Thanksgiving and Prayer

^3 (A)We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴ since we heard of ^(B)your faith in Christ Jesus and of ^(C)the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵ because of ^(D)the hope ^(E)laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in ^(F)the word of the truth, the gospel, ⁶ which has come to you, as indeed ^(G)in the whole world it is ^(H)bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you ^(I)heard it and understood ^(J)the grace of God in truth, ⁷ just as you learned it from ^(K)Epaphras our beloved ^(L)fellow servant.^[a] He is ^(M)a faithful minister of Christ on your^[b] behalf ⁸ and has made known to us your ^(N)love in the Spirit.

⁹ And so, ^(O)from the day we heard, ^(P)we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that ^(Q)you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all ^(R)spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as ^(S)to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^(T)fully pleasing to him: ^(U)bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ^11 (V)being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for ^(W)all endurance and patience ^(X)with joy; ^12 (Y)giving thanks^[c] to the Father, who has qualified you^[d] to share in ^(Z)the inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³ He ^(AA)has delivered us from ^(AB)the domain of darkness and transferred us to ^(AC)the kingdom of ^(AD)his beloved Son, ^14 (AE)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Preeminence of Christ

^15 (AF)He is the image of ^(AG)the invisible God, ^(AH)the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by^[e] him all things were created, ^(AI)in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^(AJ)thrones or ^(AK)dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created ^(AL)through him and for him. ¹⁷ And ^(AM)he is before all things, and in him all things ^(AN)hold together. ¹⁸ And ^(AO)he is the head of the body, the church. He is ^(AP)the beginning, ^(AQ)the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹ For ^(AR)in him all the ^(AS)fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and ^(AT)through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, ^(AU)making peace ^(AV)by the blood of his cross.

^21 (AW)And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, ^(AX)doing evil deeds, ²² he has now reconciled ^(AY)in his body of flesh by his death, ^(AZ)in order to present you holy and blameless and ^(BA)above reproach before him, ^23 (BB)if indeed you continue in the faith, ^(BC)stable and steadfast, not shifting from ^(BD)the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed ^(BE)in all creation^[f] under heaven, ^(BF)and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

^4 (A)When you read this, you can perceive my insight into ^(B)the mystery of Christ, ⁵ which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. ⁶ This mystery is^[a] that the Gentiles are ^(C)fellow heirs, ^(D)members of the same body, and ^(E)partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Heirs with Christ

¹² So then, brothers,^[a] we are debtors, ^(A)not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you ^(B)put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are ^(C)led by the Spirit of God are ^(D)sons^[b] of God. ¹⁵ For ^(E)you did not receive ^(F)the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of ^(G)adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ^(H)“Abba! Father!” ^16 (I)The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then ^(J)heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, ^(K)provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Children of God

²⁸ And now, little children, abide in him, so that ^(A)when he appears ^(B)we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his ^(C)coming. ²⁹ If you know that ^(D)he is righteous, you may be sure that ^(E)everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

3 See ^(F)what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called ^(G)children of God; and so we are. The reason why ^(H)the world does not know us is that ^(I)it did not know him. ² Beloved, we are ^(J)God's children ^(K)now, and what we will be ^(L)has not yet appeared; but we know that ^(M)when he appears^{[a] (N)}we shall be like him, because ^(O)we shall see him as he is.

²³ Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, ^(A)imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴ So then, ^(B)the law was our ^(C)guardian until Christ came, ^(D)in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus ^(E)you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷ For as many of you as ^(F)were baptized ^(G)into Christ have ^(H)put on Christ. ^28 (I)There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave^[a] nor free, ^(J)there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And ^(K)if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, ^(L)heirs according to promise.

Sons and Heirs

4 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,^[b] though he is the owner of everything, ² but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. ³ In the same way we also, when we were children, ^(M)were enslaved to the elementary principles^[c] of the world. ⁴ But ^(N)when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, ^(O)born ^(P)of woman, born ^(Q)under the law, ^5 (R)to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive ^(S)adoption as sons. ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent ^(T)the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then ^(U)an heir through God.