On getting there he was delighted to see the grace which God had bestowed; and he encouraged them all to remain, with fixed resolve, faithful to the Lord.
Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself –that is, if it does not continue in the vine– so neither can you if you do not continue in me.
And, when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and of the devout converts from heathenism continued with Paul and Barnabas, who talked to them and urged them to hold fast to the grace of God.
Everywhere they strengthened the disciples by encouraging them to hold fast to the faith, and warned them saying, »It is through many afflictions that we must make our way into the Kingdom of God.«
But even the sacrifice of my life I count as nothing, if only I may perfect my earthly course, and be faithful to the duty which the Lord Jesus has entrusted to me of proclaiming, as of supreme importance, the Good News of God's grace.
The teacher must do the same in his teaching; and he who exhorts others, in his exhortation. He who gives should be liberal; he who is in authority should be energetic and alert; and he who succours the afflicted should do it cheerfully.
Therefore, my dear brethren, be firm, unmovable, busily occupied at all times in the Lord's work, knowing that your toil is not fruitless in the Lord.
Did I display any vacillation or caprice in this? Or the purposes which I form–do I form them on worldly principles, now crying »Yes, yes,« and now »No, no«?
For it has reached you, and remains with you, just as it has also spread through the whole world, yielding fruit there and increasing, as it has done among you from the day when first you heard it and came really to know the grace of God,
I send this short letter by Silas, our faithful brother –for such I regard him– in order to encourage you, and to bear witness that what I have told you is the true grace of God. In it stand fast.
And now, dear children, continue in union with Him; so that, if He re-appears, we may have perfect confidence, and may not shrink away in shame from His presence at His Coming.
For certain persons have crept in unnoticed –men spoken of in ancient writings as pre-destined to this condemnation– ungodly men, who pervert the grace of our God into an excuse for immorality, and disown Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord.