1Pet1:1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

     To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying5 work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

    3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. - NIV


Rm1:1
Paul, 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


Rm8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. - NIV


Rm8:31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died � more than that, who was raised to life � is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:

   "For your sake we face death all day long;
       we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." (Psa44:22)

37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - NIV


Rm9:10Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. 11Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12not by works but by him who calls--she was told, "The older will serve the younger." 13Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." (Mal1:23) 14What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15For he says to Moses,

   "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
       and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
(Exo33:19)

16It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. - NIV


Rm9:19One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" 20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' " 21Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? 22What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction? 23What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory-- 24even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25As he says in Hosea:

   "I will call them 'my people' who are not my people;
       and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one," (Hos2:23)
26and,
   "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them,
       'You are not my people,'
   they will be called 'sons of the living God.' " (Hos1:10) - NIV


Rm11:1I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3"Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life [are trying to kill me]." 4But what is God's reply to him? "I have kept [reserved] for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. 7What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8as it is written,

   "God gave them a spirit of stupor,
       eyes that would not see
       and ears that would not hear,
   down to this very day."
(Deu29:4; Isa29:10)
9And David says,
   "Let their table become a snare and a trap,
      a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
   10let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
      and bend their backs forever." (Psa69:22,23) - ESV


Rm11:25Lest you be wise in your own conceits [conceited], I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness [full number] of the Gentiles has come in. 26And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

   "The Deliverer will come from Zion,
       he will banish ungodliness from Jacob";
   27"and this will be my covenant with them
      when I take away their sins." (Isa59:20,21;27:9 Jer31:33-34)

28As regards [with regard to] the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30Just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32For God has consigned all [bound all men over] to disobedience, that he may have mercy [them] on all. - ESV


1Jhn3:16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. - NIV


2Jhn1:1The elder to the elect [chosen] lady and her children, whom I love in [the] truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, 2because of the truth that abides [lives] in us and will be with us forever: 3Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love. - ESV


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)

7
So 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


1Pet4:12Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery [painful] trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice insofar as [that] you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that [he bears that] name. 17For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18And

    "If the righteous is scarcely saved,
        what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" (Pro11:31)

19
Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a [their] faithful Creator while doing [continuing to do] good. - ESV


Jud1:1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
      To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: 2Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. 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


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


Faith   and   Love

Challenge:  True Life

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