Acts 24:25Plain English VersionAnd Paul told them about the way God wants people to live. He said that God wants us to do what is right, and that he wants us to control ourselves. And Paul told them that God will judge everybody one day. Felix heard Paul talking about those things, and he got frightened. He said, “Stop, Paul, that’s enough for today. You can go back to the jail now. Maybe I will have time to listen to you another day, and then I will get you to come and talk to me again.” See the chapter |
so Paul went to that meeting house on the next Saturday to tell the people about Jesus. He used to do that in all the towns and cities that he went to. Paul went to that meeting house in Thessalonica each Saturday for 3 weeks, and he read some parts of God’s book and talked about them to the people there. They were the parts where God’s men wrote about the special man that God promised to send, called the Christ. They wrote that people will hurt God’s special man, and kill him, but then God will make him alive again. And Paul said, “Jesus is that special man that God sent to save us. People killed him, but God made him alive again.”
My Christian friends, God is so very good to us. So I really want you to use your bodies to live for him. A long time ago, God told his people to give him animals to show him respect. They did it like this. They used to kill the animals and burn them up. But now it is different. Now you have to use your bodies to live for him and do good things, it’s like you are giving your own bodies to God while you are still alive. If you do that, you will make God happy. That is the proper thing to do to show that you follow God.
God sees everything that everybody does and everything that everybody thinks. Nobody can hide anything from him. One day, God will get Jesus Christ to judge everybody about these things. That is the message that I tell everybody. (The next part, 2:17—3:8, mainly talks to Jewish people, so we have not translated it yet.)
So I’m telling you, don’t judge people before the right time comes. You have to wait until our leader Jesus comes back again from heaven. He knows every secret. He will show everyone the secret things that people think about doing. And at that time God will praise each of his good workers, and he will say good things about them.
Church leaders have to be like this, – They have to let visitors stay in their houses. – They have to really want to do good things. – They have to control themselves. – They have to be sensible. – They have to do what is right. – They have to do things that make God happy. – They have to be strong for Jesus.
and you have to learn to control yourselves too, – and you have to learn to keep going strong, no matter what happens, – and you have to be good to each other too, so that you will make God happy, – and you have to love other Christians like they are your own brothers and sisters, and you have to love everybody else too.