Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

3 All this is exactly why I, Paul, am a prisoner of Jesus the Anointed, His representative to the outsider nations. ² You have heard, haven’t you, how God appointed me to bring you His message of grace? ³ And how the mystery was made known to me in a revelation? I briefly wrote about it earlier. ⁴ When you read what I have written, you will be better able to understand the depth of my insight into the mystery of the Anointed One, ⁵ a mystery that has never before been shown to past generations. Only now are these secrets being revealed to God’s chosen emissaries^[a] and prophets through the Holy Spirit. ⁶ Specifically, the mystery is this: by trusting in the good news, the Gentile outsiders are becoming fully enfranchised members of the same body, heirs alongside Israel, and beneficiaries of the promise that has been fulfilled through Jesus the Anointed.

⁷ I became a servant and preacher of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace as He exercised His amazing power over me. ⁸ I cannot think of anyone more unworthy to this cause than I, the least of the least of the saints. But here I am, a grace-made man, privileged to be an echo of His voice and a preacher to all the nations of the riches of the Anointed One, riches that no one ever imagined. ⁹ I am privileged to enlighten all of Adam’s descendants to the mystery concealed from previous ages by God, the Creator of all, through Jesus the Anointed. ¹⁰ Here’s His objective: through the church, He intends now to make known His infinite and boundless wisdom to all rulers and authorities in heavenly realms. ¹¹ This has been His plan from the beginning, one that He has now accomplished through the Anointed One, Jesus our Lord. ¹² His faithfulness^[b] to God has made it possible for us to have the courage we need and the ability to approach the Father confidently. ¹³ So I ask you not to become discouraged because I am jailed for speaking out on your behalf. In fact, my suffering is something that brings you glory.

¹⁴ It is for this reason that I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ after whom all families in heaven above and on earth below receive their names, and pray:

²⁰ Now to the God who can do so many awe-inspiring things, immeasurable things, things greater than we ever could ask or imagine through the power at work in us, ²¹ to Him be all glory in the church and in Jesus the Anointed from this generation to the next, forever and ever. Amen.

4 As a prisoner of the Lord, I urge you: Live a life that is worthy of the calling He has graciously extended to you. ² Be humble. Be gentle. Be patient. Tolerate one another in an atmosphere thick with love. ³ Make every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit has already created, with peace binding you together.

⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were all called to pursue one hope. ⁵ There is one Lord Jesus, one living faith, one ceremonial washing through baptism,^[c] and ⁶ one God—the Father over all who is above all, through all, and in all. ⁷ This God has given to each of us grace in full measure according to the Anointed’s gift ⁸ as the Scripture says,

⁹ (Well, when it says “He ascended,” then that must mean that He had descended earlier to the lower levels, that is, to the earth. ¹⁰ The One who descended is the same One who rose from the dead to ascend far above all the heavens so that He could fill all things.)

¹¹ It was the risen One who handed down to us such gifted leaders—some emissaries,^[e] some prophets, some evangelists, as well as some pastor-teachers— ¹² so that God’s people would be thoroughly equipped to minister and build up the body of the Anointed One. ¹³ These ministries will continue until we are unified in faith and filled with the knowledge of the Son of God, until we stand mature in His teachings and fully formed in the likeness of the Anointed, our Liberating King. ¹⁴ Then we will no longer be like children, tossed around here and there upon ocean waves, picked up by every gust of religious teaching spoken by liars or swindlers or deceivers. ¹⁵ Instead, by truth spoken in love, we are to grow in every way into Him—the Anointed One, the head. ¹⁶ He joins and holds together the whole body with its ligaments providing the support needed so each part works to its proper design to form a healthy, growing, and mature body that builds itself up in love.

¹⁷ Therefore, as a witness of the Lord, I insist on this: that you no longer walk in the outsiders’ ways—with minds devoted to worthless pursuits. ¹⁸ They are blind to true understanding. They are strangers and aliens to the kind of life God has for them because they live in ignorance and immorality and because their hearts are cold, hard stones. ¹⁹ And now, since they’ve lost all natural feelings, they have given themselves over to sensual, greedy, and reckless living. They stop at nothing to satisfy their impure appetites.

²⁰ But this is not the path of the Anointed One, which you have learned. ²¹ If you have heard Jesus and have been taught by Him according to the truth that is in Him, ²² then you know to take off your former way of life, your crumpled old self—that dark blot of a soul corrupted by deceitful desire and lust— ²³ to take a fresh breath and to let God renew your attitude and spirit. ²⁴ Then you are ready to put on your new self, modeled after the very likeness of God: truthful, righteous, and holy.

²⁵ So put away your lies and speak the truth to one another because we are all part of one another. ²⁶ When you are angry, don’t let it carry you into sin.^[f] Don’t let the sun set with anger in your heart or ²⁷ give the devil room to work. ²⁸ If you have been stealing, stop. Thieves must go to work like everyone else and work honestly with their hands so that they can share with anyone who has a need. ²⁹ Don’t let even one rotten word seep out of your mouths. Instead, offer only fresh words that build others up when they need it most. That way your good words will communicate grace to those who hear them. ³⁰ It’s time to stop bringing grief to God’s Holy Spirit; you have been sealed with the Spirit, marked as His own for the day of rescue. ³¹ Banish bitterness, rage and anger, shouting and slander, and any and all malicious thoughts—these are poison. ³² Instead, be kind and compassionate. Graciously forgive one another just as God has forgiven you through the Anointed, our Liberating King.