For we live by believing and not by seeing. | For we walk by faith, not by sight. |
We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. | For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. |
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For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. | Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. |
For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. | For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. |
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. | Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. |
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! | Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. |
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. | The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. |
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. | For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. |
Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. | For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. |
For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! | For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. |
Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. | As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. |
Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. | While you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. |
Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. | But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. |
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. | Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. |
You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” | So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. |
And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. | And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. |
For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. | For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. |
Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? | Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? |
As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them. | But “he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends. |
That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. | Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. |
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. | That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. |
Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. | Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. |
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. | Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness. |
Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God. | Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. |
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. | For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. |