Study Desk

I thank God for the help you gave me while I told people the Good News. You helped from the first day you believed until now.

I am sure that the good work God began in you will continue until he completes it on the day when Jesus Christ comes again.

God knows that I want very much to see you. I love all of you with the love of Christ Jesus.

that your life will be full of the many good works that are produced by Jesus Christ to bring glory and praise to God.

They are doing it out of love. They know that God gave me the work of defending the Good News.

I am full of hope and feel sure I will not have any reason to be ashamed. I am certain I will continue to have the same boldness to speak freely that I always have. I will let God use my life to bring more honor to Christ. It doesn't matter whether I live or die.

And you will not be afraid of those who are against you. All of this is proof from God that you are being saved and that your enemies will be lost.

God has blessed you in ways that serve Christ. He allowed you to believe in Christ. But that is not all. He has also given you the honor of suffering for Christ. Both of these bring glory to Christ.

He was like God in every way, but he did not think that his being equal with God was something to use for his own benefit.

Instead, he gave up everything, even his place with God. He accepted the role of a servant, appearing in human form. During his life as a man,

he humbled himself by being fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death—death on a cross.

So God raised him up to the most important place and gave him the name that is greater than any other name.

God did this so that every person will bow down to honor the name of Jesus. Everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bow.

They will all confess, "Jesus Christ is Lord," and this will bring glory to God the Father.

My dear friends, you always obeyed what you were taught. Just as you obeyed when I was with you, it is even more important for you to obey now that I am not there. So you must continue to live in a way that gives meaning to your salvation. Do this with fear and respect for God.

Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases him, and he gives you the power to do it.

so that you will be blameless and pure, children of God without any fault. But you are living with evil people all around you, who have lost their sense of what is right. Among those people you shine like lights in a dark world,

Your faith makes you give your lives as a sacrifice in serving God. Maybe I will have to offer my own life with your sacrifice. But if that happens, I will be glad, and I will share my joy with all of you.

He was sick and near death. But God helped him and me too, so that I would not have even more grief.

But we are the ones who have the true circumcision—we who worship God through his Spirit. We don't trust in ourselves or anything we can do. We take pride only in Christ Jesus.