Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible














All of this comes from God, who has reconciled us to himself through the Messiah and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, for through the Messiah, God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting their sins against them. He has committed his message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are the Messiah's representatives, as though God were pleading through us. We plead on the Messiah's behalf: "Be reconciled to God!"

But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them. He rendered the Law inoperative, along with its commandments and regulations, thus creating in himself one new humanity from the two, thereby making peace, read more.
and reconciling both groups to God in one body through the cross, on which he eliminated the hostility.

Through the Son, God also reconciled all things to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, thereby making peace through the blood of his cross. You who were once alienated with a hostile attitude, doing evil, he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body, so that he may present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him.





While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and handed it to the disciples, saying, "Take this and eat it. This is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you, because this is my blood of the new covenant that is being poured out for many people for the forgiveness of sins.

While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and handed it to them, saying, "Take some. This is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He told them, "This is my blood of the covenant that is being poured out for many people.

Then he took a loaf of bread, gave thanks, broke it in pieces, and handed it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Keep on doing this in memory of me." He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant sealed by my blood, which is being poured out for you. Yet look! The hand of the man who is betraying me is with me on the table! read more.
The Son of Man is going away, just as it has been determined, but how terrible it will be for that man by whom he is betrayed!"

So Jesus told them, "Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don't have life in yourselves. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I'll raise him to life on the last day, because my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink.

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you how the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it in pieces, saying, "This is my body that is for you. Keep doing this in memory of me." He did the same with the cup after the supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. As often as you drink from it, keep doing this in memory of me."



This is why the Messiah is the mediator of a new covenant; so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance promised them, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the offenses committed under the first covenant.

But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them. He rendered the Law inoperative, along with its commandments and regulations, thus creating in himself one new humanity from the two, thereby making peace, read more.
and reconciling both groups to God in one body through the cross, on which he eliminated the hostility. He came and proclaimed peace for you who were far away and for you who were near. For through him, both of us have access to the Father by one Spirit.


However, their minds were hardened, for to this day the same veil is still there when they read the old covenant. Only in union with the Messiah is that veil removed. Yet even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.


Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with the Messiah Jesus. For the Spirit's law of life in the Messiah Jesus has set me free from the Law of sin and death. For what the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did. By sending his own Son in the form of humanity, he condemned sin by being incarnate, read more.
so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not live according to human nature but according to the Spirit.

Don't you realize, brothers for I am speaking to people who know the Law that the Law can press its claims over a person only as long as he is alive? For a married woman is bound by the Law to her husband while he is living, but if her husband dies, she is released from the Law concerning her husband. So while her husband is living, she will be called an adulterer if she lives with another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from this Law, so that she is not an adulterer if she marries another man. read more.
In the same way, my brothers, through the Messiah's body you also died as far as the Law is concerned, so that you may belong to another person, the one who was raised from the dead, and may bear fruit for God. For while we were living according to our human nature, sinful passions were at work in our bodies by means of the Law, to bear fruit resulting in death. But now we have been released from the Law by dying to what enslaved us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit, not under the old writings. What should we say, then? Is the Law sinful? Of course not! In fact, I wouldn't have become aware of sin if it had not been for the Law. I wouldn't have known what it means to covet if the Law had not said, "You must not covet." But sin seized the opportunity provided by this commandment and produced in me all kinds of sinful desires, since apart from the Law, sin is dead. At one time I was alive without any connection to the Law. But when the rule was revealed, sin sprang to life, and I died. I found that the very rule that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity provided by the rule, deceived me and used it to kill me. So then, the Law itself is holy, and the rule is holy, just, and good. Now, did something good bring me death? Of course not! But in order that sin might be recognized as being sin, it used something good to cause my death, so that through the rule, sin might become more exposed as being sinful than ever before. For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am merely human, sold as a slave to sin. I don't understand what I am doing. For I don't practice what I want to do, but instead do what I hate. Now if I practice what I don't want to do, I am admitting that the Law is good. As it is, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but I cannot carry it out. For I don't do the good I want to do, but instead do the evil that I don't want to do. But if I do what I don't want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me. So I find this to be a principle: when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me. For I delight in the Law of God in my inner being, but I see in my body a different principle waging war with the Law in my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin that exists in my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is infected by death? Thank God through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord, because with my mind I myself can serve the Law of God, even while with my human nature I serve the law of sin.

yet we know that a person is not justified by doing what the Law requires, but rather by the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah. We, too, have believed in the Messiah Jesus so that we might be justified by the faithfulness of the Messiah and not by doing what the Law requires, for no human being will be justified by doing what the Law requires. Now if we, while trying to be justified by the Messiah, have been found to be sinners, does that mean that the Messiah is serving the interests of sin? Of course not! For if I rebuild something that I tore down, I demonstrate that I am a wrongdoer. read more.
For through the Law I died to the Law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with the Messiah. I no longer live, but the Messiah lives in me, and the life that I am now living in this body I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not misapply God's grace, for if righteousness comes about by doing what the Law requires, then the Messiah died for nothing.

