Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible






You, however, Brothers, are not in darkness, that the daylight should take you by surprise as if you were thieves. For you all are 'Sons of Light' and 'Sons of the Day.' We have nothing to do with night, or darkness.


And the transcendent greatness of the power which he is able to exercise in dealing with us who believe in him. The same mighty power was exerted upon the Christ, when he raised the Christ from the dead and 'caused him to sit at his right hand' on high, exalting him above all Angels and Archangels of every rank, And above every name that can be named, whether in the present age, or in the age to come. read more.
And God placed 'all things under Christ's feet,' and gave him to the Church as its supreme Head; For the Church is Christ's Body, and is filled by him who fills all things everywhere with his presence.

Wives should submit to their husbands as submitting to the Lord. For a man is the Head of his wife, as the Christ is the Head of the Church--being indeed himself the Savior of his Body.

And you will give thanks to the Father who made you fit to share the lot which awaits Christ's People in the realms of Light. For God has rescued us from the tyranny of Darkness, and has removed us into the Kingdom of his Son, who is the embodiment of his love, And through whom we have found deliverance in the forgiveness of our sins. read more.
For Christ is the very incarnation of the invisible God-- First-born and Head of all creation; For in him was created all that is in Heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible--Angels and Archangels and all the Powers of Heaven. All has been created through him and for him. He was before all things, and all things unite in him; And he is the Head of the Church, which is his Body. The First-born from the dead, he is to the Church the Source of its Life, that he, in all things, may stand first. For it pleased the Father that in him the divine nature in all its fulness should dwell, And through him to reconcile all things to himself (making peace by the shedding of Christ's blood offered upon the cross)-- whether on earth or in Heaven.






In the same way, even the Christ did not take the honour of the High Priesthood upon himself, but he was appointed by him who said to him-- 'Thou art my Son; this day I have become thy Father'; Verse ConceptsJesus As The Beloved SonThe Beloved SonMessianic Titles, High PriestConceptionJesus Christ, Son Of GodSeeking HonourRivers






In the same way, even the Christ did not take the honour of the High Priesthood upon himself, but he was appointed by him who said to him-- 'Thou art my Son; this day I have become thy Father'; Verse ConceptsJesus As The Beloved SonThe Beloved SonMessianic Titles, High PriestConceptionJesus Christ, Son Of GodSeeking HonourRivers


They are singing the song of Moses, the Servant of God, and the song of the Lamb-- 'Great and marvelous are thy deeds, O Lord, our God, the Almighty. Righteous and true are thy ways, Eternal King. Verse ConceptsGod, Righteousness OfGod, Sovereignty OfKingsKingship, DivineMoses, Significance OfServanthood, In Life Of BelieversSongsNames And Titles For ChristThe AlmightyGod Reigning ForeverComposersGod Doing RightDoing RightSlaves Of GodWhat God Does

To the Angel of the Church in Laodicaea write:-- "These are the words of the Unchanging One, 'the Witness faithful and true, the Beginning of the Creation of God':-- Verse ConceptsAttending ChurchAmenRulersWitnessing, Importance OfNames And Titles For ChristChrist, Names ForChrist The BeginningThe Witness Of ChristWriting Letterslukewarm



And to make clear what is God's way of working out that hidden purpose which from the first has been concealed in the mind of the Creator of all things; Verse ConceptsGod, The CreatorLast DaysMysteryUniverseAdministrationGod's Things ConcealedSchedulesGod's PlanGods PlanThe Past

God, who, of old, at many times and in many ways, spoke to our ancestors, by the Prophets, has in these latter days spoken to us by the Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.

In the Beginning the Word was; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God. He was in the Beginning with God; Through him all things came into being, and nothing came into being apart from him. read more.
That which came into being in him was Life; and the Life was the Light of Man; And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness never overpowered it. There appeared a man sent from God, whose name was John; He came as a witness--to bear witness to the Light that through him all men might believe. He was not the Light, but he came to bear witness to the Light. That was the True Light which enlightens every man coming into the world. He was in the world; and through him the world came into being--yet the world did not know him.

