Book of Common Prayer

¹¹ Therefore knowing the fear^[a] of the Lord, we are persuading^[b] people.

Now Our Heart Has Been Made Known To God, And I Hope To You. Boast In Us

Now^[c] we have been made known to God. And I hope that we also have been made known in your consciences. ¹² We are not again commending ourselves to you, but are giving you an opportunity for a boast about us, in order that you may have an answer for the ones boasting in appearance and not in heart. ¹³ For if we lost-our-senses, it is for God! If we are sound-minded, it is for you!

For The Love of Christ Controls Us As We Live a New Life For Him

¹⁴ For the love of ^[d] Christ controls^[e] us, we having determined this— that One died for all, therefore all died. ¹⁵ And He died for all so that the ones living might no longer be living for themselves, but for the One having died and been raised for them. ¹⁶ So then from now on, we regard^[f] no one based-on^[g] the flesh^[h]. Even though we have known Christ based on the flesh, nevertheless now we no longer are knowing Him thus. ¹⁷ So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation^[i]. The old things passed-away; behold, new things have come-into-being^[j].

And God Gave Us This Ministry of Reconciliation As His Ambassadors

¹⁸ And all things are from God, the One having reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and having given us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ how that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself— not counting their trespasses against them, and^[k] having placed the message of reconciliation in us. ²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, since^[l] God is appealing through us.

We Are Begging People To Be Reconciled To God...

We are begging^[m] on behalf of Christ: “Be reconciled to God! ²¹ He made the One not having known sin to be sin for us, in order that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”...

We Are Appealing To You Too!

6 And working-with Him, we also are appealing that you not receive the grace of God in vain. ² For He says [in Isa 49:8], “I heard you at the acceptable time. And I helped you on the day of salvation”. Behold, now is the very-acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.

Woe To The One Who Causes Others To Fall. Rebuke Sin In Your Brother. Forgive

17 And He said to His disciples, “It is impossible that the causes-of-falling should not^[a] come. Nevertheless, woe to the one through whom they come. ² It would be better for him if a mill’s stone were lying-around his neck and he had been^[b] thrown-off into the sea, than that he should cause one of these^[c] little ones to fall. ³ Take heed to yourselves— If your brother sins, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ And if he sins against you seven times in the day, and returns to you seven times saying ‘I repent’, forgive him”.

The Apostles Ask For More Faith. The Smallest Amount Is Enough

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase faith for us”. ⁶ And the Lord said, “If you have faith like a seed^[d] of a mustard-plant, you would say to this mulberry-tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’, and it would have obeyed you. ⁷ And who from-among you is there who, having a slave plowing or shepherding, will say to him having come in from the field, ‘Immediately having come-to the table, fall back [to eat]!’? ⁸ But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something I may have-for-dinner. And having girded-yourself, be serving me until I eat and drink. And after these things, you will eat and drink’? ⁹ He does not have gratitude^[e] for the slave because he did the things having been commanded, does he? ¹⁰ So also you, when you do all the things having been commanded to you, be saying that ‘We are unprofitable^[f] slaves. We have done what we were obligated to do’”.