"I solemnly tell you," replied Jesus, "that in the New Creation, when the Son of Man has taken His seat on His glorious throne, all of you who have followed me shall also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

But all who have received Him, to them--that is, to those who trust in His name--He has given the privilege of becoming children of God; who were begotten as such not by human descent, nor through an impulse of their own nature, nor through the will of a human father, but from God.

"In most solemn truth I tell you," answered Jesus, "that unless a man is born anew he cannot see the Kingdom of God." "How is it possible," Nicodemus asked, "for a man to be born when he is old? Can he a second time enter his mother's womb and be born?"

"How is it possible," Nicodemus asked, "for a man to be born when he is old? Can he a second time enter his mother's womb and be born?" "In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. read more. Whatever has been born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever has been born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished at my telling you, 'You must all be born anew.'

For even if you were to have ten thousand spiritual instructors--for all that you could not have several fathers. It is I who in Christ Jesus became your father through the Good News.

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.

you for whom I am again, as it were, undergoing the pains of childbirth, until Christ is fully formed within you.

To you Gentiles also, who were dead through your offences and sins,

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-- so that it may be impossible for any one to boast. read more. For we are God's own handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works which He has pre-destined us to practise.

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,

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.

It is by means of these that He has granted us His precious and wondrous promises, in order that through them you may, one and all, become sharers in the very nature of God, having completely escaped the corruption which exists in the world through earthly cravings.

"I solemnly tell you," replied Jesus, "that in the New Creation, when the Son of Man has taken His seat on His glorious throne, all of you who have followed me shall also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

"I solemnly tell you," replied Jesus, "that in the New Creation, when the Son of Man has taken His seat on His glorious throne, all of you who have followed me shall also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

But all who have received Him, to them--that is, to those who trust in His name--He has given the privilege of becoming children of God; who were begotten as such not by human descent, nor through an impulse of their own nature, nor through the will of a human father, but from God.

"In most solemn truth I tell you," answered Jesus, "that unless a man is born anew he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

"In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

Heaven must receive Him until those times of which God has spoken from the earliest ages through the lips of His holy Prophets--the times of the reconstitution of all things.

For I know that in me, that is, in my lower self, nothing good has its home; for while the will to do right is present with me, the power to carry it out is not.

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. And those whose hearts are absorbed in earthly things cannot please God. read more. You, however, are not devoted to earthly, but to spiritual things, if the Spirit of God is really dwelling in you; whereas if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, such a one does not belong to Him.

And do not follow the customs of the present age, but be transformed by the entire renewal of your minds, so that you may learn by experience what God's will is--that will which is good and beautiful and perfect.

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.

To you Gentiles also, who were dead through your offences and sins,

To you Gentiles also, who were dead through your offences and sins,

caused us, dead though we were through our offences, to live with Christ--it is by grace that you have been saved-- raised us with Him from the dead, and enthroned us with Him in the heavenly realms as being in Christ Jesus,

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, read more. 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.

The bond, with its requirements, which was in force against us and was hostile to us, He cancelled, and cleared it out of the way, nailing it to His Cross.

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,

As for us, we know that we have already passed out of death into Life--because we love our brother men. He who is destitute of love continues dead.

"I solemnly tell you," replied Jesus, "that in the New Creation, when the Son of Man has taken His seat on His glorious throne, all of you who have followed me shall also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

"I solemnly tell you," replied Jesus, "that in the New Creation, when the Son of Man has taken His seat on His glorious throne, all of you who have followed me shall also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

Heaven must receive Him until those times of which God has spoken from the earliest ages through the lips of His holy Prophets--the times of the reconstitution of all things.

And if the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead is dwelling in you, He who raised up Christ from the dead will give Life also to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who dwells in you.

