51 Bible Verses about Privileges

Who singles you out, my brother? What do you possess that has not been given you? And if it was given you, why do you boast as if it had been gained, not given?

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazaret, to a maiden who was betrothed to a man called Joseph, belonging to the house of David. The maiden's name was Mary. The angel went in and said to her, "Hail, O favoured one! the Lord be with you!"read more.
At this she was startled; she thought to herself, whatever can this greeting mean? But the angel said to her, "Fear not, Mary, you have found favour with God. You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must call his name Jesus. He will be great, he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father; he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and to his reign there will be no end." "How can this be?" said Mary to the angel, "I have no husband." The angel answered her, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you; hence what is born will be called holy, Son of God. Look, there is your kinswoman Elizabeth! Even she has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month; for with God nothing is ever impossible." Mary said, "I am here to serve the Lord. Let it be as you have said." Then the angel went away.

For it is by grace you have been saved, as you had faith; it is not your doing but God's gift, not the outcome of what you have done ??lest anyone should pride himself on that;

Though I could rely on outward privilege, if I chose. Whoever thinks he can rely on that, I can outdo him. I was circumcised on the eighth day after birth; I belonged to the race of Israel, to the tribe of Benjamin; I was the Hebrew son of Hebrew parents, a Pharisee as regards the Law, in point of ardour a persecutor of the church, immaculate by the standard of legal righteousness.read more.
But for Christ's sake I have learned to count my former gains a loss; indeed I count anything a loss, compared to the supreme value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have lost everything (I count it all the veriest refuse) in order to gain Christ and be found at death in him, possessing no legal righteousness of my own but the righteousness of faith in Christ, the divine righteousness that rests on faith.

for they are Israelites, theirs is the Sonship, the Glory, the covenants, the divine legislation, the Worship, and the promises; the patriarchs are theirs, and theirs too (so far as natural descent goes) is the Christ. (Blessed for evermore be the God who is over all! Amen.)

Then, I ask, has God repudiated his People? Never! Why, I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin! God has not repudiated his People, his predestined People! Surely you know what scripture says in the passage called 'Elijah'? You know how he pleads with God against Israel: Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have demolished thine altars; I alone am left, and they seek my life.read more.
Yet what is the divine answer? I have left myself seven thousand men who have not knelt to Baal. Well, at the present day there is also a remnant, selected by grace. Selected by grace, and therefore not for anything they have done; otherwise grace would cease to be grace. Now what are we to infer from this? That Israel has failed to secure the object of its quest; the elect have secured it, and the rest have been rendered insensible to it ??8 as it is written, God has given them a spirit of torpor, eyes that see not, ears that hear not ??down to this very day. And David says, Let their table prove a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened, that they cannot see, bow down their backs for ever. Now I ask, have they stumbled to their ruin? Never! The truth is, that by their lapse salvation has passed to the Gentiles, so as to make them jealous. Well, if their lapse has enriched the world, if their defection is the gain of the Gentiles, what will it mean when they all come in?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who in Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly sphere! He chose us in him ere the world was founded, to be consecrated and unblemished in his sight, destining us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ. Such was the purpose of his will,read more.
redounding to the praise of his glorious grace bestowed on us in the Beloved, in whom we enjoy our redemption, the forgiveness of our trespasses, by the blood he shed. So richly has God lavished his grace upon us!

There is a new creation whenever a man comes to be in Christ; what is old is gone, the new has come. It is all the doing of the God who has reconciled me to himself through Christ and has permitted me to be a minister of his reconciliation. For in Christ God reconciled the world to himself instead of counting men's trespasses against them; and he entrusted me with the message of his reconciliation.read more.
So I am an envoy for Christ, God appealing by me, as it were ??be reconciled to God, I entreat you on behalf of Christ. For our sakes He made him to be sin who himself knew nothing of sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

