All these promises are made to us, my dear friends. So then, let us purify ourselves from everything that makes body or soul unclean, and let us be completely holy by living in awe of God.

In this way he has given us the very great and precious gifts he promised, so that by means of these gifts you may escape from the destructive lust that is in the world, and may come to share the divine nature.

to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add endurance; to your endurance add godliness;

These are the qualities you need, and if you have them in abundance, they will make you active and effective in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And so, my friends, as you wait for that Day, do your best to be pure and faultless in God's sight and to be at peace with him.

When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.

Leave your troubles with the LORD, and he will defend you; he never lets honest people be defeated.

They will not be like their ancestors, a rebellious and disobedient people, whose trust in God was never firm and who did not remain faithful to him.

They were not loyal to him; they were not faithful to their covenant with him.

A good person will never fail; he will always be remembered.

You must, of course, continue faithful on a firm and sure foundation, and must not allow yourselves to be shaken from the hope you gained when you heard the gospel. It is of this gospel that I, Paul, became a servant---this gospel which has been preached to everybody in the world.

For even though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I am glad as I see the resolute firmness with which you stand together in your faith in Christ.

so that none of you should turn back because of these persecutions. You yourselves know that such persecutions are part of God's will for us.

For we are all partners with Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at the beginning.

But you, my friends, already know this. Be on your guard, then, so that you will not be led away by the errors of lawless people and fall from your safe position.

But continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, now and forever! Amen.

I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more, together with true knowledge and perfect judgment,

It is not that I just want to receive gifts; rather, I want to see profit added to your account.

Keep your roots deep in him, build your lives on him, and become stronger in your faith, as you were taught. And be filled with thanksgiving.

May the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow more and more and become as great as our love for you.

Finally, our friends, you learned from us how you should live in order to please God. This is, of course, the way you have been living. And now we beg and urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to do even more.

Our friends, we must thank God at all times for you. It is right for us to do so, because your faith is growing so much and the love each of you has for the others is becoming greater.

If Timothy comes your way, be sure to make him feel welcome among you, because he is working for the Lord, just as I am.

So they asked him, "What can we do in order to do what God wants us to do?"

Jesus answered, "What God wants you to do is to believe in the one he sent."

because he risked his life and nearly died for the sake of the work of Christ, in order to give me the help that you yourselves could not give.

For we remember before our God and Father how you put your faith into practice, how your love made you work so hard, and how your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ is firm.

He gave himself for us, to rescue us from all wickedness and to make us a pure people who belong to him alone and are eager to do good.

(SEE 13:20)

There is no difference between the one who plants and the one who waters; God will reward each one according to the work each has done.

But you must be strong and not be discouraged. The work that you do will be rewarded."

They give knowledge to me, your servant; I am rewarded for obeying them.

So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest.

God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to other Christians.

Is it for nothing, then, that I have kept myself pure and have not committed sin?

I am worried about you! Can it be that all my work for you has been for nothing?

as you offer them the message of life. If you do so, I shall have reason to be proud of you on the Day of Christ, because it will show that all my effort and work have not been wasted.

That is why I had to send Timothy. I could not bear it any longer, so I sent him to find out about your faith. Surely it could not be that the Devil had tempted you and all our work had been for nothing!

"Whoever welcomes you welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.

You can be sure that whoever gives even a drink of cold water to one of the least of these my followers because he is my follower, will certainly receive a reward."

"When the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with him, he will sit on his royal throne,

He will put the righteous people at his right and the others at his left.

I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes,

The righteous will then answer him, 'When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?

When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?'

Your lives will be filled with the truly good qualities which only Jesus Christ can produce, for the glory and praise of God.

Let us, then, always offer praise to God as our sacrifice through Jesus, which is the offering presented by lips that confess him as Lord.

Do not forget to do good and to help one another, because these are the sacrifices that please God.