Study Desk

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in victory through Christ. God uses us to spread his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume.

He made us able to be servants of a new agreement from himself to his people. It is not an agreement of written laws, but it is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

The old agreement that brought death, written with words on stone, came with God's glory. In fact, the face of Moses was so bright with glory (a glory that was ending) that the people of Israel could not continue looking at his face.

We are not like Moses, who put a covering over his face. He covered his face so that the people of Israel would not see it. The glory was disappearing, and Moses did not want them to see it end.

God, with his mercy, gave us this work to do, so we don't give up.

God once said, "Let light shine out of the darkness!" And this is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts to let us know that his own divine greatness is seen in the face of Christ.

All these things are for you. And so the grace of God is being given to more and more people. This will bring more and more thanks to God for his glory.

And his love for you is stronger when he remembers that you were all ready to obey. You welcomed him with respect and fear.

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know that he gave up his heavenly riches for you. He gave up everything so that you could be richly blessed.

We are sending with Titus the brother who is praised by all the churches. He is praised because of his service to the Good News.

As the Scriptures say, "He gives generously to the poor; his goodness will continue forever."

Thanks be to God for his gift that is too wonderful to describe.

I am jealous for you with a jealousy that comes from God. I promised to give you to Christ. He must be your only husband. I want to give you to Christ to be his pure bride.

But I am afraid that your minds will be led away from your true and pure following of Christ. This could happen just as Eve was tricked by that snake with his clever lies.

I know a man in Christ who was taken up to the third heaven. This happened 14 years ago. I don't know if the man was in his body or out of his body, but God knows.

And I know that this man was taken up to paradise. I don't know if he was in his body or away from his body, but he heard things that he is not able to explain. He heard things that no one is allowed to tell.

I asked Titus to go to you, and I sent our brother with him. Titus did not cheat you, did he? No, you know that his actions and his attitude were the same as ours.

You want proof that Christ is speaking through me. My proof is that he is not weak in dealing with you but is showing his power among you.

It is true that Christ was weak when he was killed on the cross, but he lives now by God's power. It is also true that we share his weakness, but in dealing with you, we will be alive in him by God's power.

Final Warnings and Greetings This will be my third time to visit you. And remember, "For every complaint there must be two or three people to say that they know it is true." When I was with you the second time, I gave a warning to those who had sinned. I am not there now, but I am giving another warning to them and to anyone else who has sinned: When I come to you again, I will punish you. You want proof that Christ is speaking through me. My proof is that he is not weak in dealing with you but is showing his power among you. It is true that Christ was weak when he was killed on the cross, but he lives now by God's power. It is also true that we share his weakness, but in dealing with you, we will be alive in him by God's power. Look closely at yourselves. Test yourselves to see if you are living in the faith. Don't you realize that Christ Jesus is in you? Of course, if you fail the test, he is not in you. But I hope you will see that we have not failed the test. We pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Our concern here is not for people to see that we have passed the test in our work with you. Our main concern is that you do what is right, even if it looks as if we have failed the test. We cannot do anything that is against the truth but only what promotes the truth. We are happy to be weak if you are strong. And this is what we pray—that your lives will be made completely right again. I'm writing this before I come so that when I am there I will not have to use my authority to punish you. The Lord gave me that authority to make you stronger, not to destroy you. Now, brothers and sisters, be filled with joy. Try to make everything right, and do what I have asked you to do. Agree with each other, and live in peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. Give each other the special greeting of God's people. All of God's holy people here send you their greetings. I pray that you will enjoy the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.