Remember that while our Lord is waiting patiently to return, people are being saved. Our dear brother Paul also wrote to you about this with the wisdom that God gave him.
Aren’t you showing disrespect for God’s great kindness, favor, and patience? Don’t you realize that God’s kindness is meant to turn you away from your sins?
The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise, not slow in the way some people understand it. Instead, he’s being patient with you. He doesn’t want anyone to be destroyed. He wants everyone to turn away from their sins.
but for that very reason, God showed me mercy. That way Christ Jesus could show how very patient he is. I, the worst of sinners, could become an example for everyone who would believe in him and receive eternal life.
These were the spirits of those who had disobeyed long before, when God was being patient while Noah built the ark. Only a few people, eight in all, were saved from the flood in the ark.
If any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it, and he’ll give it to you. God gives freely to everyone and doesn’t tell them they shouldn’t have asked.
That’s what we speak about, and we don’t use words that we’ve learned from human wisdom. We use words that the Holy Spirit has taught us, and we use them to explain spiritual truths.
and he saved him from all his troubles. God helped Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, see how wise Joseph was and how good it would be to have him in his court. Pharaoh made Joseph ruler over Egypt and his whole palace.
So Ananias went over to the house and went in. He placed his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here has sent me. He wants you to see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”