Study Desk

By his death on the cross Christ destroyed their enmity; by means of the cross he united both races into one body and brought them back to God.

So Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to all—to you Gentiles, who were far away from God, and to the Jews, who were near to him.

So then, you Gentiles are not foreigners or strangers any longer; you are now citizens together with God's people and members of the family of God.

In union with him you too are being built together with all the others into a place where God lives through his Spirit.

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles, pray to God.

Surely you have heard that God in his grace has given me this work to do for your good.

God revealed his secret plan and made it known to me. (I have written briefly about this,

In past times human beings were not told this secret, but God has revealed it now by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets.

The secret is that by means of the gospel the Gentiles have a part with the Jews in God's blessings; they are members of the same body and share in the promise that God made through Christ Jesus.

I am less than the least of all God's people; yet God gave me this privilege of taking to the Gentiles the Good News about the infinite riches of Christ,

and of making all people see how God's secret plan is to be put into effect. God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages,

God did this according to his eternal purpose, which he achieved through Christ Jesus our Lord.

I ask God from the wealth of his glory to give you power through his Spirit to be strong in your inner selves,

Yes, may you come to know his love—although it can never be fully known—and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.

to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever! Amen.

I urge you, then—I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord: live a life that measures up to the standard God set when he called you.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to which God has called you.

there is one God and Father of all people, who is Lord of all, works through all, and is in all.

And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ's full stature.

and whose minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn.