You suffered along with people in prison, and when your property was taken from you, you accepted that with joy, because you knew that God had given you better and more lasting things.
May the Lord show mercy to all who live in the house of Onesiphorus. He has often encouraged me. He wasn’t ashamed of me, even though I was being held in chains.
Keep on remembering those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and continue to remember those who are being treated badly as if you yourselves were suffering.
So sell what you own and give to the poor. That will be like putting your money in a bag that will never wear out. Store up your riches in heaven, where they can never be used up, where no thief can get near them and no moth can destroy them.
Dear friends, now we are children of God. We don’t know yet what we will be. But we know that when Christ appears, we’ll be like him, because we’ll see him as he really is.
That way they will store up true riches for themselves. This will provide a firm basis for the next life so that they can take hold of the life that really is life.
It’s right for me to feel this way about all of you. You have a special place in my heart. Whether I’m being held in chains or standing up for the truth of the good news, either way, all of you share together in God’s grace with me.
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have. Give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”
We know the earthly tent we live in will be destroyed. But we have a building made by God himself, a house not made by human hands. It lasts forever, waiting for us in heaven.
Now there’s a crown waiting for me, the crown that’s given to those who are right with God. The Lord, who judges fairly, will give it to me on the day he returns, and not only to me, but also to all those who are longing for him to return.
That’s why Christ is the mediator of a new covenant. Now the people that God has called to himself can receive the eternal gift he promised. They can receive it because Christ has died to pay the price and set them free from the sins they committed under the first covenant.