(Luke 6:32-36)
32"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to
you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33And if
you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to
you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34And if you lend to those
from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even
'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.
35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them
without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be
great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind
to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as
your Father is merciful."
(Ephesians
2:3-10)
3All of us also lived among them at one time,
gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its
desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of
wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who
is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when
we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been
saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us
with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in
order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable
riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ
Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--9not
by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.