Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible




Then what are we to say about our ancestor Abraham? For if he was made upright by what he did, it is something to be proud of. But not to be proud of before God, for what does the Scripture say? "Abraham had faith in God, and it was credited to him as uprightness." read more.
Now paying a workman is not considered a favor, but an obligation, but a man who has no work to offer, but has faith in him who can make the ungodly upright, has his faith credited to him as uprightness. So David himself says of the happiness of those to whom God credits uprightness without any reference to their actions, "Happy are they whose violations of the Law have been forgiven, whose sins are covered up! Happy is the man whose sin the Lord will take no account of!" Does this happiness apply to those who are circumcised, or to those who are uncircumcised as well? What we say is, Abraham's faith was credited to him as uprightness. In what circumstances? Was it after he was circumcised or before? Not after he was circumcised, but before; and he was afterward given the mark of circumcision as the stamp of God's acknowledgment of the uprightness based on faith that was his before he was circumcised, so that he should be the forefather of all who, without being circumcised, have faith and so are credited with uprightness, and the forefather of those circumcised persons who not only share his circumcision but follow our forefather Abraham's example in the faith he had before he was circumcised. For the promise made to Abraham and his descendants that the world should belong to him did not come to him or his descendants through the Law, but through the uprightness that resulted from his faith. For if it is the adherents of the Law who are to possess it, faith is nullified and the promise amounts to nothing! For the Law only brings down God's wrath; where there is no law, there is no violation of it. That is why it all turns upon faith; it is to make it a matter of God's favor, so that the promise may hold good for all Abraham's descendants, not only those who are adherents of the Law, but also those who share the faith of Abraham. For he is the father of all of us; as the Scripture says, "I have made you the father of many nations." The promise is guaranteed in the very sight of God in whom he had faith, who can bring the dead to life and call into being what does not exist. Abraham, hoping against hope, had faith, and so became the father of many nations, in fulfilment of the Scripture, "So countless shall your descendants be." His faith did not weaken, although he realized that his own body was worn out, for he was about a hundred years old, and that Sarah was past bearing children. He did not incredulously question God's promise, but his faith gave him power and he praised God in the full assurance that God was able to do what he had promised. That was why it was credited to him as uprightness.

Just as Abraham had faith in God and it was credited to him as uprightness. So you see, the real descendants of Abraham are the men of faith. The Scripture foresaw that God would accept the heathen as upright in consequence of their faith, and preached the good news in advance to Abraham in the words, "All the heathen will be blessed through you." read more.
So the men of faith share the blessing of Abraham and his faith.

Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going. Faith led him to make a temporary home as a stranger in the land he had been promised, and to live there in his tents, with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him. For he was looking forward to that city with the sure foundations, designed and built by God.

Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, of whom he had been told, "Your posterity is to arise through Isaac!" For he believed that God was able to raise men even from the dead, and from the dead he did indeed, to speak figuratively, receive him back.

Was not our forefather Abraham made upright for his good deeds, for offering his son Isaac on the altar? You see that in his case faith and good deeds worked together; faith found its highest expression in good deeds, and so the Scripture came true that says, "Abraham had faith in God, and it was credited to him as uprightness, and he was called God's friend." read more.
You see a man is made upright by his good deeds and not simply by having faith.


Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, " 'That stone which the builders rejected Has become the cornerstone; This came from the Lord, And seems marvelous to us'? Verse ConceptsBuildingArchitectureGod, The RockMasonsOccupationsSymbolsRejection Of ChristProphecies Concerning ChristSpiritual FoundationsCapstoneBuildersChrist The RockReading The ScripturesScripture SaysWhat God DoesRejectionReading The Bibleconstructionimportance

He is the stone that you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. Verse ConceptsCornerstonesGod, The RockMasonsOccupationsSpiritual FoundationsCapstoneBuildersChrist The Rock

It is you, therefore, who believe who see its value, but for men who do not believe, "The stone which the builders refused has been made a cornerstone," Verse ConceptsCornerstonesArchitectureMasonsOccupationsUnbelief, As Response To GodChurch, Christ Authority OverCharacter Of WickedCapstoneLove For GodBuildersChrist The RockNot Believing In JesusPrecious



