Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible




Some were convinced by what he said, but the others would not believe. As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, when he said, Go and tell this people, 'You will hear and hear but never understand, you will see and see but never perceive.' read more.
For the heart at this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy at hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them.

And David says, Let their table prove a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened, that they cannot see, bow down their backs for ever.

The apostles and the presbyters met to investigate this question, and a keen controversy sprang up; but Peter rose and said to them, "Brothers, you are well aware that from the earliest days God chose that of you all I should be the one by whom the Gentiles were to hear the word of the gospel and believe it. The God who reads the hearts of all attested this by giving them the holy Spirit just as he gave it to us; read more.
in cleansing their hearts by faith he made not the slightest distinction between us and them. Well now, why are you trying to impose a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we ourselves could bear? No, it is by the grace of the Lord Jesus that we believe and are saved, in the same way as they are."

As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, when he said, Go and tell this people, 'You will hear and hear but never understand, you will see and see but never perceive.' For the heart at this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy at hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them. read more.
Be sure of this, then, that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen to it."

What are we to conclude, then? That Gentiles who never aimed at righteousness have attained righteousness, that is, righteousness by faith; whereas Israel who did aim at the law of righteousness have failed to reach that law. And why? Simply because Israel has relied not on faith but on what they could do. They have stumbled over the stone that makes men stumble ??33 as it is written, Here I lay a stone in Sion that will make men stumble, even a rock to trip them up; but he who believes in Him will never be disappointed.

Then, I ask, has God repudiated his People? Never! Why, I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin! God has not repudiated his People, his predestined People! Surely you know what scripture says in the passage called 'Elijah'? You know how he pleads with God against Israel: Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have demolished thine altars; I alone am left, and they seek my life. read more.
Yet what is the divine answer? I have left myself seven thousand men who have not knelt to Baal. Well, at the present day there is also a remnant, selected by grace. Selected by grace, and therefore not for anything they have done; otherwise grace would cease to be grace. Now what are we to infer from this? That Israel has failed to secure the object of its quest; the elect have secured it, and the rest have been rendered insensible to it ??8 as it is written, God has given them a spirit of torpor, eyes that see not, ears that hear not ??down to this very day. And David says, Let their table prove a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened, that they cannot see, bow down their backs for ever. Now I ask, have they stumbled to their ruin? Never! The truth is, that by their lapse salvation has passed to the Gentiles, so as to make them jealous. Well, if their lapse has enriched the world, if their defection is the gain of the Gentiles, what will it mean when they all come in? I tell you this, you Gentiles, that as an apostle to the Gentiles I lay great stress on my office, in the hope of being able to make my fellow-Jews jealous and of managing thus to save some of them. For if their exclusion means that the world is reconciled to God, what will their admission mean? Why, it will be life from the dead! If the first handful of dough is consecrated, so is the rest of the lump; if the root is consecrated, so are the branches. Supposing some of the branches have been broken off, while you have been grafted in like a shoot of wild olive to share the rich growth of the olive-stem, do not pride yourself at the expense of these branches. Remember, in your pride, the stem supports you, not you the stem. You will say, "But branches were broken off to let me be grafted in!" Granted. They were broken off ??for their lack of faith. And you owe your position to your faith. You should feel awed instead of being uplifted. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider both the kindness and the severity of God; those who fall come under his severity, but you come under the divine kindness, provided you adhere to that kindness. Otherwise, you will be cut away too. And even the others will be grafted in, if they do not adhere to their unbelief; God can graft them in again. For if you have been cut from an olive which is naturally wild, and grafted, contrary to nature, upon a garden olive, how much more will the natural branches be grafted into their proper olive? To prevent you from being self-conceited, brothers, I would like you to understand this secret: it is only a partial insensibility that has come over Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in. This done, all Israel will be saved ??as it is written, The deliverer will come from Sion, he will banish all godlessness from Jacob: this is my covenant with them, when I take their sins away. So far as the gospel goes, they are enemies of God ??which is to your advantage; but so far as election goes, they are beloved for their father's sake. For God never goes back upon his gifts and call. Once you disobeyed God, and now you enjoy his mercy thanks to their disobedience; in the same way they at present are disobedient, so that they in turn may enjoy the same mercy as yourselves. For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.

