Study Desk

I will forgive anyone you forgive. Yes, for your sake and with Christ as my witness, I have forgiven whatever needed to be forgiven.

I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume.

In fact, God thinks of us as a perfume that brings Christ to everyone. For people who are being saved, this perfume has a sweet smell and leads them to a better life. But for people who are lost, it has a bad smell and leads them to a horrible death. No one really has what it takes to do this work.

But you are our letter, and you are in our hearts for everyone to read and understand.

with a covering that is removed only for those who turn to the Lord.

All of this has been done for you, so that more and more people will know how kind God is and will praise and honor him.

These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing.

These tents we now live in are like a heavy burden, and we groan. But we don't do this just because we want to leave these bodies that will die. It is because we want to change them for bodies that will never die.

After all, Christ will judge each of us for the good or the bad that we do while living in these bodies.

If we seem out of our minds, it is between God and us. But if we are in our right minds, it is for your good.

We are ruled by Christ's love for us. We are certain that if one person died for everyone else, then all of us have died.

And Christ did die for all of us. He died so we would no longer live for ourselves, but for the one who died and was raised to life for us.

We were sent to speak for Christ, and God is begging you to listen to our message. We speak for Christ and sincerely ask you to make peace with God.

In the Scriptures God says, "When the time came, I listened to you, and when you needed help, I came to save you." That time has come. This is the day for you to be saved.

Friends in Corinth, we are telling the truth when we say that there is room in our hearts for you.

We are not holding back on our love for you, but you are holding back on your love for us.

I speak to you as I would speak to my own children. Please make room in your hearts for us.

Make a place for us in your hearts! We haven't mistreated or hurt anyone. We haven't cheated anyone.

I don't feel bad anymore, even though my letter hurt your feelings. I did feel bad at first, but I don't now. I know that the letter hurt you for a while.

When I wrote you, it wasn't to accuse the one who was wrong or to take up for the one who was hurt. I wrote, so that God would show you how much you do care for us.