So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

And not only [that,] but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed [this] to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

"It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.

"and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God,

buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with [Him] through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.