⁵ So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.^(A)

³¹ Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.^(A)

⁴⁷ praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.^(A)

⁷ The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.^(A)

¹⁰ And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ,^[a] will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.^(A)

⁴¹ He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.^(A)

Fullness of Life in Christ

⁶ As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him,

¹³ until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity,^[a] to the measure of the full stature of Christ.^{(A) 14} We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming;^{(B) 15} but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,^{(C) 16} from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

5 ¹ For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.^(A)

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.^(A)