The Living Bible (375 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
Follow God’s example in everything you do just as a much loved child imitates his father.
2
Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, for Christ’s love for you was like sweet perfume to him.
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Let there be no sex sin, impurity or greed among you. Let no one be able to accuse you of any such things.
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Dirty stories, foul talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, remind each other of God’s goodness, and be thankful.
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You can be sure of this: The Kingdom of Christ and of God will never belong to anyone who is impure or greedy, for a greedy person is really an idol worshiper—he loves and worships the good things of this life more than God.
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Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the terrible wrath of God is upon all those who do them.
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Don’t even associate with such people.
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For though once your heart was full of darkness, now it is full of light from the Lord, and your behavior should show it!
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Because of this light within you, you should do only what is good and right and true.
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Learn as you go along what pleases the Lord.
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Take no part in the worthless pleasures of evil and darkness, but instead, rebuke and expose them.
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It would be shameful even to mention here those pleasures of darkness that the ungodly do.
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But when you expose them, the light shines in upon their sin and shows it up, and when they see how wrong they really are, some of them may even become children of light!
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That is why God says in the Scriptures, “Awake, O sleeper, and rise up from the dead; and Christ shall give you light.”
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So be careful how you act; these are difficult days. Don’t be fools; be wise: make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good.
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Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to find out and do whatever the Lord wants you to.
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Don’t drink too much wine, for many evils lie along that path; be filled instead with the Holy Spirit and controlled by him.
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Talk with each other much about the Lord, quoting psalms and hymns and singing sacred songs, making music in your hearts to the Lord.
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Always give thanks for everything to our God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Honor Christ by submitting to each other.
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You wives must submit to your husbands’ leadership in the same way you submit to the Lord.
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For a husband is in charge of his wife in the same way Christ is in charge of his body the Church. (He gave his very life to take care of it and be its Savior!)
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So you wives must willingly obey your husbands in everything, just as the Church obeys Christ.
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And you husbands, show the same kind of love to your wives as Christ showed to the Church when he died for her,
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to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God’s Word;
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so that he could give her to himself as a glorious Church without a single spot or wrinkle or any other blemish, being holy and without a single fault.
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That is how husbands should treat their wives, loving them as parts of themselves. For since a man and his wife are now one, a man is really doing himself a favor and loving himself when he loves his wife!
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No one hates his own body but lovingly cares for it, just as Christ cares for his body the Church, of which we are parts.
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(That the husband and wife are one body is proved by the Scripture, which says, “A man must leave his father and mother when he marries so that he can be perfectly joined to his wife, and the two shall be one.”)
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I know this is hard to understand, but it is an illustration of the way we are parts of the body of Christ.
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So again I say, a man must love his wife as a part of himself; and the wife must see to it that she deeply respects her husband—obeying, praising, and honoring him.
Children, obey your parents; this is the right thing to do because God has placed them in authority over you.
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Honor your father and mother. This is the first of God’s Ten Commandments that ends with a promise.
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And this is the promise: that if you honor your father and mother, yours will be a long life, full of blessing.
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And now a word to you parents. Don’t keep on scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Rather, bring them up with the loving discipline the Lord himself approves, with suggestions and godly advice.
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Slaves, obey your masters; be eager to give them your very best. Serve them as you would Christ.
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Don’t work hard only when your master is watching and then shirk when he isn’t looking; work hard and with gladness all the time, as though working for Christ, doing the will of God with all your hearts.
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Remember, the Lord will pay you for each good thing you do, whether you are slave or free.
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And you slave owners must treat your slaves right, just as I have told them to treat you. Don’t keep threatening them; remember, you yourselves are slaves to Christ; you have the same Master they do, and he has no favorites.
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Last of all I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within you.
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Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand safe against all strategies and tricks of Satan.
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For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world.
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So use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will still be standing up.
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But to do this, you will need the strong belt of truth and the breastplate of God’s approval.
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Wear shoes that are able to speed you on as you preach the Good News of peace with God.
