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.

So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to---the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires.

If I have turned from the right path or let myself be attracted to evil, if my hands are stained with sin,

At last the city clerk was able to calm the crowd. "Fellow Ephesians!" he said. "Everyone knows that the city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the sacred stone that fell down from heaven.

Some of you were like that. But you have been purified from sin; you have been dedicated to God; you have been put right with God by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

At one time you were far away from God and were his enemies because of the evil things you did and thought.

At one time you yourselves used to live according to such desires, when your life was dominated by them.

You have spent enough time in the past doing what the heathen like to do. Your lives were spent in indecency, lust, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and the disgusting worship of idols.

We know that we belong to God even though the whole world is under the rule of the Evil One.

save me from those who in this life have all they want. Punish them with the sufferings you have stored up for them; may there be enough for their children and some left over for their children's children!

The land is full of people unfaithful to the LORD; they live wicked lives and misuse their power. Because of the LORD's curse the land mourns and the pastures are dry.

As a result the master of this dishonest manager praised him for doing such a shrewd thing; because the people of this world are much more shrewd in handling their affairs than the people who belong to the light."

The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I keep telling it that its ways are bad.

Jesus answered, "You belong to this world here below, but I come from above. You are from this world, but I am not from this world.

If you belonged to the world, then the world would love you as its own. But I chose you from this world, and you do not belong to it; that is why the world hates you.

Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God---what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.

Now I did not mean pagans who are immoral or greedy or are thieves, or who worship idols. To avoid them you would have to get out of the world completely.

In order to set us free from this present evil age, Christ gave himself for our sins, in obedience to the will of our God and Father.

Demas fell in love with this present world and has deserted me, going off to Thessalonica. Crescens went to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

If you are like that, unable to make up your mind and undecided in all you do, you must not think that you will receive anything from the Lord.

Unfaithful people! Don't you know that to be the world's friend means to be God's enemy? If you want to be the world's friend, you make yourself God's enemy.

Do not love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you do not love the Father.

The world and everything in it that people desire is passing away; but those who do the will of God live forever.

because every child of God is able to defeat the world. And we win the victory over the world by means of our faith.

For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.

You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father's desires. From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies.

Now is the time for this world to be judged; now the ruler of this world will be overthrown.

I cannot talk with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me,

and they are wrong about judgment, because the ruler of this world has already been judged.

We know that we belong to God even though the whole world is under the rule of the Evil One.

The huge dragon was thrown out---that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.

All people living on earth will worship it, except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to the Lamb that was killed.

And it deceived all the people living on earth by means of the miracles which it was allowed to perform in the presence of the first beast. The beast told them to build an image in honor of the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived.

He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent---that is, the Devil, or Satan---and chained him up for a thousand years.

The LORD asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth."

Before he had finished speaking, another servant came and said, "Lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

when a storm swept in from the desert. It blew the house down and killed them all. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl in the air. A loud voice came from the throne in the temple, saying, "It is done!"

"When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can't find one,

Then it goes out and brings along seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in worse shape than at the beginning. This is what will happen to the evil people of this day."

"When a strong man, with all his weapons ready, guards his own house, all his belongings are safe.

"Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.

So it goes back and finds the house clean and all fixed up.

The chief priests and the teachers of the Law were afraid of the people, and so they were trying to find a way of putting Jesus to death secretly.

Then Satan entered into Judas, called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples.

"Simon, Simon! Listen! Satan has received permission to test all of you, to separate the good from the bad, as a farmer separates the wheat from the chaff.

Jesus and his disciples were at supper. The Devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, the thought of betraying Jesus.

As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Hurry and do what you must!"

Peter said to him, "Ananias, why did you let Satan take control of you and make you lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping part of the money you received for the property?

They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

Whoever continues to sin belongs to the Devil, because the Devil has sinned from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared for this very reason, to destroy what the Devil had done.

But you belong to God, my children, and have defeated the false prophets, because the Spirit who is in you is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world.

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.

Do not let anyone deceive you with foolish words; it is because of these very things that God's anger will come upon those who do not obey him.

The LORD has spoken: "Those who rule Judah are doomed because they rebel against me. They follow plans that I did not make, and sign treaties against my will, piling one sin on another.

Who are you making fun of ? Who are you liars jeering at?

The LORD says, "The people of Israel have not stopped sinning against me since the time of their sin at Gibeah. So at Gibeah war will catch up with them.

When the Son of Man came, he ate and drank, and everyone said, 'Look at this man! He is a glutton and wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and other outcasts!' God's wisdom, however, is shown to be true by its results."

the field is the world; the good seed is the people who belong to the Kingdom; the weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One;

Because of such things God's anger will come upon those who do not obey him.

Be obedient to God, and do not allow your lives to be shaped by those desires you had when you were still ignorant.

They want to look for nothing but the chance to commit adultery; their appetite for sin is never satisfied. They lead weak people into a trap. Their hearts are trained to be greedy. They are under God's curse!

Here is the clear difference between God's children and the Devil's children: those who do not do what is right or do not love others are not God's children.