The Living Bible (394 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
If you believe that Jesus is the Christ—that he is God’s Son and your Savior—then you are a child of God. And all who love the Father love his children too.
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So you can find out how much you love God’s children—your brothers and sisters in the Lord—by how much you love and obey God.
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Loving God means doing what he tells us to do, and really, that isn’t hard at all;
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for every child of God can obey him, defeating sin and evil pleasure by trusting Christ to help him.
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But who could possibly fight and win this battle except by believing that Jesus is truly the Son of God?
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And we know he is, because God said so with a voice from heaven when Jesus was baptized, and again as he was facing death
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—yes, not only at his baptism but also as he faced death.
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And the Holy Spirit, forever truthful, says it too. So we have these three witnesses: the voice of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, the voice from heaven at Christ’s baptism, and the voice before he died.
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And they all say the same thing: that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
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We believe men who witness in our courts, and so surely we can believe whatever God declares. And God declares that Jesus is his Son.
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All who believe this know in their hearts that it is true. If anyone doesn’t believe this, he is actually calling God a liar because he doesn’t believe what God has said about his Son.
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And what is it that God has said? That he has given us eternal life and that this life is in his Son.
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So whoever has God’s Son has life; whoever does not have his Son, does not have life.
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I have written this to you who believe in the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life.
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And we are sure of this, that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will.
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And if we really know he is listening when we talk to him and make our requests, then we can be sure that he will answer us.
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If you see a Christian sinning in a way that does not end in death, you should ask God to forgive him, and God will give him life unless he has sinned that one fatal sin. But there is that one sin which ends in death, and if he has done that, there is no use praying for him.
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Every wrong is a sin, of course. I’m not talking about these ordinary sins; I am speaking of that one that ends in death.
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No one who has become part of God’s family makes a practice of sinning, for Christ, God’s Son, holds him securely, and the devil cannot get his hands on him.
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We know that we are children of God and that all the rest of the world around us is under Satan’s power and control.
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And we know that Christ, God’s Son, has come to help us understand and find the true God. And now we are in God because we are in Jesus Christ his Son, who is the only true God; and he is eternal Life.
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Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. Amen.
Sincerely, John
From:
John, the old Elder of the church.
To:
That dear woman Cyria, one of God’s very own, and to her children whom I love so much, as does everyone else in the church.
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Since the Truth is in our hearts forever,
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God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son will bless us with great mercy and much peace, and with truth and love.
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How happy I am to find some of your children here and to see that they are living as they should, following the Truth, obeying God’s command.
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And now I want to urgently remind you, dear friends, of the old rule God gave us right from the beginning, that Christians should love one another.
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If we love God, we will do whatever he tells us to. And he has told us from the very first to love each other.
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Watch out for the false leaders—and there are many of them around—who don’t believe that Jesus Christ came to earth as a human being with a body like ours. Such people are against the truth and against Christ.
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Beware of being like them and losing the prize that you and I have been working so hard to get. See to it that you win your full reward from the Lord.
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For if you wander beyond the teaching of Christ, you will leave God behind; while if you are loyal to Christ’s teachings, you will have God too. Then you will have both the Father and the Son.
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If anyone comes to teach you, and he doesn’t believe what Christ taught, don’t even invite him into your home. Don’t encourage him in any way.
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If you do, you will be a partner with him in his wickedness.
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Well, I would like to say much more, but I don’t want to say it in this letter, for I hope to come to see you soon, and then we can talk over these things together and have a joyous time.
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Greetings from the children of your sister—another choice child of God.
Sincerely, John
From:
John, the Elder.
To:
Dear Gaius, whom I truly love.
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Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is.
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Some of the brothers traveling by have made me very happy by telling me that your life stays clean and true and that you are living by the standards of the Gospel.
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I could have no greater joy than to hear such things about my children.
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Dear friend, you are doing a good work for God in taking care of the traveling teachers and missionaries who are passing through.
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They have told the church here of your friendship and your loving deeds. I am glad when you send them on their way with a generous gift.
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For they are traveling for the Lord and take neither food, clothing, shelter, nor money from those who are not Christians, even though they have preached to them.
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So we ourselves should take care of them in order that we may become partners with them in the Lord’s work.
