For now [i.e., during the church's infant state] we see in a mirror [Note: God's word is elsewhere likened to a mirror. See James 1:22-25] indistinctly [i.e., because of having only partial knowledge and prophecy], but then [i.e., when the church matures and has the completed Scriptures], we will see face to face [i.e., clearly]. Now I have [only] partial knowledge, but then I will have full knowledge, just as [God has] full knowledge of me.

For God, who said [Gen. 1:3], "Light will shine out of darkness," has [also] shone in our hearts to provide [us with] the light of the knowledge of God's splendor [as it shines] on the face of Christ. [Note: This allusion to "splendor shining on Christ's face" may be a continuation of the analogy used in 3:13].

For everything [i.e., that we have experienced. See verses 8-12] is for your sakes so that [God's] unearned favor, being extended to so many, [in bringing them salvation through Paul's ministry] may result in much thanksgiving in praise to God.

He is a down payment of our inheritance, until God's own possession [i.e., His people] receives redemption. [Note: Here "redemption" refers to receiving a new body in heaven]. May this bring about praise to God's splendor.

and what God's tremendous power [working] in us believers is. [This power is] the same as that utilized by God's mighty strength,

This was done so that now God's many-sided wisdom could be made known through the church, to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms [Note: "Heavenly realms" here refers to the world around us, where these angelic beings (good or bad) view the unfolding of God's wonderful plan],

And do not grieve God's Holy Spirit by whom you were sealed [i.e., given evidence of God's ownership] until the day of redemption [i.e., until you receive your new body in heaven. See 1:14].

For we [Christians] are the [true] circumcision [i.e., the real "Jews" in God's eyes. See Rom. 2:28-29]. We worship by means of God's Holy Spirit [i.e., are empowered and motivated by the Holy Spirit], and boast in [the person and work of] Christ Jesus, and [we] place no confidence in the flesh [i.e., in any outward ritual or status for salvation].

God again identified a certain day, [calling it] "Today," in David's [writings], a long time later (just as it was referred to above) [Psa. 95:7-8], "Today, if you hear His [i.e., God's] voice, do not have a stubborn heart."

It was God's purpose to bring us into being [spiritually] by the message of truth, so that we could become a kind of "firstfruits" of those He created. [Note: "Firstfruits" here suggests either that Christians are the best of all of God's creatures (Num. 18:12), or that they were the first to be converted, with many more to come].

I thirst for God, for the living God. I say, "When will I be able to go and appear in God's presence?"

We heard about God's mighty deeds, now we have seen them, in the city of the Lord, the invincible Warrior, in the city of our God. God makes it permanently secure. (Selah)

No one who is a child of God commits sin, for God's nature remains in his heart, and he cannot sin, because he is a child of God.

We are God's children. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not a child of God will not listen to us. In this way we can tell what is inspired by truth from what is inspired by error.

The earth has yielded its harvest [as evidence of His approval];
God, our God, blesses us.

If any one preaches, let him always preach as one who utters God's truth; if any one serves another, let it be with the strength which God supplies; so that in every way God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen.

for God is not a God of disorder but of order, as it is in all the churches of God's people.

He has trusted in God; if God wants him, let him deliver him now; for he said 'I am God's Son.'"

For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.

and the LORD delivered Jehoiakim the king of Judah into his hand, with certain ornaments of the house of God, which he carried away into the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and there brought them into his god's treasury.

the adversary of every being that is called a god or an object of worship, and so overbearing toward them as to enter God's sanctuary and take his seat there, proclaiming himself to be God??5 do you not remember that when I was with you, I used to tell you this?

whom God put forward as the means of propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to demonstrate the justice of God in view of the fact that sins previously committed during the time of God's forbearance had been passed over;

Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not profane the name of their God, because they are bringing near the offerings made by fire to Yahweh--their God's food--and they shall be holy.

But Jesus did not say anything. So, the head priest said to Him, "I command you [to swear] by the living God, [and] to tell us if you are the Christ [i.e., God's specially chosen one], the Son of God!"

But, if I drive out evil spirits by the finger of God [i.e., by God's direct, supernatural intervention], then [that is evidence that] the kingdom of God has come into your midst [i.e., by my presence and ministry].

But if the Spirit of God, who raised up Jesus from the dead, lives in your hearts, [then] that One [i.e., God] who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead, will restore life to your mortal bodies also, through [the power of] God's Spirit who lives in your hearts.

For if their rejection [by God] meant that [the rest of] the world could be restored to favor [with God], what would [God's] receiving the Jews back into fellowship be, except like dead people coming back to life?

