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2 Corinthians 10

Amplified Bible, 2015 (AMP)

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1 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he immediately forgets[7] what he looked like.
2 But he who looks carefully into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and faithfully abides by it, not having become a [careless] listener who forgets but[8] an active doer [who obeys], he will be blessed and favored by God in what he does [in his life of obedience].
3 If anyone thinks himself to be religious [scrupulously observant of the rituals of his faith], and does not control his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person's religion is worthless (futile, barren).
4 Pure and unblemished religion [as it is expressed in outward acts] in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit and look after the fatherless and the widows in their distress, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the [secular] world.
5 My fellow believers, do not practice your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of partiality [toward people—show no favoritism, no prejudice, no snobbery].
6 For if a man comes into your[1] meeting place[2] wearing a gold ring and[3] fine clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in,
7 and you pay special attention to the one who wears the[4] fine clothes, and say to him, "You sit here in this good seat," and you tell the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down [on the floor] by my footstool,"
8 have you not discriminated among yourselves, and become judges with wrong motives?
9 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and [as believers to be] heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
10 But you [in contrast] have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress and exploit you, and personally drag you into the courts of law?
11 Do they not blaspheme the[5] precious name [of Christ] by which you are called?
12 If, however, you are [really] fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, if you have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit]" you are doing well.
13 But if you show partiality [prejudice, favoritism], you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as offenders.
14 For whoever keeps the whole Law but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of [breaking] all of it.
15 For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you have become[6] guilty of transgressing the [entire] Law.
16 Speak and act [consistently] as people who are going to be judged by the law of liberty [that moral law that frees obedient Christians from the bondage of sin].
17 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; but [to the one who has shown mercy] mercy triumphs [victoriously] over judgment.
18 What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no [good] works [as evidence]? Can that [kind of] faith save him? [No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient—genuine faith produces good works.]