And so to enhance that glorious manifestation of his loving- kindness which he gave us in The Beloved;

All this accords with the loving-kindness which God lavished upon us, accompanied by countless gifts of wisdom and discernment,

When he made known to us his hidden purpose. And it also accords with the good-will which God purposed to exhibit in Christ,

In view of that Divine Order which was to mark the completion of the ages, when he should make everything, both in Heaven and on earth, center in him.

And you, too, by your union with him, after you had heard the Message of the Truth, the Good News of your Salvation--you believed in him and were sealed as his by receiving the holy Spirit, which he had promised.

And therefore I, ever since I heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which prevails among you, and of your confidence in all Christ's People,

And the transcendent greatness of the power which he is able to exercise in dealing with us who believe in him.

Yet God, in his abundant compassion, and because of the great love with which he loved us,

For we are God's handiwork, created, by our union with Christ Jesus, for the good actions in doing which God had pre-arranged that we should spend our lives.

For you have heard, I suppose, of the responsible charge with which God entrusted me for your benefit,

Of this Good News I became a minister, in virtue of the charge with which God entrusted me in the exercise of his power--

And to make clear what is God's way of working out that hidden purpose which from the first has been concealed in the mind of the Creator of all things;

In accordance with that purpose which runs through all the ages and which he has now accomplished in Jesus, the Christ, our Master.

To him who, through his power which is at work within us, is able to do far more than anything that we can ask or conceive--

And this shall continue, until we all attain to that unity which is given by faith and by a fuller knowledge of the Son of God; until we reach the ideal man--the full standard of the perfection of the Christ.

For you learned with regard to your former way of living that you must cast off your old nature, which, yielding to deluding passions, grows corrupt;

And that you must clothe yourselves in that new nature which was created to resemble God, with the righteousness and holiness springing from the Truth.

Take no part in deeds of Darkness, from which no good can come; on the contrary, expose them.

For the future, find strength in your union with the Lord, and in the power which comes from his might.

And receive 'the helmet of Salvation,' and 'the sword of the Spirit'--which is the Message of God--always with prayer and supplication.

On behalf of which I am an Ambassador--in chains! Pray that, in telling it, I may speak fearlessly as I ought.