² through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.^(A)

⁶ Christ, however, was faithful over God’s^[a] house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm^[b] the boldness and the pride inspired by hope.^(A)

¹⁷ So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Warning to Pay Attention

2 Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

⁹ who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,^[a](A)

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

¹⁸ For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.^(A)

²⁶ For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.

Faith without Works Is Dead

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Surely that faith cannot save, can it?^(A)

¹⁴ For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end.

²³ provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature^[a] under heaven. I, Paul, became a minister of this gospel.^(A)