Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible




For just as there are in the one human body many parts, and these parts have not all the same function; so collectively we form one body in Christ, while individually we are linked to one another as its members. But since we have special gifts which differ in accordance with the diversified work graciously entrusted to us, if it is prophecy, let the prophet speak in exact proportion to his faith; read more.
if it is the gift of administration, let the administrator exercise a sound judgement in his duties. The teacher must do the same in his teaching; and he who exhorts others, in his exhortation. He who gives should be liberal; he who is in authority should be energetic and alert; and he who succours the afflicted should do it cheerfully.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them the members of a prostitute? No, indeed. Or do you not know that a man who has to do with a prostitute is one with her in body? For God says, "The two shall become one." But he who is in union with the Master is one with Him in spirit.

The cup of blessing, which we bless, does it not mean a joint-participation in the blood of Christ? The loaf of bread which we break, does it not mean a joint-participation in the body of Christ? Since there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; we, all of us, share in that one loaf.

For just as the human body is one and yet has many parts, and all its parts, many as they are, constitute but one body, so it is with the Church of Christ. For, in fact, in one Spirit all of us--whether we are Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free men--were baptized to form but one body; and we were all nourished by that one Spirit. For the human body does not consist of one part, but of many. read more.
Were the foot to say, "Because I am not a hand I am not a part of the body," that would not make it any the less a part of the body. Or were the ear to say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," that would not make it any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the nostrils be? But, as a matter of fact, God has arranged the parts in the body--every one of them--as He has seen fit. If they were all one part, where would the body be? But, as a matter of fact, there are many parts and but one body. It is also impossible for the eye to say to the hand, "I do not need you;" or again for the head to say to the feet, "I do not need you." No, it is quite otherwise. Even those parts of the body which are apparently somewhat feeble are yet indispensable; and those which we deem less honorable we clothe with more abundant honor; and so our ungraceful parts come to have a more abundant grace, while our graceful parts have everything they need. But it was God who built up the body, and bestowed more abundant honor on the part that felt the need, that there might be no disunion in the body, but that all the members might entertain the same anxious care for one another's welfare. And if one part is suffering, every other part suffers with it; or if one part is receiving special honor, every other part shares in the joy. As for you, you are the body of Christ, and individually you are members of it. And by God's appointment there are in the Church--first Apostles, secondly Prophets, thirdly teachers. Then come miraculous powers, and then ability to cure diseases or render loving service, or powers of organization, or varieties of the gift of 'tongues.' Are all Apostles? Are all Prophets? Are all teachers? Have all miraculous powers? Have all ability to cure diseases? Do all speak in 'tongues'? Do all interpret? But always seek to excel in the greater gifts. And now I will point out to you a way of life which transcends all others.

and what the transcendent greatness of His power in us believers as seen in the working of His infinite might when He displayed it in Christ by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His own right hand in the heavenly realms, high above all other government and authority and power and dominion, and every title of sovereignty used either in this Age or in the Age to come. read more.
God has put all things under His feet, and has appointed Him universal and supreme Head of the Church, which is His Body, the completeness of Him who everywhere fills the universe with Himself.

I, then, the prisoner for the Master's sake, entreat you to live and act as becomes those who have received the call that you have received-- with all lowliness of mind and unselfishness, and with patience, bearing with one another lovingly, and earnestly striving to maintain, in the uniting bond of peace, the unity given by the Spirit. read more.
There is but one body and but one Spirit, as also when you were called you had one and the same hope held out to you. There is but one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, who rules over all, acts through all, and dwells in all. Yet to each of us individually grace was given, measured out with the munificence of Christ. For this reason Scripture says: "He re-ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and gave gifts to men." (Now this "re-ascended" --what does it mean but that He had first descended into the lower regions of the earth? He who descended is the same as He who ascended again far above all the Heavens in order to fill the universe.) And He Himself appointed some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers, in order fully to equip His people for the work of serving--for the building up of Christ's body-- till we all of us arrive at oneness in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and at mature manhood and the stature of full-grown men in Christ. So we shall no longer be babes nor shall we resemble mariners tossed on the waves and carried about with every changing wind of doctrine according to men's cleverness and unscrupulous cunning, making use of every shifting device to mislead. But we shall lovingly hold to the truth, and shall in all respects grow up into union with Him who is our Head, even Christ. Dependent on Him, the whole body--its various parts closely fitting and firmly adhering to one another-- grows by the aid of every contributory link, with power proportioned to the need of each individual part, so as to build itself up in a spirit of love.

