Now if God wants to demonstrate his wrath and reveal his power, can't he be extremely patient with the objects of his wrath that are made for destruction?

Can't he also reveal his glorious riches to the objects of his mercy that he has prepared ahead of time for glory

What can we say, then? Gentiles, who were not pursuing righteousness, have attained righteousness, a righteousness that comes through faith.

I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

For Moses says of the law-way to right standing with God that whoever can perform the law will live by it.

But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?

And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things!

I say, then, Has God rejected his people? It can not be. For I am an Israelite, of the posterity of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

as it is written: God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes with which they can not see, and ears with which they can not hear.

I say, then, Have they stumbled, in order that they may fall? It can not be. But rather, through their fall, salvation has come to the Gentiles, to excite them to jealousy.

if I can somehow make my own people jealous and save some of them.

For if their rejection has meant the reconciling of the world, what can the acceptance of them mean but life from the dead?

nay, even the Jews, if they don't continue still incredulous, shall be grafted in: since divine power can graft them in again.

For no change of purpose can annul God's free gift and call.

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how inscrutable are his judgments, and his ways can not be explored!

You must not adopt the customs of this world but by your new attitude of mind be transformed so that you can find out what God's will is??hat is good, pleasing, and perfect.

do all you can to live peaceably, if it be possible, with all mankind.

But [Prov. 25:21-25 says], "Feed your enemy if he is hungry; give him something to drink if he is thirsty. For when you do this, it will be [like] heaping burning coals on his head." [i.e., it can cause him burning shame that can lead to his repentance and ultimate forgiveness].

Everyone must obey the authorities that are over him, for no authority can exist without the permission of God; the existing authorities have been established by him,

One man believes that he can eat anything; another who is overscrupulous eats nothing but vegetables.

The person who can eat anything should not look down on the person who cannot eat [what was used in idolatrous worship]; and the person who cannot eat [such things] should not pass judgment on the person who can. For God accepts that person, too.

Who are you to criticize someone else's servant? It is for his own master to say whether he succeeds or fails; and he will succeed, for the Master can make him do so.

For none of us can live alone by himself, and none of us can die alone by himself;

But why do you [who eat only certain foods] condemn your brother [who feels he can eat anything]? Or, indeed, why do you [i.e., who feels he can eat anything] look down on your brother [i.e., who eats only certain foods]? For all of us will have to stand before the judgment bar of God.

I can therefore glory in Christ Jesus concerning the work for God in which I am engaged.

To Him who can make you strong in accordance with the good news I bring and in accordance with the message preached about Jesus Christ, in accordance with the uncovering of the secret which for ages past had not been told,

God can be depended on, and it was he who called you to this fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

so that no one can say you were baptized in my name.

so that no one can boast in His presence.

for who knows the thoughts of a man, but the spirit of man which is in him? even so the thoughts of God no one can know, but the spirit of God.

Now, we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we can understand the things that were freely given to us by God.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone.

for how can he, that does not know the mind of the Lord, instruct another? but as for us, we are acquainted with the mind of the Lord.

you are still unspiritual. For so long as jealousy and strife continue among you, can it be denied that you are unspiritual and are living and acting like mere men of the world?

For, other foundation, can, no one, lay, than that which is lying, which is, Jesus Christ.

No one should deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, he must become foolish so that he can become wise.

Now further, what is always demanded of managers is that they can be depended on.

Every one of you already has all that heart can desire; already you have grown rich; without waiting for us, you have ascended your thrones! Yes indeed, would to God that you had ascended your thrones, that we also might reign with you!

For you can have 10,000 instructors in Christ, but you can’t have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is a dear child of mine, in the service of the Lord, and one on whom you can depend, and he will help you to keep in mind my methods in the service of Christ Jesus, which I follow everywhere in every church.

but if the Lord pleases, I will visit you very soon; and then I shall try, not what these boasters can say, but what they can do:

And can you put on airs, instead of being overwhelmed with grief at having to expel from your number the man who has done this?

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little yeast can leaven the whole batch of dough?

Get rid of the old yeast [i.e., of sin, and especially the unrepentant sinner], so that you can be a new batch of dough, without yeast in it [i.e., a godly church without unrepentant sinners in it] as [I know] you really are. For our Passover [Lamb], Christ, has already been sacrificed.

If any one of you has a complaint against someone, how can you dare to take it before non-Christian judges [to be decided], instead of before the saints [i.e., God's holy people]?

You know that the saints will rule the world, don't you? And if the world is going to be ruled by you, can't you handle insignificant cases?

I say this to your shame! Can it be that there is not one wise person among you who is able to arbitrate between his brothers?

Don't you know, that your bodies are parts of Christ's mystical body? now, how can that which is Christ's, be made the property of a very creature?

Run from sexual immorality! “Every sin a person can commit is outside the body.” On the contrary, the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body.

Do not deprive each other [of these marital rights], except by mutual agreement, so that you can spend the time in prayer. Then resume [normal sexual] relations again, so Satan is not able to tempt you [i.e., to have an affair] because of your lack of self-control.

