Once we were God’s enemies, but we were brought back to him through the death of his Son. And now that God has brought us back, how much more will we be saved through the life of his Son!
But now you do know God. Even better, God knows you. So why are you turning back to those weak and worthless powers? Do you want to be slaves to them all over again?
Even though you’ve never seen Jesus, you love him. Though you don’t see him now, you believe in him and you’re filled with a glorious joy that can’t be put into words.
We’re the ones who have truly been circumcised: We serve God by his Spirit, we boast in Christ Jesus, and we don’t put our trust in who we are or what we can do—although I myself could do that for many reasons.
We give thanks for the cup at the Lord’s Supper. When we do, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? When we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ?
When they were not accepted, it became possible for the whole world to be brought back to God. So what will happen when they are accepted? It will be like life from the dead.
And that’s not all. We have the first signs of what the Spirit will give us fully, but we also are groaning inside as we wait for our adoption to be finalized.
The churches chose him to come along with us as we collect the offering and bring it to Jerusalem. We’re carrying out this work because we want to honor the Lord and show how ready we are to help.