Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Obey the government

13 Everyone must obey the government officers. It is God who gives the authority to rule. The people who rule have received their authority from God. ² So anyone who refuses to obey that authority is refusing to obey God. That person will receive the proper punishment.

³ People who do good things do not need to be afraid of the rulers. Only people who do bad things should be afraid of the rulers. Do you want to live and not be afraid of the rulers? Then you must do good things and they will respect you. ⁴ Rulers are God's servants. They help you to do good things. But if you do bad things, then you should be afraid of them. They really do have authority to punish people. On God's behalf they punish people who do bad things. ⁵ So you must obey the people who have authority to rule. You must obey them not only so that they do not punish you. You must obey them because it is right to obey them. And you yourselves know that this is right.

⁶ This is also the reason why you pay taxes to the government. You should pay them, because the officers are God's servants. They are doing the work that God has given to them. ⁷ So you must give to each person what you ought to give them. Pay taxes to the people who receive taxes. Do that for every kind of tax. Respect those people that you should respect. Praise people that you should praise.

Love other people

⁸ Always pay your debts to people. The only debt that you should have is to love each other. Anyone who loves other people has obeyed God's Law completely.

⁹ The rules in God's Law say this: ‘Do not have sex with anyone who is not your own wife or your own husband. Do not kill anyone. Do not rob anyone. Do not want things that belong to other people.’ All these rules, and all the other rules in God's Law, are all included in one rule. That one rule is: ‘Love other people as much as you love yourself.’ ¹⁰ If you love other people, you will never do anything bad to them. So anyone who loves other people has obeyed God's Law completely.

¹¹ Live in that way, because you know what is happening in this time now. It is time that you should stop sleeping. It is now time to wake up. The time when God will save us completely is near. That time is nearer now than when we first believed in him. ¹² The night has nearly finished and the day is almost here. So we must stop doing the bad things that belong to the dark. Instead, we must take weapons like soldiers who are ready to fight in the light.^[a]

¹³ We should live in a good way, because we live in the light of day. We should not go to wild parties. We must not be drunks. We must not have sex with anyone who is not our own wife or husband. We must not do wrong things with our bodies. We must not quarrel. We must not be jealous of other people. ¹⁴ Instead, you must live with the Lord Jesus Christ as your guide. Do not even think about the bad things that you may want to do to make yourself happy.

Accept all Christians

14 It is difficult for some Christians to trust God completely about everything. You should accept people like that as your friends. Do not argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. ² Some people believe that they may eat all kinds of food. But other people are not so sure, so they eat only vegetables. ³ People who eat anything must not think that they are better than people who eat only vegetables. Also, people who eat only vegetables must not judge other people who eat anything. They are not doing anything wrong, because God himself has accepted them.

⁴ God is the master of all believers and they are his servants. You do not have authority to judge someone else's servant. The servant's own master will decide if he has done well or he has done something wrong. And he will serve his master well, because the Lord is able to help him to do that.

⁵ Some people think that certain days are special and more important than other days. Other people think that all days are the same. Each person should decide what seems right to him. ⁶ A person who makes a certain day special does that so that he can respect the Lord. A person who eats all kinds of food does that so that he can respect the Lord. He thanks God for the food that he eats. A person who refuses to eat certain foods also does that so that he can respect the Lord. And he also thanks God.

⁷ None of us lives only to please ourselves. And we do not die to please ourselves. ⁸ While we live, we want to please the Lord. And when we die, we want that to please the Lord too. So, while we live, or if we die, we continue to belong to the Lord. ⁹ Christ died and then he became alive again. That happened so that he could be the Lord of all people, those who have died and those who are still alive.

¹⁰ So then, if you eat only vegetables, you must not judge other believers. Also, if you eat anything, you must not think that you are better than other believers. Remember that all of us will have to stand in front of God. He will decide whether we have done what is right or wrong. ¹¹ This is written in the Bible:

Do not cause trouble

¹³ So we must no longer judge other believers. Instead, you must decide never to bring trouble to another believer. Do not cause them to do something wrong. ¹⁴ As for me, I am sure that we may eat any kind of food. God does not think that any food is unclean. The Lord Jesus has shown me that that is true. But someone else may believe that it is wrong to eat certain food. For that person, it would be wrong to eat that kind of food.

¹⁵ You should not cause another believer to be sad because of what you eat. If you do make him sad, then you are not really loving him. Remember that Christ died on behalf of that person. So do not let your food make him turn away from God. ¹⁶ You may think that something is good. But still you should not do it, if other people will say that it is bad.

¹⁷ We belong to God's people and he is our King. The things that we eat and drink are not really important to him. This is important: We should do what is right. We should have peace in our minds. And we should be truly happy. God's Holy Spirit helps us to live like that. ¹⁸ If anyone serves Christ in that way, they will make God happy. And other people will respect them.

¹⁹ So then, we should try to live in a way that brings peace. We should try to help each other so that we become stronger as God's people. ²⁰ Do not bring trouble to someone because of the food that you eat. Do not destroy what God has done in the life of another believer. God lets us eat all kinds of food. But do not eat anything that will cause another believer to do something wrong. ²¹ It is good not to do anything that might cause another believer to do something wrong. That includes if you eat meat or if you drink wine.

²² What you believe about these things should be a secret between yourself and God. You should do what you have decided is right for you. Do not feel guilty about what you eat. Then God will bless you. ²³ But someone else may not be sure whether it is right to eat certain kinds of food. If that person does eat that kind of food, then he shows that he is guilty. He has not trusted God that it is right for him to do that. Whatever things we do, we must trust God about them. If we do not trust God that something is right, then it is a sin.