For all creation, gazing eagerly as if with outstretched neck, is waiting and longing to see the manifestation of the sons of God. For the Creation fell into subjection to failure and unreality (not of its own choice, but by the will of Him who so subjected it) read more. Yet there was always the hope that at last the Creation itself would also be set free from the thraldom of decay so as to enjoy the liberty that will attend the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole of Creation is groaning together in the pains of childbirth until this hour. And more than that, we ourselves, though we possess the Spirit as a foretaste and pledge of the glorious future, yet we ourselves inwardly sigh, as we wait and long for open recognition as sons through the deliverance of our bodies.

who, in the exercise of the power which He has even to subject all things to Himself, will transform this body of our humiliation until it resembles His own glorious body.

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,

But the present heavens and the present earth are, by the command of the same God, kept stored up, reserved for fire in preparation for a day of judgement and of destruction for the ungodly. But there is one thing, dear friends, which you must not forget. With the Lord one day resembles a thousand years and a thousand years resemble one day. read more. The Lord is not slow in fulfilling His promise, in the sense in which some men speak of slowness. But He bears patiently with you, His desire being that no one should perish but that all should come to repentance. The day of the Lord will come like a thief--it will be a day on which the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise, the elements be destroyed in the fierce heat, and the earth and all the works of man be utterly burnt up. Since all these things are thus pre-destined to dissolution, what sort of men ought you to be found to be in all holy living and godly conduct, eagerly looking forward to the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens, all ablaze, will be destroyed, and the elements will melt in the fierce heat? But in accordance with His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness will dwell.

No one who is a child of God is habitually guilty of sin. A God-given germ of life remains in him, and he cannot habitually sin--because he is a child of God.

As for us, we know that we have already passed out of death into Life--because we love our brother men. He who is destitute of love continues dead.

Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God; and every one who loves the Father loves also Him who is the Father's Child.

For every child of God overcomes the world; and the victorious principle which has overcome the world is our faith.

"I solemnly tell you," replied Jesus, "that in the New Creation, when the Son of Man has taken His seat on His glorious throne, all of you who have followed me shall also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

The meaning of the parable is as follows. The seed is God's Message.

But all who have received Him, to them--that is, to those who trust in His name--He has given the privilege of becoming children of God; who were begotten as such not by human descent, nor through an impulse of their own nature, nor through the will of a human father, but from God.

"In most solemn truth I tell you," answered Jesus, "that unless a man is born anew he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

"In most solemn truth I tell you," answered Jesus, "that unless a man is born anew he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

"In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

"In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

"In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Whatever has been born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever has been born of the Spirit is spirit.

The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So is it with every one who has been born of the Spirit."

but I know you well, and I know that in your hearts you do not really love God.

How is it possible for you to believe, while you receive glory from one another and have no desire for the glory that comes from the only God?

"no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; then I will raise him to life on the last day.

He will glorify me, because He will take of what is mine and will make it known to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said that the Spirit of Truth takes of what is mine and will make it known to you.

Make them holy in the truth: Thy Message is truth.

"Repent," replied Peter, "and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, with a view to the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Heaven must receive Him until those times of which God has spoken from the earliest ages through the lips of His holy Prophets--the times of the reconstitution of all things.

While Peter was speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all who were listening to the Message.

And he directed that they should be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they begged him to remain with them for a time.

Those, however, who had been driven in various directions by the persecution which broke out on account of Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, delivering the Message to none but Jews. But some of them were Cyprians and Cyrenaeans, who, on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks also and told them the Good News concerning the Lord Jesus. read more. The power of the Lord was with them, and there were a vast number who believed and turned to the Lord.

Then, calling for lights, he sprang in and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas; and, bringing them out of the prison, he exclaimed, "O sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you first believed?" he asked them. "No," they replied, "we did not even hear that there is a Holy Spirit." "Into what then were you baptized?" he asked. "Into John's baptism," they replied. read more. "John," he said, "administered a baptism of repentance, bidding the people believe on One who was to come after him; namely, on Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus; and when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. They numbered in all about twelve men. Afterwards he went into the synagogue. There for three months he continued to preach fearlessly, explaining in words which carried conviction the truths which concern the Kingdom of God.

What then? Are we Jews more highly estimated than they? Not in the least; for we have already charged all Jews and Gentiles alike with being in thraldom to sin.

