Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible




For, just as in the human body there is a union of many parts, and each part has its own function, So we, by our union in Christ, many though we are, form but one body, and individually we are related one to another as its parts. Since our gifts differ in accordance with the particular charge entrusted to us, if our gift is to preach, let our preaching correspond to our faith; read more.
If it is to minister to others, let us devote ourselves to our ministry; the teacher to his teaching, The speaker to his exhortation. Let the man who gives in charity do so with a generous heart; let him who is in authority exercise due diligence; let him who shows kindness do so in a cheerful spirit.

Do not you know that your bodies are Christ's members? Am I, then, to take the members that belong to the Christ and make them the members of a prostitute? Heaven forbid! Or do not you know that a man who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body (for 'the two,' it is said, 'will become one'); While a man who is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit?

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? The Bread is one, and we, though many, are one body; for we all partake of that one Bread.

For just as the human body is one whole, and yet has many parts, and all its parts, many though they are, form but one body, so it is with the Christ; For it was by one Spirit that we were all baptized to form one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free men, and were all imbued with one Spirit. The human body, I repeat, consists not of one part, but of many. read more.
If the foot says 'Since I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it does not on that account cease to belong to the body. Or if the ear says 'Since I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it does not on that account cease to belong to the body. If all the body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If it were all hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed each individual part just where he thought fit in the body. If, however, they all made up only one part, where would the body be? But in fact, although it has many parts, there is only one body. The eye cannot say to the hand 'I do not need you,' nor, again, the head to the feet 'I do not need you.' No! Those parts of the body that seem naturally the weaker are indispensable; And those parts which we deem less honorable we surround with special honor; and our ungraceful parts receive a special grace which our graceful parts do not require. Yes, God has so constructed the body--by giving a special honor to the part that lacks it- As to secure that there should be no disunion in the body, but that the parts should show the same care for one another. If one part suffers, all the others suffer with it, and if one part has honor done it, all the others share its joy. Together you are the Body of Christ, and individually its parts. In the Church God has appointed, first, Apostles, secondly Preachers, thirdly Teachers; then he has given supernatural powers, then power to cure diseases, aptness for helping others, capacity to govern, varieties of the gift of 'tongues.' Can every one be an Apostle? can every one be a Preacher? can every one be a Teacher? can every one have supernatural powers? Can every one have power to cure diseases? can every one speak in 'tongues'? can every one interpret them? Strive for the greater gifts. Yet I can still show you a way beyond all comparison the best.

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.

I urge you, then--I who am a prisoner in the Master's cause-- to live lives worthy of the Call that you have received; Always humble and gentle, patient, bearing lovingly with one another, And striving to maintain in the bond of peace the unity given by the Spirit. read more.
There is but one Body and one Spirit, just as there was but one hope set before you when you received your Call. There is but one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. There is but one God and Father of all--the God who is over all, pervades all, and is in all. Every one of us, however, has been entrusted with some charge, each in accordance with the extent of the gift of the Christ. That is why it is said--'When he went up on high, he led his captives into captivity. And gave gifts to mankind.' Now surely this 'going up' must imply that he had already gone down into the world beneath. He who went down is the same as he who went up--up beyond the highest Heaven, that he might fill all things with his presence. And he it is who gave to the Church Apostles, Prophets, Missionaries, Pastors, and Teachers, To fit his People for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the Body of the Christ. And this shall continue, until we all attain to that unity which is given by faith and by a fuller knowledge of the Son of God; until we reach the ideal man--the full standard of the perfection of the Christ. Then we shall no longer be like infants, tossed backward and forward, blown about by every breath of human teaching, through the trickery and the craftiness of men, towards the snares of error; But holding the truth in a spirit of love, we shall grow into complete union with him who is our Head--Christ himself. For from him the whole Body, closely joined and knit together by the contact of every part with the source of its life, derives its power to grow, in proportion to the vigor of each individual part; and so is being built up in a spirit of love.

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. But as the Church submits to the Christ, so also should wives submit to their husbands in everything. read more.
Husbands, love your wives, just as the Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for her, To make her holy, after purifying her by the Washing with the Water, according to his promise; So that he might himself bring the Church, in all her beauty, into his own presence, with no spot or wrinkle or blemish of any kind, but that she might be holy and faultless. That is how husbands ought to love their wives--as if they were their own bodies. A man who loves his wife is really loving himself; For no one ever yet hated his own body. But every one feeds his body and cares for it, just as the Christ for the Church; For we are members of his Body. 'For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife; and the man and his wife shall become one.' In this there is a profound truth--I am speaking of Christ and his Church. However, for you individually, let each love his wife as if she were himself; and the wife be careful to respect her husband.


I urge you, then--I who am a prisoner in the Master's cause-- to live lives worthy of the Call that you have received; Always humble and gentle, patient, bearing lovingly with one another, And striving to maintain in the bond of peace the unity given by the Spirit.





For I am the meanest of the Apostles, I who am unworthy of the name of 'Apostle,' because I persecuted the Church of God. But it is through the love of God that I am what I am, and the love that he showed me has not been wasted. No, I have toiled harder than any of them, and yet it was not I, but the love of God working with me.

Of this Good News I became a minister, in virtue of the charge with which God entrusted me in the exercise of his power-- Yes, to me, who am less than the least of all Christ's People, was this charge entrusted!--to tell the Gentiles the Good News of the boundless wealth to be found in the Christ,

I urge you, then--I who am a prisoner in the Master's cause-- to live lives worthy of the Call that you have received; Always humble and gentle, patient, bearing lovingly with one another, And striving to maintain in the bond of peace the unity given by the Spirit. read more.
There is but one Body and one Spirit, just as there was but one hope set before you when you received your Call. There is but one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. There is but one God and Father of all--the God who is over all, pervades all, and is in all. Every one of us, however, has been entrusted with some charge, each in accordance with the extent of the gift of the Christ.










I urge you, then--I who am a prisoner in the Master's cause-- to live lives worthy of the Call that you have received; Always humble and gentle, patient, bearing lovingly with one another, And striving to maintain in the bond of peace the unity given by the Spirit.

But do not allow yourselves to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Father, the heavenly Father. Verse ConceptsTeachersNames And Titles For The ChristianBrotherhood










Show 4 more verses
And may God, the giver of this patience and this encouragement, grant you to be united in sympathy in Christ, So that with one heart and one voice you may praise the God and Father of Jesus Christ, our Lord.


Only we are bound to order our lives by what we have already attained. Brothers, unite in following my example, and fix your eyes on those who are living by the pattern which we have set you.