And you will give thanks to the Father who made you fit to share the lot which awaits Christ's People in the realms of Light. For God has rescued us from the tyranny of Darkness, and has removed us into the Kingdom of his Son, who is the embodiment of his love, And through whom we have found deliverance in the forgiveness of our sins. read more.
For Christ is the very incarnation of the invisible God-- First-born and Head of all creation; For in him was created all that is in Heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible--Angels and Archangels and all the Powers of Heaven. All has been created through him and for him. He was before all things, and all things unite in him;


For they wilfully shut their eyes to the fact that long ago the heavens existed; and the earth, also--formed out of water and by the action of water, by the fiat of God; and that by the same means the world which then existed was destroyed in a deluge of water. But the present heavens and earth, by the same fiat, have been reserved for fire, and are being kept for the day of the judgment and destruction of the godless.




Then the fifth angel emptied his bowl upon the throne of the Beast; and darkness fell upon its Kingdom. Men gnawed their tongues for pain, Verse ConceptsAgony, Of BodyBitingThroneTongueColors, BlackFractions, One FifthCosmic CreaturesPhysical PainThe Outer DarknessFifthOuter DarknessPleasurablenessBowl JudgmentsCatastrophic Events

When I was with you day after day in the Temple Courts, you did not lay hands on me; but now your time has come, and the power of Darkness." Verse ConceptsDarkness, As A Symbol Of SinHourNightDark DaysUnceasingAlways Being ActiveLaying On Hands For EvilDarkness Of EvilChrist With People On EarthChrist In The TempleThe Power Of Other Creatures








In the same way, even the Christ did not take the honour of the High Priesthood upon himself, but he was appointed by him who said to him-- 'Thou art my Son; this day I have become thy Father'; Verse ConceptsJesus As The Beloved SonThe Beloved SonMessianic Titles, High PriestConceptionJesus Christ, Son Of GodSeeking HonourRivers

The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging him on a cross. It is this Jesus whom God has exalted to his right hand, to be a Guide and a Savior, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.

You yourselves know the story which spread through all Judea, how, beginning form Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed-- The story, I mean, of Jesus of Nazareth, and how God consecrated him his Christ by enduing him with the Holy Spirit and with power; and how he went about doing good and curing all who were under the power of the Devil, because God was with him. We are ourselves, too, witnesses to all that he did in Judea and in Jerusalem; yet they put him to death by hanging him on a cross! read more.
This Jesus God raised on the third day, and enabled him to appear, Not indeed to every one, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God--to us, who ate and drank with him after his resurrection from the dead. Further, God charged us to proclaim to the people, and solemnly affirm, that it is Jesus who has been appointed by God Judge of the living and the dead. To him it is that all the Prophets bear witness, when they say that every one who believes in him receives through his Name forgiveness of sins."

Blessed is the God and Father of Jesus Christ, our Lord, who has blessed us on high with every spiritual blessing, in Christ. For he chose us in our union with Christ before the creation of the universe, that we might be holy and blameless in his sight, living in the spirit of love. From the first he destined us, in his good-will towards us, to be adopted as Sons through Jesus Christ, read more.
And so to enhance that glorious manifestation of his loving- kindness which he gave us in The Beloved; For in him, and through the shedding of his blood, we have found redemption in the pardon of our offenses.

And you will give thanks to the Father who made you fit to share the lot which awaits Christ's People in the realms of Light. For God has rescued us from the tyranny of Darkness, and has removed us into the Kingdom of his Son, who is the embodiment of his love, And through whom we have found deliverance in the forgiveness of our sins.

It is of what has been in existence from the Beginning, of what we have heard, of what we have seen with our eyes, of what we watched reverently and touched with our hands--it is about the Word who is the Life that we are now writing. That Life was made visible, and we have seen it, and now bear our testimony to it, and tell you of that Immortal Life, which was with the Father and was made visible to us. It is of what we have seen and heard that we now tell you, so that you may have communion with us. And our communion is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.



