Study Desk

God wants these great riches of the hidden truth to be made known to the people who are not Jews. The secret is this: Christ in you brings hope of all the great things to come.

For Christ is not only God-like, He is God in human flesh.

When you were baptized, you were buried as Christ was buried. When you were raised up in baptism, you were raised as Christ was raised. You were raised to a new life by putting your trust in God. It was God Who raised Jesus from the dead.

When you were dead in your sins, you were not set free from the sinful things of the world. But God forgave your sins and gave you new life through Christ.

God took away the power of the leaders of this world and the powers of darkness. He showed them to the world. The battle was won over them through Christ.

If then you have been raised with Christ, keep looking for the good things of heaven. This is where Christ is seated on the right side of God.

You are dead to the things of this world. Your new life is now hidden in God through Christ.

Destroy the desires to sin that are in you. These desires are: sex sins, anything that is not clean, a desire for sex sins, and wanting something someone else has. This is worshiping a god.

It is because of these sins that the anger of God comes down on those who do not obey Him.

Put out of your life these things also: anger, bad temper, bad feelings toward others, talk that hurts people, speaking against God, and dirty talk.

God has chosen you. You are holy and loved by Him. Because of this, your new life should be full of loving-pity. You should be kind to others and have no pride. Be gentle and be willing to wait for others.

Let the teaching of Christ and His words keep on living in you. These make your lives rich and full of wisdom. Keep on teaching and helping each other. Sing the Songs of David and the church songs and the songs of heaven with hearts full of thanks to God.

Whatever you say or do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Give thanks to God the Father through the Lord Jesus.

You who are servants who are owned by someone, obey your owners. Work hard for them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Work for them as you would for the Lord because you honor God.

If anyone does wrong, he will suffer for it. God does not respect one person more than another.

As you pray, be sure to pray for us also. Pray that God will open the door for us to preach the Word. We want to tell the secret of Christ. And this is the reason I am in prison.

Jesus Justus says hello also. These are the only Jewish workers helping me teach about the holy nation of God. What a help they have been to me!

Epaphras says hello. He is one of your people and a servant of Jesus Christ. As he prays for you, he asks God to help you to be strong and to make you perfect. He prays that you will know what God wants you to do in all things.

This letter is from Paul and Silas and Timothy. It is to you, the church, in the city of Thessalonica. You belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May you have His loving-favor and His peace.

We thank God for you all the time and pray for you.