so that if I have to put off my visit, you’ll know how people should act in God’s family, the church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth.
You’re also like living stones. As you come to Christ, you’re being built into a house for worship. There you will be holy priests and offer spiritual sacrifices that God will accept because of what Jesus Christ has done.
All the other believers are already talking about the kind of welcome you gave us, about how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God,
James, Peter, and John, who are respected as pillars in the church, recognized that God had given me this privilege. So they shook hands with Barnabas and me to welcome us as partners. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles while they went to the Jews.
Then I saw another angel coming up from the east. He brought the official seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who’d been allowed to harm the land and the sea,
No, you’ve come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You’ve come to a place where thousands and thousands of angels have gathered to celebrate.
God is the only one who can’t die. He lives in light that no one can approach. No one has seen him and no one can see him. Honor and power belong to him forever. Amen.
Without question, true godliness comes from this great mystery: Jesus came as a human being, and he was declared right with God by the Holy Spirit. He was seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory.
But a leader must have a good reputation. He must be faithful to his wife. He must be restrained, self-controlled, and worthy of respect. He must welcome people into his home, and he must be able to teach.
How can the temple of the true God get along with idols? We are the temple of the living God, as God has said, “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people.”
“Friends, why are you doing this? We’re only human, just like you. We’re bringing you good news, telling you to turn away from these worthless things to the living God. He’s the one who made the heavens, the earth, and the sea and everything in them.
So how much cleaner will the blood of Christ make us! He offered himself to God without any flaw through the power of the eternal Holy Spirit. His blood washes away our feelings of guilt for committing sin. Sin always leads to death. But now we can serve the living God.
In a wealthy home there are things made out of gold and silver as well as things made out of wood and clay. Some are used for special occasions like dinner parties, and others are used for the dirtier jobs.
It’s clear that you’re a letter from Christ, the result of our work for God, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. You’re a letter not written on tablets of stone but on human hearts.
“So you’re a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I’m a king. The reason I was born and came into the world was to be a witness to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of truth listens to me.”
But God’s solid foundation stands firm, with this message written on it: “The Lord knows who his own people are.” Also, “All those who say that they believe in the Lord must stop doing wrong.”