Dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, then we can approach God with confidence, and obtain from Him whatever we ask, because we are keeping His commands and doing what He approves. This is His command: to give our allegiance to His Son Jesus Christ and love one another as He commanded. When we keep His commands we dwell in Him and He dwells in us. And this is how we can make sure that He dwells within us: we know it from the Spirit He has given us.

   This letter is to assure you that you have eternal life. It is addressed to those who give their allegiance to the Son of God. We can approach God with confidence for this reason: if we make requests in accordance with His will He listens to us; and if we know that our requests are heard, we know also that the things we ask for are ours. For Christ suffered for you and left you a personal example, so that you might follow in His footsteps. He was guilty of no sin nor of the slightest prevarication. Yet when He was insulted He offered no insult in return. When He suffered He made no threats of revenge. He simply committed His cause to the One Who judges fairly. And He personally bore our sins in His own body on the cross, so that we might be dead to sin and be alive to all that is good. It was the suffering that He bore which has healed you. You had wandered away like so many sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and guardian of your souls.

   It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia - your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, Whom He raised from the dead - Jesus, Who rescues us . . .

Taken from I Jn. 3, 5, I Pt. 2, Eph. 4, I Thess. 1, The Phillips Translation, The New
English Bible and The New International Version. For free Lifescope book, write to Box
1575, Carlsbad, NM 88221. Please send $1.00 for postage and handling.