But, as it is, their aspirations are for a better, a heavenly country! That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city to receive them. Verse ConceptsBeing A PilgrimCityNames For HeavenHeaven,  Redeemed CommunityNot AshamedThirstZion, As A SymbolWhat Heaven Will Be LikeSaints, As PilgrimsCity Of GodA Place PreparedTaken To HeavenHe Is Our GodCitizensMoving To A New Place


for we have no permanent city here on earth, but we are in search of the city that is to come. Verse ConceptsDecayCitySociety, Positive Aspects OfDeath, Preparation ForCitizens, HeavenlyThe Future AgeCity Of GodCitizensseeking


Abraham, hoping against hope, had faith, and so became the father of many nations, in fulfilment of the Scripture, "So countless shall your descendants be." His faith did not weaken, although he realized that his own body was worn out, for he was about a hundred years old, and that Sarah was past bearing children. He did not incredulously question God's promise, but his faith gave him power and he praised God read more.
in the full assurance that God was able to do what he had promised.

Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going. Faith led him to make a temporary home as a stranger in the land he had been promised, and to live there in his tents, with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him. For he was looking forward to that city with the sure foundations, designed and built by God. read more.
Faith made even Sarah herself able to have a child, although she was past the time of life for it, because she thought, that he who had made the promise would keep it. And so from one man, for any prospect of descendants as good as dead, there sprang a people in number like the stars in the heavens or the countless sands on the seashore. All these people lived all their lives in faith, and died without receiving what had been promised; they only saw it far ahead and welcomed the sight of it, recognizing that they themselves were only foreigners and strangers here on earth. For men who recognize that show that they are in search of a country of their own. And if it had been the country from which they had come to which their thoughts turned back, they would have found an opportunity to return to it. But, as it is, their aspirations are for a better, a heavenly country! That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city to receive them. Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, of whom he had been told, "Your posterity is to arise through Isaac!" For he believed that God was able to raise men even from the dead, and from the dead he did indeed, to speak figuratively, receive him back.

And as he still clung to Peter and John, all the people crowded about them in the utmost astonishment in what was known as Solomon's Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to the people. "Men of Israel, why are you so surprised at this? Why do you stare so at us, as though it were some power or some piety of ours that had made him able to walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has done this honor to his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and disowned before Pilate, when he had decided to let him go. read more.
But you disowned the Holy, Righteous One. You asked to have a murderer released for you, and killed the very source of life. But God raised him from the dead, as we can testify. It is by his power and through faith in him that this man whom you see and recognize has been made strong again, and it is faith inspired by him that has given him the perfect health you all see.

For we hold that a man is made upright by faith; the observance of the Law has nothing to do with it. Does God belong to the Jews alone? Does he not belong to the heathen too? Of course he belongs to the heathen too; there is but one God, and he will make the circumcised upright on the ground of their faith and the uncircumcised upright because of theirs." read more.
Is this using faith to overthrow law? Far from it. This confirms the Law.

Then what do we conclude? That heathen who were not striving for uprightness attained it, that is, an uprightness which was produced by faith; Verse ConceptsGospel, Promises OfJustice, In Believers' LivesImputed RighteousnessPursuing GoodForeigners Saved By FaithRighteous By FaithGentiles

The Scripture foresaw that God would accept the heathen as upright in consequence of their faith, and preached the good news in advance to Abraham in the words, "All the heathen will be blessed through you." So the men of faith share the blessing of Abraham and his faith. For there is a curse upon all who rely on obedience to the Law, for the Scripture says, "Cursed be anyone who does not stand by everything that is written in the Book of the Law and obey it." read more.
That no one is accepted as upright by God for obeying the Law is evident because the upright will have life because of his faith, and the Law has nothing to do with faith; it teaches that it is the man who does these things that will find life by doing them. Christ ransomed us from the Law's curse by taking our curse upon himself (for the Scripture says, "Cursed be anyone who is hung on a tree") in order that the blessing given to Abraham might through Jesus Christ reach the heathen, so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit.

For it is by his mercy that you have been saved through faith. It is not by your own action, it is the gift of God. It has not been earned, so that no one can boast of it. For he has made us, creating us through our union with Christ Jesus for the life of goodness which God had predestined us to live.

