²¹ Once you were alienated from God and you were enemies with him in your minds, which was shown by your evil actions. ²² But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death, to present you before God as a people who are holy, faultless, and without blame. ²³ But you need to remain well established and rooted in faith and not shift away from the hope given in the good news that you heard. This message has been preached throughout all creation under heaven. And I, Paul, became a servant of this good news.

Paul’s service for the church

²⁴ Now I’m happy to be suffering for you. I’m completing what is missing from Christ’s sufferings with my own body. I’m doing this for the sake of his body, which is the church. ²⁵ I became a servant of the church by God’s commission, which was given to me for you, in order to complete God’s word. ²⁶ I’m completing it with a secret plan^[a] that has been hidden for ages and generations but which has now been revealed to his holy people. ²⁷ God wanted to make the glorious riches of this secret plan^[b] known among the Gentiles, which is Christ living in you, the hope of glory. ²⁸ This is what we preach as we warn and teach every person with all wisdom so that we might present each one mature in Christ. ²⁹ I work hard and struggle for this goal with his energy, which works in me powerfully.