The Living Bible (368 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this wonderful work of telling his Good News to others,
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and so we never give up.
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We do not try to trick people into believing—we are not interested in fooling anyone. We never try to get anyone to believe that the Bible teaches what it doesn’t. All such shameful methods we forego. We stand in the presence of God as we speak and so we tell the truth, as all who know us will agree.
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If the Good News we preach is hidden to anyone, it is hidden from the one who is on the road to eternal death.
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Satan, who is the god of this evil world, has made him blind, unable to see the glorious light of the Gospel that is shining upon him or to understand the amazing message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is God.
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We don’t go around preaching about ourselves but about Christ Jesus as Lord. All we say of ourselves is that we are your slaves because of what Jesus has done for us.
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For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made us understand that it is the brightness of his glory that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
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But this precious treasure—this light and power that now shine within us
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—is held in a perishable container, that is, in our weak bodies. Everyone can see that the glorious power within must be from God and is not our own.
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We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are perplexed because we don’t know why things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit.
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We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.
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These bodies of ours are constantly facing death just as Jesus did; so it is clear to all that it is only the living Christ within who keeps us safe.
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Yes, we live under constant danger to our lives because we serve the Lord, but this gives us constant opportunities to show forth the power of Jesus Christ within our dying bodies.
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Because of our preaching we face death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you.
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We boldly say what we believe, trusting God to care for us,
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just as the psalm writer did when he said, “I believe and therefore I speak.”
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We know that the same God who brought the Lord Jesus back from death will also bring us back to life again with Jesus and present us to him along with you.
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These sufferings of ours are for your benefit. And the more of you who are won to Christ, the more there are to thank him for his great kindness, and the more the Lord is glorified.
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That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our inner strength in the Lord is growing every day.
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These troubles and sufferings of ours are, after all, quite small and won’t last very long. Yet this short time of distress will result in God’s richest blessing upon us forever and ever!
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So we do not look at what we can see right now, the troubles all around us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen. The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.
For we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down—when we die and leave these bodies—we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven, homes that will be ours forevermore, made for us by God himself and not by human hands.
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How weary we grow of our present bodies. That is why we look forward eagerly to the day when we shall have heavenly bodies that we shall put on like new clothes.
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For we shall not be merely spirits without bodies.
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These earthly bodies make us groan and sigh, but we wouldn’t like to think of dying and having no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will, as it were, be swallowed up by everlasting life.
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This is what God has prepared for us, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
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Now we look forward with confidence to our heavenly bodies, realizing that every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus.
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We know these things are true by believing, not by seeing.
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And we are not afraid but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord.
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So our aim is to please him always in everything we do, whether we are here in this body or away from this body and with him in heaven.
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For we must all stand before Christ to be judged and have our lives laid bare—before him. Each of us will receive whatever he deserves for the good or bad things he has done in his earthly body.
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It is because of this solemn fear of the Lord, which is ever present in our minds, that we work so hard to win others. God knows our hearts, that they are pure in this matter, and I hope that, deep within, you really know it too.
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Are we trying to pat ourselves on the back again? No, I am giving you some good ammunition! You can use this on those preachers of yours who brag about how well they look and preach but don’t have true and honest hearts. You can boast about us that we, at least, are well intentioned and honest.
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Are we insane to say such things about ourselves?
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If so, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Whatever we do, it is certainly not for our own profit but because Christ’s love controls us now. Since we believe that Christ died for all of us, we should also believe that we have died to the old life we used to live.
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He died for all so that all who live—having received eternal life from him—might live no longer for themselves, to please themselves, but to spend their lives pleasing Christ who died and rose again for them.
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So stop evaluating Christians by what the world thinks about them or by what they seem to be like on the outside. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, merely as a human being like myself. How differently I feel now!
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When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!
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All these new things are from God who brought us back to himself through what Christ Jesus did. And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him.
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For God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.
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We are Christ’s ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, receive the love he offers you—be reconciled to God.
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For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us!
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As God’s partners, we beg you not to toss aside this marvelous message of God’s great kindness.
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For God says, “Your cry came to me at a favorable time, when the doors of welcome were wide open. I helped you on a day when salvation was being offered.” Right now God is ready to welcome you. Today he is ready to save you.
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We try to live in such a way that no one will ever be offended or kept back from finding the Lord by the way we act, so that no one can find fault with us and blame it on the Lord.
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In fact, in everything we do we try to show that we are true ministers of God.
We patiently endure suffering and hardship and trouble of every kind.
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We have been beaten, put in jail, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, stayed awake through sleepless nights of watching, and gone without food.
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We have proved ourselves to be what we claim by our wholesome lives and by our understanding of the Gospel and by our patience. We have been kind and truly loving and filled with the Holy Spirit.
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We have been truthful, with God’s power helping us in all we do. All of the godly man’s arsenal—weapons of defense, and weapons of attack—have been ours.
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We stand true to the Lord whether others honor us or despise us, whether they criticize us or commend us. We are honest, but they call us liars.
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The world ignores us, but we are known to God; we live close to death, but here we are, still very much alive. We have been injured but kept from death.
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Our hearts ache, but at the same time we have the joy of the Lord. We are poor, but we give rich spiritual gifts to others. We own nothing, and yet we enjoy everything.
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Oh, my dear Corinthian friends! I have told you all my feelings; I love you with all my heart.
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Any coldness still between us is not because of any lack of love on my part but because your love is too small and does not reach out to me and draw me in.
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I am talking to you now as if you truly were my very own children. Open your hearts to us! Return our love!
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Don’t be teamed with those who do not love the Lord, for what do the people of God have in common with the people of sin? How can light live with darkness?
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And what harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a Christian be a partner with one who doesn’t believe?
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And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For you are God’s temple, the home of the living God, and God has said of you, “I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.”
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That is why the Lord has said, “Leave them; separate yourselves from them; don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you
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and be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters.”
