^Rm1:1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God-- ²the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures ³regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, ⁴and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. ⁶And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. ⁷To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

   Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. - NIV

^Rm1:14I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. - NIV

^Rm1:16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹⁷For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." - NIV

^Rm16:25Now to him who is able to strengthen [establish] you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages ²⁶but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith-- ²⁷to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. - ESV

^Rm15:14I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. ¹⁵But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder [to remind you of them again], because of the grace given me by God ¹⁶to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of [proclaiming] the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be [Gentiles might become an offering] acceptable [to God], sanctified⁵ by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of [glory in] my work for God. ¹⁸For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience [to God]--by word and deed, ¹⁹by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God--so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of [proclaimed] the gospel of Christ; ²⁰and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named [made known], lest I build on someone else's foundation, ²¹but as it is written,

   "Those who have never been told of him will see,
       and those who have never heard will understand." (Isa52:15)

²²This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. ²³But now, since I no longer have any room for [more places to] work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, ²⁴I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. - ESV

^Rm10:5For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. ⁶But the righteousness based on faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷or "'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹For the Scripture says, "Everyone [anyone] who believes [trusts] in him will not [will never] be put to shame." ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches [blessings richly] on all who call on him. ¹³For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." - ESV

^Rm10:14But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" ¹⁶But they [the Israelites] have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" ¹⁷So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
¹⁸But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for

   "Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
       and their words to the ends of the world." (Psa19:4)
¹⁹But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,
   "I will make you jealous of [by] those who are not a nation;
       with a foolish nation [by a nation with no understanding] I will make you angry." (Due32:21)
²⁰Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,
   "I have been found by those who did not seek me;
       I have shown [revealed] myself to those who did not ask for me." (Isa65:1)
²¹But of Israel he says,
   "All day long I have held out my hands
       to a disobedient and contrary [obstinate] people." (Isa65:2) - ESV

^Rm11:13Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify [make much of] my ministry ¹⁴in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. - ESV

^1Jhn1:1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ²The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴We write this to make our joy complete. - NIV

^1Pet1:22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. ²³For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. ²⁴For,

   "All men are like grass,
       and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
   the grass withers and the flowers fall,
        ²⁵but the word of the Lord stands forever." (Isa40:6-8)

And this is the word that was preached to you. - NIV

^1Pet2:4As you come to him, a [the] living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For it stands [says] in Scripture:

   "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
        a cornerstone chosen and precious,
    and whoever believes [trusts] in him
        will not [never] be put to shame." (Isa28:16)

⁷So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
   "The stone that the builders rejected
         has become the cornerstone," (Psa118:22) ⁸and
   "A stone of stumbling [that causes men to stumble],
         and a rock of offense [that makes them fall]." (Isa8:14)

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. ⁹But you are a chosen race [people], a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession [belonging to God], that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. - ESV

^1Pet3:13Now who is there [going] to harm you if you are zealous for [to do] what is good? ¹⁴But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, ¹⁵but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense [give an answer] to anyone who asks you for a [to give the] reason for the hope that is in you; ¹⁶yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good [keeping a clear] conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile³ your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. ¹⁷For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. ¹⁸For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit [by the Spirit], - ESV

^1Pet3:1Likewise, wives, be subject [submissive] to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey [believe] the word, they may be won [over] without a word by the conduct of their wives-- ²when they see your respectful and pure conduct. - ESV

^1Pet4:7The end of all things is at hand [near]; therefore be self-controlled and sober[clear]-minded for the sake of your prayers [so that you can pray]. ⁸Above all, keep loving one another earnestly [deeply], since love covers [over] a multitude of sins. ⁹Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of [faithfully administering] God's varied grace [grace in its various forms]: ¹¹whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles [the very words] of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies--in order that in everything God may be glorified [praised] through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion [power] forever and ever. Amen. - ESV

^Jud1:3Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. ⁴For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. - NIV

^Jud1:20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. ²¹Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. ²²Be merciful to those who doubt; ²³snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear�hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. ²⁴To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy� ²⁵to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. - NIV

3 - revile: to denounce with abusive language. ^

5 - sanctify: to free from sin, purify, and set apart for a sacred purpose. ^

Faith   and   Love

Challenge:  True Life

Index