But God brought you into [fellowship with] Christ Jesus, who was made to be God's wisdom for us. Through Christ you have received a right relationship with God, [as well as] holiness and redemption [i.e., being bought back from Satan].

And some of you have practiced such things, but you were washed [i.e., from your sins. See Acts 22:16]; you were dedicated [i.e., set apart for God's service]; you were made right with God in the name [i.e., by the authority] of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Holy Spirit of our God.

I pray that your minds will be enlightened so that you will know what the hope is, to which God has called you, and what the glorious abundance is, of God's inheritance in the saints [Note: Paul wanted them to appreciate the value God placed on them],

He existed in the form of God [i.e., He shared God's very nature], but did not consider [remaining] equal with God something [to continue] to hold onto.

But God said [this] about the angels [Psa. 104:4 LXX], "He [i.e., God] makes His angels to be [like] winds and His servants [like] flames of fire." [Note: The idea is probably that angels obediently serve God's purpose similar to the way wind and lightening do].

And we will do so [i.e., go on to more advanced teaching] if God allows us to. For it is impossible to get people who have [completely] fallen away [from God] to repent again, because they [continue to] crucify for themselves God's Son all over again, and hold Him up to contempt.

How much more severely do you think a person deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God and has regarded the blood of the [New] Agreement, with which he was set apart for God, an unholy thing and has insulted the Holy Spirit, through whom God's unearned favor is shown?

But you people are especially chosen [by God]; you are a royal body of priests; you are a nation especially set apart for God's use; you are a people who belong exclusively to God, that you may express the virtues of the One who called you out of darkness [i.e., of sin and error], and into His marvelous light [i.e., righteousness and truth].

And these [enemies of God] crossed the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people and the much-loved city [i.e., the church of God]. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them.

At this the king asked, "Isn't there still someone left from Saul's household to whom I may show God's gracious love?" "There's Jonathan's son. He has maimed feet," Ziba answered.

By this God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

The twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God's throne, fell on their faces and worshiped God,

Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's chosen ones, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,

I give you orders before God and Christ Jesus and the angels of God's selection, to keep these orders without giving thought to one side more than another.

For the rendering of this service does more than supply the wants of God's people; it results in a wealth of thanksgiving to God.

“I will go to the great [men]
And speak to them,
For they [must] know the way of the Lord,
The ordinance of their God.”
But [I found the reverse to be true, that] they too had all alike broken the yoke [of God’s law]
And had burst the bonds [of obedience to Him].

you are not to leave his corpse on the tree overnight but are to bury him that day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

How faithful he was to the God who appointed him! For while Moses also was faithful in all God's house,

to the solemn gathering of all God's elder sons, enrolled as citizens in heaven, to a judge who is the God of all, to the spirits of upright men now at last enjoying the fulfilment of their hopes,

In his name let us continually offer praise as our sacrifice to God??he utterance of lips that glorify God's name.

For all who are admitted to God's Rest rest after their work, just as God did after his.

Who, in the days of Noah, went against God's orders; but God in his mercy kept back the punishment, while Noah got ready the ark, in which a small number, that is to say eight persons, got salvation through water:

For the time has come for the judgment to begin with the household of God, and if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who refuse God's good news?

The woman went and said to her husband, "A man sent from God came to me! He looked like God's angelic messenger -- he was very awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.

We know that no child of God commits sin, but the fact that he is God's child protects him, and the evil one cannot touch him.

Whatever the endowment God has given you, use it in service to one another, like good dispensers of God's varied mercy.

But the king will rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him [honoring the true God, acknowledging His authority and majesty] will glory,
For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.

to all those in Rome who are God's loved ones, called to be His people: spiritual blessing and peace be yours from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Afterward he received the mark of circumcision as God's seal of his right standing with Him on condition of faith which he had before he was circumcised, that he might be the forefather of all who have faith while still uncircumcised, that they might have their faith credited to them as right standing with God;

Yes, we know that all things go on working together for the good of those who keep on loving God, who are called in accordance with God's purpose.

But, if, in God's Spirit, I, am casting out the demons, then doubtless hath come upon you unawares, the kingdom of God!

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, to those of God's selection who have been made holy by God the Father and are kept safe for Jesus Christ:

For the music director; by David; written to get God's attention. O God, please be willing to rescue me! O Lord, hurry and help me!

For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by having a common purpose and giving up their authority to the animal until God's decrees are carried out.

“In those days and at that time,” says the Lord, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will come up weeping [in repentance] as they come and seek the Lord their God [inquiring for and of Him].