Faith means the assurance of what we hope for; it is our conviction about things that we cannot see. For it was by it that the men of old gained God's approval. It is faith that enables us to see that the universe was created at the command of God, so that the world we see did not simply arise out of matter. read more.
Faith made Abel's sacrifice greater in the sight of God than Cain's; through faith he gained God's approval as an upright man, for God himself approved his offering, and through faith even when he was dead he still spoke. Faith caused Enoch to be taken up from the earth without experiencing death; he could not be found, because God had taken him up. For before he was taken up there is evidence that he pleased God, but without faith it is impossible to please him; for whoever would approach God must have faith in his existence and in his willingness to reward those who try to find him. Faith led Noah, when he was warned by God of things no one then saw, in obedience to the warning to build an ark in which to save his family, and by such faith he condemned the world, and came to possess that uprightness which faith produces. Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going. Faith led him to make a temporary home as a stranger in the land he had been promised, and to live there in his tents, with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him. For he was looking forward to that city with the sure foundations, designed and built by God. Faith made even Sarah herself able to have a child, although she was past the time of life for it, because she thought, that he who had made the promise would keep it.













But, as it is, their aspirations are for a better, a heavenly country! That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city to receive them. Verse ConceptsBeing A PilgrimCityNames For HeavenHeaven,  Redeemed CommunityNot AshamedThirstZion, As A SymbolWhat Heaven Will Be LikeSaints, As PilgrimsCity Of GodA Place PreparedTaken To HeavenHe Is Our GodCitizensMoving To A New Place

and if anyone removes from this book any of the prophetic messages it contains, God will remove from him his share in the tree of life and the holy city which are described in this book. Verse ConceptsProphecy, Methods Of OtWord Of GodBible, Names OfSubtracting From GodMetaphorical TreesSubtracting From PeopleHealing Of NationsHoly CityRemoving People From Your Liferevelation


He carried me away in a trance to a great, high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God, Verse ConceptsecstasyTranceGod Carrying PeopleLed By The SpiritOthers Going DownTaken To HeavenHoly City

for we have no permanent city here on earth, but we are in search of the city that is to come. Verse ConceptsDecayCitySociety, Positive Aspects OfDeath, Preparation ForCitizens, HeavenlyThe Future AgeCity Of GodCitizensseeking

Was not our forefather Abraham made upright for his good deeds, for offering his son Isaac on the altar? Verse ConceptsAncestorsAbraham, New Testament ReferencesJustified By WorksWorks Of Faith






and he said to him, 'Leave your country and your relatives and come to the country that I will show you.' So he left the country of the Chaldeans and went to live in Haran, and from there after the death of his father, God caused him to move into this country where you now live. He gave him no property in it, not a single foot, but he promised to give it to him and his posterity after him permanently, though he had no children at that time. read more.
This was what God said: 'His descendants will be strangers, living in a foreign land, and they will be enslaved and misused for four hundred years, and I will sentence the nation that has enslaved them,' God said, 'and afterward they will leave that country and worship me on this spot.' And he made the agreement of circumcision with him, and so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going. Faith led him to make a temporary home as a stranger in the land he had been promised, and to live there in his tents, with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him. For he was looking forward to that city with the sure foundations, designed and built by God. read more.
Faith made even Sarah herself able to have a child, although she was past the time of life for it, because she thought, that he who had made the promise would keep it. And so from one man, for any prospect of descendants as good as dead, there sprang a people in number like the stars in the heavens or the countless sands on the seashore. All these people lived all their lives in faith, and died without receiving what had been promised; they only saw it far ahead and welcomed the sight of it, recognizing that they themselves were only foreigners and strangers here on earth. For men who recognize that show that they are in search of a country of their own. And if it had been the country from which they had come to which their thoughts turned back, they would have found an opportunity to return to it. But, as it is, their aspirations are for a better, a heavenly country! That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city to receive them. Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son,


Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going. Faith led him to make a temporary home as a stranger in the land he had been promised, and to live there in his tents, with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him. For he was looking forward to that city with the sure foundations, designed and built by God. read more.
Faith made even Sarah herself able to have a child, although she was past the time of life for it, because she thought, that he who had made the promise would keep it. And so from one man, for any prospect of descendants as good as dead, there sprang a people in number like the stars in the heavens or the countless sands on the seashore. All these people lived all their lives in faith, and died without receiving what had been promised; they only saw it far ahead and welcomed the sight of it, recognizing that they themselves were only foreigners and strangers here on earth. For men who recognize that show that they are in search of a country of their own. And if it had been the country from which they had come to which their thoughts turned back, they would have found an opportunity to return to it. But, as it is, their aspirations are for a better, a heavenly country! That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city to receive them.


