Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible



What advantage, then, does the Jew have, or what value is there in circumcision? There are all kinds of advantages! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the utterances of God. What if some of the Jews were unfaithful? Their unfaithfulness cannot cancel God's faithfulness, can it? read more.
Of course not! God is true, even if everyone else is a liar. As it is written, "You are right when you speak, and win your case when you go into court." But if our unrighteousness serves to confirm God's righteousness, what can we say? God is not unrighteous when he vents his wrath on us, is he? (I am talking in human terms.) Of course not! Otherwise, how could God judge the world? For if through my falsehood God's truthfulness glorifies him even more, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? Or can we say as some people slander us by claiming that we say "Let's do evil that good may result"? They deserve to be condemned! What, then, does this mean? Are we Jews any better off? Not at all! For we have already accused everyone, both Jews and Greeks, of being under the power of sin. As it is written, "Not even one person is righteous. No one understands. No one searches for God. All have turned away. They have become completely worthless. No one shows kindness, not even one person! Their throats are open graves. With their tongues they deceive. The venom of poisonous snakes is under their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. They run swiftly to shed blood. Ruin and misery characterize their lives. They have not learned the path to peace. They don't fear God. Now we know that whatever the Law says applies to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore, God will not justify any human being by means of the actions prescribed by the Law, for through the Law comes the full knowledge of sin. But now, apart from the Law, God's righteousness is revealed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets God's righteousness through the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah for all who believe. For there is no distinction among people, since all have sinned and continue to fall short of God's glory.

What, then, are we to say about Abraham, our human ancestor? For if Abraham was justified by actions, he would have had something to boast about though not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." read more.
Now to someone who works, wages are not considered a gift but an obligation. However, to someone who does not work, but simply believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. Likewise, David also speaks of the blessedness of the person whom God regards as righteous apart from actions: "How blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered! How blessed is the person whose sins the Lord will never charge against him!" Now does this blessedness come to the circumcised alone, or also to the uncircumcised? For we say, "Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness." Under what circumstances was it credited? Was he circumcised or uncircumcised? He had not yet been circumcised, but was uncircumcised. Afterward he received the mark of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. Therefore, he is the ancestor of all who believe while uncircumcised, in order that righteousness may be credited to them. He is also the ancestor of the circumcised those who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the Law, but through the righteousness produced by faith. For if those who were given the Law are the heirs, then faith is useless and the promise is worthless, for the Law produces wrath. Now where there is no Law, neither can there be any violation of it. Therefore, the promise is based on faith, so that it may be a matter of grace and may be guaranteed for all of Abraham's descendants not only for those who were given the Law, but also for those who share the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.

Now the words "it was credited to him" were written not only for him but also for us. Our faith will be regarded in the same way, if we believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was sentenced to death because of our sins and raised to life to justify us.





If he has been healed, then the priest is to command that two live and clean birds, some cedar wood, some crimson thread, and hyssop be brought for the one cleansed. Then the priest is to command that one bird be slaughtered on an earthen vessel over flowing water. He is to take the live bird, the cedar wood, the crimson thread, and the hyssop, and dip them together in the blood of the bird that had been slaughtered over the flowing water. read more.
He is to sprinkle the blood seven times on the person with the infectious skin disease and then pronounce him clean. Then he is to release the live bird into the open fields.