And you will give thanks to the Father who made you fit to share the lot which awaits Christ's People in the realms of Light. For God has rescued us from the tyranny of Darkness, and has removed us into the Kingdom of his Son, who is the embodiment of his love, And through whom we have found deliverance in the forgiveness of our sins. read more.
For Christ is the very incarnation of the invisible God-- First-born and Head of all creation; For in him was created all that is in Heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible--Angels and Archangels and all the Powers of Heaven. All has been created through him and for him. He was before all things, and all things unite in him;

After saying this, Jesus raised his eyes heaven-wards, and said: "Father, the hour has come; honor thy Son, that thy Son may honor thee; Even as thou gavest him power over all mankind, that he should give Immortal Life to all those whom thou has given him. And the Immortal Life is this--to know thee the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent as thy Messenger. read more.
I have honored thee on earth by completing the work which thou has given me to do; And now do thou honor me, Father, at thy own side, with the honor which I had at thy side before the world began.

In the Beginning the Word was; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God. He was in the Beginning with God; Through him all things came into being, and nothing came into being apart from him. read more.
That which came into being in him was Life; and the Life was the Light of Man;



It is for your discipline that you have to endure all this. God is dealing with you as his Children. For where is there a child whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without that discipline, in which all children share, it shows that you are bastards, and not true Children. Further, when our earthly fathers disciplined us, we respected them. Shall we not, then, much rather yield submission to the Father of souls, and live? read more.
Our fathers disciplined us for only a short time and as seemed best to them; but God disciplines us for our true good, to enable us to share his holiness.

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus, the Christ, for the sake of you Gentiles-- For you have heard, I suppose, of the responsible charge with which God entrusted me for your benefit, And also that it was by direct revelation that the hidden purpose of God was made known to me, as I have already briefly told you. read more.
And, by reading what I have written, you will be able to judge how far I understand this hidden purpose of God in Christ. In former generations it was not made known to mankind, as fully as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to the Apostles and Prophets among Christ's People-- That, by union with Christ Jesus and through the Good News, the Gentiles are co-heirs with us and members of one Body, and that they share with us in God's Promise.

I ask, then, 'Has God rejected his People?' Heaven forbid! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his People, whom he chose from the first. Have you forgotten the words of Scripture in the story of Elijah- how he appeals to God against Israel? 'Lord, they have killed thy Prophets, they have pulled down thy altars, and I only am left; and now they are eager to take my life.' read more.
But what was the divine response? 'I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have never bowed the knee to Baal.' And so in our own time, too, there is to be found a remnant of our nation selected by God in love. But if in love, then no longer as a result of obedience. Otherwise love would cease to be love. What follows from this? Why, that Israel as a nation failed to secure what it was seeking, while those whom God selected did secure it. The rest grew callous; as Scripture says--'God has given them a deadness of mind--eyes that are not to see and ears that are not to hear--and it is so to this very day.' David, too, says--'May their feasts prove a snare and a trap to them--a hindrance and a retribution; May their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see; and do thou always make their backs to bend.' I ask then--'Was their stumbling to result in their fall?' Heaven forbid! On the contrary, through their falling away Salvation has reached the Gentiles, to stir the rivalry of Israel. And, if their falling away has enriched the world, and their failure has enriched the Gentiles, how much more will result from their full restoration! But I am speaking to you who were Gentiles. Being myself an Apostle to the Gentiles, I exalt my office, in the hope that I may stir my countrymen to rivalry, and so save some of them. For, if their being cast aside has meant the reconciliation of the world, what will their reception mean, but Life from the dead? If the first handful of dough in holy, so is the whole mass; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. Some, however, of the branches were broken off, and you, who were only a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and came to share with them the root which is the source of the richness of the cultivated olive.

Therefore, my dear friends, shun the worship of idols. I speak to you as man of discernment; form your own judgment about what I am saying. In the Cup of Blessing which we bless, is not there a sharing in the blood of the Christ? And in the Bread which we break, is not there a sharing in the Body of the Christ? read more.
The Bread is one, and we, though many, are one body; for we all partake of that one Bread. Look at the people of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices share with the altar?

