So do not be ASHAMED to TESTIFY about OUR LORD, or ASHAMED of ME HIS PRISONER. But join with ME in suffering for the GOSPEL, by the POWER OF GOD, WHO HAS SAVED US and CALLED US to a HOLY LIFE - not because of anything WE have done but because of GOD'S OWN PURPOSE and GRACE. This GRACE was given US IN CHRIST JESUS BEFORE the BEGINNING of TIME, but it has now been REVEALED through the APPEARING of OUR SAVIOR, CHRIST JESUS, WHO HAS DESTROYED DEATH and has brought LIFE and IMMORTALITY to LIGHT through the GOSPEL. And of this GOSPEL I was APPOINTED a HERALD and an APOSTLE and a TEACHER. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ASHAMED, because I KNOW whom I have BELIEVED, and am CONVINCED that GOD is able to guard what I have ENTRUSTED to HIM for that DAY.
What YOU heard from ME, keep as the PATTERN OF SOUND TEACHING, with FAITH and LOVE in CHRIST JESUS.
Guard the GOOD DEPOSIT that was ENTRUSTED to YOU - guard it with the help of the HOLY SPIRIT WHO LIVES IN US.
YOU know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted ME, including Phygelus and Hermongenes. May the LORD show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed ME and was not ASHAMED of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for ME until he found ME. May the LORD grant that he will find mercy from the LORD on that DAY! YOU know very well in how many ways he helped ME in Ephesus.
YOU then, my SON, BE STRONG IN THE GRACE THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS. And the things YOU have heard ME say in the presence of many WITNESSES ENTRUST to RELIABLE MEN who will also be QUALIFIED to TEACH OTHERS. ENDURE HARDSHIP with US like a GOOD SOLDIER of CHRIST JESUS. No one SERVING as a SOLDIER gets INVOLVED in CIVILIAN AFFAIRS - HE wants to PLEASE HIS COMMANDING OFFICER. (GOD) SIMILARLY, if anyone COMPETES as a ATHLETE, HE does not RECEIEVE the VICTOR'S CROWN unless HE COMPETES ACCORDING to the RULES. The HARDWORKING FARMER should be the FIRST to RECIEVE A SHARE of the CROPS. REFLECT on what I am saying, for the LORD will give YOU INSIGHT into all this.
REMEMBER JESUS CHRIST, RAISED FROM THE DEAD, DESCENDED FROM DAVID. This is MY GOSPEL, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But GOD'S WORD is not chained. THEREFORE I ENDURE everything for the sake of the ELECT, that they too may OBTAIN the SALVATION that is in CHRIST JESUS, with ETERNAL GLORY. Here is a TRUSTWORTHY SAYING: If WE DIED WITH HIM (CHRIST), WE WILL ALSO LIVE HIM (CHRIST); IF WE ENDURE, WE WILL ALSO REIGN WITH HIM (CHRIST). IF WE DISOWN HIM (CHRIST), HE (CHRIST) WILL ALSO DISOWN US; IF WE ARE FAITHLESS, HE (CHRIST) WILL REMAIN FAITHFUL, FOR HE (CHRIST) CANNOT DISOWN HIMSELF.
A WORKMAN APPROVED BY GOD
Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before GOD against QUARRELING ABOUT WORDS; it is of no VALUE, and only RUINS those who LISTEN. Do your best to PRESENT YOURSELF TO GOD AS ONE APPROVED, A WORKMAN who does not need to be ASHAMED and who CORRECTLY HANDLES THE WORD OF TRUTH. AVOID GODLESS CHATTER, because those who INDULGE in it will become more and more UNGODLY. Their TEACHING will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have WANDERED away from the TRUTH. They say that the RESURRECTION has already taken place, and they DESTROY the FAITH of some. NEVERTHELESS, GOD'S SOLID FOUNDATION STANDS FIRM, SEALED WITH THIS INSCRIPTION: "THE LORD KNOWS THOSE WHO ARE HIS," and, "EVERYONE WHO CONFESSES THE NAME OF THE LORD MUST TURN AWAY FROM WICKEDNESS."
In a large house there are articles not only of GOLD and SILVER, but also of WOOD and CLAY; some are for NOBLE PURPOSE and some for IGNOBLE. If a MAN CLEANSES HIMSELF from the latter, HE will be an INSTRUMENT for NOBLE PURPOSES, MADE HOLY, USEFUL TO THE MASTER and PREPARED to do any GOOD WORK.
Flee the EVIL DESIRES of youth, and PURSE RIGHTEOUSNESS, FAITH, LOVE and PEACE, along with those who call on the LORD out of a PURE HEART. Don't have anything to do with FOOLISH and STUPID ARGUMENTS, because YOU know they produce QUARRELS. And the LORD'S SERVANT (ME) must not QUARREL; instead, HE must be KIND to everyone, ABLE TO TEACH, NOT RESENTFUL. Those who OPPOSE him HE must GENTLY INSTRUCT, in the HOPE that GOD will grant them REPENTANCE leading them to a KNOWLEDGE of the TRUTH, and that they will come to their senses and ESCAPE from the TRAP of the DEVIL, who has TAKEN them CAPTIVE to do his will. AMEN!
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