Study Desk

Christ came and preached peace to you Gentiles, who were far from God, and peace to us Jews, who were near God.

You Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens with everyone else who belongs to the family of God.

In fact, this letter tells you a little about how God has shown me his mysterious ways.

And the mystery is this: Because of Christ Jesus, the good news has given the Gentiles a share in the promises that God gave to the Jews. God has also let the Gentiles be part of the same body.

God treated me with kindness. His power worked in me, and it became my job to spread the good news.

I am the least important of all God's people. But God was kind and chose me to tell the Gentiles that because of Christ there are blessings that cannot be measured.

God, who created everything, wanted me to help everyone understand the mysterious plan that had always been hidden in his mind.

Then God would use the church to show the powers and authorities in the spiritual world that he has many different kinds of wisdom.

God did this according to his eternal plan. And he was able to do what he had planned because of all that Christ Jesus our Lord had done.

Christ now gives us courage and confidence, so that we can come to God by faith.

God is wonderful and glorious. I pray that his Spirit will make you become strong followers

I want you to know all about Christ's love, although it is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all that God is.

I pray that Christ Jesus and the church will forever bring praise to God. His power at work in us can do far more than we dare ask or imagine. Amen.

As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own.

All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God's people.

There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us.

This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him.

Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right,

and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy.

Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ.