as the scripture says, "I have made you father of many nations." So the promise is good in the sight of God, in whom Abraham believed---the God who brings the dead to life and whose command brings into being what did not exist.

I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful.

Actually all of us were like them and lived according to our natural desires, doing whatever suited the wishes of our own bodies and minds. In our natural condition we, like everyone else, were destined to suffer God's anger.

We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.

And so those whom God set apart, he called; and those he called, he put right with himself, and he shared his glory with them.

The LORD Almighty has sworn an oath: "What I have planned will happen. What I have determined to do will be done.

This is my plan for the world, and my arm is stretched out to punish the nations."

The LORD Almighty is determined to do this; he has stretched out his arm to punish, and no one can stop him.

The LORD Almighty planned it. He planned it in order to put an end to their pride in what they had done and to humiliate their honored ones.

From the beginning I predicted the outcome; long ago I foretold what would happen. I said that my plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do.

I am calling a man to come from the east; he will swoop down like a hawk and accomplish what I have planned. I have spoken, and it will be done.

The earth trembles and shakes because the LORD is carrying out his plan to make Babylonia a desert, where no one lives.

God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ.

All things are done according to God's plan and decision; and God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning.

God did this according to his eternal purpose, which he achieved through Christ Jesus our Lord.

He saved us and called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. He gave us this grace by means of Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

It is the same way now: there is a small number left of those whom God has chosen because of his grace.

What then? The people of Israel did not find what they were looking for. It was only the small group that God chose who found it; the rest grew deaf to God's call.

Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him. Because of his love

God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children---this was his pleasure and purpose.

Our friends, we know that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own.

So then, my friends, try even harder to make God's call and his choice of you a permanent experience; if you do so, you will never abandon your faith.

His choice is based on his grace, not on what they have done. For if God's choice were based on what people do, then his grace would not be real grace.

(SEE 2:8)

he saved us. It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that he saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us.

We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.

We encouraged you, we comforted you, and we kept urging you to live the kind of life that pleases God, who calls you to share in his own Kingdom and glory.

We must thank God at all times for you, friends, you whom the Lord loves. For God chose you as the first to be saved by the Spirit's power to make you his holy people and by your faith in the truth.

God called you to this through the Good News we preached to you; he called you to possess your share of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who calls you to share his eternal glory in union with Christ, will himself perfect you and give you firmness, strength, and a sure foundation.

They will fight against the Lamb; but the Lamb, together with his called, chosen, and faithful followers, will defeat them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings."