Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Alliance and society with the enemies of God » Means of preservation from
Crookedness » Whose ways are crooked
Darkness » Who is in darkness
Whoever says, "I am in the light," and yet hates his brother, is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother is always in the light and puts no hindrance in anyone's way. But whoever hates his brother is in darkness, and is living in darkness, and he does not know where he is going, for the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Delight » Who delights in frowardness
Deliverance » What delivers
Frowardness » Who speaks frowardness
Speech/communication » Who speaks frowardness
Straying » Who strays from the right path
There were false prophets too among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will introduce destructive sects and deny the Master who has bought them, thus bringing on themselves swift destruction. Many people will follow their immoral ways, and they will cause the true way to be maligned. In their greed they will exploit you with pretended arguments. From of old their condemnation has not been idle, and their destruction has not slumbered. read more.
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but plunged them into Tartarus, and committed them to dark dungeons to await their doom, and if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood upon the godless world; and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and overwhelmed them with ashes, as a warning to ungodly men of what was to come, and saved the upright Lot who was so distressed by the immoral conduct of unprincipled men??8 for as long as that upright man lived among them, day after day his upright soul was tormented by what he saw and heard of their lawless actions??9 then the Lord knows how to rescue God-fearing people from trial and to punish wrongdoers while they are being kept for the Day of Judgment, especially those who yield to their physical nature and indulge in passions that defile them, and despise authority. Rash, headstrong men! They stand in no awe of majesty, but deride beings against whom even angels far superior to these beings in strength and power bring no abusive charge before the Lord. These men, like unreasoning animals, mere creatures of instinct created to be caught and killed, abuse what they do not understand and will be destroyed like animals, suffering wrong as the reward for their wrongdoing. They find pleasure in the indulgence of the moment; they are a stain and a disgrace, and they revel in their deceit while they join in your religious meals. They have eyes for nobody but adulterous women??yes insatiable in sin. They lure unsteadfast souls. Their hearts are trained in greed. They are accursed! They have left the straight path and gone astray. They have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Beor, who set his heart on dishonest gain, but he was rebuked for his offense; a dumb animal spoke with a human voice and checked the prophet's madness. Such men are dried-up springs, clouds driven before the storm, and they are doomed to utter darkness. They utter arrogant nonsense and use physical cravings to lure into immorality men who are just escaping from among those who live in error; promising them freedom when they are themselves slaves of destruction; for a man is the slave of whatever overcomes him.
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but plunged them into Tartarus, and committed them to dark dungeons to await their doom, and if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood upon the godless world; and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and overwhelmed them with ashes, as a warning to ungodly men of what was to come, and saved the upright Lot who was so distressed by the immoral conduct of unprincipled men??8 for as long as that upright man lived among them, day after day his upright soul was tormented by what he saw and heard of their lawless actions??9 then the Lord knows how to rescue God-fearing people from trial and to punish wrongdoers while they are being kept for the Day of Judgment, especially those who yield to their physical nature and indulge in passions that defile them, and despise authority. Rash, headstrong men! They stand in no awe of majesty, but deride beings against whom even angels far superior to these beings in strength and power bring no abusive charge before the Lord. These men, like unreasoning animals, mere creatures of instinct created to be caught and killed, abuse what they do not understand and will be destroyed like animals, suffering wrong as the reward for their wrongdoing. They find pleasure in the indulgence of the moment; they are a stain and a disgrace, and they revel in their deceit while they join in your religious meals. They have eyes for nobody but adulterous women??yes insatiable in sin. They lure unsteadfast souls. Their hearts are trained in greed. They are accursed! They have left the straight path and gone astray. They have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Beor, who set his heart on dishonest gain, but he was rebuked for his offense; a dumb animal spoke with a human voice and checked the prophet's madness. Such men are dried-up springs, clouds driven before the storm, and they are doomed to utter darkness. They utter arrogant nonsense and use physical cravings to lure into immorality men who are just escaping from among those who live in error; promising them freedom when they are themselves slaves of destruction; for a man is the slave of whatever overcomes him.
Understanding » What understanding does
Ways » Whose ways are crooked
Wisdom » The lord giving wisdom
Yet there is a wisdom that we impart when we are with people who have a mature faith, but it is not what this world calls wisdom, nor what the authorities of this world, doomed as they are to pass away, would call so. But it is a mysterious divine wisdom that we impart, hitherto kept secret, and destined by God before the world began for our glory. It is a wisdom unknown to any of the authorities of this world, for otherwise they would never have crucified our glorious Lord. read more.
But, as the Scripture says, there are things "Which no eye ever saw and no ear ever heard, And never occurred to the human mind, Which God has provided for those who love him." For God revealed them to us through his Spirit, for the Spirit fathoms everything, even the depths of God himself. For what human being can understand a man's thoughts except the man's own spirit within him? Just so no one understands the thoughts of God but the spirit of God. But the Spirit we have received is not that of the world, but the Spirit that comes from God, which we have to make us realize the blessings God has given us. These disclosures we impart, not in the set phrases of human philosophy, but in words the Spirit teaches, giving spiritual truth a spiritual form. A material man will not accept what the Spirit of God offers. It seems mere folly to him, and he cannot understand it, because it takes spiritual insight to see its true value. But the spiritual man is alive to all true values, but his own true value no unspiritual man can see. For who has ever known the Lord's thoughts, so that he can instruct him? But we share the thoughts of Christ.
But, as the Scripture says, there are things "Which no eye ever saw and no ear ever heard, And never occurred to the human mind, Which God has provided for those who love him." For God revealed them to us through his Spirit, for the Spirit fathoms everything, even the depths of God himself. For what human being can understand a man's thoughts except the man's own spirit within him? Just so no one understands the thoughts of God but the spirit of God. But the Spirit we have received is not that of the world, but the Spirit that comes from God, which we have to make us realize the blessings God has given us. These disclosures we impart, not in the set phrases of human philosophy, but in words the Spirit teaches, giving spiritual truth a spiritual form. A material man will not accept what the Spirit of God offers. It seems mere folly to him, and he cannot understand it, because it takes spiritual insight to see its true value. But the spiritual man is alive to all true values, but his own true value no unspiritual man can see. For who has ever known the Lord's thoughts, so that he can instruct him? But we share the thoughts of Christ.