Now the Promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring; it is not said, 'and to your offsprings' in the plural, but in the singular and to your offspring ??which is Christ.

My point is this: the Law which arose four hundred and thirty years later does not repeal a will previously ratified by God, so as to cancel the Promise.

Then the Law is contrary to God's Promises? Never! Had there been any law which had the power of producing life, righteousness would really have been due to law,

with the freedom for which Christ set us free. Make a firm stand then, do not slip into any yoke of servitude.

But no boasting for me, none except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I crucified to the world.

which is the pledge and instalment of our common heritage, that we may obtain our divine possession and so redound to the praise of his glory.

illuminating the eyes of your heart so that you can understand the hope to which He calls us, the wealth of his glorious heritage in the saints,

and the surpassing greatness of his power over us believers ??a power which operates with the strength of the might

which he exerted in raising Christ from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavenly sphere,

the church which is his Body, filled by him who fills the universe entirely.

in which you moved as you followed the course of this world, under the sway of the prince of the air ??the spirit which is at present active within those sons of disobedience

God has made us what we are, creating us in Christ Jesus for the good deeds which are prepared beforehand by God as our sphere of action.

Remember, then, that once upon a time you Gentiles in the flesh, who are called 'the Uncircumcision' by that so-called 'Circumcision' which is itself the product of human hands in the flesh ??12 remember you were in those days outside Christ, aliens to the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the Promise, devoid of hope and God within the world.

For he is our peace, he who has made both of us a unity and destroyed the barrier which kept us apart;

For this reason I Paul, I whom Jesus has made a prisoner for the sake of you Gentiles ??2 for surely you have heard how the grace of God which was vouchsafed me in your interests has ordered it,

which was not disclosed to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his sacred apostles and prophets by the Spirit),

Such is the gospel which I was called to serve by the endowment of God's grace which was vouchsafed me, by the energy of his power;

and enlighten all men upon the new order of that divine secret which God the Creator of all concealed from eternity ??10 intending to let the full sweep of the divine wisdom be disclosed now by the church to the angelic Rulers and Authorities in the heavenly sphere,

in terms of the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,

by knowing the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge! May you be filled with the entire fulness of God!

till we should all attain the unity of the faith and knowledge of God's Son, reaching maturity, reaching the full measure of development which belongs to the fulness of Christ ??14 instead of remaining immature, blown from our course and swayed by every passing wind of doctrine, by the adroitness of men who are dexterous in devising error;

as the entire Body is welded together and compacted by every joint with which it is supplied, the due activity of each part enables the Body to grow and build itself up in love.

their intelligence is darkened, they are estranged from the life of God by the ignorance which their dulness of heart has produced in them ??19 men who have recklessly abandoned themselves to sensuality, with a lust for the business of impurity in every shape and form.

you must lay aside the old nature which belonged to your former course of life, that nature which crumbles to ruin under the passions of moral deceit,

putting on the new nature, that divine pattern which has been created in the upright and pious character of the Truth.

for the sake of which I am in custody as its envoy. Pray that I may have freedom to declare it as I should.

your life covered with that harvest of righteousness which Jesus Christ produces to the glory and the praise of God.

But then, if it is to be life here below, that means fruitful work for me. So ??well, I cannot tell which to choose;

due to the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. You heard of this hope originally in the message of the Truth, in that gospel

which has reached you as it spreads over all the world with fruit and increase. Such has been your life from the day you learned to know what God's grace really is.

so as to set you consecrated and unblemished and irreproachable in his presence ??23 that is, if you adhere to the foundations and stability of the faith, instead of moving away from the hope you have learned in the gospel, that gospel which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I Paul was made a minister.

for I am a minister of the church by the divine commission which has been granted me in your interests, to make a full presentation of God's message ??26 of that open secret which, though concealed from ages and generations of old, has now been disclosed to the saints of God.

It is His will that they should understand the glorious wealth which this secret holds for the Gentiles, in the fact of Christ's presence among you as your hope of glory.

I labour for that end, striving for it with the divine energy which is a power within me.

Beware of anyone getting hold of you by means of a theosophy which is specious make-believe, on the lines of human tradition, corresponding to the Elemental spirits of the world and not to Christ.

So put to death those members that are on earth: sexual vice, impurity, appetite, evil desire, and lust (which is idolatry),

and put on the new nature which is renewed in the likeness of its Creator for the knowledge of him.

remember, you will receive from the Lord the inheritance which is your due; serve Christ your Lord and Master,

and pray for me as well, that God may give me an opening for the word, to speak of the open secret of Christ for which I am in custody.

Salute the brothers at Laodicea, also Nympha and the church which meets at her house.

So much so, that throughout the churches of God we are proud of you, proud of the stedfastness and faith you display through all the persecutions and the troubles in which you are involved.

Well then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the rules which you have learned from us orally or by letter.

and studying myths and interminable genealogies; such studies bear upon speculations rather than on the divine order which belongs to faith.

doctors of the Law is what they want to be, but they have no idea either of the meaning of the words they use or of the themes on which they harp.

as laid down by that glorious gospel of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

through plausible sophists who are seared in conscience ??3 men who prohibit marriage and insist on abstinence from foods which God created for believing men, who understand the Truth, to partake of with thanksgiving.

is a conceited, ignorant creature, with a morbid passion for controversy and argument which only leads to envy, dissension, insults, insinuations,

fight in the good fight of the faith, secure that life eternal to which you were called when you voiced the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

to keep your commission free from stain, free from reproach, till the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ ??15 which will be brought about in due time by that blessed and only Sovereign, King of kings and Lord of lords,

amassing right good treasure for themselves in the world to come, in order to secure the life which is life indeed.

for I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, as it dwells (I feel sure) in yourself.

