For that is why I wrote you??o find out how you would stand the test, and see if you would obey me absolutely.

For if what faded away came with splendor, how much more splendid what is permanent must be!

All this comes from God, who through Christ has reconciled me to himself, and has commissioned me to proclaim this reconciliation??19 how God through Christ reconciled the world to himself, refusing to count men's offenses against them, and intrusted me with the message of reconciliation.

How can Christ agree with Belial? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

and not only by his coming, but by the comfort you had given him, for he told me how you longed to see me, how sorry you were, and how you took my part, which made me happier still.

See how earnest this God-given pain has made you! how eager to clear yourselves, how indignant, how alarmed, how eager to see me, how zealous, how avenging! At every point you have proved that you are clear of this matter.

His heart goes out all the more to you, as he recalls how you all obeyed him, and with what reverence and trembling you received him.

I must tell you, brothers, how the favor of God has been shown in the churches of Macedonia,

You know how gracious the Lord Jesus Christ was. Though he was rich, he became poor for your sake, in order that by his poverty you might become rich.

for I know how willing you are to help in it; I boast of you for it to the people in Macedonia, telling them that Greece has been ready since last year, and your enthusiasm has been a stimulus to most of them.