18 And I tell you, ⁱyou are Peter, and ^jon this rock¹ I will build my church, and ^kthe gates of ^lhell² shall not prevail against it.

The Great Commission

16 Now the eleven disciples ^fwent to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they ^gworshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, ^h“All authority ⁱin heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 ^jGo therefore and ^kmake disciples of ^lall nations, ^jbaptizing them ^min^{1 n}the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them ^oto observe all that ^pI have commanded you. And behold, ^qI am with you always, to ^rthe end of the age.”

The Fellowship of the Believers

42 And ^athey devoted themselves to the apostles’ ^bteaching and the ^cfellowship, to ^dthe breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe¹ came upon every soul, and ^emany wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and ^fhad all things in common. 45 And ^fthey were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, ^gattending the temple ^htogether and ⁱbreaking bread in their homes, they received their food ^jwith glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and ^khaving favor with all the people. And the Lord ^ladded to their number ^mday by day those who ⁿwere being saved.

16 ^cDo you not know that you¹ are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For ^dGod’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

22 And ^dhe put all things under his feet and gave him as ^ehead over all things to the church, 23 ^fwhich is his body, ^gthe fullness of him ^hwho fills ⁱall in all.

One in Christ

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called ^kthe circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember ^lthat you were at that time separated from Christ, ^malienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to ⁿthe covenants of promise, ^ohaving no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were ^pfar off have been brought near ^qby the blood of Christ. 14 For ^rhe himself is our peace, ^swho has made us both one and has broken down ^tin his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ^uordinances, that he might create in himself one ^vnew man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might ^wreconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and ^xpreached peace to you who were ^yfar off and peace to those who were ^znear. 18 For ^athrough him we both have ^baccess in ^cone Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer ^dstrangers and aliens,¹ but you are ^efellow citizens with the saints and ^fmembers of the household of God, 20 ^gbuilt on the foundation of the ^hapostles and prophets, ⁱChrist Jesus himself being ^jthe cornerstone, 21 ^kin whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into ^la holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him ^myou also are being built together ⁿinto a dwelling place for God by² the Spirit.

Unity in the Body of Christ

1 I therefore, ^ma prisoner for the Lord, urge you to ⁿwalk in a manner worthy of ^othe calling to which you have been called, 2 with all ^phumility and ^qgentleness, with ^rpatience, ^sbearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in ^tthe bond of peace. 4 There is ^uone body and ^vone Spirit—just as you were called to the one ^whope that belongs to your call— 5 ^xone Lord, ^yone faith, ^zone baptism, 6 ^aone God and Father of all, ^bwho is over all and through all and in all. 7 But ^cgrace was given ^dto each one of us ^eaccording to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,

9 (^hIn saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into ⁱthe lower regions, the earth?² 10 He who descended is the one who also ^jascended ^kfar above all the heavens, that he might ^lfill all things.) 11 And ^mhe gave the ⁿapostles, the prophets, the ^oevangelists, the ^pshepherds³ and teachers,⁴ 12 ^qto equip the saints for the work of ministry, for ^rbuilding up ^sthe body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to ^tthe unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, ^uto mature manhood,⁵ to the measure of the stature of ^vthe fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, ^wtossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in ^xdeceitful schemes. 15 Rather, ^yspeaking the truth in love, we are to ^zgrow up in every way into him who is ^athe head, into Christ, 16 ^bfrom whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, ^cwhen each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The Preeminence of Christ

15 ⁱHe is the image of ^jthe invisible God, ^kthe firstborn of all creation. 16 For by¹ him all things were created, ^lin heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether ^mthrones or ⁿdominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created ^othrough him and for him. 17 And ^phe is before all things, and in him all things ^qhold together. 18 And ^rhe is the head of the body, the church. He is ^sthe beginning, ^tthe firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.