And therefore we, from the very day that we heard this, have never ceased praying for you, or asking that you may possess that deeper knowledge of the will of God, which comes through all true spiritual wisdom and insight. Then you will live lives worthy of the Master, and so please God in every way. Your lives will be fruitful in every kind of good action, and your characters will grow through a fuller knowledge of God; You will be made strong at all points with a strength worthy of the power manifested in his Glory--strong to endure with patience, and even with gladness, whatever may befall you; read more.
And you will give thanks to the Father who made you fit to share the lot which awaits Christ's People in the realms of Light. For God has rescued us from the tyranny of Darkness, and has removed us into the Kingdom of his Son, who is the embodiment of his love, And through whom we have found deliverance in the forgiveness of our sins.

All who are in the position of slaves should regard their masters as deserving of the greatest respect, so that the Name of God, and our Teaching, may not be maligned. Those who have Christian masters should not think less of them because they are their Brothers, but on the contrary they should serve them all the better, because those who are to benefit by their good work are dear to them as their fellow Christians. Those are the things to insist upon in your teaching.

Dear friends, do not be astonished at the fiery trials that you are passing through, to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. No, the more you share the sufferings of the Christ, the more may you rejoice, that, when the time comes for the manifestation of his Glory, you may rejoice and exult. If you are reviled for bearing the name of Christ, count yourselves blessed; because the divine Glory and the Spirit of God are resting upon you.

To those to whom, through the justice of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, there has been granted faith equally privileged with our own, from Simon Peter, a servant and an Apostle of Jesus Christ. May blessing and peace be yours in ever-increasing measure, as you advance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord. For his divine power has given us everything that is needful for a life of piety, as we advance in the knowledge of him who called us by a glorious manifestation of his goodness. read more.
For it was through this that he gave us what we prize as the greatest of his promises, that through them you might participate in the divine nature, now that you have fled from the corruption in the world, resulting from human passions.




And you will give thanks to the Father who made you fit to share the lot which awaits Christ's People in the realms of Light. For God has rescued us from the tyranny of Darkness, and has removed us into the Kingdom of his Son, who is the embodiment of his love, And through whom we have found deliverance in the forgiveness of our sins. read more.
For Christ is the very incarnation of the invisible God-- First-born and Head of all creation; For in him was created all that is in Heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible--Angels and Archangels and all the Powers of Heaven. All has been created through him and for him. He was before all things, and all things unite in him; And he is the Head of the Church, which is his Body. The First-born from the dead, he is to the Church the Source of its Life, that he, in all things, may stand first. For it pleased the Father that in him the divine nature in all its fulness should dwell,

And so Jesus, also, to purify the People by his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go out to him 'outside the camp,' bearing the same reproaches as he; for here we have no permanent city, but are looking for the City that is to be. read more.
Through him let us offer, as our sacrifice, continual praise to God--an offering from lips that glorify his Name. Never forget to do kindly acts and to share what you have with others, for such sacrifices are acceptable to God.


But now, through your union with Christ Jesus, you who once were 'far off' have, by the shedding of the blood of the Christ, been brought 'near.' He it is who is our Peace. He made the two divisions of mankind one, broke down the barrier that separated them, And in his human nature put an end to the cause of enmity between them--the Law with its injunctions and ordinances--in order to create, through union with himself, from Jew and Gentile, one New Man and thus make peace. read more.
And when, upon the cross, he had destroyed their mutual enmity, he sought by means of his cross to reconcile them both to God, united in one Body.

But all this is the work of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave us the Ministry of Reconciliation-- To proclaim that God, in Christ, was reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning men's offenses against them, and that he had entrusted us with the Message of this reconciliation. It is, then, on Christ's behalf that we are acting as ambassadors, God, as it were, appealing to you through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf--Be reconciled to God. read more.
Him who never knew sin God made to be Sin, on our behalf; so that we, through union with him, might become the Righteousness of God.

Seeing that, while we were still powerless, Christ, in God's good time, died on behalf of the godless. Even for an upright man scarcely any one will die. For a really good man perhaps some one might even dare to die. But God puts his love for us beyond all doubt by the fact that Christ died on our behalf while we were still sinners. read more.
Much more, then, now that we have been pronounced righteous by virtue of the shedding of his blood, shall we be saved through him from the Wrath of God. For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, much more, now that we have become reconciled, shall we be saved by virtue of Christ's Life. And not only that, but we exult in God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom we have now obtained this reconciliation.