Certainly all who depend on the actions of the Law are under a curse. For it is written, "A curse on everyone who does not obey everything that is written in the Book of the Law!" Now it is obvious that no one is justified in the sight of God by the Law, because "The righteous will live by faith." But the Law has nothing to do with faith. Instead, "The person who keeps the commandments will have life in them." read more.
The Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, "A curse on everyone who is hung on a tree!" This happened in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the gentiles through the Messiah Jesus, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

It was the same way with us. While we were children, we were slaves to the basic principles of the world. But when the appropriate time had come, God sent his Son, born by a woman, born under the Law, in order to redeem those who were under the Law, and thus to adopt them as his children. read more.
Now because you are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to cry out, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if you are a child, then you are also an heir because of what God did. However, in the past, when you did not know God, you were slaves to things that are not really gods at all. But now that you know God, or rather have been known by God, how can you turn back again to those powerless and bankrupt basic principles? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again? You are observing days, months, seasons, and years. I am afraid for you! I don't want my work for you to have been wasted!

But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them. He rendered the Law inoperative, along with its commandments and regulations, thus creating in himself one new humanity from the two, thereby making peace,


The sheep quota is to be one from each flock of 200 taken from the pastures of Israel. From all of these you are to present grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them," declares the Lord GOD.

But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them.



But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them. He rendered the Law inoperative, along with its commandments and regulations, thus creating in himself one new humanity from the two, thereby making peace, read more.
and reconciling both groups to God in one body through the cross, on which he eliminated the hostility.

All of this comes from God, who has reconciled us to himself through the Messiah and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, for through the Messiah, God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting their sins against them. He has committed his message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are the Messiah's representatives, as though God were pleading through us. We plead on the Messiah's behalf: "Be reconciled to God!" read more.
God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that God's righteousness would be produced in us.

For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, the Messiah died for the ungodly. For it is rare for anyone to die for a righteous person, though somebody might be brave enough to die for a good person. But God demonstrates his love for us by the fact that the Messiah died for us while we were still sinners. read more.
Now that we have been justified by his blood, how much more will we be saved from wrath through him! For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life! Not only that, but we also continue to boast about God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah, through whom we have now been reconciled.

For the Law, being only a reflection of the blessings to come and not their substance, can never make perfect those who come near by the same sacrifices repeatedly offered year after year. Otherwise, would they not have stopped offering them, because the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer be aware of any sins? Instead, through those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year, read more.
for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. For this reason, the Scriptures say, when the Messiah was about to come into the world: "You did not want sacrifices and offerings, but you prepared a body for me. In burnt offerings and sin offerings you never took delight. Then I said, "See, I have come to do your will, O God' In the volume of the scroll this is written about me." In this passage he says, "You never wanted or took delight in sacrifices, offerings, burnt offerings, and sin offerings," which are offered according to the Law. Then he says, "See, I have come to do your will." He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By God's will we have been sanctified once and for all through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus, the Messiah. Day after day every priest stands and repeatedly offers the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, "he sat down at the right hand of God." Since that time, he has been waiting for his enemies to be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

and might thank the Father, who has enabled us to share in the saints' inheritance in the light. God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves, through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. read more.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether they are kings, lords, rulers, or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. He himself existed before anything else did, and he holds all things together. He is also the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself might have first place in everything. For God was pleased to have all of his divine essence inhabit him. Through the Son, God also reconciled all things to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, thereby making peace through the blood of his cross. You who were once alienated with a hostile attitude, doing evil, he has now reconciled by the death of his physical body, so that he may present you holy, blameless, and without fault before him.

Now when God put everything under him, he left nothing outside his control. However, at the present time we do not yet see everything put under him. But we do see someone who was made a little lower than the angels. He is Jesus, who is crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might experience death for everyone. It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering as part of his plan to glorify many children, because both the one who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified all have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers read more.
when he says, "I will announce your name to my brothers. I will praise you within the congregation." And again, "I will trust him." And again, "I am here with the children God has given me." Therefore, since the children have flesh and blood, he himself also shared the same things, so that by his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death (that is, the Devil) and might free those who were slaves all their lives because they were terrified by death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels. No, he came to help Abraham's descendants, thereby becoming like his brothers in every way, so that he could be a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and could atone for the people's sins.





But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them.




But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them.

"As for you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, even though you remain least among the clans of Judah, nevertheless, the one who rules in Israel for me will emerge from you. His existence has been from antiquity, even from eternity. Therefore that ruler will abandon them until the woman in labor gives birth. Then the rest of his countrymen will return to the Israelis." "Then he will take his stand, shepherding by means of the strength of the LORD, by the power of the name of the LORD his God. And they will be firmly established; indeed, from then on he will become great to the ends of the earth. read more.
And he will be our peace." "When the Assyrian invades our land, trampling through our palaces, we will raise up seven shepherds against him, even eight significant men.


But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them. He rendered the Law inoperative, along with its commandments and regulations, thus creating in himself one new humanity from the two, thereby making peace, read more.
and reconciling both groups to God in one body through the cross, on which he eliminated the hostility. He came and proclaimed peace for you who were far away and for you who were near. For through him, both of us have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Jesus used this illustration with them, but they didn't understand what he was saying to them. So again Jesus said, "Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, I'm the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep didn't listen to them. read more.
I'm the gate. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved. He'll come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I've come that they may have life, and have it abundantly. "I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired worker, who isn't the shepherd and doesn't own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, deserts the sheep, and runs away. So the wolf snatches them and scatters them, because he's a hired worker, and the sheep don't matter to him. I'm the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that don't belong to this fold. I must lead these also, and they'll listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd.