Absent in Body, Present in Spirit (Revelation 3:14–22)
1 UST { I write these things} because I want to inform you about how hard I am working.{ I work hard} for you, for the fellow- believers who live in{ the city of} Laodicea, and for all fellow- believers who have not met me in person. BSB BSB: For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me face to face,
2 UST { I work this hard} in order to encourage all of you{ who have not met me} so that you unite yourselves together with love for each other.{ I want you} to completely and confidently understand the secret that God had previously kept hidden.{ This secret is about} the Messiah. BSB BSB: that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,
3 UST The Messiah is the one who knows all of God’ s wonderful, wise plan. BSB BSB: in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 UST I am telling you about this secret in order that no person who argues persuasively will be able to convince you to believe what is not true. BSB BSB: I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric.
5 UST { You can know that those who argue persuasively are wrong} because I care about you and think about you, even though I am not with you in person. I am very happy to see that you are behaving properly and that you firmly believe in the Messiah. BSB BSB: For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ.
Alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:1–10)
6 UST Now{ that I have told you the truth about the good news}, I want you to behave in a way that fits with how God has united you to the Messiah. You should keep behaving as you did when you accepted the Messiah Jesus the Lord. BSB BSB: Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him,
7 UST { Behaving in this way includes} staying firmly united to him, just as a plant’ s roots hold it firmly in place.{ It also includes} depending completely on him, just as a house stands on its foundation.{ It also includes} confidently trusting the Messiah, just as Epaphras taught you, and giving thanks more and more. BSB BSB: rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
9 UST { I mention the Messiah} because he, a human, is fully God. BSB BSB: For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.
10 UST In addition, you have everything you need since God has united you to the Messiah, who rules over{ the spiritual beings, including} every ruler and every authority. BSB BSB: And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
11 UST When God united you to the Messiah, it was as if God the Father had circumcised you. I do not mean that a human physically cut flesh off you.{ Rather, instead of cutting off flesh,} God removed your weak and sinful parts.{ God} circumcised{ you in this way} through what the Messiah accomplished. BSB BSB: In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.
12 UST { Here is another way to understand what God has done for you:} when they baptized you, it was as if{ you died and} people buried you{ because God the Father included you} when{ the Messiah died and} people buried him. And it was as if God the Father brought you back to life{ because he included you} when he brought the Messiah back to life.{ This happened} because you believed that God the Father works powerfully, particularly when he brought the Messiah back to life. BSB BSB: And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.
13 UST You used to be spiritually dead, because you{ often} sinned against God and because you were non- Jews{ and not part of God’ s people}. But God the Father brought you back to life spiritually{ because he included you} when he brought the Messiah back to life.{ This means that} he has forgiven us for all the wrong things we have done against him. BSB BSB: When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses,
14 UST It was as if God had an official list of the debts we owe{, which are our sins}.{ When he forgave us,} he wiped out that list of sins that counted against us, and he prevented it from coming between us and him. God accomplished this when{ the Messiah died on the cross, as surely as if} he had nailed the list to the cross. BSB BSB: having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!
17 UST { God used} these things{ to} point to what he had planned for the future, which is the coming of the Messiah himself. BSB BSB: These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ.
18 UST { You will meet some people} who enjoy pretending to be humble and worshipping angels and who love to talk about{ amazing} things that they have seen. They act like they are great— although without good reason, because they think only in human ways. Do not listen to these people who are trying to take away what God has ready to give to you. BSB BSB: Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind.
19 UST { These people} are not remaining loyal to the Messiah. It is he who leads the church, just like people’ s heads lead their bodies. The head directs how the whole body, each and every part, receives what it needs and how it works together. In this way the body grows. Just like that, the Messiah directs the church so that it grows as God wants it to grow. BSB BSB: He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.
20 UST It is as if you have died,{ because God included you} when the Messiah died.{ This frees you} from the spiritual beings that rule this world. So, you should not obey the rules{ that these people have given to you}.{ Doing so would mean that} you were really still part of this world. BSB BSB: If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations:
21 UST { These rules include commands like these:}“Do not feel{ certain things}!”“Do not try{ certain foods}!”“Do not take hold of{ certain things}!” BSB BSB: “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”?
22 UST All such rules concern things that perish when people make use of them. Further, people{, not God,} teach and require{ these rules}. BSB BSB: These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
23 UST Following these rules may seem to be a wise thing to do for people who worship God the way they want to, who pretend to be humble, and who treat their bodies badly{ as part of their religion}. However,{ following these rules} will not help you stop sinning. BSB BSB: Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body; but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.