Not By Works

[Shamah]

Notice that the Greek word "sabbatismos" is used no where else in the Bible! Amazing that Sabbatarians would suggest that this is the word for "keeping the weekly Sabbath" when it is never used anywhere else, in spite of the many references to Jews keeping the weekly Sabbath in the New Testament!

W. E. Vine, Greek Dictionary on "Rest" proves the Sabbatarian argument wrong:

A2. KATAPAUSIS (2663), in classical Greek, denotes a causing to cease or putting to rest; in the N.T., rest, repose; it is used (a) of God's rest, Acts 7:49; Heb. 3:11, 18; 4:1, 3 (twice), R.V. (1st part), "that rest" (the A.V., "rest," is ambiguous), 5, 11; (b) in a general statement, applicable to God and man, 4:10.

A4. SABBATISMOS (4520), a Sabbath-keeping, is used in Heb. 4:9, R.V., "a Sabbath rest," A.V. marg., "a keeping of a Sabbath" (akin to sabbatizoµ, to keep the Sabbath, used, e.g., in Ex. 16:30, not in the N.T.); here the Sabbath-keeping is the perpetual Sabbath rest to be enjoyed uninterruptedly by believers in their fellowship with the Father and the Son, in contrast to the weekly Sabbath under the Law. Because this Sabbath rest is the rest of God Himself, 4:10, its full fruition is yet future, though believers now enter into it. In whatever way they enter into Divine rest, that which they enjoy is involved in an indissoluble relation with God.

Sabbath Millennium...

Rev 20:4-6, “And I saw thrones – and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them – and the lives of those who had been beheaded because of the witness they bore to יהושע and because of the Word of the Mighty One, and who did not worship the beast, nor his image, and did not receive his mark upon their foreheads or upon their hands. And they lived and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years and the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended) – this is the first resurrection. Blessed and set-apart is the one having part in the first resurrection. The second death possesses no authority over these, but they shall be priests of יהוה and of Messiah, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."

A permanent God given rest with Him.

Hosheyah 6:1-3, “Come, and let us turn back to יהוה. For He has torn but He does heal us, He has stricken but He binds us up. After two days He shall revive us, on the third day He shall raise us up, so that we live before Him. So let us know, let us pursue to know יהוה. His going forth is as certain as the morning. And He comes to us like the rain, like the latter rain watering the earth.”

THe MEssiah came in the "4th" day, "2 days" later "He revives us" the "3rd day we shall live before Him"

of the "7th day"

Yes it is. People refuse to walk in to His rest. They think they have to do something to earn it. They have to observe this or that. And they ignore the simple Scriptures that refute them.

simple Scriptures indeed...

Revelation 14:13, "And I heard a voice from heaven saying to me: Write: Blessed are the dead, the ones dying in the Messiah from now on! Yes, says the Spirit: because they will rest from their labors, and their works do follow them!"

 

[Cee]

Sabbath Millennium...

Rev 20:4-6, “And I saw thrones – and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them – and the lives of those who had been beheaded because of the witness they bore to יהושע and because of the Word of the Mighty One, and who did not worship the beast, nor his image, and did not receive his mark upon their foreheads or upon their hands. And they lived and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years and the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended) – this is the first resurrection. Blessed and set-apart is the one having part in the first resurrection. The second death possesses no authority over these, but they shall be priests of יהוה and of Messiah, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."



Hosheyah 6:1-3, “Come, and let us turn back to יהוה. For He has torn but He does heal us, He has stricken but He binds us up. After two days He shall revive us, on the third day He shall raise us up, so that we live before Him. So let us know, let us pursue to know יהוה. His going forth is as certain as the morning. And He comes to us like the rain, like the latter rain watering the earth.”

THe MEssiah came in the "4th" day, "2 days" later "He revives us" the "3rd day we shall live before Him"

of the "7th day"



simple Scriptures indeed...

Revelation 14:13, "And I heard a voice from heaven saying to me: Write: Blessed are the dead, the ones dying in the Messiah from now on! Yes, says the Spirit: because they will rest from their labors, and their works do follow them!"

I agree we rest from our labors when we are dead. But that doesn't mean we don't have spiritual rest available now. In fact, you said in your post to me that we rest from our works and enter into His works for our life, which I agreed with. If you take this Scriptural literal, that would appear we do not actually rest from our works until we die.

