Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and undefiled is this: to come to the aid of orphans and widows in their hardships and to keep oneself untarnished by the world.
Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your noble confession of faith in the presence of many witnesses.
In it the righteousness of God is revealed, beginning in faith and established in faith. As it is written: “The one who is righteous will live through faith.”
You must understand, brethren, that it is through him that forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you. All those who believe are justified from all the things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses.
For all have sinned and thereby are deprived of the glory of God, and all are justified by the gift of his grace that is given freely through the redemption in Christ Jesus.
For I know full well the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for your misfortune, plans that will offer you a future filled with hope.