among whom all of us lived, we as well as you, when we obeyed the passions of our flesh, carrying out the dictates of the flesh and its impulses, when we were objects of God's anger by nature, like the rest of men. But, dead in trespasses as we were, God was so rich in mercy that for his great love to us he made us live together with Christ (it is by grace you have been saved);read more.
together with Christ he raised and seated us within the heavenly sphere in Christ Jesus, to display throughout ages to come his surpassing wealth of grace and goodness toward us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, as you had faith; it is not your doing but God's gift, not the outcome of what you have done ??lest anyone should pride himself on that;

rescuing us from the power of the Darkness and transferring us to the realm of his beloved Son! In him we enjoy our redemption, that is, the forgiveness of sins.

for it is through him that we both enjoy our access to the Father in one Spirit.

As we are justified by faith, then, let us enjoy the peace we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have got access to this grace where we have our standing, and triumph in the hope of God's glory.

Brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy Presence in virtue of the blood of Jesus, by the fresh, living way which he has inaugurated for us through the veil (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great Priest over the house of God,read more.
let us draw near with a true heart, in absolute assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from a bad conscience, and our bodies washed in pure water;

You have not come to what you can touch, to flames of fire, to mist and gloom and stormy blasts, to the blare of a trumpet and to a Voice whose words made those who heard it refuse to hear another syllable (for they could not bear the command, If even a beast touches the mountain, it must be stoned) ??21 indeed, so awful was the sight that Moses said, I am terrified and aghast.read more.
You have come to mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels in festal gathering, to the assembly of the first-born registered in heaven, to the God of all as judge, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus who mediates the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood whose message is nobler than Abel's.

And this is eternal life, that they know thee, the only real God, and him whom thou hast sent, even Jesus Christ.

And Jesus cried aloud, "He who believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me, and he who beholds me beholds him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, that no one who believes in me may remain in the dark.

Jesus said to him, "I am the real and living way: no one comes to the Father except by means of me. If you knew me, you would know my Father too. You know him now and you have seen him."

but when the time had fully expired, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to ransom those who were under the Law, that we might get our sonship. It is because you are sons that God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying 'Abba! Father!'read more.
So you are servant no longer but son, and as son you are also heir, all owing to God.

For the sons of God are those who are guided by the Spirit of God. You have received no slavish spirit that would make you relapse into fear; you have received the Spirit of sonship. And when we cry, "Abba! Father!", it is this Spirit testifying along with our own spirit that we are children of God;read more.
and if children, heirs as well, heirs of God, heirs along with Christ ??for we share his sufferings in order to share his glory.

you are all sons of God by your faith in Christ Jesus (for all of you who had yourselves baptized into Christ have taken on the character of Christ). There is no room for Jew or Greek, there is no room for slave or freeman, there is no room for male and female; you are all one in Christ Jesus.read more.
Now if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring; in virtue of the Promise, you are heirs.

And have you forgotten the word of appeal that reasons with you as sons? ??My son, never make light of the Lord's discipline, never faint under his reproofs; for the Lord disciplines the man he loves, and scourges every son he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for where is the son who is not disciplined by his father?read more.
Discipline is the portion of all; if you get no discipline, then you are not sons but bastards. Why, we had fathers of our flesh to discipline us, and we yielded to them! Shall we not far more submit to the Father of our spirits, and so live? For while their discipline was only for a time, and inflicted at their pleasure, he disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his own holiness. Discipline always seems for the time to be a thing of pain, not of joy; but those who are trained by it reap the fruit of it afterwards in the peace of an upright life.

But you are the elect race, the royal priesthood, the consecrated nation, the People who belong to Him, that you may proclaim the wondrous deeds of Him who has called you from darkness to his wonderful light ??10 you who once were no people and now are God's people, you who once were unpitied and now are pitied.

Thus you are strangers and foreigners no longer, you share the membership of the saints, you belong to God's own household, you are a building that rests on the apostles and prophets as its foundation, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone; in him the whole structure is welded together and rises into a sacred temple in the Lord,read more.
and in him you are yourselves built into this to form a habitation for God in the Spirit.