I don't have this issue though because I believe this is talking about physical rest not spiritual rest. As Jesus is my Sabbath and my rest.

 

[Shamah]

I agree we rest from our labors when we are dead. But that doesn't mean we don't have spiritual rest available now. In fact, you said in your post to me that we rest from our works and enter into His works for our life, which I agreed with. If you take this Scriptural literal, that would appear we do not actually rest from our works until we die.

I don't have this issue though because I believe this is talking about physical rest not spiritual rest. As Jesus is my Sabbath and my rest.

I do indeed believe being freed of the bondage of sin, worldliness, our own worries, and our own will and seeking His will is the most comforting thing and rest, however I don;t beleive it is "the rest" the Messiah speaks of, I believe that is shown in Revelation 14:13, "...Blessed are the dead, the ones dying in the Messiah from now on! Yes, says the Spirit: because they will rest from their labors" With that said Im open if you can provide Scripture that explicitly shows the rest in Jesus is now and not in the kingdom. As I beleive Heb 4 uses the parrallel of "entering the promised land and rest" with entering the kingdom..the real rest" The Spirit of Yah does offer a comfort and guidance in the world NOTHING else will, but to me Rev 14:13 is clear. Also praise Yah and be well Cee!

 

[BillG]

Matthew 11:25-30
Jesus’ Prayer of Thanksgiving
Matt 11:25-27 // Luke 10:21-22
25 At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike.26 Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!
27 “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

 

[Shamah]

Jeremiah 17:14, “Heal me, O יהוה, so that I am healed. Save me, so that I am saved, for You are my praise.”

 

[Studyman]

Yes it is. People refuse to walk in to His rest. They think they have to do something to earn it. They have to observe this or that. And they ignore the simple Scriptures that refute them.

I'm not aware of any scriptures which refute the verses I posted for discussion. But your statement that we don't have to do something to enter Christ's Rest, like your version of God's New Covenant, can not be supported by the actual Word's of God. The following are all Christ's Words, I didn't want to create another "long post" for you to ridicule so I stuck to just His Words.


John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Matt. 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Matt. 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Luke 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.


I am hoping I guess, that given all the warnings of the Christ, and given what God tells us about the true human heart, that you might consider that maybe, just maybe, Jesus knew what He was saying when He told us to live by "EVERY WORD OF GOD". For me, I am not perfect, but I do believe in the Messiah of the Bible. Everything He says, not just the words popular with the religions of the land.

 

[BillG]

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

This is probably side track but I just want to say the following given the above.

One thing that really does my head in is when it comes to worship in church (which can lead to same in our private times with God)

I have heard it many many times.

"We are going to worship/praise God, set your worries aside"

It does my head in.
To set aside, put aside is not the answer. We will still walk away with it.

To me to lift up to Jesus, to say to him "I'm weary, I'm struggling, I need help"
Is in fact an act of worship, we are saying "Jesus I need you, help me to trust you and your promise"

Just wanted to get that off my chest concerning the above verses.

 

[Cee]

I do indeed believe being freed of the bondage of sin, worldliness, our own worries, and our own will and seeking His will is the most comforting thing and rest, however I don;t beleive it is "the rest" the Messiah speaks of, I believe that is shown in Revelation 14:13, "...Blessed are the dead, the ones dying in the Messiah from now on! Yes, says the Spirit: because they will rest from their labors" With that said Im open if you can provide Scripture that explicitly shows the rest in Jesus is now and not in the kingdom. As I beleive Heb 4 uses the parrallel of "entering the promised land and rest" with entering the kingdom..the real rest" The Spirit of Yah does offer a comfort and guidance in the world NOTHING else will, but to me Rev 14:13 is clear. Also praise Yah and be well Cee!

It's difficult to provide you with Scriptures because it seems to me you're looking for Scriptures that connect the Sabbath to Jesus besides Hebrews 4. And I went through all the Sabbaton instances and didn't find them. However, there is plenty of Scriptures about peace and rest that connect Jesus, but not "Sabbath" rest.

Of course, I could show you Jesus saying the Sabbath was made for man and not man for Sabbath. Which means it's to bless us so we could have rest from work. Just as Jesus does for us.

