Thematic Bible: Conversion


Thematic Bible



When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the message of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.



The apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had welcomed God’s message also.

After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them: “Brothers, you are aware that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the gospel message and believe.

Therefore, let it be known to you that this saving work of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen!”

on us, the ones He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

and so that Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written:

Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles,
and I will sing psalms to Your name.



Return to the One the Israelites have greatly rebelled against.

Tell them: As I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked person should turn from his way and live. Repent, repent of your evil ways! Why will you die, house of Israel?

If you respond to my warning,
then I will pour out my spirit on you
and teach you my words.

Let the wicked one abandon his way
and the sinful one his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord,
so He may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for He will freely forgive.

I thought: After she has done all these things, she will return to Me. But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.


I have heard Ephraim moaning,
“You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined
like an untrained calf.
Restore me, and I will return,
for you, Lord, are my God.

Restore us, God of Hosts;
look on us with favor, and we will be saved.

Return to us, God of our salvation,
and abandon Your displeasure with us.



“Return, you faithless children”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“for I am your master, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

But if you return to Me and carefully observe My commands, even though your exiles were banished to the ends of the earth, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have My name dwell.”

Zion will be redeemed by justice,
her repentant ones by righteousness.

But if a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life.


Then you will see and be radiant,
and your heart will tremble and rejoice,
because the riches of the sea will become yours
and the wealth of the nations will come to you.

In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established
at the top of the mountains
and will be raised above the hills.
All nations will stream to it,

On that day the root of Jesse
will stand as a banner for the peoples.
The nations will seek Him,
and His resting place will be glorious.

For this is what the Lord says:

I will make peace flow to her like a river,
and the wealth of nations like a flood;
you will nurse and be carried on her hip
and bounced on her lap.


If anyone does not repent,
God will sharpen His sword;
He has strung His bow and made it ready.

But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their evil or stop burning incense to other gods.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn against you to bring disaster, to cut off all Judah.



Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God and that You have turned their hearts back.”

After greeting them, he related in detail what God did among the Gentiles through his ministry.



I thought about my ways
and turned my steps back to Your decrees.



for they themselves report what kind of reception we had from you: how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God


When they had been sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, explaining in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and they created great joy among all the brothers.

they simply kept hearing: "He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith he once tried to destroy." And they glorified God because of me.



My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, he should know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his life from death and cover a multitude of sins.


Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” This is the declaration of the Lord God. “Instead, don’t I take pleasure when he turns from his ways and lives?

But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”


God raised up His Servant and sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”

For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed,



When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged all of them to remain true to the Lord with a firm resolve of the heart,



Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.


I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances.


Restore the joy of Your salvation to me, and give me a willing spirit. Then I will teach the rebellious Your ways, and sinners will return to You.


At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Then He called a child to Him and had him stand among them. "I assure you," He said, "unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.


Then he started to curse and to swear with an oath, “I do not know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed,


My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, he should know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his life from death and cover a multitude of sins.


He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized. He brought them up into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had believed God with his entire household.


When Saul turned around to leave Samuel, God changed his heart, and all the signs came about that day.


If you respond to my warning,
then I will pour out my spirit on you
and teach you my words.


"I don't have a husband," she answered. "You have correctly said, 'I don't have a husband,' " Jesus said. "For you've had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true."


But they did not welcome Him, because He determined to journey to Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?"




When the skies are shut and there is no rain,
because they have sinned against You,
and they pray toward this place
and praise Your name,
and they turn from their sins
because You are afflicting them,




When He killed some of them,
the rest began to seek Him;
they repented and searched for God.




Then I will teach the rebellious Your ways,
and sinners will return to You.






Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.


He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized.








Then the proconsul, seeing what happened, believed and was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.


A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was spoken by Paul.






As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.




They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed by the legion, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.




[And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]


“Today salvation has come to this house,” Jesus told him, “because he too is a son of Abraham.




He opens their ears to correction
and insists they repent from iniquity.


Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest




“But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”



Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.


Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, either men or women, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. read more.
Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" "Who are You, Lord?" he said. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," He replied. "But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one. Then Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus. He was unable to see for three days, and did not eat or drink. Now in Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Here I am, Lord!" he said. "Get up and go to the street called Straight," the Lord said to him, "to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so he may regain his sight." "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name." But the Lord said to him, "Go! For this man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before Gentiles, kings, and the sons of Israel. I will certainly show him how much he must suffer for My name!" So Ananias left and entered the house. Then he placed his hands on him and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. And after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul was with the disciples in Damascus for some days. Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: "He is the Son of God." But all who heard him were astounded and said, "Isn't this the man who, in Jerusalem, was destroying those who called on this name, and then came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?" But Saul grew more capable, and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this One is the Messiah. After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. So they were watching the gates day and night intending to kill him, but his disciples took him by night and lowered him in a large basket through [an opening in] the wall. When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to associate with the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple. Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how, on the road, Saul had seen the Lord, and that He had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He conversed and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they attempted to kill him. When the brothers found out, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace, being built up and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, and it increased in numbers.


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