Study Desk

Before God and Jesus Christ, I give you a command. Christ Jesus is the one who will judge all people—those who are living and those who have died. He is coming again to rule in his kingdom. So I give you this command:

But you should control yourself at all times. When troubles come, accept them. Do the work of telling the Good News. Do all the duties of a servant of God.

My life is being given as an offering for God. The time has come for me to leave this life here.

Now, a prize is waiting for me—the crown that will show I am right with God. The Lord, the judge who judges rightly, will give it to me on that Day. Yes, he will give it to me and to everyone else who is eagerly looking forward to his coming.

The first time I defended myself, no one helped me. Everyone left me. I pray that God will forgive them.

Greetings from Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I was sent to help God's chosen people have faith and understand the truth that produces a life of devotion to God.

This faith and knowledge make us sure that we have eternal life. God promised that life to us before time began—and God does not lie.

At the right time, God let the world know about that life. He did this through the telling of the Good News message, and he trusted me with that work. I told people that message because God our Savior commanded me to.

To Titus, a true son to me in the faith we share together. Grace and peace to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

To be an elder, a man must not be guilty of living in a wrong way. He must be faithful to his wife, and his children must be faithful to God. They must not be known as children who are wild or don't obey.

An elder must be ready to help people by welcoming them into his home. He must love what is good. He must be wise. He must live right. He must be devoted to God and pleasing to him. And he must be able to control himself.

This is important, because there are many people who refuse to obey—people who talk about worthless things and mislead others. I am talking especially about those who say that men who are not Jews must be circumcised to please God.

They say they know God, but the evil things they do show that they don't accept him. They are disgusting. They refuse to obey God and are not capable of doing anything good.

They will teach them to be wise and pure, to take care of their homes, to be kind, and to be willing to serve their husbands. Then no one will be able to criticize the teaching God gave us.

they should not steal from them; and they should show their masters that they can be trusted. Then, in everything they do, they will show that the teaching of God our Savior is good.

It teaches us not to live against God and not to do the bad things the world wants to do. It teaches us to live on earth now in a wise and right way—a way that shows true devotion to God.

We should live like that while we are waiting for the coming of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. He is our great hope, and he will come with glory.

But then the kindness and love of God our Savior was made known.

God poured out to us that Holy Spirit fully through Jesus Christ our Savior.

We were made right with God by his grace. God saved us so that we could be his children and look forward to receiving life that never ends.