Everyone has heard of your obedience, and I am very happy about you, but I want you to be wise about what is good and guileless about what is bad. Verse ConceptsGenuinenessInnocence, Teaching OnJoy, Of The ChurchWisdom, Human ImportanceCharacter Of SaintsHarmlessnessGuileBe Wise!Obeying The GospelYou Will Rejoice In Salvation

For it was by it that the men of old gained God's approval. Verse ConceptsApprovalPeople Commended By God


and who was highly thought of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. Verse ConceptsChristians Being Called Brothers

Faith made Abel's sacrifice greater in the sight of God than Cain's; through faith he gained God's approval as an upright man, for God himself approved his offering, and through faith even when he was dead he still spoke. Faith caused Enoch to be taken up from the earth without experiencing death; he could not be found, because God had taken him up. For before he was taken up there is evidence that he pleased God, but without faith it is impossible to please him; for whoever would approach God must have faith in his existence and in his willingness to reward those who try to find him. read more.
Faith led Noah, when he was warned by God of things no one then saw, in obedience to the warning to build an ark in which to save his family, and by such faith he condemned the world, and came to possess that uprightness which faith produces. Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going. Faith led him to make a temporary home as a stranger in the land he had been promised, and to live there in his tents, with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him. For he was looking forward to that city with the sure foundations, designed and built by God. Faith made even Sarah herself able to have a child, although she was past the time of life for it, because she thought, that he who had made the promise would keep it. And so from one man, for any prospect of descendants as good as dead, there sprang a people in number like the stars in the heavens or the countless sands on the seashore. All these people lived all their lives in faith, and died without receiving what had been promised; they only saw it far ahead and welcomed the sight of it, recognizing that they themselves were only foreigners and strangers here on earth. For men who recognize that show that they are in search of a country of their own. And if it had been the country from which they had come to which their thoughts turned back, they would have found an opportunity to return to it. But, as it is, their aspirations are for a better, a heavenly country! That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city to receive them. Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, of whom he had been told, "Your posterity is to arise through Isaac!" For he believed that God was able to raise men even from the dead, and from the dead he did indeed, to speak figuratively, receive him back. Faith enabled Isaac to bequeath to Jacob and Esau blessings that were still to be. Faith made Jacob when he was dying give a blessing to each of Joseph's sons, and bow in worship even while leaning on his staff. Faith inspired Joseph when he was dying to tell of the future migration of the Israelites, and to give instructions about his own body. Faith led Moses' parents to hide him for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child and they would not respect the edict of the king. Faith made Moses, when he was grown up, refuse to be known as a son of Pharaoh's daughter, for he preferred sharing the hardships of God's people to a short-lived enjoyment of sin, and thought such contempt as the Christ endured was truer wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking forward to the coming reward. Faith made him leave Egypt, unafraid of the king's anger, for he persevered as though he saw him who is unseen. Faith made him institute the Passover and splash the blood upon the door-posts, to keep the angel that destroyed the firstborn from touching them. Faith enabled them to cross the Red Sea as though it were dry land, although the Egyptians when they tried to follow them across it were drowned. Faith made the walls of Jericho fall, after they had marched around them each day for seven days. Faith saved Rahab the prostitute from being destroyed with those who disobeyed God, because she had given a friendly welcome to the scouts. And why should I go on? For my time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who by their faith conquered kingdoms, attained uprightness, received new promises, shut the mouths of lions, put out furious fires, escaped death by the sword, found strength in their time of weakness, proved mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women had their dead restored to them by resurrection. Others endured torture, and refused to accept release, that they might rise again to the better life. Still others had to endure taunts and blows, and even fetters and prison. They were stoned to death, they were tortured to death, they were sawed in two, they were killed with the sword. Clothed in the skins of sheep or goats, they were driven from place to place, destitute, persecuted, misused??38 men of whom the world was not worthy wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the ground. Yet though they all gained God's approval by their faith, they none of them received what he had promised,



for we have no permanent city here on earth, but we are in search of the city that is to come. Verse ConceptsDecayCitySociety, Positive Aspects OfDeath, Preparation ForCitizens, HeavenlyThe Future AgeCity Of GodCitizensseeking

