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.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because the whole world is hearing about your faith.

But thanks be to God! For though at one time you were slaves to sin, you have obeyed with all your heart the truths found in the teaching you received.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us unfailing courage and a firm hope,

About the tribe of Benjamin he said: "This is the tribe the LORD loves and protects; He guards them all the day long, And he dwells in their midst."

and commanded the prophet Nathan to name the boy Jedidiah, because the LORD loved him.

I appeared to them from far away. People of Israel, I have always loved you, so I continue to show you my constant love.

"As I passed by again, I saw that the time had come for you to fall in love. I covered your naked body with my coat and promised to love you. Yes, I made a marriage covenant with you, and you became mine." This is what the Sovereign LORD says.

When you began to plead with God, he answered you. He loves you, and so I have come to tell you the answer. Now pay attention while I explain the vision.

The angel said to me, "Daniel, God loves you. Stand up and listen carefully to what I am going to say. I have been sent to you." When he had said this, I stood up, still trembling.

He said, "God loves you, so don't let anything worry you or frighten you." When he had said this, I felt even stronger and said, "Sir, tell me what you have to say. You have made me feel better."

And so I write to all of you in Rome whom God loves and has called to be his own people: May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.

We love because God first loved us.

In the beginning, when God created the universe,

I was made in the very beginning, at the first, before the world began.

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.

In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

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.

He also said, "You, Lord, in the beginning created the earth, and with your own hands you made the heavens.

Who will accuse God's chosen people? God himself declares them not guilty!

But in order that the choice of one son might be completely the result of God's own purpose, God said to her, "The older will serve the younger." He said this before they were born, before they had done anything either good or bad; so God's choice was based on his call, and not on anything they had done.

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.

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,

You were chosen according to the purpose of God the Father and were made a holy people by his Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be purified by his blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure.

and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved.

The result is that all who have not believed the truth, but have taken pleasure in sin, will be condemned.

so that we might be holy and righteous before him all the days of our life.

You were chosen according to the purpose of God the Father and were made a holy people by his Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be purified by his blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure.

and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away.

But I tell the truth, and that is why you do not believe me.

Which one of you can prove that I am guilty of sin? If I tell the truth, then why do you not believe me?

Jesus answered him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me.

When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the Lord's message; and those who had been chosen for eternal life became believers.

He made no difference between us and them; he forgave their sins because they believed.

You foolish Galatians! Who put a spell on you? Before your very eyes you had a clear description of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross!

For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it.

When the true message, the Good News, first came to you, you heard about the hope it offers. So your faith and love are based on what you hope for, which is kept safe for you in heaven.

Do your best to win full approval in God's sight, as a worker who is not ashamed of his work, one who correctly teaches the message of God's truth.

and you remember that ever since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

By his own will he brought us into being through the word of truth, so that we should have first place among all his creatures.