Then turning to the disciples he said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, but they have not seen it: and to hear what you hear, but they have not heard it."

Then the disciples came up and said to him, "Why do you speak in parables?" He replied, "Because it is granted you to understand the open secrets of the Realm of heaven, but it is not granted to these people. For he who has, to him shall more be given and richly given, but whoever has not, from him shall be taken even what he has.read more.
This is why I speak to them in parables, because for all their seeing they do not see and for all their hearing they do not hear or understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled: You will hear and hear but never understand, you will see and see but never perceive. For the heart of this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy of hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them. But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears, for they hear! I tell you truly, many prophets and good men have longed to see what you see, but they have not seen it; and to hear what you hear, but they have not heard it.

When he was by himself his adherents and the twelve asked him about the parable, and he said to them: "The open secret of the Realm of God is granted to you, but these outsiders get everything by way of parables, so that for all their seeing they may not perceive, and for all their hearing they may not understand, lest they turn and be forgiven."

The disciples questioned him about the meaning of the parable; so he said, "It is granted you to understand the open secrets of the Reign of God, but the others get it in parables, so that for all their seeing they may not see, and for all their hearing they may not understand.

&

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).read more.
No, as it is written, what no eye has ever seen, what no ear has ever heard, what never entered the mind of man, God has prepared all that for those who love him. And God has revealed it to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit fathoms everything, even the depths of God. What human being can understand the thoughts of a man, except the man's own inner spirit? So too no one understands the thoughts of God, except the Spirit of God. Now we have received the Spirit ??not the spirit of the world but the Spirit that comes from God, that we may understand what God bestows upon us.

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!

& are placed in the middle of verse 13:31] "I am the real Vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser;

and finally he was seen by myself, by this so-called 'abortion' of an apostle. 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.

Silver, gold, or apparel I never coveted; you know yourselves how these hands of mine provided everything for my own needs and for my companions. I showed you how this was the way to work hard and succour the needy, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, who said, 'To give is happier than to get.'"

Now, brothers, I have to tell you about the grace God has given to the churches of Macedonia. Amid a severe ordeal of trouble, their overflowing joy and their deep poverty together have poured out a flood of rich generosity; I can testify that up to their means, aye and beyond their means, they have given ??4 begging me of their own accord, most urgently, for the favour of contributing to the support of the saints.read more.
They have done more than I expected; they gave themselves to the Lord, to begin with, and then (for so God willed it) they put themselves at my disposal. This has led me to ask Titus to complete the arrangements for the same gracious contribution among yourselves, as it was he who started it. Now then, you are to the front in everything, in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, in all zeal, and in love for us ??do come to the front in this gracious enterprise as well. I am not issuing any orders, only using the zeal of others to prove how sterling your own love is. (You know how gracious our Lord Jesus Christ was; rich though he was, he became poor for the sake of you, that by his poverty you might be rich.) But I will tell you what I think about it; it is to your interest to go on with this enterprise, for you started it last year, you were the first not merely to do anything but to want to do anything. Now, carry it through, so that your readiness to take it up may be equalled by the way you carry it through ??so far as your means allow. If only one is ready to give, according to his means, it is acceptable; he is not asked to give what he has not got. This does not mean that other people are to be relieved and you to suffer: it is a matter of give and take; at the present moment your surplus goes to make up what they lack, in order that their surplus may go to make up what you lack. Thus it is to give and take ??as it is written, He who got much had nothing over, and he who got little had not too little.

Mark this: he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and he who sows generously will reap a generous harvest. Everyone is to give what he has made up his mind to give; there is to be no grudging or compulsion about it, for God loves the giver who gives cheerfully. God is able to bless you with ample means, so that you may always have quite enough for any emergency of your own and ample besides for any kind act to others;read more.
as it is written, He scatters his gifts to the poor broadcast, his charity lasts for ever. He who furnishes the sower with seed and with bread to eat will supply seed for you and multiply it; he will increase the crop of your charities ??11 you will be enriched on all hands, so that you can be generous on all occasions, and your generosity, of which I am the agent, will make men give thanks to God;

This is how you are to look upon us, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's secret truths. Now in this matter of stewards your first requirement is that they must be trustworthy.

