¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love,

⁵ Test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in the faith and living your lives as [committed] believers. Examine yourselves [not me]! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves [by an ongoing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit?

²⁶ And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands and territories. ²⁷ This was so that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grasp for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. ²⁸ For in Him we live and move and exist [that is, in Him we actually have our being], as even some of ^[a]your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’

²⁷ God [in His eternal plan] chose to make known to them how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in and among you, the hope and guarantee of [realizing the] glory.

⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give us the Light of the knowledge of the glory and majesty of God [clearly revealed] in the face of Christ.^(A)

¹⁸ And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.

⁶ And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, ^[a]“Abba! Father!”

¹⁹ My little children, for whom I am again in [the pains of] labor until Christ is [completely and permanently] formed within you—

¹¹ a renewal in which there is no [distinction between] Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, [nor between nations whether] ^[a]barbarian or ^[b]Scythian, [nor in status whether] slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all [so believers are equal in Christ, without distinction].

¹⁶ Let the [spoken] word of Christ have its home within you [dwelling in your heart and mind—permeating every aspect of your being] as you teach [spiritual things] and admonish and train one another with all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.