2 Timothy 2:10-19

10So I continue to be patient and brave during all these troubles. I do that so that I can help the people that God has chosen to belong to him. I want God to save them too, because of what Christ Jesus has done for them. As a result, they will live with God for ever, in the beautiful place where he lives.

11We all know that this is true: ‘If we have died with Christ in this world, we will also live with him in the future world.

12If we continue to be strong during troubles here, we will also rule with him there in heaven. But if we say that we do not know Christ, he will also say that he does not know us.

13Even if we no longer trust him, he will still be someone that people can trust. He will always remain true to his nature.’

14Continue to tell these things to God's people there, so that they remember them. Use God's authority and warn them not to quarrel about words. To quarrel about little things does not help anyone. Instead, it destroys those people who listen.

15Always try very much to serve God in a way that makes him happy. Then he will accept you as a good worker that he can trust. You must teach God's true message correctly. Then you will have no reason to be ashamed of your work.

16But stay away from people who talk about silly things that are not important to God. A message like that causes people to live more and more in a way that does not please God.

17It causes people to become sick in their spirits. More and more people become sick as a result. Hymenaeus and Philetus are two of the people who teach that kind of false message.

18They no longer teach God's true message. They say that God will not raise dead people any more, because he has already given life to dead people. In this way they have confused the minds of some people, so that they no longer believe in Christ.

19But the group of true believers remains strong, like the foundation under a building. God has written his message there. It says, ‘The Lord knows who his own people are.’ It also says, ‘Everyone who says that he belongs to the Lord must stop doing bad things.’