Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Doer » Of the word
But Jesus replied: "Rather, happy are those who listen to God's Message and keep it."
For any one who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
Not every one who says to me 'Master! Master!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven.
It is not those who hear the words of a Law that are righteous before God, but it is those who obey it that will be pronounced righteous. When Gentiles, who have no Law, do instinctively what the Law requires, they, though they have no Law, are a Law to themselves; For they show the demands of the Law written upon their hearts; their consciences corroborating it, while in their thoughts they argue either in self-accusation or, it may be, in self- defense--
And now I want you to complete the work, so that its completion may correspond with your willing readiness--in proportion, of course, to your means.
Put that Message into practice, and do not merely listen to it--deceiving yourselves. For, when any one listens to it and does not practice it, he is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror. He looks at himself, then goes on his way, read more.
But he who looks carefully into the perfect Law, the Law of Freedom, and continues to do so, not listening to it and then forgetting it, but putting it into practice--that man will be blessed in what he does. When a man appears to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue, but imposes upon his own conscience, that man's religious observances are valueless. That religious observance which is pure and spotless in the eyes of God our Father is this--to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the world.
But he who looks carefully into the perfect Law, the Law of Freedom, and continues to do so, not listening to it and then forgetting it, but putting it into practice--that man will be blessed in what he does. When a man appears to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue, but imposes upon his own conscience, that man's religious observances are valueless. That religious observance which is pure and spotless in the eyes of God our Father is this--to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the world.
Do not disparage one another, Brothers. He who disparages his Brother, or passes judgment on his Brother, disparages the Law and passes judgment on the Law. But, if you pass judgment on the Law, you are not obeying it, but judging it.
Giving » Rules for
Take care not to perform your religious duties in public in order to be seen by others; if you do, your Father who is in Heaven has no reward for you. Therefore, when you do acts of charity, do not have a trumpet blown in front of you, as hypocrites do in the Synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. There, I tell you, is their reward! But, when you do acts of charity, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, read more.
So that your charity may be secret; and your Father, who sees what is in secret, will recompense you.
So that your charity may be secret; and your Father, who sees what is in secret, will recompense you.
Remember the saying--'Scanty sowing, scanty harvest; plentiful sowing, plentiful harvest.' Let every one give as he has determined before hand, not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves 'a cheerful giver.'
On the first day of every week each of you should put by what he can afford, so that no collections need be made after I have come.
And now I want you to complete the work, so that its completion may correspond with your willing readiness--in proportion, of course, to your means. For, where there is willingness, a man's gift is valued by its comparison with what he has, and not with what he has not.
On the present occasion, what you can spare may supply their need, so that at another time what they can spare may supply your need, and thus matters may be equalized.