Married women, submit to your own husbands as if to the Lord; because a husband is the Head of his wife as Christ also is the Head of the Church, being indeed the Saviour of this His Body. And just as the Church submits to Christ, so also married women should be entirely submissive to their husbands. read more.
Married men, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up to death for her; in order to make her holy, cleansing her with the baptismal water by the word, that He might present the Church to Himself a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle or any other defect, but to be holy and unblemished. So too married men ought to love their wives as much as they love themselves. He who loves his wife loves himself. For never yet has a man hated his own body. On the contrary he feeds and cherishes it, just as Christ feeds and cherishes the Church; because we are, as it were, parts of His Body. "For this reason a man is to leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall be as one." That is a great truth hitherto kept secret: I mean the truth concerning Christ and the Church. Yet I insist that among you also, each man is to love his own wife as much as he loves himself, and let a married woman see to it that she treats her husband with respect.




Also during the meal He took a Passover biscuit, blessed it, and broke it. He then gave it to them, saying, "Take this, it is my body."


For it was from the Lord that I received the facts which, in turn, I handed on to you; how that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was to be betrayed, took some bread,



Also during the meal He took a Passover biscuit, blessed it, and broke it. He then gave it to them, saying, "Take this, it is my body."


For it was from the Lord that I received the facts which, in turn, I handed on to you; how that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was to be betrayed, took some bread,







Also during the meal He took a Passover biscuit, blessed it, and broke it. He then gave it to them, saying, "Take this, it is my body."


For it was from the Lord that I received the facts which, in turn, I handed on to you; how that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was to be betrayed, took some bread,


As one who lives in union with the Lord Jesus, I know and am certain that in its own nature no food is 'impure'; but if people regard any food as impure, to them it is. If your brother is pained by the food you are eating, your conduct is no longer controlled by love. Take care lest, by the food you eat, you lead to ruin a man for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let the boon which is yours in common be exposed to reproach. read more.
For the Kingdom of God does not consist of eating and drinking, but of right conduct, peace and joy, through the Holy Spirit; and whoever in this way devotedly serves Christ, God takes pleasure in him, and men highly commend him. Therefore let us aim at whatever makes for peace and mutual upbuilding of character. Do not for food's sake be throwing down God's work. All food is pure; but a man is in the wrong if his food is a snare to others. The right course is to forego eating meat or drinking wine or doing anything that tends to your brother's fall. As for you and your faith, keep your faith to yourself in the presence of God. The man is to be congratulated who does not pronounce judgement on himself in what his actions sanction. But he who has misgivings and yet eats meat is condemned already, because his conduct is not based on faith; for all conduct not based on faith is sinful.

Now as to things which have been sacrificed to idols. This is a subject which we already understand--because we all have knowledge of it. Knowledge, however, tends to make people conceited; it is love that builds us up. If any one imagines that he already possesses any true knowledge, he has as yet attained to no knowledge of the kind to which he ought to have attained; but if any one loves God, that man is known by God. read more.
As to eating things which have been sacrificed to idols, we are fully aware that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but One. For if so-called gods do exist, either in Heaven or on earth--and in fact there are many such gods and many such lords-- yet *we* have but one God, the Father, who is the source of all things and for whose service we exist, and but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom we and all things exist. But all believers do not recognize these facts. Some, from force of habit in relation to the idol, even now eat idol sacrifices as such, and their consciences, being but weak, are polluted. It is true that a particular kind of food will not bring us into God's presence; we are neither inferior to others if we abstain from it, nor superior to them if we eat it. But take care lest this liberty of yours should prove a hindrance to the progress of weak believers. For if any one were to see you, who know the real truth of this matter, reclining at table in an idol's temple, would not his conscience (supposing him to be a weak believer) Why, your knowledge becomes the ruin of the weak believer--your brother, for whom Christ died! Moreover when you thus sin against the brethren and wound their weak consciences, you are, in reality, sinning against Christ. Therefore if what I eat causes my brother to fall, never again to the end of my days will I touch any kind of animal food, for fear I should cause my brother to fall.

Therefore, my dear friends, avoid all connection with the worship of idols. I speak as to men of sense: judge for yourselves of what I say. The cup of blessing, which we bless, does it not mean a joint-participation in the blood of Christ? The loaf of bread which we break, does it not mean a joint-participation in the body of Christ? read more.
Since there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; we, all of us, share in that one loaf. Look at the Israelites--the nation and their ritual. Are not those who eat the sacrifices joint-partakers in the altar? Do I mean that a thing sacrificed to an idol is what it claims to be, or that an idol is a real thing? No, but that which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, not to God; and I would not have you have fellowship with one another through the demons. You cannot drink the Lord's cup and the cup of demons: you cannot be joint-partakers both in the table of the Lord and in the table of demons. Or are we actually arousing the Lord to jealousy. Are we stronger than He is? Everything is allowable, but not everything is profitable. Everything is allowable, but everything does not build others up. Let no one be for ever seeking his own good, but let each seek that of his fellow man. Anything that is for sale in the meat market, eat, and ask no questions for conscience' sake; for the earth is the Lord's, and all that it contains. If an unbeliever gives you an invitation and you are disposed to accept it, eat whatever is put before you, and ask no questions for conscience' sake. But if any one tells you, "This food has been offered in sacrifice;" abstain from eating it--out of respect for him who warned you, and, as before, for conscience' sake. But now I mean his conscience, not your own. "Why, on what ground," you may object, "is the question of my liberty of action to be decided by a conscience not my own? If, so far as I am concerned, I partake with a grateful heart, why am I to be found fault with in regard to a thing for which I give thanks?" Whether, then, you are eating or drinking, or whatever you are doing, let everything be done to the glory of God. Do not be causes of stumbling either to Jews or to Gentiles, nor to the Church of God. That is the way that I also seek in everything the approval of all men, not aiming at my own profit, but at that of the many, in the hope that they may be saved.


The sufferings that you are enduring are for your discipline. God is dealing with you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? And if you are left without discipline, of which every true son has had a share, that shows that you are bastards, and not true sons. Besides this, our earthly fathers used to discipline us and we treated them with respect, and shall we not be still more submissive to the Father of our spirits, and live? read more.
It is true that they disciplined us for a few years according as they thought fit; but He does it for our certain good, in order that we may become sharers in His own holy character.

For this reason I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles-- if, that is, you have heard of the work which God has graciously entrusted to me for your benefit, and that by a revelation the truth hitherto kept secret was made known to me as I have already briefly explained it to you. read more.
By means of that explanation, as you read it, you can judge of my insight into the truth of Christ which in earlier ages was not made known to the human race, as it has now been revealed to His holy Apostles and Prophets through the Spirit-- I mean the truth that the Gentiles are joint heirs with us Jews, and that they form one body with us, and have the same interest as we have in the promise which has been made good in Christ Jesus through the Good News,

I ask then, Has God cast off His People? No, indeed. Why, I myself am an Israelite, of the posterity of Abraham and of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast off His People whom He knew beforehand. Or are you ignorant of what Scripture says in speaking of Elijah--how he pleaded with God against Israel, saying, "Lord, they have put Thy Prophets to death, and have overthrown Thy altars; and, now that I alone remain, they are thirsting for my blood"? read more.
But what did God say to him in reply? "I have reserved for Myself 7,000 men who have never bent the knee to Baal." In the same way also at the present time there has come to be a remnant whom God in His grace has selected. But if it is in His grace that He has selected them, then His choice is no longer determined by human actions. Otherwise grace would be grace no longer. How then does the matter stand? It stands thus. That which Israel are in earnest pursuit of, they have not obtained; but God's chosen servants have obtained it, and the rest have become hardened. And so Scripture says, "God has given them a spirit of drowsiness--eyes to see nothing with and ears to hear nothing with--even until now." And David says, "Let their very food become a snare and a trap to them, a stumbling-block and a retribution. Let darkness come over their eyes that they may be unable to see, and make Thou their backs continually to stoop." I ask, however, "Have they stumbled so as to be finally ruined?" No, indeed; but by their lapse salvation has come to the Gentiles in order to arouse the jealousy of the descendants of Israel; and if their lapse is the enriching of the world, and their overthrow the enriching of the Gentiles, will not still greater good follow their restoration? But to you Gentiles I say that, since I am an Apostle specially sent to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry, trying whether I can succeed in rousing my own countrymen to jealousy and thus save some of them. For if their having been cast aside has carried with it the reconciliation of the world, what will their being accepted again be but Life out of death? Now if the firstfruits of the dough are holy, so also is the whole mass; and if the root of a tree is holy, so also are the branches. And if some of the branches have been pruned away, and you, although you were but a wild olive, have been grafted in among them and have become a sharer with others in the rich sap of the root of the olive tree,

Therefore, my dear friends, avoid all connection with the worship of idols. I speak as to men of sense: judge for yourselves of what I say. The cup of blessing, which we bless, does it not mean a joint-participation in the blood of Christ? The loaf of bread which we break, does it not mean a joint-participation in the body of Christ? read more.
Since there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; we, all of us, share in that one loaf. Look at the Israelites--the nation and their ritual. Are not those who eat the sacrifices joint-partakers in the altar?

For this reason we also, from the day we first received these tidings, have never ceased to pray for you and to entreat that you may be filled with a clear knowledge of His will accompanied by thorough wisdom and discernment in spiritual things; so that your lives may be worthy of the Lord and perfectly pleasing to Him, while you exhibit the results of right action of every sort and grow into a fuller knowledge of God. Since His power is so glorious, may you be strengthened with strength of every kind, and be prepared for cheerfully enduring all things with patience and long-suffering; read more.
and give thanks to the Father who has made us fit to receive our share of the inheritance of God's people in Light. It is God who has delivered us out of the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us into the Kingdom of His dearly-loved Son, in whom we have our redemption--the forgiveness of our sins.

Let all who are under the yoke of slavery hold their own masters to be deserving of honour, so that the name of God and the Christian teaching may not be spoken against. And those who have believing masters should not be wanting in respect towards them because they are their brethren, but should serve them all the more willingly because those who profit by the faithful service rendered are believers and are friends.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at finding that that scorching flame of persecution is raging among you to put you to the test--as though some surprising thing were accidentally happening to you. On the contrary, in the degree that you share in the sufferings of the Christ, rejoice, so that at the unveiling of His glory you may also rejoice with triumphant gladness. You are to be envied, if you are being reproached for bearing the name of Christ; for in that case the Spirit of glory-- even the Spirit of God--is resting upon you.

Simon Peter, a bondservant and Apostle of Jesus Christ: To those to whom there has been allotted the same precious faith as that which is ours through the righteousness of our God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ. May more and more grace and peace be granted to you in a full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that His divine power has given us all things that are needful for life and godliness, through our knowledge of Him who has appealed to us by His own glorious perfections. read more.
It is by means of these that He has granted us His precious and wondrous promises, in order that through them you may, one and all, become sharers in the very nature of God, having completely escaped the corruption which exists in the world through earthly cravings.


