Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible






And the Lord said to him, "Go away to the street called 'The Straight Street,' and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus called Saul. He is praying at this very moment, and he has seen a man called Ananias enter and lay his hands upon him to bring back his sight." "But, Lord," Ananias answered, "many people have told me about all the mischief this man has done to thy saints at Jerusalem! read more.
And in this city too he has authority from the high priests to put anyone in chains who invokes thy Name!" But the Lord said to him, "Go; I have chosen him to be the means of bringing my Name before the Gentiles and their kings as well as before the sons of Israel.

I was travelling to Damascus on this business, with authority and a commission from the high priests, when at mid-day on the road, O king, I saw a light from heaven, more dazzling than the sun, flash round me and my fellow-travellers. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? You hurt yourself by kicking at the goad.' read more.
'Who are you?' I asked. And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me. Now get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you in order to appoint you to my service as a witness to what you have seen and to the visions you shall have of me. I will rescue you from the People and also from the Gentiles ??to whom I send you, that their eyes may be opened and that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, to get remission of their sins and an inheritance among those who are consecrated by faith in me.'

I tell you this, you Gentiles, that as an apostle to the Gentiles I lay great stress on my office, Verse ConceptsGentiles, In NtMission, Of The ChurchPreaching Gospel To ForeignersGentilesMinistry

You know the story of my past career in Judaism; you know how furiously I persecuted the church of God and harried it, and how I outstripped many of my own age and race in my special ardour for the ancestral traditions of my house. But the God who had set me apart from my very birth called me by his grace, read more.
and when he chose to reveal his Son to me, that I might preach him to the Gentiles, instead of consulting with any human being,

For this reason I Paul, I whom Jesus has made a prisoner for the sake of you Gentiles ??2 for surely you have heard how the grace of God which was vouchsafed me in your interests has ordered it, how the divine secret was disclosed to me by a revelation (if you read what I have already written briefly about this, you can understand my insight into that secret of Christ read more.
which was not disclosed to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his sacred apostles and prophets by the Spirit), namely, that in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are co-heirs, companions, and co-partners in the Promise. Such is the gospel which I was called to serve by the endowment of God's grace which was vouchsafed me, by the energy of his power; less than the least of all saints as I am, this grace was vouchsafed me, that I should bring the Gentiles the gospel of the fathomless wealth of Christ










For I am the very least of the apostles, unfit to bear the name of apostle, since I persecuted the church of God. But by God's grace I am what I am. The grace he showed me did not go for nothing; no, I have done far more work than all of them ??though it was not I but God's grace at my side.

Such is the gospel which I was called to serve by the endowment of God's grace which was vouchsafed me, by the energy of his power; less than the least of all saints as I am, this grace was vouchsafed me, that I should bring the Gentiles the gospel of the fathomless wealth of Christ

As the Lord's prisoner, then, I beg of you to live a life worthy of your calling, with perfect modesty and gentleness, showing forbearance to one another patiently, zealous in love to preserve the unity of the Spirit by binding peace upon yourselves. read more.
For there is one Body and one Spirit ??as you were called for the one hope that belongs to your call ??5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over us all, who pervades us all, who is within us all. But each one of us is granted his own grace, as determined by the full measure of Christ's gift.

In virtue of my commission from God, I laid the foundation of the house like an expert master-builder. It remains for another to build on this foundation. Whoever he is, let him be careful how he builds. Verse ConceptsFoundationsCraftsmenGrace, And Christian LifePaul, Apostle To GentilesGod, Grace OfNames And Titles For The ChurchThe Foundation Of The ChurchBuilding Up The ChurchTaking HeedThe Grace Given To MenWise Men In The Churchconstruction

and when they recognized the grace I had been given, then the so-called 'pillars' of the church, James and Cephas and John, gave myself and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. Our sphere was to be the Gentiles, theirs the circumcised. Verse ConceptsFellowship, In Christian ServiceFellowship, Among BelieversApostles, Function In Early ChurchGrace, And Christian LifePaul, Apostle To GentilesPillarsCompanionshipMissionary WorkMetaphorical PillarsBlessings For The Right HandThe Gospel To Jew And Gentilepartnership


In virtue of my office, I tell everyone of your number who is self-important, that he is not to think more of himself than he ought to think; he must take a sane view of himself, corresponding to the degree of faith which God has assigned to each. Verse ConceptsFaith, Origins OfIndividualismHumilityModestyAttention SeekersPresumptionPride, Evil OfSelf ConfidenceSelf DisciplineSelf RespectThoughtOverestimationMaintaining FaithDo Not Be ProudThe Grace Given To MenElectSelf WorthSelf EsteemBelieving In YourselfConfidence And Self EsteemSelf ImageefficiencymeasurementGod As The Source Of Faith

Still, by way of refreshing your memory, I have written you with a certain freedom, in virtue of my divine commission Verse ConceptsBoldness, To PeopleGrace, And Christian LifeRemindersReminders Of The GospelWriting LettersBeing StrongThe Grace Given To MenBoldness

























I tell you this, my brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the Realm of God, nor can the perishing inherit the imperishable. Here is a secret truth for you: not all of us are to die, but all of us are to be changed ??52 changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet-call. The trumpet will sound, the dead will rise imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishing body must be invested with the imperishable, and this mortal body invested with immortality; read more.
and when this mortal body has been invested with immortality, then the saying of Scripture will be realized, Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting? -- The victory is ours, thank God! He makes it ours by our Lord Jesus Christ.


