Study Desk

Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I decide, do I decide according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time?

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,

Not that we domineer over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.

For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.

revealing yourselves, that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

But if the ministry of death, engraved in letters on stones, came with glory so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was,

how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?

For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus, and will present us with you.

For indeed, in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,

but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.

And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—

Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness?

Or what harmony does Christ have with Belial, or what does a believer share with an unbeliever?

Or what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL AMONG THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

My confidence in you is great; my boasting in your behalf is great. I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.

and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted among you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more.

His affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling.