Disciples’ Relation to the World

¹⁸ “If the world hates you [and it does], know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, the world would love [you as] its own and would treat you with affection. But you are not of the world [you no longer belong to it], but I have chosen you out of the world. And because of this the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember [and continue to remember] that I told you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

⁶ While we were still helpless [powerless to provide for our salvation], at the right time Christ died [as a substitute] for the ungodly. ⁷ Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to willingly give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a good man [one who is noble and selfless and worthy] someone might even dare to die. ⁸ But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.