Brethren, you were called to freedom. However, make sure that you do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Instead, serve one another in love.
You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can be done to make it salty once again? It is no longer good for anything, and thus it is cast out and trampled underfoot.
Therefore, brethren, be diligent in providing a firm foundation for your call and election. If you do this, you will never stumble, and you will receive a glorious welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
He brought you low, allowing you to suffer from hunger. He then fed you with manna, something with which your fathers were not familiar, so that you might come to know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord.
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from anything that can defile flesh or spirit, and thereby make our holiness perfect in the fear of God.
Make every effort to present yourself before God as one who is worthy of his approval, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, but who imparts the word of truth without any alteration.
For just as in one body we have many parts, and the parts do not all have the same function, so we, though many, make up one body in Christ, and individually we are all parts of one another.
It was not their own swords that won them the land, nor did their own arms make them victorious; rather, it was your right hand and your arm and the light of your face, because you loved them.
Rather, revere Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be prepared to offer an explanation to anyone who asks you to justify the hope that is in you. However, do so with gentleness and respect.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her in order to sanctify her by cleansing her with water and the word.
No trial has confronted you except what a person can stand. God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tried beyond your strength. But together with the trial he will also provide a way out and the strength to bear it.
After you have suffered for a brief period, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and support you.
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Since you have been faithful in small matters, I will give you much greater responsibilities. Come and share your master’s joy.’
For all of us fall short in many ways. Anyone who never makes a mistake in speech has reached perfection and is able to control every part of his body.