Now where is the trusty and thoughtful servant, whom his lord and master has set over his household to assign them their supplies at the proper time? Blessed is that servant if his lord and master finds him so doing when he arrives! I tell you truly, he will set him over all his property.read more.
But if the bad servant says to himself, 'My lord and master is long of coming,' and if he starts to beat his fellow-servants and to eat and drink with drunkards, that servant's lord and master will arrive on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know; he will cut him in two and assign him the fate of the impious. There men will wail and gnash their teeth.

The Lord said, "Well, where is the trusty, thoughtful steward whom the lord and master will set over his establishment to give out supplies at the proper time? Blessed is that servant if his lord and master finds him so doing when he arrives! I tell you plainly, he will set him over all his property.read more.
But if that servant says to himself, 'My lord and master is long of arriving,' and if he starts to beat the menservants and maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, that servant's lord and master will arrive on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know; he will cut him in two and assign him the fate of unbelievers. The servant who knew his lord and master's orders and did not prepare for them, will receive many lashes; whereas he who was ignorant and did what deserves a beating, will receive few lashes. He who has much given him will have much required from him, and he who has much entrusted to him will have all the more demanded of him.

Do you not know your body is the temple of the holy Spirit within you ??the Spirit you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought for a price; then glorify God with your body.

Obey your leaders, submit to them; for they are alive to the interests of your souls, as men who will have to account for their trust. Let their work be a joy to them and not a grief ??which would be a loss to yourselves.

When day broke, the praetors sent the lictors with the message, "Release these men." The jailer repeated this to Paul. "The praetors," he said, "have sent to release you. So come out and go in peace?" But Paul replied, "They flogged us in public and without a trial, flogged Roman citizens! They put us in prison, and now they are going to get rid of us secretly! No indeed! Let them come here themselves and take us out!"read more.
The lictors reported this to the praetors, who, on hearing the men were Roman citizens, became alarmed; they went to appease them and after taking them out of prison begged them to leave the town.

With a steady look at the Sanhedrin Paul said, "Brothers, I have lived with a perfectly good conscience before God down to the present day." Then the high priest Ananias ordered those who were standing next Paul to strike him on the mouth. At this Paul said to him, "You whitewashed wall, God will strike you! You sit there to judge me by the Law, do you? And you break the Law by ordering me to be struck!"

Listen to another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, put a fence round it, dug a wine-vat inside it, and built a watchtower: then he leased it to vinedressers and went abroad. When the fruit-season was near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers to collect his fruit; but the vinedressers took his servants and flogged one, killed another, and stoned a third.read more.
Once more he sent some other servants, more than he had sent at first, and they did the same to them. Afterwards he sent them his son; 'They will respect my son,' he said. But when the vinedressers saw his son they said to themselves, 'Here is the heir; come on, let us kill him and seize his inheritance!' So they took and threw him outside the vineyard and killed him. Now, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to these vinedressers?" They replied, "He will utterly destroy the wretches and lease the vineyard to other vinedressers who will give him the fruits in their season." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures, The stone that the builders rejected is the chief stone now of the corner: this is the doing of the Lord, and a wonder to our eyes? I tell you therefore that the Realm of God will be taken from you and given to a nation that bears the fruits of the Realm.

Then he proceeded to address them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, fenced it round, dug a trough for the winepress, and built a tower; then he leased it to vinedressers and went abroad. When the season came round he sent a servant to the vine dressers to collect from the vine dressers some of the produce of the vineyard, but they took and flogged him and sent him off with nothing.read more.
Once more he sent them another servant; him they knocked on the head and insulted. He sent another, but they killed him. And so they treated many others; some they flogged and some they killed. He had still one left, a beloved son; he sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But these vinedressers said to themselves, 'Here is the heir; come on, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be our own.' So they took and killed him, and threw him outside the vineyard. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and he will give the vineyard to others.