Why, it is as with Abraham, he had faith in God and that was counted to him as righteousness. Well then, you see that the real sons of Abraham are those who rely on faith. Besides, Scripture anticipated God's justification of the Gentiles by faith when it announced the gospel beforehand to Abraham in these terms: All nations shall be blessed in thee. read more.
So that those who rely on faith are blessed along with believing Abraham. Whereas a curse rests on all who rely upon obedience to the Law; for it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not hold by all that is written in the book of the law, to perform it. And because no one is justified on the score of the Law before God (plainly, the just shall live by faith, ??12 and the Law is not based on faith: no, he who performs these things shall live by them), Christ ransomed us from the curse of the Law by becoming accursed for us (for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a gibbet), that the blessing of Abraham might reach the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promised Spirit.

A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God granted him for his servants, to show them what must come to pass very soon; he disclosed it by sending it through his angel to his servant John, Verse ConceptsCommunicationBooksAngels, as God's messengersMinistry, Qualifications ForNecessityPeople Of God, In NtAngels, Nt AppearancesChrist's Relationship To GodGod Not DelayingGod Giving To The SonSlaves Of GodAngels Activities Among BelieversImminenceIdentity In Christ

they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living Creatures and the Presbyters, and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from earth. Verse ConceptsCreatureselders, in the churchMarketsSongsThroneAbundance, SpiritualHeaven, Worshiping GodBeastsFour CreaturesOne Hundred Thousand And MoreCosmic CreaturesA New SongFruitless LearningElders In Heaven144,000elders




"My brothers," said he, "it had to be fulfilled, that scripture which the holy Spirit uttered beforehand by the lips of David with regard to Judas who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus. Verse ConceptsPeter, Preacher And TeacherInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfThe Holy Spirit, And ScripturePredicting The FutureArresting ChristScriptures FulfilledInspirationfulfillment

As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, Verse ConceptsInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfSpeaking By The SpiritNamed Prophets Of The Lord


A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God granted him for his servants, to show them what must come to pass very soon; he disclosed it by sending it through his angel to his servant John, Verse ConceptsCommunicationBooksAngels, as God's messengersMinistry, Qualifications ForNecessityPeople Of God, In NtAngels, Nt AppearancesChrist's Relationship To GodGod Not DelayingGod Giving To The SonSlaves Of GodAngels Activities Among BelieversImminenceIdentity In Christ

they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living Creatures and the Presbyters, and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from earth. Verse ConceptsCreatureselders, in the churchMarketsSongsThroneAbundance, SpiritualHeaven, Worshiping GodBeastsFour CreaturesOne Hundred Thousand And MoreCosmic CreaturesA New SongFruitless LearningElders In Heaven144,000elders




"My brothers," said he, "it had to be fulfilled, that scripture which the holy Spirit uttered beforehand by the lips of David with regard to Judas who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus. Verse ConceptsPeter, Preacher And TeacherInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfThe Holy Spirit, And ScripturePredicting The FutureArresting ChristScriptures FulfilledInspirationfulfillment

As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, Verse ConceptsInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfSpeaking By The SpiritNamed Prophets Of The Lord



As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, Verse ConceptsInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfSpeaking By The SpiritNamed Prophets Of The Lord


A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God granted him for his servants, to show them what must come to pass very soon; he disclosed it by sending it through his angel to his servant John, Verse ConceptsCommunicationBooksAngels, as God's messengersMinistry, Qualifications ForNecessityPeople Of God, In NtAngels, Nt AppearancesChrist's Relationship To GodGod Not DelayingGod Giving To The SonSlaves Of GodAngels Activities Among BelieversImminenceIdentity In Christ

they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living Creatures and the Presbyters, and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from earth. Verse ConceptsCreatureselders, in the churchMarketsSongsThroneAbundance, SpiritualHeaven, Worshiping GodBeastsFour CreaturesOne Hundred Thousand And MoreCosmic CreaturesA New SongFruitless LearningElders In Heaven144,000elders




"My brothers," said he, "it had to be fulfilled, that scripture which the holy Spirit uttered beforehand by the lips of David with regard to Judas who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus. Verse ConceptsPeter, Preacher And TeacherInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfThe Holy Spirit, And ScripturePredicting The FutureArresting ChristScriptures FulfilledInspirationfulfillment

