True and False Disciples

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’^(A) will enter the kingdom of heaven,^(B) but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.^{(C) 22} Many will say to me on that day,^(D) ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’^{(E) 23} Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’^(F)

¹⁸ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[a](A) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.^{(B) 20} Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.^(C)

²¹ So I find this law at work:^(D) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being^(E) I delight in God’s law;^{(F) 23} but I see another law at work in me, waging war^(G) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin^(H) at work within me.

⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death,^(A) but the mind governed by the Spirit is life^(B) and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God;^(C) it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh^(D) cannot please God.

⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh^(E) but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.^(F) And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,^(G) they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you,^(H) then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life^[a] because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead^(I) is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies^(J) because of^[b] his Spirit who lives in you.

² If I have the gift of prophecy^(A) and can fathom all mysteries^(B) and all knowledge,^(C) and if I have a faith^(D) that can move mountains,^(E) but do not have love, I am nothing.

¹⁴ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus,^(A) so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.^(B)

⁸ For it is by grace^(A) you have been saved,^(B) through faith^(C)—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works,^(D) so that no one can boast.^{(E) 10} For we are God’s handiwork,^(F) created^(G) in Christ Jesus to do good works,^(H) which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Timothy Charged to Oppose False Teachers

³ As I urged you when I went into Macedonia,^(A) stay there in Ephesus^(B) so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines^(C) any longer ⁴ or to devote themselves to myths^(D) and endless genealogies.^(E) Such things promote controversial speculations^(F) rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. ⁵ The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart^(G) and a good conscience^(H) and a sincere faith.^{(I) 6} Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. ⁷ They want to be teachers^(J) of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.^(K)

⁸ We know that the law is good^(L) if one uses it properly. ⁹ We also know that the law is made not for the righteous^(M) but for lawbreakers and rebels,^(N) the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine^{(O) 11} that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.^(P)

³ In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.^(A) And his commands are not burdensome,^{(B) 4} for everyone born of God^(C) overcomes^(D) the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.^(E)