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THE BIBLE TELLS US
New Life in Christ calls a person to live in a Christ-like way
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "
'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with
all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets."
Matthew 22:34-40
Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and
whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not
to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Matthew 20:26b-28
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God;
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God,
for God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into
the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but
that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since
God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we
love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has
given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son
as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God,
and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God
abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the
day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but
perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not
reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, "I love
God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a
brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. love God
whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must
love their brothers and sisters also.
1 John 4:7-21
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in
which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that,
but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and
endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint
us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has
been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for
the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person though perhaps
for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in
that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we
have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For
if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much
more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we
even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received
reconciliation.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and
death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned sin was
indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. Yet
death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the
transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.
Romans 5:1-14
So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to
our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the
sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up
stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have
something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what
is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those
who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal
for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and
wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:25-32
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such
things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions
and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not
become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:22-26
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies
of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is
your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God what is
good and acceptable and perfect.
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to
think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment,
each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have
many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one
body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ
according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in
ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in
generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is
good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not
lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in
suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality
to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one
another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly do not claim to be wiser than you
are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of
all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved,
never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written,
"Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." No, "if your enemies are
hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this
you will heap burning coals on their heads." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil with good.
Romans 12:1-21
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| All Scripture quotes are from
the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian
Education of the
National Council of
the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.
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