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And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
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And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
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The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
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For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
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But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
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So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
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It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak,
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because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.
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All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
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So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
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Awaiting the New Body
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
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For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
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Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
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So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
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For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
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The Ministry of Reconciliation
Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.
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We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.
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If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.
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And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
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Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
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All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
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that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
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God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
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For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
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What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
