Study Desk

God rescued us from the dark power of Satan and brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son,

Christ is exactly like God, who cannot be seen. He is the first-born Son, superior to all creation.

God himself was pleased to live fully in his Son.

And God was pleased for him to make peace by sacrificing his blood on the cross, so that all beings in heaven and on earth would be brought back to God.

You used to be far from God. Your thoughts made you his enemies, and you did evil things.

But his Son became a human and died. So God made peace with you, and now he lets you stand in his presence as people who are holy and faultless and innocent.

God did this because he wanted you Gentiles to understand his wonderful and glorious mystery. And the mystery is that Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing in God's glory.

God lives fully in Christ.

And when you were baptized, it was the same as being buried with Christ. Then you were raised to life because you had faith in the power of God, who raised Christ from death.

You were dead, because you were sinful and were not God's people. But God let Christ make you alive, when he forgave all our sins.

God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross.

They are no longer part of Christ, who is the head of the whole body. Christ gives the body its strength, and he uses its joints and muscles to hold it together, as it grows by the power of God.

Obeying these rules may seem to be the smart thing to do. They appear to make you love God more and to be very humble and to have control over your body. But they don't really have any power over our desires.

You died, which means that your life is hidden with Christ, who sits beside God.

God is angry with people who disobey him by doing these things.

God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient.

Let the message about Christ completely fill your lives, while you use all your wisdom to teach and instruct each other. With thankful hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

Whatever you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to God the Father because of him.

Be sure to pray that God will make a way for us to spread his message and explain the mystery about Christ, even though I am in jail for doing this.

Jesus, who is known as Justus, sends his greetings. These three men are the only Jewish followers who have worked with me for the kingdom of God. They have given me much comfort.