Our Job to Do

6 We are working together with God. We ask you from our hearts not to receive God’s loving-favor and then waste it. ² The Holy Writings say, “I heard you at the right time. I helped you on that day to be saved from the punishment of sin. Now is the right time! See! Now is the day to be saved.” ^{(A) 3} We do not want to put anything in the way that would keep people from God. We do not want to be blamed. ⁴ Everything we do shows we are God’s servants. We have had to wait and suffer. We have needed things. We have been in many hard places and have had many troubles. ⁵ We have been beaten. We have been put in prison. We have been in fights. We have worked hard. We have stayed awake watching. We have gone without food. ⁶ We have been pure. We have known what to do. We have suffered long. We have been kind. The Holy Spirit has worked in us. We have had true love. ⁷ We have spoken the truth. We have God’s power. We have the sword of being right with God in the right hand and in the left hand. ⁸ Some men respect us and some do not. Some men speak bad against us and some thank us. They say we lie, but we speak the truth. ⁹ Some men act as if they do not know us. And yet we are known by everyone. They act as if we were dead, but we are alive. They try to hurt and destroy us, but they are not able to kill us. ¹⁰ We are full of sorrow and yet we are always happy. We are poor and yet we make many people rich. We have nothing and yet we have everything.

¹¹ We have spoken to you who are in the city of Corinth with plain words. Our hearts are wide open. ¹² Our hearts are not closed to you. But you have closed your hearts to us. ¹³ I am speaking to you now as if you were my own children. Open your hearts wide to us! That will pay us back for what we have done for you.

¹⁴ Do not be joined together with those who do not belong to Christ. How can that which is good get along with that which is bad? How can light be in the same place with darkness? ¹⁵ How can Christ get along with the devil? How can one who has put his trust in Christ get along with one who has not put his trust in Christ? ¹⁶ How can the house of God get along with false gods? We are the house of the living God. God has said, “I will live in them and will walk among them. I will be their God and they will be My people.” ^{(B) 17} The Lord has said, “So come out from among them. Do not be joined to them. Touch nothing that is sinful. And I will receive you. ¹⁸ I will be a Father to you. You will be My sons and daughters, says the All-powerful God.”