We use God’s mighty weapons,
not worldly weapons,
to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning
and to destroy false arguments.
We destroy every proud obstacle
that keeps people from knowing God…
God is not a man,
so he does not lie.
He is not human,
so he does not change his mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
Has he ever promised and not carried it through?
You know the generous grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor,
so that by his poverty
he could make you rich.
So we are Christ’s ambassadors;
God is making his appeal through us.
We speak for Christ when we plead,
“Come back to God!”
He died for everyone
so that those who receive his new life
will no longer live for themselves.
Instead,
they will live for Christ,
who died and was raised for them.
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ
has become a new person.
The old life is gone;
a new life has begun!
For God says,
“At just the right time,
I heard you.
On the day of salvation,
I helped you.”
Indeed,
the “right time” is now.
Today is the day of salvation.
“Sovereign Lord,
now let your servant die in peace,
as you have promised.
I have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared for all people.
He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
“Praise the Lord,
the God of Israel,
because he has visited and redeemed his people.
He has sent us a mighty Savior
from the royal line of his servant David,
just as he promised
through his holy prophets long ago.”
Then John testified,
“I saw the Holy Spirit
descending like a dove from heaven
and resting upon him.
I didn’t know he was the one,
but when God sent me to baptize with water,
he told me,
‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest
is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
I saw this happen to Jesus,
so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.”
“Then who are you?…”
John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Clear the way for the LORD’s coming!’”
The next day
John saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
“Look!
The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
