Study Desk

Now we wait to receive the blessings God has for his children. These blessings are kept for you in heaven. They cannot be ruined or be destroyed or lose their beauty.

But you are his chosen people, the King's priests. You are a holy nation, people who belong to God. He chose you to tell about the wonderful things he has done. He brought you out of the darkness of sin into his wonderful light.

In the past you were not a special people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now God has given you his mercy.

Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross. He did this so that we would stop living for sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you were healed.

Christ himself suffered when he died for you, and with that one death he paid for your sins. He was not guilty, but he died for people who are guilty. He did this to bring all of you to God. In his physical form he was killed, but he was made alive by the Spirit.

Christ suffered while he was in his body. So you should strengthen yourselves with the same kind of thinking Christ had. The one who accepts suffering in this life has clearly decided to stop sinning.

God has shown you his grace in many different ways. So be good servants and use whatever gift he has given you in a way that will best serve each other.

But you should be happy that you are sharing in Christ's sufferings. You will be happy and full of joy when Christ shows his glory.

Yes, you will suffer for a short time. But after that, God will make everything right. He will make you strong. He will support you and keep you from falling. He is the God who gives all grace. He chose you to share in his glory in Christ. That glory will continue forever.

All power is his forever. Amen.

The church in Babylon sends you greetings. They were chosen just as you were. Mark, my son in Christ, also sends his greetings.

Jesus has the power of God. And his power has given us everything we need to live a life devoted to God. We have these things because we know him. Jesus chose us by his glory and goodness,

My brothers and sisters, God called you and chose you to be his. Do your best to live in a way that shows you really are God's called and chosen people. If you do all this, you will never fall.

We told you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. We told you about his coming. The things we told you were not just clever stories that people invented. No, we saw the greatness of Jesus with our own eyes.

This good man lived with those evil people every day, and his good heart was hurt by the evil things he saw and heard.

That's what he says in all his letters when he writes about these things. There are parts of his letters that are hard to understand, and some people give a wrong meaning to them. These people are ignorant and weak in faith. They also give wrong meanings to the other Scriptures. But they are destroying themselves by doing that.

We are telling you about what we have seen and heard because we want you to have fellowship with us. The fellowship we share together is with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.

If we say that we have not sinned, we are saying that God is a liar and that we don't accept his true teaching.

If we say we know God but do not obey his commands, we are lying. The truth is not in us.

But when we obey God's teaching, his love is truly working in us. This is how we know that we are living in him.