I could show you how Jesus repeated all 9 commandments, and increased our heart observance of them, but left out the commandment to keep the Sabbath because it wasn't something we could daily. (This was a big convincer for me)

I could show you how the Pharisees tried to tell Jesus over and over His observance of the Sabbath wasn't correct, but He was more concerned with the heart and not the Sabbath. In fact, telling them over and over their understanding of it was flawed.

I could find Scriptures that speak of "resting from our works" and since we know the Sabbath was God resting from His work - we could pull parallels there as well.

But at the end of the day, Paul said let each be convinced in their own mind. So amen to that, my friend. Be blessed!

We both agree Jesus is our spiritual rest. We do not work for salvation, but we work from Salvation. Maybe our idea is different what the "work" looks like... but that's okay too because we each have our own relationship with Him.

 

[Cee]

I'm not aware of any scriptures which refute the verses I posted for discussion. But your statement that we don't have to do something to enter Christ's Rest, like your version of God's New Covenant, can not be supported by the actual Word's of God. The following are all Christ's Words, I didn't want to create another "long post" for you to ridicule so I stuck to just His Words.


John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Matt. 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Matt. 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Luke 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.


I am hoping I guess, that given all the warnings of the Christ, and given what God tells us about the true human heart, that you might consider that maybe, just maybe, Jesus knew what He was saying when He told us to live by "EVERY WORD OF GOD". For me, I am not perfect, but I do believe in the Messiah of the Bible. Everything He says, not just the words popular with the religions of the land.

Sure bro.. but you also take Scriptures out of context. Jesus saying doing what I command you, but then putting the "commands" of Jesus in whatever you want them to be. Instead of letting the letter tell you directly.

I'll tell you what they are in John.

1) Believe on the One He sent
2) Love one another as I have loved you
3) And we could add forgive as I have forgiven you (but #2 does cover this)

You're also conflating the words to mean what you want. For instance, repent... it's about knowing the goodness and kindness of GOD... not the LAW. But from I've seen your so focused on the Law. Yet Scripture clearly tells us (that you say you live by) we have a veil over our eyes until we turn to Him.

Heres a simple Scripture for you.. those who believe in me HAVE passed from death to life. Are you sure you don't know any Scriptures that teach it's simple to step into His rest?

How about my burden is easy and light.. have rest for your souls...?

This is just off the top of my head, I can come up with numerous more as I'm sure you're aware.

 

[benhur]

Hi E-g, thank you for these words, legalism robs us of the joy of our salvation. Let us not go backwards into law instead of freedom, Christ set us free from the law. The letter of the law kills but the Spirit gives life;

Luke 11:42

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.​

God bless!

Tell me what the Mosaic law said about adultery, which was caught up in the letter of the law.

Now tell me what the spirit of the law says about adultery?

Is the spirit of the law in regards to adultery more of a burden?

 

[PS]

I'm not aware of any scriptures which refute the verses I posted for discussion. But your statement that we don't have to do something to enter Christ's Rest, like your version of God's New Covenant, can not be supported by the actual Word's of God. The following are all Christ's Words, I didn't want to create another "long post" for you to ridicule so I stuck to just His Words.

John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Matt. 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Matt. 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Luke 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

I am hoping I guess, that given all the warnings of the Christ, and given what God tells us about the true human heart, that you might consider that maybe, just maybe, Jesus knew what He was saying when He told us to live by "EVERY WORD OF GOD". For me, I am not perfect, but I do believe in the Messiah of the Bible. Everything He says, not just the words popular with the religions of the land.

Jesus, God with us, is giving us "EVERY WORD OF GOD" in the NEW Covenant that He has made with and for man. It annuls the Old Covenant.

 

[benhur]

The first desire of God is for us to have a relationship with Him. Thus, He prepared a way that we can do that; His free gift offer of eternal salvation. Once we accept that free gift, our relationship with Him is eternally established.

The next desire is that He wants constant "fellowship" with Him and He provides a way for that as well; His Word, prayer, meditation, worship time, praise time.

This is how I see the whole thing.

You mention His Word, prayer, meditation, worship time, praise time. These are all good and we should do them, but why do you not mention things that have to do with pure religion and the law Christ?

Or do you think His Word, prayer, meditation, worship time and praise time are what the bible refers to as pure religion, and the law of Christ?

 

[TruthTalk]

Tell me what the Mosaic law said about adultery, which was caught up in the letter of the law.

Now tell me what the spirit of the law says about adultery?