As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, Verse ConceptsInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfSpeaking By The SpiritNamed Prophets Of The Lord



"My brothers," said he, "it had to be fulfilled, that scripture which the holy Spirit uttered beforehand by the lips of David with regard to Judas who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus. Verse ConceptsPeter, Preacher And TeacherInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfThe Holy Spirit, And ScripturePredicting The FutureArresting ChristScriptures FulfilledInspirationfulfillment

As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, Verse ConceptsInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfSpeaking By The SpiritNamed Prophets Of The Lord

Three days later, he called the leading Jews together, and when they met he said to them, "Brothers, although I have done nothing against the People or our ancestral customs, I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem. They meant to release me after examination, as I was innocent of any crime that deserved death. But the Jews objected, and so I was obliged to appeal to Caesar ??not that I had any charge to bring against my own nation. read more.
This is my reason for asking to see you and have a word with you. I am wearing this chain because I share Israel's hope." They replied, "We have had no letters about you from Judaea, and no brother has come here with any bad report or story about you. We think it only right to let you tell your own story; but as regards this sect, we are well aware that there are objections to it on all hands." So they fixed a day and came to him at his quarters in large numbers. From morning to evening he explained the Reign of God to them from personal testimony, and tried to convince them about Jesus from the law of Moses and the prophets. Some were convinced by what he said, but the others would not believe. As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, when he said, Go and tell this people, 'You will hear and hear but never understand, you will see and see but never perceive.' For the heart at this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy at hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them. Be sure of this, then, that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen to it." --

one of whom, named Agabus, showed by the Spirit that a severe famine was about to visit the whole world (the famine which occurred in the reign of Claudius). Verse ConceptsFamine, Examples OfCaesarRoman EmperorsPredicting The Future

"My brothers," said he, "it had to be fulfilled, that scripture which the holy Spirit uttered beforehand by the lips of David with regard to Judas who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus. Verse ConceptsPeter, Preacher And TeacherInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfThe Holy Spirit, And ScripturePredicting The FutureArresting ChristScriptures FulfilledInspirationfulfillment

As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, Verse ConceptsInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfSpeaking By The SpiritNamed Prophets Of The Lord

He said to them, "Isaiah made a grand prophecy about you hypocrites ??as it is written, This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me: vain is their worship of me, for the doctrines they teach are but human precepts.

As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, when he said, Go and tell this people, 'You will hear and hear but never understand, you will see and see but never perceive.' For the heart at this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy at hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them.

The apostles and the presbyters met to investigate this question, and a keen controversy sprang up; but Peter rose and said to them, "Brothers, you are well aware that from the earliest days God chose that of you all I should be the one by whom the Gentiles were to hear the word of the gospel and believe it. The God who reads the hearts of all attested this by giving them the holy Spirit just as he gave it to us; read more.
in cleansing their hearts by faith he made not the slightest distinction between us and them. Well now, why are you trying to impose a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we ourselves could bear? No, it is by the grace of the Lord Jesus that we believe and are saved, in the same way as they are."

As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, when he said, Go and tell this people, 'You will hear and hear but never understand, you will see and see but never perceive.' For the heart at this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy at hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them. read more.
Be sure of this, then, that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen to it."

What are we to conclude, then? That Gentiles who never aimed at righteousness have attained righteousness, that is, righteousness by faith; whereas Israel who did aim at the law of righteousness have failed to reach that law. And why? Simply because Israel has relied not on faith but on what they could do. They have stumbled over the stone that makes men stumble ??33 as it is written, Here I lay a stone in Sion that will make men stumble, even a rock to trip them up; but he who believes in Him will never be disappointed.

