Study Desk

"Now I am putting you in God's care. I am depending on the message about his grace to make you strong. That message is able to give you the blessings that God gives to all his holy people.

I always showed you that you should work just as I did and help people who are weak. I taught you to remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘You will have a greater blessing when you give than when you receive.'"

David said the same thing when he was talking about the blessing people have when God accepts them as good without looking at what they have done:

"It is a great blessing when people are forgiven for the wrongs they have done, when their sins are erased!

It is a great blessing when the Lord accepts people as if they are without sin!"

Is this blessing only for those who are circumcised? Or is it also for those who are not circumcised? We have already said that it was because of Abraham's faith that he was accepted as one who is right with God.

Through our faith, Christ has brought us into that blessing of God's grace that we now enjoy. And we are very happy because of the hope we have of sharing God's glory.

If we are God's children, we will get the blessings God has for his people. He will give us all that he has given Christ. But we must suffer like Christ suffered. Then we will be able to share his glory.

It says this because there is no difference between those who are Jews and those who are not. The same Lord is the Lord of all people. And he richly blesses everyone who looks to him for help.

So this is what has happened: The people of Israel wanted God's blessing, but they did not all get it. The people he chose did get his blessing, but the others became hard and refused to listen to him.

Their mistake brought rich blessings to the world. And what they lost brought rich blessings to the non-Jewish people. So surely the world will get much richer blessings when enough Jews become the kind of people God wants.

God never changes his mind about the people he calls. He never decides to take back the blessings he has given them.

Wish only good for those who treat you badly. Ask God to bless them, not curse them.

You should keep your beliefs about these things a secret between yourself and God. It is a blessing to be able to do what you think is right without feeling guilty.

They were happy to do this. And it was like paying something they owed them, because as non-Jews they have been blessed spiritually by the Jews. So now they should use the material blessings they have to help the Jews.

And I know that when I visit you, I will bring you Christ's full blessing.

In him you have been blessed in every way. You have been blessed in all your speaking and all your knowledge.

We work hard with our own hands to feed ourselves. When people insult us, we ask God to bless them. When people treat us badly, we accept it.

I do all this to make the Good News known. I do it so that I can share in the blessings of the Good News.

The cup of blessing that we give thanks for is a sharing in the blood sacrifice of Christ, isn't it? And the bread that we break is a sharing in the body of Christ, isn't it?