19. For God in all his fullnesswas pleased to live in Christ,
20. and through him God reconciledeverything to himself.He made peace with everything in heaven and on earthby means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
21. This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.
22. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
23. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
24. I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church.
25. God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you.