Well, then, we by our baptism were buried with Him in death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from among the dead by the Father's glorious power, we also should live an entirely new life.

For we know that the Law is a spiritual thing; but I am unspiritual--the slave, bought and sold, of sin.

For in my inmost self all my sympathy is with the Law of God; but I discover within me a different Law at war with the Law of my understanding, and leading me captive to the Law which is everywhere at work in my body--the Law of sin.

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. And those whose hearts are absorbed in earthly things cannot please God.

And do not follow the customs of the present age, but be transformed by the entire renewal of your minds, so that you may learn by experience what God's will is--that will which is good and beautiful and perfect.

for it is written, "'As I live,' says the Lord, 'to Me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall make confession to God.'" So we see that every one of us will give account of himself to God.

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.

He has made Him who knew nothing of sin to be sin for us, in order that in Him we may become the righteousness of God.

And in Him you Gentiles also, after listening to the Message of the truth, the Good News of your salvation--having believed in Him--were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit;

and what the transcendent greatness of His power in us believers as seen in the working of His infinite might

God has put all things under His feet, and has appointed Him universal and supreme Head of the Church, which is His Body,

To you Gentiles also, who were dead through your offences and sins,

To you Gentiles also, who were dead through your offences and sins, which were once habitual to you while you walked in the ways of this world and obeyed the Prince of the powers of the air, the spirits that are now at work in the hearts of the sons of disobedience--to you God has given Life. read more. 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.

caused us, dead though we were through our offences, to live with Christ--it is by grace that you have been saved-- raised us with Him from the dead, and enthroned us with Him in the heavenly realms as being in Christ Jesus,

raised us with Him from the dead, and enthroned us with Him in the heavenly realms as being in Christ Jesus,

Dependent on Him, the whole body--its various parts closely fitting and firmly adhering to one another-- grows by the aid of every contributory link, with power proportioned to the need of each individual part, so as to build itself up in a spirit of love. 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, read more. 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.

and to get yourselves renewed in the temper of your minds and clothe yourselves

For this reason it is said, "Rise, sleeper; rise from among the dead, and Christ will shed light upon you."

on account of the hope treasured up for you in Heaven. Of this hope you have already heard in the Message of the truth of the Good News.

and have clothed yourselves with the new self which is being remoulded into full knowledge so as to become like Him who created it.

Then I shall proclaim it fully, as it is my duty to do.

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,

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,

Every one here sends you greeting. Greet the believers who hold us dear. May grace be with you all.

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.

And, corresponding to that figure, the water of baptism now saves you--not the washing off of material defilement, but the craving of a good conscience after God--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

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. For the things in the world--the cravings of the earthly nature, the cravings of the eyes, the show and pride of life--they all come, not from the Father, but from the world.

"I solemnly tell you," replied Jesus, "that in the New Creation, when the Son of Man has taken His seat on His glorious throne, all of you who have followed me shall also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

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,

"I solemnly tell you," replied Jesus, "that in the New Creation, when the Son of Man has taken His seat on His glorious throne, all of you who have followed me shall also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

But all who have received Him, to them--that is, to those who trust in His name--He has given the privilege of becoming children of God; who were begotten as such not by human descent, nor through an impulse of their own nature, nor through the will of a human father, but from God.

"How is it possible," Nicodemus asked, "for a man to be born when he is old? Can he a second time enter his mother's womb and be born?"

Do not be astonished at my telling you, 'You must all be born anew.'

you for whom I am again, as it were, undergoing the pains of childbirth, until Christ is fully formed within you.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any importance; but only faith working through love.

To you Gentiles also, who were dead through your offences and sins,

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--

For we are God's own handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works which He has pre-destined us to practise.

Christian greetings to the brethren at Laodicea, especially to Nymphas, and to the Church that meets at their house.

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.

It is by means of these that He has granted us His precious and wondrous promises, in order that through them you may, one and all, become sharers in the very nature of God, having completely escaped the corruption which exists in the world through earthly cravings.