We do discuss 'wisdom' with those who are mature; only it is not the wisdom of this world or of the dethroned Powers who rule this world, it is the mysterious Wisdom of God that we discuss, that hidden wisdom which God decreed from all eternity for our glory. None of the Powers of this world understands it (if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory).

It is His will that they should understand the glorious wealth which this secret holds for the Gentiles, in the fact of Christ's presence among you as your hope of glory.

[Now to Him who can strengthen you by my gospel, by the preaching of Jesus Christ, by revealing the secret purpose which after the silence of long ages has now been disclosed and made known on the basis of the prophetic scriptures (by command of the eternal God) to all the Gentiles for their obedience to the faith ??27 to the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ for ever and ever: Amen.]

For this reason I Paul, I whom Jesus has made a prisoner for the sake of you Gentiles ??2 for surely you have heard how the grace of God which was vouchsafed me in your interests has ordered it, how the divine secret was disclosed to me by a revelation (if you read what I have already written briefly about this, you can understand my insight into that secret of Christ read more.
which was not disclosed to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his sacred apostles and prophets by the Spirit), namely, that in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are co-heirs, companions, and co-partners in the Promise. Such is the gospel which I was called to serve by the endowment of God's grace which was vouchsafed me, by the energy of his power; less than the least of all saints as I am, this grace was vouchsafed me, that I should bring the Gentiles the gospel of the fathomless wealth of Christ and enlighten all men upon the new order of that divine secret which God the Creator of all concealed from eternity ??10 intending to let the full sweep of the divine wisdom be disclosed now by the church to the angelic Rulers and Authorities in the heavenly sphere,

in the days of the seventh angel's voice, when he now blows his blast, then shall the secret purpose of God be fulfilled, as he assured his servants the prophets." Verse ConceptsMinistry, Nature OfMysterySeventhGod Spoke By The ProphetsSlaves Of GodRevelation Through ProphetsEnd Of DaysFinishing Strongprophetsevangelizingfulfillment


I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but it was God who made the seed grow. So neither planter nor waterer counts, but God alone who makes the seed grow. Still, though planter and waterer are on the same level, each will get his own wage for the special work that he has done.


(for He who equipped Peter to be an apostle of the circumcised equipped me as well for the uncircumcised), Verse ConceptsPaul As An ApostleMinistry, Qualifications ForPeter, The ApostleThe Gospel To Jew And GentileGod's Work In UsMinistryempowerment



I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but it was God who made the seed grow. So neither planter nor waterer counts, but God alone who makes the seed grow. Still, though planter and waterer are on the same level, each will get his own wage for the special work that he has done.


(for He who equipped Peter to be an apostle of the circumcised equipped me as well for the uncircumcised), Verse ConceptsPaul As An ApostleMinistry, Qualifications ForPeter, The ApostleThe Gospel To Jew And GentileGod's Work In UsMinistryempowerment











[Now to Him who can strengthen you by my gospel, by the preaching of Jesus Christ, by revealing the secret purpose which after the silence of long ages has now been disclosed and made known on the basis of the prophetic scriptures (by command of the eternal God) to all the Gentiles for their obedience to the faith ??27 to the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ for ever and ever: Amen.]

For this reason I Paul, I whom Jesus has made a prisoner for the sake of you Gentiles ??2 for surely you have heard how the grace of God which was vouchsafed me in your interests has ordered it, how the divine secret was disclosed to me by a revelation (if you read what I have already written briefly about this, you can understand my insight into that secret of Christ read more.
which was not disclosed to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his sacred apostles and prophets by the Spirit), namely, that in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are co-heirs, companions, and co-partners in the Promise. Such is the gospel which I was called to serve by the endowment of God's grace which was vouchsafed me, by the energy of his power; less than the least of all saints as I am, this grace was vouchsafed me, that I should bring the Gentiles the gospel of the fathomless wealth of Christ and enlighten all men upon the new order of that divine secret which God the Creator of all concealed from eternity ??10 intending to let the full sweep of the divine wisdom be disclosed now by the church to the angelic Rulers and Authorities in the heavenly sphere,

Even prophets have searched and inquired about that salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was meant for you; the Spirit of messiah within them foretold all the suffering of messiah and his after-glory, and they pondered when or how this was to come; to them it was revealed that they got this intelligence not for themselves but for you, regarding all that has now been disclosed to you by those who preached the gospel to you through the holy Spirit sent from heaven. The very angels long to get a glimpse of this!