Book of Common Prayer

True teaching about the truth

1 Paul, an apostle of Messiah Jesus according to the command of God our savior and Messiah Jesus our hope, ² to Timothy, my true child in faith: grace, mercy and peace from God the father and Messiah Jesus our Lord.

³ This is my charge to you, just as it was when I went to Macedonia: stay in Ephesus, so that you can tell the relevant people not to teach anything different, ⁴ or to cling on to myths and endless genealogies. That sort of thing breeds disputes rather than the instruction in faith that comes from God. ⁵ The goal of such instruction is love—the love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith. ⁶ Some people have wandered off from these things and turned aside to foolish talk. ⁷ They want to be teachers of the law; but they don’t understand either what they’re talking about or the things about which they pronounce so confidently.

The purpose of the law

⁸ We know, after all, that the law is good—if someone uses it lawfully! ⁹ We recognize that the law is not laid down for people who are in the right, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinners, the unholy and worldly, for people who kill their father or mother, for murderers, ¹⁰ fornicators, practicing homosexuals, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and those who practice any other behavior contrary to healthy teaching, ¹¹ in accordance with the gospel of the glory of God the blessed one that was entrusted to me.

Paul as an example of God’s saving grace

¹² I thank Messiah Jesus our Lord, who gave me strength. He regarded me as trustworthy by appointing me to his service— ¹³ even though I used to say blasphemous things against him, and persecuted his people violently! But I received mercy, because in my unbelief I didn’t know what I was doing. ¹⁴ And the grace of our Lord was more than enough for me, with the faith and love that are in Messiah Jesus. ¹⁵ Here is a word you can trust, which deserves total approval: “Messiah Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I’m the worst of them! ¹⁶ But this was why I received mercy: so that in me, precisely as the worst, Messiah Jesus could demonstrate the full scale of his patience, and make me a pattern for those who were going to believe in him and so attain the life of the age to come. ¹⁷ To the King of the ages, the one and only God, immortal and invisible, be honor and glory to the ages of ages, Amen!

Jesus and Beelzebul

²² They brought to Jesus a man who was possessed by a demon that made him unable to see or speak. Jesus healed him, so that the sick man was able to talk and see. ²³ All the crowds were astonished.

“He can’t be David’s Son, can he?” they said.

²⁴ The Pharisees heard this.

“The fellow can only cast out demons,” they said, “because he’s in league with Beelzebul, the prince of demons!”

²⁵ Jesus knew their thoughts. “Suppose a kingdom is split down the middle,” he said to them. “It’ll go to rack and ruin! If a city or a household is split down the middle, it’s doomed! ²⁶ And if the satan drives out the satan, he’s split down the middle—so how can his kingdom stay standing?

²⁷ “What’s more, if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, whose power are your people channeling when they cast them out? Yes, they’ll tell you what’s what! ²⁸ But if I’m casting out demons because I’m in league with God’s spirit—well, then, God’s kingdom has arrived on your doorstep!

²⁹ “Look at it like this. Suppose you want to break into a strong man’s house and steal his belongings. How are you going to do that unless you first tie up the strong man? Then you can plunder his house to your heart’s content. ³⁰ If you’re not with me, you’re against me. Unless you’re gathering the flock with me, you’re scattering it.

³¹ “So let me tell you this: people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy; but blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven. ³² If anyone speaks a word against the son of man, it will be forgiven. But if anyone speaks a word against the holy spirit, it won’t be forgiven, either in the present age or in the age to come.”