Then he proceeded to tell the people the following parable. "A man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went abroad for some time. When the season came round he sent a servant to the vine dressers to receive part of the produce of the vineyard, but the vinedressers flogged him and sent him off with nothing. He proceeded to send another servant, and they flogged him too, insulted him and sent him off with nothing.read more.
Then he sent still a third, but this one they wounded and threw outside. Said the owner of the vineyard, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.' But when the vinedressers saw him, they argued to themselves, 'Here is the heir, let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.' And they threw him outside the vineyard and killed him. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill these vinedressers and give the vineyard to others." When they heard that, they said, "God forbid!"

For the case is that of a man going abroad, who summoned his servants and handed over his property to them; to one he gave twelve hundred pounds, to another five hundred, and to another two hundred and fifty; each got according to his capacity. Then the man went abroad. The servant who had got the twelve hundred pounds went at once and traded with them, making another twelve hundred.read more.
Similarly the servant who had got the five hundred pounds made another five hundred. But the servant who had got the two hundred and fifty pounds went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. Now a long time afterwards the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. Then the servant who had got the twelve hundred pounds came forward, bringing twelve hundred more; he said, 'You handed me twelve hundred pounds, sir; here I have gained another twelve hundred.' His master said to him, 'Capital, you excellent and trusty servant! You have been trusty in charge of a small sum: I will put you in charge of a large sum. Come and share your master's feast.' Then the servant with the five hundred pounds came forward. He said, 'You handed me five hundred pounds, sir; here I have gained another five hundred.' Then the servant who had got the two hundred and fifty pounds came forward. He said, 'I knew you were a hard man, sir, reaping where you never sowed and gathering where you never winnowed. So I was afraid; I went and hid your two hundred and fifty pounds in the earth. There's your money!' His master said to him in reply, 'You rascal, you idle servant! You knew, did you, that I reap where I have never sowed and gather where I have never winnowed! Well then, you should have handed my money to the bankers and I would have got my capital with interest when I came back. Take therefore the two hundred and fifty pounds away from him, give it to the servant who had the twelve hundred. For to everyone who has shall more be given and richly given; but from him who has nothing, even what he has shall be taken. Throw the good-for-nothing servant into the darkness outside; there men will wail and gnash their teeth.

"A nobleman," he said, "went abroad to obtain royal power for himself and then return. He first called his ten servants, giving them each a five-pound note, and telling them, 'Trade with this till I come back.' Now his people hated him and sent envoys after him to say, 'We object to him having royal power over us.'read more.
However he secured the royal power and came home. Then he ordered the servants to be called who had been given the money, that he might find out what business they had done. The first came up saying, 'Your five pounds has made other fifty, sir.' 'Capital,' he said, 'you excellent servant! because you have proved trustworthy in a trifle, you are placed over ten towns.' Then the second came and said, 'Your five pounds has made twenty-five, sir.' To him he said, 'And you are set over five towns.' Then the next came and said, 'Here is your five pounds, sir; I kept it safe in a napkin, for I was afraid of you, you are such a hard man ??picking up what you never put down, and reaping what you never sowed.' He replied, 'You rascal of a servant, I will convict you by what you have said yourself. You knew, did you, that I was a hard man, picking up what I never put down, and reaping what I never sowed! Why then did you not put my money into the bank, so that I could have got it with interest when I came back?' Then he said to the bystanders, 'Take the five pounds from him and give it to the man with fifty.' 'Sir,' they said, 'he has fifty already!' 'I tell you, to everyone who has shall more be given, but from him who has nothing, even what he has shall be taken. And now for these enemies of mine who objected to me reigning over them ??bring them here and slay them in my presence.' "