Do not undo God's work for the sake of what you eat. Though everything is 'clean,' yet, if a man eats so as to put a stumbling- block in the way of others, he does wrong.

For, though I am conscious of nothing against myself, that does not prove me innocent. It is the Lord who is my judge.

There is a wide-spread report respecting a case of immorality among you, and that, too, of a kind that does not occur even among the Gentiles-a man, I hear, is living with his father's wife!

But take care that this right of yours does not become in any way a stumbling-block to the weak.

Does any one ever serve as a soldier at his own expense? Does any one plant a vineyard and not eat its produce? Or does any one look after a herd and not drink the milk?

Am I, in all this, speaking only from the human standpoint? Does not the Law also say the same?

Therefore let the man who thinks that he stands take care that he does not fall.

Everything is allowable! Yes, but everything is not profitable. Everything is allowable! Yes, but everything does not build up character.

Indeed, if a woman does not keep her head covered, she may as well cut her hair short. But, since to cut her hair short, or shave it off, marks her as one of the shameless women, let her keep her head covered.

Does not nature herself teach us that, while for a man to wear his hair long is degrading to him,

For the man who eats and drinks brings a judgment upon himself by his eating and drinking, when he does not discern the body.

If the foot says 'Since I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it does not on that account cease to belong to the body.

Or if the ear says 'Since I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it does not on that account cease to belong to the body.

If you bless God with your spirit only, how can the man in the congregation who is without your gift say 'Amen' to your thanksgiving? He does not know what you are saying!

You foolish man! The seed you yourself sow does not come to life, unless it dies!

As God is true, the Message that we brought you does not waver between 'Yes' and 'No'!

But their minds were slow to learn. Indeed, to this very day, at the public reading of the Old Covenant, the same veil remains unlifted; only for those who are in union with Christ does it pass away.

You look at the outward appearance of things! Let any one, who is confident that he belongs to Christ, reflect, for himself, again upon the fact--that we belong to Christ no less than he does.

Our boasting, therefore, is not unlimited, nor does it extend to the labors of others; but our hope is that, as your faith grows, our influence among you may be very greatly increased-- though still confined to our sphere--

Of those who are thought somewhat highly of--what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not recognize human distinctions--those, I say, who are thought highly of added nothing to my Message.

He who supplies you abundantly with his Spirit and endows you with such powers--does he do this as the result of obedience to Law? or as the result of your having listened with faith?

All who rely upon obedience to Law are under a curse, for Scripture says--'Cursed is every one who does not abide by all that is written in the Book of the Law, and do it.'

To take an illustration, Brothers, from daily life--No one sets aside even an agreement between two men, when once it has been confirmed, nor does he add conditions to it.

Does that set the Law in opposition to God's promises? Heaven forbid! For, if a Law had been given capable of bestowing Life, then righteousness would have actually owed its existence to Law.

But what does the passage of Scripture say? 'Send away the slave-woman and her son; for the slave's son shall not be co-heir with the son of the free woman.'

The persuasion brought to bear on you does not come from him who calls you.

In conclusion, my Brothers, all joy be yours in your union with the Lord. To repeat what I have already written does not weary me, and is the safe course for you.

Bearing fruit and growing, as it does, through all the world, just as it did among you, from the very day that you heard of God's loving-kindness, and understood what that loving-kindness really is.

Take care there is not some one who will carry you away by his 'philosophy'--a hollow sham!--following, as it does, mere human traditions, and dealing with puerile questions of this world, and not with Christ.

For God's Call to us does not permit of an impure life, but demands purity.

Indeed, when we were with you, what we urged upon you was-- 'If a man does not choose to work, then he shall not eat.'

If a man does not know how to rule his own household, how can he take charge of the Church of God?

for while the training of the body is of service in some respects, religion is of service in all, carrying with it, as it does, a promise of Life both here and hereafter.

The labourer who does the work should be the first to receive a share of the fruits of the earth.

For he who enters upon God's Rest does himself rest after his work, just as God did.

Nor does any one take that high office upon himself, till he has been called to do so by God, as Aaron was.

And that is why he is able to save perfectly those who come to God through him, living for ever, as he does, to intercede of their behalf.

For such a Covenant takes effect only upon death, it does not come into force as long as the testator is alive.

It is for your discipline that you have to endure all this. God is dealing with you as his Children. For where is there a child whom his father does not discipline?

Let no one say, when he is tempted, "It is God who is tempting me!" For God, who cannot be tempted to do wrong, does not himself tempt any one.

For the anger of man does not forward the righteous purpose of God.

For, when any one listens to it and does not practice it, he is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror.

But he who looks carefully into the perfect Law, the Law of Freedom, and continues to do so, not listening to it and then forgetting it, but putting it into practice--that man will be blessed in what he does.

When a man appears to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue, but imposes upon his own conscience, that man's religious observances are valueless.

My Brothers, what is the good of a man's saying that he has faith, if he does not prove it by actions? Can such faith save him?

We often make mistakes, every one of us. Any one who does not make mistakes when speaking is indeed a perfect man, able to bridle his whole body as well.

Does a spring give both good and bad water from the same source?

What credit can you claim when, after doing wrong, you take your punishment for it patiently? But, on the other hand, if, after doing right, you take your sufferings patiently, that does win the approval of God.

Your sister-Church in 'Babylon' sends you greeting, and so does Mark, who is as a son to me.

The man who says 'I know Jesus,' but does not lay his commands to heart, is a liar, and the Truth has no place in him;

while he who hates his Brother is in the Darkness, and is living in the Darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the Darkness prevents his seeing.

And the world, and all that it gratifies, is passing away, but he who does God's will remains for ever.

Think what love the Father has shown us in allowing us to be called 'Children of God'; as indeed we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it has not learned to know him.

By this the Children of God are distinguished from the Children of the Devil--No one who lives unrighteously comes from God, and especially the man who does not love his Brother.

We know that we have passed out of Death into Life, because we love our Brothers. The man who does not love remains in a state of Death.

Dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, then we approach God with confidence,

while all inspiration that does not acknowledge Jesus is not inspiration from God. It is the inspiration of the Anti-Christ; you have heard that it was to come, and it is now already in the world.

We come from God. He who knows God listens to us; the man who does not come from God does not listen to us. By that we may know the true inspiration from the false.

He who does not love has not learned to know God; for God is Love.

If a man says 'I love God,' and yet hates his Brother, he is a liar; for the man who does not love his Brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

He who believes in the Son of God has that testimony within him. He who does not believe God has made God a liar, by refusing to believe in that testimony which he has borne about his Son.

He who finds the Son finds Life; he who does not find the Son of God does not find Life.

We know that no one who has received the new Life from God lives in sin. No, he who has received the new Life from God keeps the thought of God in his heart, and then the Evil One does not touch him.

If any one comes to you and does not bring this Teaching, do not receive him into your house or welcome him;

Dear friend, take what is good for your example, not what is bad. The man who does what is good is from God; the man who does what is bad has never seen God.

And the merchants of the earth weep and wail over her, because no longer does any one buy their cargoes--

Then I saw that Heaven lay open. There appears a white horse; its rider is called 'Faithful' and 'True'; righteously does he judge and make war.