Hence I would remind you to rekindle the divine gift which you received when my hands were laid upon you;

who has saved us and called us to a life of consecration ??not for anything we have done but because he chose to do it himself, by the grace which he gave us ages ago in Christ Jesus

for which I have to suffer imprisonment as if I were a criminal. (But there is no prison for the word of God.)

my persecutions, my sufferings ??all that befell me at Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, all the persecutions I had to undergo, from which the Lord rescued me.

Now the crown of a good life awaits me, with which the Lord, that just Judge, will reward me on the great Day ??and not only me but all who have loved and longed for his appearance.

serving in hope of the life eternal which God, who never lies, promised ages ago ??3 he gave effect to his word in due time by a proclamation with which I have been entrusted by command of God our Saviour: ??4 to Titus my lawful son in a faith we hold in common; grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.

which he poured upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour,

Many were the forms and fashions in which God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets,

how shall we escape the penalty for neglecting a salvation which was originally proclaimed by the Lord himself and guaranteed to us by those who heard him,

For the world to come, of which I am speaking, was not put under the control of angels.

For we only participate in Christ provided that we keep firm to the very end the confidence with which we started,

can deal gently with those who err through ignorance, since he himself is beset with weakness ??3 which obliges him to present offerings for his own sins as well as for those of the People.

Also, it is an office which no one elects to take for himself; he is called to it by God, just as Aaron was.

On this point I have a great deal to say, which it is hard to make intelligible to you. For you have grown dull of hearing.

For land which absorbs the rain that often falls on it, and bears plants that are useful to those for whom it is tilled, receives a blessing from God;

For Melchizedek, the king of Salem, a priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham on his return from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him ??2 who had a tenth part of everything assigned him by Abraham ??this Melchizedek is primarily a king of righteousness (that is the meaning of his name); then, besides that, king of Salem (which means, king of peace).

He who is thus described belongs to another tribe, no member of which ever devoted himself to the altar;

(for the Law made nothing perfect), and there is introduced a better Hope, by means of which we can draw near to God.

containing the golden altar of incense, and also the ark of the covenant covered all over with gold, which held the golden pot of manna, the rod of Aaron that once blossomed, and the tablets of the covenant;

above this were the cherubims of the Glory, overshadowing the mercy seat ??matters which it is impossible for me to discuss at present in detail.

but the second tent is entered only once a year by the high priest alone ??and it must not be without blood, which he presents on behalf of himself and the errors of the People.

(which foreshadowed the present age) was still standing, with its offerings of gifts and sacrifices which cannot possibly make the conscience of the worshipper perfect,

But when Christ arrived as the high priest of the bliss that was to be, he passed through the greater and more perfect tent which no hands had made (no part, that is to say, of the present order),

He mediates a new covenant for this reason, that those who have been called may obtain the eternal inheritance they have been promised, now that a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions involved in the first covenant.

and saying, This is the blood of that covenant which is God's command for you.

For Christ has not entered a holy place which human hands have made (a mere type of the reality!); he has entered heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

Again, while every priest stands daily at his service, offering the same sacrifices repeatedly, sacrifices which never can take sins away ??12 He offered a single sacrifice for sins and then seated himself for all time at the right hand of God,

by the fresh, living way which he has inaugurated for us through the veil (that is, through his flesh),

nothing but an awful outlook of doom, of that burning Wrath which will consume the foes of God.

How much heavier, do you suppose, will be the punishment assigned to him who has spurned the Son of God, who has profaned the covenant-blood with which he was sanctified, who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed his call to go forth to a place which he would receive as an inheritance; he went forth, although he did not know where he was to go.

Aim at peace with all ??and at that consecration without which no one will ever see the Lord;

Our altar is one of which the worshippers have no right to eat.

Obey your leaders, submit to them; for they are alive to the interests of your souls, as men who will have to account for their trust. Let their work be a joy to them and not a grief ??which would be a loss to yourselves.

Blessed is he who endures under trial; for when he has stood the test, he will gain the crown of life which is promised to all who love Him.

so clear away all the foul rank growth of malice, and make a soil of modesty for the Word which roots itself inwardly with power to save your souls.

Listen, my beloved brothers; has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the realm which he has promised to those who love him?

That is not the wisdom which comes down from above, it is an earthly wisdom, sensuous, devilish;

Come now, you who say, "To-day or to-morrow we are going to such and such a city; we shall spend a year there trading and making money" ??14 you who know nothing about to-morrow! For what is your life? You are but a mist, which appears for a little and then vanishes.

See, the wages of which you have defrauded the workmen who mowed your fields call out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

and the power of God protects you by faith till you do inherit the salvation which is all ready to be revealed at the last hour.

that is only to prove your faith is sterling (far more precious than gold which is perishable and yet is tested by fire), and it redounds to your praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

come to him then ??come to that living Stone which men have rejected and God holds choice and precious,

a stone over which men stumble and a rock of offence; they stumble over it in their disobedience to God's word. Such is their appointed doom.

but inside, in the heart, with the immortal beauty of a gentle and modest spirit, which in the sight of God is of rare value.

who had disobeyed at the time when God's patience held out during the construction of the ark in the days of Noah ??the ark by which only a few souls, eight in all, were brought safely through the water.)

Better had they never known the Way of righteousness, than to know it and then turn back from the holy command which was committed to them.

They wilfully ignore the fact that heavens existed long ago, and an earth which the word of God formed of water and by water.

you who expect and hasten the advent of the Day of God, which dissolves the heavens in fire and makes the stars blaze and melt!