The Law, though able to foreshadow the Better System which was coming, never had its actual substance. Its priests, with those sacrifices which they offer continuously year after year, can never make those who come to worship perfect. Otherwise, would not the offering of these sacrifices have been abandoned, as the worshipers, having been once purified, would have had their consciences clear from sins? But, on the contrary, these sacrifices recall their sins to mind year after year. read more.
For the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to remove sins. That is why, when he was coming into the world, the Christ declared-- 'Sacrifice and offering thou dost not desire, but thou dost provide for me a body; Thou dost take no pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. So I said, "See, I have come' (as is written of me in the pages of the Book), "To do thy will, O God."' First come the words-- 'Thou dost not desire, nor dost thou take pleasure in, sacrifices, offerings, burnt offerings, and sacrifices for sin' (offerings regularly made under the Law), and then there is added-- 'See, I have come to do thy will.' The former sacrifices are set aside to be replaced by the latter. And it is in the fulfillment of the will of God that we have been purified by the sacrifice, once and for all, of the body of Jesus Christ. Every other priest stands day after day at his ministrations, and offers the same sacrifices over and over again--sacrifices that can never take sins away. But, this priest, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, which should serve for all time, 'took his seat at the right hand of God,' and has since then been waiting 'for his enemies to be put as a stool for his feet.' By a single offering he has made perfect for all time those who are being purified.

And you will give thanks to the Father who made you fit to share the lot which awaits Christ's People in the realms of Light. For God has rescued us from the tyranny of Darkness, and has removed us into the Kingdom of his Son, who is the embodiment of his love, And through whom we have found deliverance in the forgiveness of our sins. read more.
For Christ is the very incarnation of the invisible God-- First-born and Head of all creation; For in him was created all that is in Heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible--Angels and Archangels and all the Powers of Heaven. All has been created through him and for him. He was before all things, and all things unite in him; And he is the Head of the Church, which is his Body. The First-born from the dead, he is to the Church the Source of its Life, that he, in all things, may stand first. For it pleased the Father that in him the divine nature in all its fulness should dwell, And through him to reconcile all things to himself (making peace by the shedding of Christ's blood offered upon the cross)-- whether on earth or in Heaven. And it pleased God that you, once estranged from him and hostile towards him in your thoughts, intent only on wickedness-- But now he has reconciled you to himself by the sacrifice of Christ's earthly body in death--it has pleased God that you should stand in his presence holy, pure, and blameless,

What our eyes do see is Jesus, who was made for a while lower than angels, now, because of his sufferings and death, crowned with glory and honour; so that his tasting the bitterness of death should, in God's loving-kindness, be on behalf of all mankind. It was, indeed, fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, should, when leading many sons to glory, make the author of their Salvation perfect through suffering. For he who purifies, and those whom he purifies, all spring from One; and therefore he is not ashamed to call them 'Brothers.' read more.
He says-- 'I will tell of thy Name to my Brothers, In the midst of the congregation I will sing thy praise.' And again-- 'As for me, I will put my trust in God.' And yet again-- 'See, here am I and the children whom God gave me.' Therefore, since human nature is the common heritage of 'the Children,' Jesus also shared it, in order that by death he might render powerless him whose power lies in death--that is, the Devil-- and so might deliver all those who, from fear of death, had all their lives been living in slavery. It was not, surely, to the help of the angels that Jesus came, but 'to the help of the descendants of Abraham.' And consequently it was necessary that he should in all points be made like 'his Brothers,' in order that he might prove a merciful as well as a faithful High Priest in man's relations with God, for the purpose of expiating the sins of his People.







In the same way, even the Christ did not take the honour of the High Priesthood upon himself, but he was appointed by him who said to him-- 'Thou art my Son; this day I have become thy Father'; Verse ConceptsJesus As The Beloved SonThe Beloved SonMessianic Titles, High PriestConceptionJesus Christ, Son Of GodSeeking HonourRivers