Paul's Letter to Laodicea |
Chapter 1 [1.1] Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, through the Will of God, and the Grace of God and Timothy our Brother. [1.2] The holy assembly of Laodicea and all the faithful brothers in it, and the wise in the Spirit of God: Grace be with you and the true peace from God, our Father, in the Lord Jesus Christ. [1.3] We thank, extol, and praise God at all times, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and bear much concern for you; and we pray at all times for you to God. [1.4] We have come into the knowledge through the Spirit of the Lord, and through our Brother Epaphras and through Nymphas, that you have been backsliding in several things. [1.5] And that you have elected a bishop and a clergy, and that you want to make an idol out of Christ; and that you have selected a house, a day, and magnificent raiments. [1.6] Consequently, how it was the custom to some extent among the heathens and among the Jews, when the circumcision of the flesh was still valid before God, which He ordered under father Abraham as a foretoken of the living circumcision of the Spirit through Jesus Christ within you. [1.7] This I let you know now, so that you learn to know what kind of a battle I have to suffer for your sake; you have seen, and yet you have not seen, the flesh of my person, [1.8] And that you are being severely admonished in your heart and that you may gather your love, wherein is contained all the wealth of the conscientious reason in order to recognize the great secret of God, the Father, in His Son, Jesus Christ, [1.9] Where within are concealed all the treasures of wisdom and the living cognition in the Spirit. [1.10] I caution you for this reason: That no one may entice you through reasonable and flowery speeches, and through the philosophy of the heathens. [1.11] Even the animals call common sense their own, just as it is with the philosophy of the heathens who offer sacrifices to dead idols. |
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