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I sent a brief letter to the church about this, but proud Diotrephes, who loves to push himself forward as the leader of the Christians there, does not admit my authority over him and refuses to listen to me.
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When I come I will tell you some of the things he is doing and what wicked things he is saying about me and what insulting language he is using. He not only refuses to welcome the missionary travelers himself but tells others not to, and when they do he tries to put them out of the church.
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Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do what is right prove that they are God’s children; and those who continue in evil prove that they are far from God.
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But everyone, including Truth itself, speaks highly of Demetrius. I myself can say the same for him, and you know I speak the truth.
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I have much to say, but I don’t want to write it,
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for I hope to see you soon and then we will have much to talk about together.
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So good-bye for now. Friends here send their love, and please give each of the folks there a special greeting from me.
Sincerely, John
From:
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and a brother of James.
To:
Christians everywhere—beloved of God and chosen by him.
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May you be given more and more of God’s kindness, peace, and love.
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Dearly loved friends, I had been planning to write you some thoughts about the salvation God has given us, but now I find I must write of something else instead, urging you to stoutly defend the truth that God gave once for all to his people to keep without change through the years.
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I say this because some godless teachers have wormed their way in among you, saying that after we become Christians we can do just as we like without fear of God’s punishment. The fate of such people was written long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
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My answer to them is: Remember this fact—which you know already—that the Lord saved a whole nation of people out of the land of Egypt and then killed every one of them who did not trust and obey him.
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And I remind you of those angels who were once pure and holy but turned to a life of sin.
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Now God has them chained up in prisons of darkness, waiting for the judgment day.
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And don’t forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, all full of lust of every kind, including lust of men for other men. Those cities were destroyed by fire and continue to be a warning to us that there is a hell in which sinners are punished.
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Yet these false teachers carelessly go right on living their evil, immoral lives, degrading their bodies and laughing at those in authority over them, even scoffing at the Glorious Ones.
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Yet Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, when he was arguing with Satan about Moses’ body, did not dare to accuse even Satan, or jeer at him, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
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But these men mock and curse at anything they do not understand, and like animals, they do whatever they feel like, thereby ruining their souls.
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Woe upon them! For they follow the example of Cain who killed his brother; and like Balaam, they will do anything for money; and like Korah, they have disobeyed God and will die under his curse.
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When these men join you at the love feasts of the church, they are evil smears among you, laughing and carrying on, gorging and stuffing themselves without a thought for others. They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much, but producing nothing. They are like fruit trees without any fruit at picking time. They are not only dead, but doubly dead, for they have been pulled out, roots and all, to be burned.
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All they leave behind them is shame and disgrace like the dirty foam left along the beach by the wild waves. They wander around looking as bright as stars, but ahead of them is the everlasting gloom and darkness that God has prepared for them.
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Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, knew about these men and said this about them: “See, the Lord is coming with millions of his holy ones.
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He will bring the people of the world before him in judgment, to receive just punishment and to prove the terrible things they have done in rebellion against God, revealing all they have said against him.”
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These men are constant gripers, never satisfied, doing whatever evil they feel like; they are loudmouthed “show-offs,” and when they show respect for others, it is only to get something from them in return.
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Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you,
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that in the last times there would come these scoffers whose whole purpose in life is to enjoy themselves in every evil way imaginable.
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They stir up arguments; they love the evil things of the world; they do not have the Holy Spirit living in them.
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But you, dear friends, must build up your lives ever more strongly upon the foundation of our holy faith, learning to pray in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit.
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Stay always within the boundaries where God’s love can reach and bless you. Wait patiently for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you.
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Try to help those who argue against you. Be merciful to those who doubt.
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Save some by snatching them as from the very flames of hell itself. And as for others, help them to find the Lord by being kind to them, but be careful that you yourselves aren’t pulled along into their sins. Hate every trace of their sin while being merciful to them as sinners.
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And now—all glory to him who alone is God, who saves us through Jesus Christ our Lord; yes, splendor and majesty, all power and authority are his from the beginning; his they are and his they evermore shall be. And he is able to keep you from slipping and falling away, and to bring you, sinless and perfect, into his glorious presence with mighty shouts of everlasting joy. Amen.
Jude
