1. Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work.
2. They must not slander anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people.
3. For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another.
4. But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared,
5. he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit,
6. whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior.
7. And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.”
8. This saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on such truths, so that those who have placed their faith in God may be intent on engaging in good works. These things are good and beneficial for all people.
9. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, quarrels, and fights about the law, because they are useless and empty.