Is the spirit of the law in regards to adultery more of a burden?

No thank you. You cannot separate God's grace in which we now stand with your wonderful deeds/works, Also you will not be honest about your Church affiliation which makes me skeptical of anything you have to say.

Good works are not the measuring stick of who is saved, an atheist can have good works. but I do wish you well in your search for the truth.

Galatians5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

 

[BillG]

Tell me what the Mosaic law said about adultery, which was caught up in the letter of the law.

Now tell me what the spirit of the law says about adultery?

Is the spirit of the law in regards to adultery more of a burden?

I'm not answering for TT here but here are my thoughts

Leviticus 20:10
10 The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.

Under the law both parties should be put to death.

But also under the law there had to be a witnesses

Deuteronomy 17:6-7
6 Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.

So this is part of why Jesus could not condemn the adulteress woman, according to law of Moses (or the law of Rome, the Pharisees were trying to lay a trap with regards to the law of Rome as they could only carry out or order capital punishment)

So with regards to the adulteress woman.

The man was not presented before Jesus, so only one party, no witnesses came forward to corroborate that they saw the adultery happening.

Given the verses in Deuteronomy the wintesses to the event are the first to put them to death.

But there were none, so none could cast the first stone.

Jesus knew that. They were trying to trap him.
They all walked away.

Because under the law of Moses she could not be stoned.

My guess is that Jesus knew she was guilty, he said "Go sin no more"

The spirit of the law is

Matthew 5:27-28

Adultery in the Heart
27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Why the difference between to OT and the spirit of the law?

I have no idea

 

[Shamah]

It's difficult to provide you with Scriptures because it seems to me you're looking for Scriptures that connect the Sabbath to Jesus besides Hebrews 4. And I went through all the Sabbaton instances and didn't find them. However, there is plenty of Scriptures about peace and rest that connect Jesus, but not "Sabbath" rest.

Of course, I could show you Jesus saying the Sabbath was made for man and not man for Sabbath. Which means it's to bless us so we could have rest from work. Just as Jesus does for us.

I could show you how Jesus repeated all 9 commandments, and increased our heart observance of them, but left out the commandment to keep the Sabbath because it wasn't something we could daily. (This was a big convincer for me)

I could show you how the Pharisees tried to tell Jesus over and over His observance of the Sabbath wasn't correct, but He was more concerned with the heart and not the Sabbath. In fact, telling them over and over their understanding of it was flawed.

I could find Scriptures that speak of "resting from our works" and since we know the Sabbath was God resting from His work - we could pull parallels there as well.

But at the end of the day, Paul said let each be convinced in their own mind. So amen to that, my friend. Be blessed!

We both agree Jesus is our spiritual rest. We do not work for salvation, but we work from Salvation. Maybe our idea is different what the "work" looks like... but that's okay too because we each have our own relationship with Him.

I agree that bottom line each has to find what they believe. But I do want to comment on one thing.

You said He repeated 9 COmmandments and basically taught how to observe thew, yes He did this with the Sabbath too, the Pharisees had added over 600 rules to the Sabbath that YHWH did not, Yahshua broke thos man made rules while upholding the 4th COmmandments true purpose. Also when Yahshua says "unless heaven and earth pass, nothing will pass from the Law." That shows me all is still valid. But Yah guides those who call upon and trust Him, thus i believe we are all in different places but seeking the same Might One and He will bring us through if we hold fast to Him.

 

[Cee]

I think a lot of people would be better off if the OT wasn't included with the NT. It seems like it's difficult for people to reconcile. It's a completely 100% a different covenant. And in fact, the OT has multiple covenants in it with different types of people.

Yes, God doesn't change, but His agreements with us do. If you don't believe me, take a look at the commands in Leviticus and see if those still apply. to you. Here's ONE: "Don't shave your beard." Did you shave today? If so, you agree that God has different agreements with us.

The OT MUST be read with the NT in mind. Scripture itself teaches this! There is a VEIL (that means it's covered) unless the Lord removes the veil Himself. And who had the VEIL over their eyes? The JEWS! The ones who lived by the OT directly. And THEY missed it. They had JESUS Himself and Paul one of the greatest theologians of their time teach them directly. And THEY missed it.

Jesus is the great stumbling block. You either fall on Him or He falls on you.

The NT also says many of the heros in the OT looked FORWARD to our day. SO why do so many look BACKWARD? It's a different covenant, to a different people, in a different time.