Then, I ask, has God repudiated his People? Never! Why, I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin! God has not repudiated his People, his predestined People! Surely you know what scripture says in the passage called 'Elijah'? You know how he pleads with God against Israel: Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have demolished thine altars; I alone am left, and they seek my life. read more.
Yet what is the divine answer? I have left myself seven thousand men who have not knelt to Baal. Well, at the present day there is also a remnant, selected by grace. Selected by grace, and therefore not for anything they have done; otherwise grace would cease to be grace. Now what are we to infer from this? That Israel has failed to secure the object of its quest; the elect have secured it, and the rest have been rendered insensible to it ??8 as it is written, God has given them a spirit of torpor, eyes that see not, ears that hear not ??down to this very day. And David says, Let their table prove a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened, that they cannot see, bow down their backs for ever. Now I ask, have they stumbled to their ruin? Never! The truth is, that by their lapse salvation has passed to the Gentiles, so as to make them jealous. Well, if their lapse has enriched the world, if their defection is the gain of the Gentiles, what will it mean when they all come in? I tell you this, you Gentiles, that as an apostle to the Gentiles I lay great stress on my office, in the hope of being able to make my fellow-Jews jealous and of managing thus to save some of them. For if their exclusion means that the world is reconciled to God, what will their admission mean? Why, it will be life from the dead! If the first handful of dough is consecrated, so is the rest of the lump; if the root is consecrated, so are the branches. Supposing some of the branches have been broken off, while you have been grafted in like a shoot of wild olive to share the rich growth of the olive-stem, do not pride yourself at the expense of these branches. Remember, in your pride, the stem supports you, not you the stem. You will say, "But branches were broken off to let me be grafted in!" Granted. They were broken off ??for their lack of faith. And you owe your position to your faith. You should feel awed instead of being uplifted. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider both the kindness and the severity of God; those who fall come under his severity, but you come under the divine kindness, provided you adhere to that kindness. Otherwise, you will be cut away too. And even the others will be grafted in, if they do not adhere to their unbelief; God can graft them in again. For if you have been cut from an olive which is naturally wild, and grafted, contrary to nature, upon a garden olive, how much more will the natural branches be grafted into their proper olive? To prevent you from being self-conceited, brothers, I would like you to understand this secret: it is only a partial insensibility that has come over Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in. This done, all Israel will be saved ??as it is written, The deliverer will come from Sion, he will banish all godlessness from Jacob: this is my covenant with them, when I take their sins away. So far as the gospel goes, they are enemies of God ??which is to your advantage; but so far as election goes, they are beloved for their father's sake. For God never goes back upon his gifts and call. Once you disobeyed God, and now you enjoy his mercy thanks to their disobedience; in the same way they at present are disobedient, so that they in turn may enjoy the same mercy as yourselves. For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.

Why, it is as with Abraham, he had faith in God and that was counted to him as righteousness. Well then, you see that the real sons of Abraham are those who rely on faith. Besides, Scripture anticipated God's justification of the Gentiles by faith when it announced the gospel beforehand to Abraham in these terms: All nations shall be blessed in thee. read more.
So that those who rely on faith are blessed along with believing Abraham. Whereas a curse rests on all who rely upon obedience to the Law; for it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not hold by all that is written in the book of the law, to perform it. And because no one is justified on the score of the Law before God (plainly, the just shall live by faith, ??12 and the Law is not based on faith: no, he who performs these things shall live by them), Christ ransomed us from the curse of the Law by becoming accursed for us (for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a gibbet), that the blessing of Abraham might reach the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promised Spirit.

A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God granted him for his servants, to show them what must come to pass very soon; he disclosed it by sending it through his angel to his servant John, Verse ConceptsCommunicationBooksAngels, as God's messengersMinistry, Qualifications ForNecessityPeople Of God, In NtAngels, Nt AppearancesChrist's Relationship To GodGod Not DelayingGod Giving To The SonSlaves Of GodAngels Activities Among BelieversImminenceIdentity In Christ

they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living Creatures and the Presbyters, and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from earth. Verse ConceptsCreatureselders, in the churchMarketsSongsThroneAbundance, SpiritualHeaven, Worshiping GodBeastsFour CreaturesOne Hundred Thousand And MoreCosmic CreaturesA New SongFruitless LearningElders In Heaven144,000elders




"My brothers," said he, "it had to be fulfilled, that scripture which the holy Spirit uttered beforehand by the lips of David with regard to Judas who acted as guide to those who arrested Jesus. Verse ConceptsPeter, Preacher And TeacherInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfThe Holy Spirit, And ScripturePredicting The FutureArresting ChristScriptures FulfilledInspirationfulfillment

As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, Verse ConceptsInspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Purpose OfSpeaking By The SpiritNamed Prophets Of The Lord



As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers, when he said, Go and tell this people, 'You will hear and hear but never understand, you will see and see but never perceive.' For the heart at this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy at hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them.