Study Desk

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God.

But God, who consoles the downcast, consoled us by the arrival of Titus,

So although I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong, nor on account of the one who was wronged, but in order that your zeal for us might be made known to you before God.

We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia;

and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us,

But thanks be to God who put in the heart of Titus the same eagerness for you that I myself have.

Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.

You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us;

for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.

Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others,

while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

We, however, will not boast beyond limits, but will keep within the field that God has assigned to us, to reach out even as far as you.

And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus (blessed be he forever!) knows that I do not lie.

I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows.

And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows—