Study Desk

And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, "My child, don't make light of the Lord 's discipline, and don't give up when he corrects you.

For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child."

As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?

If God doesn't discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all.

For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God's discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.

Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal.

You know that afterward, when he wanted his father's blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears.

When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: "Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also."

So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood.

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.

Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—

may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

Don't you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete.

And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith." He was even called the friend of God.

God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,

And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ's suffering and his great glory afterward.