Everyone has heard of your obedience, and I am very happy about you, but I want you to be wise about what is good and guileless about what is bad. Verse ConceptsGenuinenessInnocence, Teaching OnJoy, Of The ChurchWisdom, Human ImportanceCharacter Of SaintsHarmlessnessGuileBe Wise!Obeying The GospelYou Will Rejoice In Salvation

For it was by it that the men of old gained God's approval. Verse ConceptsApprovalPeople Commended By God


and who was highly thought of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. Verse ConceptsChristians Being Called Brothers

Faith made Abel's sacrifice greater in the sight of God than Cain's; through faith he gained God's approval as an upright man, for God himself approved his offering, and through faith even when he was dead he still spoke. Faith caused Enoch to be taken up from the earth without experiencing death; he could not be found, because God had taken him up. For before he was taken up there is evidence that he pleased God, but without faith it is impossible to please him; for whoever would approach God must have faith in his existence and in his willingness to reward those who try to find him. read more.
Faith led Noah, when he was warned by God of things no one then saw, in obedience to the warning to build an ark in which to save his family, and by such faith he condemned the world, and came to possess that uprightness which faith produces. Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going. Faith led him to make a temporary home as a stranger in the land he had been promised, and to live there in his tents, with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him. For he was looking forward to that city with the sure foundations, designed and built by God. Faith made even Sarah herself able to have a child, although she was past the time of life for it, because she thought, that he who had made the promise would keep it. And so from one man, for any prospect of descendants as good as dead, there sprang a people in number like the stars in the heavens or the countless sands on the seashore. All these people lived all their lives in faith, and died without receiving what had been promised; they only saw it far ahead and welcomed the sight of it, recognizing that they themselves were only foreigners and strangers here on earth. For men who recognize that show that they are in search of a country of their own. And if it had been the country from which they had come to which their thoughts turned back, they would have found an opportunity to return to it. But, as it is, their aspirations are for a better, a heavenly country! That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city to receive them. Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, of whom he had been told, "Your posterity is to arise through Isaac!" For he believed that God was able to raise men even from the dead, and from the dead he did indeed, to speak figuratively, receive him back. Faith enabled Isaac to bequeath to Jacob and Esau blessings that were still to be. Faith made Jacob when he was dying give a blessing to each of Joseph's sons, and bow in worship even while leaning on his staff. Faith inspired Joseph when he was dying to tell of the future migration of the Israelites, and to give instructions about his own body. Faith led Moses' parents to hide him for three months after his birth, because they saw that he was a beautiful child and they would not respect the edict of the king. Faith made Moses, when he was grown up, refuse to be known as a son of Pharaoh's daughter, for he preferred sharing the hardships of God's people to a short-lived enjoyment of sin, and thought such contempt as the Christ endured was truer wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking forward to the coming reward. Faith made him leave Egypt, unafraid of the king's anger, for he persevered as though he saw him who is unseen. Faith made him institute the Passover and splash the blood upon the door-posts, to keep the angel that destroyed the firstborn from touching them. Faith enabled them to cross the Red Sea as though it were dry land, although the Egyptians when they tried to follow them across it were drowned. Faith made the walls of Jericho fall, after they had marched around them each day for seven days. Faith saved Rahab the prostitute from being destroyed with those who disobeyed God, because she had given a friendly welcome to the scouts. And why should I go on? For my time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who by their faith conquered kingdoms, attained uprightness, received new promises, shut the mouths of lions, put out furious fires, escaped death by the sword, found strength in their time of weakness, proved mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women had their dead restored to them by resurrection. Others endured torture, and refused to accept release, that they might rise again to the better life. Still others had to endure taunts and blows, and even fetters and prison. They were stoned to death, they were tortured to death, they were sawed in two, they were killed with the sword. Clothed in the skins of sheep or goats, they were driven from place to place, destitute, persecuted, misused??38 men of whom the world was not worthy wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the ground. Yet though they all gained God's approval by their faith, they none of them received what he had promised,