so love is the perfect satisfaction of the law. Do this in particular because you know the present crisis, that it is high time for you to wake up out of your sleep, for our salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. The night has almost passed; the day is at hand. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness, and put on the weapons of light. Let us live becomingly for people who are in the light of day, not in carousing and drunkenness, nor in sexual immorality and licentiousness, nor in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and put a stop to gratifying the evil desires that lurk in your lower nature.

Now I beg you all, brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, to be harmonious in what you say and not to have factions among you, but to be perfectly harmonious in your minds and judgments.

Yet, when among mature believers we do set forth a wisdom, but a wisdom that does not belong to this world or to the leaders of this world who are passing away;

So I myself, brothers, could not deal with you as spiritual persons, but as creatures of human clay, as merely baby Christians.

Brothers, stop being children in intelligence, but as to evil keep on being babies; and yet as to intelligence be men of maturity.

But the product of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

And those who belong to Jesus the Christ have crucified the lower nature with its passions and evil cravings. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk where the Spirit leads.

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, read more. and beg Him to grant you, in accordance with the riches of His perfect character, to be mightily strengthened by His Spirit in your inmost being, and that Christ in His love, through your faith, may make His permanent home in your hearts. You must be deeply rooted, your foundations must be strong, so that you with all God's people may be strong enough to grasp the idea of the breadth and length, the height and depth, yes, to come at last to know the love of Christ, although it far surpasses human understanding, so that you may be filled with the perfect fullness of God. To Him who by His power that is at work within us can do surpassingly more than all we ask or imagine,

To Him who by His power that is at work within us can do surpassingly more than all we ask or imagine,

continuing with eager earnestness to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the tie of peace. There is but one body and one Spirit, just as there is but one hope resulting from the call you have received; read more. there is but one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

with darkened understanding, estranged from the life of God because of the ignorance that exists among them and because of the stubbornness of their hearts;

So you must keep on following God's example, as dearly loved children of His,

For I am certain of this very thing, that He who began the good work in you will go on until the day of Jesus Christ to complete it.

for it is God Himself who is at work in you to help you desire it as well as do it.

It is not a fact that I have already secured it or already reached perfection, but I am pressing on to see if I can capture it, the ideal for which I was captured by Christ Jesus.

So let us all who are mature have this attitude. If you have a different attitude, God will make it clear to you.

By the help of the Lord always keep up the glad spirit; yes, I will repeat it, keep up the glad spirit. Let your forbearing spirit be known to everybody. The Lord is near. read more. Stop being worried about anything, but always, in prayer and entreaty, and with thanksgiving, keep on making your wants known to God. Then, through your union with Christ Jesus, the peace of God, that surpasses all human thought, will keep guard over your hearts and thoughts. Now, brothers, practice thinking on what is true, what is honorable, what is right, what is pure, what is lovable, what is high-toned, yes, on everything that is excellent or praiseworthy. Practice the things you learned, received, and heard from me, things that you saw me do, and then the God who gives us peace will be with you.

I can do anything through Him who gives me strength.

he is the very one who told me of the love awakened in you by the Spirit. This is why, ever since I heard of it, I have never ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you, through full wisdom and spiritual insight, with a clear knowledge of His will,

This is why, ever since I heard of it, I have never ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you, through full wisdom and spiritual insight, with a clear knowledge of His will, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord to His full satisfaction, by perennially bearing fruit in every good enterprise and by a steady growth in fuller knowledge of God; read more. then you will be perfectly empowered by His glorious might for every sort of joyous endurance and forbearance, and you will always be thanking the Father who has qualified you to share the lot of His people in the realm of light. 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, by whom we possess the ransom from captivity, which means the forgiveness of our sins. Yes, He is the exact likeness of the unseen God, His first-born Son who existed before any created thing, for it was through Him that everything was created in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. So He existed before all things, and through Him all things are held together. Yes, He is the Head of the church as His body. For He is the beginning, the first-born among the dead, so that He alone should stand first in everything. It is so because it was the divine choice that all the divine fullness should dwell in Him, and that through Him He might reconcile to Himself all things on earth or in heaven, making this peace through the blood He shed On His cross. So you, who were once estranged from Him, and hostile in disposition as shown by your wrongdoings, He has now reconciled by His death in His human body, so as to present you consecrated, faultless, and blameless in His presence, if indeed you continue well grounded and firm in faith and never shift from the hope inspired by the good news you heard, which has been preached all over the world, and of which I, Paul, have been made a minister.

We are proclaiming Him, warning everyone and teaching everyone with ample wisdom, in order to present to God everyone mature through union with Christ.

And over all these qualities put on love, which is the tie of perfection that binds us together.

Epaphras, one of your own number, a slave of Christ Jesus, wishes to be remembered to you. He is always earnestly pleading for you in his prayers that you may stand fast as men mature and of firm convictions in everything required by the will of God.

For it was appropriate for Him, who is the Final Goal and the First Cause of the universe, in bringing many children to glory, to make the Leader in their salvation perfect through the process of sufferings.

and because He was perfectly qualified for it He became the author of endless salvation for all who obey Him,

I have much to say to you about Him, but it is difficult to make it clear to you, since you have become so dull in your spiritual senses.

So then let us once for all quit the elementary teaching about Christ and continue progressing toward maturity; let us stop relaying a foundation of repentance from works that mean only death, and of faith in God,

Now if perfection had been reached through the Levitical priesthood -- for on it as a basis even the law was enacted for the people-- what further need would there have been of appointing a different priest, with the rank of Melchizedek, instead of designating one with the rank of Aaron? For when a change in the priesthood takes place, a change in its law necessarily takes place. read more. For He of whom this is said became a member of a different tribe no member of which ever officiated at the altar. For it is very clear that our Lord sprang from Judah, a tribe about which Moses said nothing as to priests. And it is still more overwhelmingly clear, since a different priest in the likeness of Melchizedek is appointed, who is appointed not on the basis of a physical qualification but on the basis of a power flowing from a life that cannot end. For the Scripture bears witness: "You are a priest forever, with the rank of Melchizedek." Indeed, the rescinding of a previous regulation takes place, because it was weak and ineffective -- for the law had never made anything perfect -- and so a better hope is brought to us, through which we have approach to God.

For the law appoints imperfect men as high priests, but the assertion about the taking of an oath, which was spoken after the time of the law, appoints a Son who is perfectly qualified to be High Priest forever.

for it is merely a symbol of the present time in connection with which gifts and sacrifices are repeatedly offered though they cannot make the conscience of the worshiper perfect,

For by that one sacrifice He has made perfect for all time those who are consecrated to Him.

for God had provided something still better for us, that they, apart from us might not attain perfection.

to the festal gathering and assembly of God's firstborn sons enrolled as citizens in heaven, to a Judge who is the God of all, to the spirits of upright men who have attained perfection,

perfectly fit you to do His will, He Himself, through Jesus Christ, accomplishing through you what is pleasing to Him. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

but you must let your endurance come to its perfect product, so that you may be fully developed and perfectly equipped, without any defects.

Every good gift and every perfect boon is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, in whom there is no variation or changing shadow.

But the man who looks at the flawless law that makes men free, and keeps on looking, proving himself to be, not a forgetful hearer but an actual doer of what it requires, will be blessed in what he does.

For we all make many a slip. If anyone never slips in speech, he is a man of maturity; he can control his whole body too.

You must continue to love Him, although you have never seen Him, but because you do believe in Him, although you do not now see Him, you must continue to rejoice with an unutterable and triumphant joy,