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In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan.
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And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God.
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Pray all the time. Ask God for anything in line with the Holy Spirit’s wishes. Plead with him, reminding him of your needs, and keep praying earnestly for all Christians everywhere.
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Pray for me, too, and ask God to give me the right words as I boldly tell others about the Lord and as I explain to them that his salvation is for the Gentiles too.
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I am in chains now for preaching this message from God. But pray that I will keep on speaking out boldly for him even here in prison, as I should.
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Tychicus, who is a much-loved brother and faithful helper in the Lord’s work, will tell you all about how I am getting along.
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I am sending him to you for just this purpose: to let you know how we are and be encouraged by his report.
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May God give peace to you, my Christian brothers, and love, with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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May God’s grace and blessing be upon all who sincerely love our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely, Paul
From:
Paul and Timothy, slaves of Jesus Christ.
To:
The pastors and deacons and all the Christians in the city of Philippi.
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May God bless you all. Yes, I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will give each of you his fullest blessings and his peace in your hearts and your lives.
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All my prayers for you are full of praise to God!
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When I pray for you, my heart is full of joy
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because of all your wonderful help in making known the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.
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And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns.
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How natural it is that I should feel as I do about you, for you have a very special place in my heart. We have shared together the blessings of God, both when I was in prison and when I was out, defending the truth and telling others about Christ.
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Only God knows how deep is my love and longing for you—with the tenderness of Jesus Christ.
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My prayer for you is that you will overflow more and more with love for others, and at the same time keep on growing in spiritual knowledge and insight,
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for I want you always to see clearly the difference between right and wrong, and to be inwardly clean, no one being able to criticize you from now until our Lord returns.
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May you always be doing those good, kind things that show you are a child of God, for this will bring much praise and glory to the Lord.
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And I want you to know this, dear brothers: Everything that has happened to me here has been a great boost in getting out the Good News concerning Christ.
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For everyone around here, including all the soldiers over at the barracks, knows that I am in chains simply because I am a Christian.
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And because of my imprisonment, many of the Christians here seem to have lost their fear of chains! Somehow my patience has encouraged them, and they have become more and more bold in telling others about Christ.
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Some, of course, are preaching the Good News because they are jealous of the way God has used me. They want reputations as fearless preachers! But others have purer motives,
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preaching because they love me, for they know that the Lord has brought me here to use me to defend the Truth. And some preach to make me jealous, thinking that their success will add to my sorrows here in jail!
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But whatever their motive for doing it, the fact remains that the Good News about Christ is being preached, and I am glad.
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I am going to keep on being glad, for I know that as you pray for me, and as the Holy Spirit helps me, this is all going to turn out for my good.
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For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that will cause me to be ashamed of myself but that I will always be ready to speak out boldly for Christ while I am going through all these trials here, just as I have in the past; and that I will always be an honor to Christ, whether I live or whether I must die.
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For to me, living means opportunities for Christ, and dying—well, that’s better yet!
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But if living will give me more opportunities to win people to Christ, then I really don’t know which is better, to live or die!
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Sometimes I want to live, and at other times I don’t, for I long to go and be with Christ. How much happier for
me
than being here!
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But the fact is that I can be of more help to
you
by staying!
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Yes, I am still needed down here, and so I feel certain I will be staying on earth a little longer, to help you grow and become happy in your faith;
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my staying will make you glad and give you reason to glorify Christ Jesus for keeping me safe when I return to visit you again.
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But whatever happens to me, remember always to live as Christians should, so that whether I ever see you again or not, I will keep on hearing good reports that you are standing side by side with one strong purpose—to tell the Good News
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fearlessly, no matter what your enemies may do. They will see this as a sign of their downfall, but for you it will be a clear sign from God that he is with you, and that he has given you eternal life with him.
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For to you has been given the privilege not only of trusting him but also of suffering for him.
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We are in this fight together. You have seen me suffer for him in the past; and I am still in the midst of a great and terrible struggle now, as you know so well.