As one who lives in union with the Lord Jesus, I know and am certain that in its own nature no food is 'impure'; but if people regard any food as impure, to them it is. If your brother is pained by the food you are eating, your conduct is no longer controlled by love. Take care lest, by the food you eat, you lead to ruin a man for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let the boon which is yours in common be exposed to reproach. read more.
For the Kingdom of God does not consist of eating and drinking, but of right conduct, peace and joy, through the Holy Spirit; and whoever in this way devotedly serves Christ, God takes pleasure in him, and men highly commend him. Therefore let us aim at whatever makes for peace and mutual upbuilding of character. Do not for food's sake be throwing down God's work. All food is pure; but a man is in the wrong if his food is a snare to others. The right course is to forego eating meat or drinking wine or doing anything that tends to your brother's fall. As for you and your faith, keep your faith to yourself in the presence of God. The man is to be congratulated who does not pronounce judgement on himself in what his actions sanction. But he who has misgivings and yet eats meat is condemned already, because his conduct is not based on faith; for all conduct not based on faith is sinful.

Now as to things which have been sacrificed to idols. This is a subject which we already understand--because we all have knowledge of it. Knowledge, however, tends to make people conceited; it is love that builds us up. If any one imagines that he already possesses any true knowledge, he has as yet attained to no knowledge of the kind to which he ought to have attained; but if any one loves God, that man is known by God. read more.
As to eating things which have been sacrificed to idols, we are fully aware that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but One. For if so-called gods do exist, either in Heaven or on earth--and in fact there are many such gods and many such lords-- yet *we* have but one God, the Father, who is the source of all things and for whose service we exist, and but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom we and all things exist. But all believers do not recognize these facts. Some, from force of habit in relation to the idol, even now eat idol sacrifices as such, and their consciences, being but weak, are polluted. It is true that a particular kind of food will not bring us into God's presence; we are neither inferior to others if we abstain from it, nor superior to them if we eat it. But take care lest this liberty of yours should prove a hindrance to the progress of weak believers. For if any one were to see you, who know the real truth of this matter, reclining at table in an idol's temple, would not his conscience (supposing him to be a weak believer) Why, your knowledge becomes the ruin of the weak believer--your brother, for whom Christ died! Moreover when you thus sin against the brethren and wound their weak consciences, you are, in reality, sinning against Christ. Therefore if what I eat causes my brother to fall, never again to the end of my days will I touch any kind of animal food, for fear I should cause my brother to fall.

Therefore, my dear friends, avoid all connection with the worship of idols. I speak as to men of sense: judge for yourselves of what I say. The cup of blessing, which we bless, does it not mean a joint-participation in the blood of Christ? The loaf of bread which we break, does it not mean a joint-participation in the body of Christ? read more.
Since there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; we, all of us, share in that one loaf. Look at the Israelites--the nation and their ritual. Are not those who eat the sacrifices joint-partakers in the altar? Do I mean that a thing sacrificed to an idol is what it claims to be, or that an idol is a real thing? No, but that which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, not to God; and I would not have you have fellowship with one another through the demons. You cannot drink the Lord's cup and the cup of demons: you cannot be joint-partakers both in the table of the Lord and in the table of demons. Or are we actually arousing the Lord to jealousy. Are we stronger than He is? Everything is allowable, but not everything is profitable. Everything is allowable, but everything does not build others up. Let no one be for ever seeking his own good, but let each seek that of his fellow man. Anything that is for sale in the meat market, eat, and ask no questions for conscience' sake; for the earth is the Lord's, and all that it contains. If an unbeliever gives you an invitation and you are disposed to accept it, eat whatever is put before you, and ask no questions for conscience' sake. But if any one tells you, "This food has been offered in sacrifice;" abstain from eating it--out of respect for him who warned you, and, as before, for conscience' sake. But now I mean his conscience, not your own. "Why, on what ground," you may object, "is the question of my liberty of action to be decided by a conscience not my own? If, so far as I am concerned, I partake with a grateful heart, why am I to be found fault with in regard to a thing for which I give thanks?" Whether, then, you are eating or drinking, or whatever you are doing, let everything be done to the glory of God. Do not be causes of stumbling either to Jews or to Gentiles, nor to the Church of God. That is the way that I also seek in everything the approval of all men, not aiming at my own profit, but at that of the many, in the hope that they may be saved.


The cup of blessing, which we bless, does it not mean a joint-participation in the blood of Christ? The loaf of bread which we break, does it not mean a joint-participation in the body of Christ? Since there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; we, all of us, share in that one loaf.