To all who are unmarried and to widows, I would say this: It is an excellent thing if they can remain single as I am.

But if they can not be continent, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn.

How can you know, [Christian] wife, whether or not you will [be able to] convert your husband? Or how can you know, [Christian] husband, whether or not you will [be able to] convert you wife?

Were you called while a slave? It should not be a concern to you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.

About unmarried women I have no command of the Lord to give you, but I will give you my opinion as that of one on whom through the Lord's mercy you can depend.

and they that possess this world, as those that can't make an ill use of it. for the scene of this world is continually shifting. I would have you free from anxiety.

I want you to be free from all anxiety. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's work, and how he can please the Lord.

A married man is concerned about the affairs of the world, and how he can please his wife, and so his devotion is divided.

An unmarried woman or a girl is concerned about the affairs of the Lord, so as to be consecrated in body and spirit, but a married woman is concerned about the affairs of the world, and how she can please her husband.

An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the affairs of the Lord, so that she may be holy in body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, that is, about how she can please her husband. I'm saying this for your benefit, not to put a noose around your necks, but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.

But if any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin, if she is past marriageable age, and so it must be, he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married.

So then, if food can make my brother fall, I will never, no, never, eat meat again, in order to keep my brother from falling.

Am I not free? Am I not an Apostle? Can it be denied that I have seen Jesus, our Lord? Are not you yourselves my work in the Lord?

It cannot be that we have no right to our food and drink, can it?

It cannot be that we have no right to take a Christian wife about with us, can it, as well as the rest of the apostles and the Lord's brothers, and Cephas?

If others share this right over you, why not we all the more? We did not avail ourselves of it, you say? No, we do not mind any privations if we can only avoid putting any obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

If I tell the Good News, I have nothing to boast of, for I can but do so. Woe is me if I do not tell it!

What then is my wage? This, that I can make the gospel free where I carry it; and that I can refrain from using my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

For since I am free from all I can make myself a slave to all, in order to gain even more people.

I do all these things because of the gospel, so that I can be a participant in it.

Do you not know that in a race the runners all run, but only one can get the prize? You must run in such a way that you can get the prize.

So the man who thinks he can stand must be on his guard against a fall.

Trial, hath not taken you, save such as man can bear; faithful, moreover is God, who will not suffer you to be tried above what ye are able, but will make, with the trial, also the way of escape, that ye may be able to hold out.

Ye cannot drink of the cup of the Lord, and of the cup of the devils. Ye can not be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

For it is to be expected [i.e., it is inevitable] that there would be dissensions among you, so that those who are approved [by God] can become known among you.

Have you no houses to eat and drink in? Or do you mean to show your contempt for the church of God, and to humiliate those who have none? What can I say to you? Can I approve of you? Not in this matter certainly.

Let a man test himself; then he can eat from the loaf and drink from the cup.

If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. And I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.

Wherefore, I give you to know - that, no one, in God's Spirit speaking, saith - Accursed Jesus! and, no one, can say - Lord Jesus! save in the Holy Spirit.

And we can see this, for in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jew or Gentile, whether slave or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Nor can the eye say to the hand, I have no need of thee: or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it. If one part receives an honor, all the parts can share its joy.

Can every one be an Apostle? can every one be a Preacher? can every one be a Teacher? can every one have supernatural powers?

Not all are people with power to cure the sick, are they? Not all are ecstatic speakers, are they? Not all can explain ecstatic speaking, can they?

Strive for the greater gifts. Yet I can still show you a way beyond all comparison the best.

I will show you a far better way. If I can speak the languages of men and even of angels, but have no love, I am only a noisy gong or a clashing cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy
and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith
so that I can move mountains
but do not have love, I am nothing.

for he that speaks in an unknown tongue, speaks not to men, but to God: for no man can understand the mysteries he delivers by the spirit.

I want you all to speak ecstatically, but I especially want you to be inspired to preach. The man who is inspired to preach is more useful than the one who speaks ecstatically??nless he can explain what he says so that it may do the church some good.

And even inanimate instruments of sound, whether pipe or harp, except they have a distinct variety of notes, how can they express any significant tune?

So it is with you; unless in your ecstatic speaking you speak a message that is clearly intelligible, how can the message spoken by you be understood? You might just as well be talking to the air!

Therefore the person who speaks in another language should pray that he can interpret.

otherwise if you should give thanks by the spirit in an unknown tongue, the hearer cannot but appear unlearned upon this occasion; how then can he say Amen to thy thanksgiving? since he does not conceive what you say.

However, in the assembly I would rather speak five words with my understanding, so that I can instruct other people also, than to speak ten thousand words in a language [that people do not understand].

For, one by one, ye can, all, be prophesying, - that, all, may learn, and, all, be encouraged.

Prophets can control their own prophetic spirits,

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?

If it be not so, what can they effect who are baptized for the dead? if the dead rise not at all, why are they then baptized for the dead?

But someone will ask, "How can the dead rise? With what kind of body do they come back?"