Sure, understanding the OT is helpful when reading the NT because you can see where people were in ERROR... and you can see how the OT was a SHADOW of Him to come... and you can understand some of the writings the authors use when writing to people who were UNDER it...

Yes we honor the history of God, that He chose for Himself a people, but let's not try to come under their covenant - when we have one that is so far superior. So, so superior, that Paul says we will make them jealous for what we have. And it will cause them to know God.

Don't let people who are jealous of your freedom, come against you like they did to Paul, but let your freedom provoke them to jealousy for what's possible in their own life! Bless them all. But we do not conform to an old covenant. We have a far higher calling to reveal to the world.

 

[Shamah]

Psalm 111:5, “He has given food to those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever.”



Genesis 14:18-20, “And Malkitsyḏeq sovereign of Shalym brought out bread and wine. Now he was the priest of the Most High Strength. And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Aḇram of the Most High Strength, Possessor of the heavens and earth. And blessed be the Most High Strength who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tenth of all.”



Psalms 105:6-10, “O seed of Aḇraham His servant, Children of Ya‛aqoḇ, His chosen ones! He is יהוה our Strength; His right-rulings are in all the earth. He has remembered His covenant forever, The Word He commanded, for a thousand generations, The covenant He made with Abraham, And His oath to Yitsḥaq, And established it to Ya‛aqoḇ for a law, To Yisra’yl – an everlasting covenant.”



Jeremiah 31:33, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra’yl: After those days, says YHWH: I will put My Law (Torah/Instructions) in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their Strength, and they will be My people.”



Matthew 26:26-29, “And as they were eating, יהושע took bread, and having blessed, broke and gave it to the taught ones and said, “Take, eat, this is My body. And taking the cup, and giving thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood, that of the renewed covenant, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I shall certainly not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on till that day when I drink it anew with you in the reign of My Father.”



Psalm 89:26-37, “He will call out to Me; ‘You are My Father, O YHWH! You are the Rock of My salvation!’ And I will make Him My firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy I will keep for Him forever and My covenant will stand fast with Him...My covenant I will not break, nor will I change what has gone out of My lips. Once for all, I have vowed by My holiness, I cannot lie...”

 

[Shamah]

Fulfilled already
John 19:30, “So when יהושע took the sour wine He said, “It is done!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”

Fulfilled already- To be fulfilled in the future

1. Passover/First-fruits – Yahshua's Sacrifice(Passover), burial and resurrection (First Fruits – presenting Himself to YHWH)
2. Feast of Unleavened Bread – Removal of sin by Yahshua's perfect work as the Passover Sacrifice
3. Feast of Weeks – The blessing Holy Spirit of YHWH, coming into our lives stronger than ever
4. Feast of Trumpets – Yahshua's return and gathering of the Saints
5. Day of Atonement – Yahshua leads the army of YHWH to destroy evil rulers of this world and satan is chained for 1,000 years
6. Feast of Tabernacles – Yahshua dwells on earth for 1,000 years teaching truth and righteousness
7. The Last Great Day – satan is loosed and swiftly destroyed, the Kingdom of YHWH reigns forever

To be fulfilled in the future
Revelation 21:4-8, “And Yah shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying. And there shall be no more pain, for the former matters have passed away. And He who was sitting on the throne said, “See, I make all matters new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and trustworthy. And He said to me, “It is done! I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Taw’, the Beginning and the End. To the one who thirsts I shall give of the fountain of the water of life without payment. The one who overcomes shall inherit all this, and I shall be his Strength and he shall be My son. But as for the cowardly, and untrustworthy, and abominable, and murderers, and those who whore, and drug sorcerers, and idolaters, and all the false, their part is in the lake which burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.”

 

[Shamah]

My Messiah freed me from bondage to sin not from His Instructions...

 

[Seohce]

No thank you. You cannot separate God's grace in which we now stand with your wonderful deeds/works, Also you will not be honest about your Church affiliation which makes me skeptical of anything you have to say.

Good works are not the measuring stick of who is saved, an atheist can have good works. but I do wish you well in your search for the truth.

Galatians5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

Slaves to Righteousness
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sinand have become slaves to righteousness.

19 I am using an example from everyday lifebecause of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life inChrist Jesus our Lord.

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.

30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’