And, if our unrighteousness God's righteousness doth establish, what shall we say? is God unrighteous who is inflicting the wrath? (after the manner of a man I speak)

to the church of God at Corinth, to those who are consecrated by union with Christ Jesus, and called to be God's people, in fellowship with those who anywhere call upon the name of Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

nor did he doubt God's promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, his faith became stronger and he gave glory to God,

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

And it shall be in God's destroying the cities of the circuit, and God will remember Abraham, and he will send forth Lot out of the midst of the overthrow in overthrowing the cities in which Lot dwelt in them.

If any man is ready to do God's pleasure he will have knowledge of the teaching and of where it comes from--from God or from myself.

I therefore urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God, for this is the reasonable way for you to worship.

Every person must be subject to the governing authorities, for no authority exists except by God's permission. The existing authorities have been established by God,

because you are helping me by your prayers for me, so that thanks to God will be given by many on my behalf for God's gracious gift to me in answer to the prayers of many.

For my boast is this, to which my conscience testifies, that before the world, but especially before you, I have acted from pure motives and in sincerity before God, not depending on worldly wisdom but on God's unmerited favor.

Instead, we speak about God's wisdom in a hidden secret, which God destined before the world began for our glory.

You people, whoever you are among you, who try to get into right standing with God, through law have cut yourselves off from Christ, you have missed the way of God's favor.

In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God because we testified on God's behalf that he raised the Messiah whom he did not raise if in fact it is true that the dead are not raised.

God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that God's righteousness would be produced in us.

But, although we had just suffered and been insulted, as you remember, at Philippi, we again summoned courage by the help of God, in spite of the terrific strain, to tell you God's good news.

For we are God's masterpiece, created in the Messiah Jesus to perform good actions that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.

How blessed and favored by God are those whose way is blameless [those with personal integrity, the upright, the guileless],
Who walk in the law [and who are guided by the precepts and revealed will] of the Lord.

How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we have in God's presence because of you?

in case I am delayed, so that you may know how to behave in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

For ships of Cyprus [in Roman hands] will come against him; therefore he will be discouraged and turn back [to Israel] and carry out his rage against the holy covenant and take action; so he will return and show favoritism toward those [Jews] who abandon (break) the holy covenant [with God].

Some of those who are [spiritually] wise and have insight will fall [as martyrs] in order to refine, to purge and to make those among God’s people pure, until the end time; because it is yet to come at the time appointed [by God].

before God's decree becomes reality and the day of opportunity disappears like windblown chaff, before the Lord's raging anger overtakes you -- before the day of the Lord's angry judgment overtakes you!

Dearly beloved, do not follow bad examples but good ones. Whoever practices doing right is God's child; whoever practices doing wrong has never seen God.

But whoever continually keeps his commandments is the kind of person in whom God's love has truly been perfected. This is how we can be sure that we are in union with God:

“Then it will come about on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice
That I will punish the princes and the king’s sons
And all who are clothed in [lavish] foreign apparel [reflecting their paganism].

After all, to the person who is good in God's sight, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner he gives the troublesome task of acquiring and accumulating in order to leave it to someone who is good in the sight of God. This also is pointless and chasing after the wind.

Her prophets are reckless and treacherous men;
Her priests have profaned the sanctuary;
They have done violence to the law [by pretending their word is God’s word].

Don't be impulsive with your mouth nor be in a hurry to talk in God's presence. Since God is in heaven and you're on earth, keep your speech short.

If a man carries meat that is holy [because it has been offered in sacrifice to God] in the fold of his garment, and he touches bread, or cooked food, or wine, or oil, or any [kind of] food with this fold, does what he touches become holy [dedicated exclusively to God’s service]?’” And the priests answered, “No!” [Holiness is not transferrable.]

For how great is God’s goodness and how great is His beauty! And how great [He will make Israel’s] goodliness and [Israel’s] beauty!
Grain and new wine will make the young men and virgins flourish.

The anointing you received from God abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you this. Instead, because God's anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not a lie, abide in him, as he taught you to do.

This is how you can recognize God's Spirit: Every spirit who acknowledges that Jesus the Messiah has become human and remains so is from God.

This is how we know that we love God's children: we love God and keep his commandments.

They sang the song of God's servant Moses and the song of the lamb: "Your deeds are both spectacular and amazing, Lord God Almighty. Your ways are just and true, King of the nations.

“Blessed [anticipating God’s presence, spiritually mature] are the pure in heart [those with integrity, moral courage, and godly character], for they will see God.

“Blessed [spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor] are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they will [express His character and] be called the sons of God.

“Blessed [comforted by inner peace and God’s love] are those who are persecuted for doing that which is morally right, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].