51 Bible Verses about Privileges

For who makes you superior? And what do you have that you did not get from someone? But if you got it from someone, why do you boast as though you had not?

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin there engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. So the angel came to her home and said, "Congratulations, you highly favored woman! The Lord be with you!"read more.
But she was agitated at what he said, and began to ponder what this greeting meant. Then the angel said, "Stop being afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Listen! You will become pregnant and bear a son, and you must name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His forefather David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His reign will have no end." But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no husband?" Then the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and so your child will be called holy, the Son of God. And listen! your relative, Elizabeth, has herself too become pregnant, although she is old, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing is ever impossible for God." Then Mary said, "I am the Lord's slave. May what you say take place with me." Then the angel left her.

For it is by His unmerited favor through faith that you have been saved; it is not by anything that you have done, it is the gift of God. It is not the result of what anyone can do, so that no one can boast of it.

though I too might rely on these. If anyone thinks that he can rely on outward privileges, far more might I do so: circumcised when I was a week old; a descendant of Israel; a member of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew, a son of Hebrews. Measured by the law, I was a Pharisee; by the standard set by zeal, I was a persecutor of the church, and measured by the uprightness reached by keeping the law, I was faultless.read more.
But for Christ's sake I have counted all that was gain to me as loss. Yes, indeed, I certainly do count everything as loss compared with the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have lost everything, and value it all as mere refuse, in order to gain Christ and be actually in union with Him, not having a supposed right standing with God which depends on my doing what the law commands, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the real right standing with God which originates from Him and rests on faith.

For they are Israelites; to them belong the privileges of sonship, God's glorious presence, the special covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, the promises, the patriarchs, and from them by natural descent the Christ has come, who is exalted over all, God blessed forever. Amen!

I say then, God has not disowned His people, has He? Of course not! Why, I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. No, God has not disowned His people, on whom He set His heart beforehand. Do you know what the Scripture says in Elijah's case, how he pleaded with God against Israel? "Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone have been left, and they are trying to kill me."read more.
But how did God reply to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have never bent their knees to Baal." So it is at the present time; a remnant remains, in accordance with God's unmerited favor. But if it is by His unmerited favor, it is not at all conditioned on what they have done. If that were so, His favor would not be favor at all. What are we then to conclude? Israel has failed to obtain what it is still in search for, but His chosen ones have obtained it. The rest have become insensible to it, as the Scripture Says, "God has given them over to an attitude of insensibility, so that their eyes cannot see and their ears cannot hear, down to this very day." And David said: "Let their food become a snare and a trap to them, their pitfall and retribution; Let their eyes be darkened, so they cannot see, and forever bend their backs beneath the load." I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall in utter ruin, did they? Of course not! On the contrary, because of their stumbling, salvation has come to heathen peoples, to make the Israelites jealous. But if their stumbling has resulted in the enrichment of the world, and their overthrow becomes the enrichment of heathen peoples, how much richer the result will be when the full quota of Jews comes in!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm. Through Him He picked us out before the creation of the world, to be consecrated and above reproach in His sight in love. He foreordained us to become His sons by adoption through Christ Jesus, to carry out the happy choice of His will,read more.
so that we might praise the splendid favor which He has shown us in His beloved Son. It is through union with Him that we have redemption by His blood and the forgiveness of our shortcomings, in accordance with the generosity of His unmerited favor which He lavished upon us. Through perfect wisdom and spiritual insight

For if anybody is in union with Christ, he is the work of a new creation; the old condition has passed away, a new condition has come. This has all originated with God, for He through Christ has reconciled me to Himself and has given me the ministry of reconciliation. For it was through Christ that God was reconciling the world to Himself instead of debiting men's offenses against them, and He has committed to me the message of this reconciliation.read more.
So I am an envoy to represent Christ, because it is through me that God is making His appeal. As one representing Christ I beg you, be reconciled to God. He made Him who personally knew nothing of sin to be a sin-offering for us, so that through union with Him we might come into right standing with God.

once lived while gratifying the cravings of our lower nature, as we continued to carry out the impulses of our lower nature and its thoughts, and by nature we were exposed to God's wrath, as the rest of mankind. But God, who is so rich in mercy on account of the great love He has for us, has made us, though dead because of our shortcomings, live again in fellowship with Christ -- it is by His unmerited favor that you have been saved.read more.
And He raised us with Him and through union with Christ Jesus He made us sit down with Him in the heavenly realm, to show, throughout the coming ages, the boundless generosity of His unmerited favor shown us in His goodness to us through Christ Jesus. For it is by His unmerited favor through faith that you have been saved; it is not by anything that you have done, it is the gift of God. It is not the result of what anyone can do, so that no one can boast of it.

It is God who has delivered us out of the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of His dearly loved Son, by whom we possess the ransom from captivity, which means the forgiveness of our sins.

for it is by Him through one Spirit that both of us now have an introduction to the Father.

Since we have been given right standing with God through faith, then let us continue enjoying peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have an introduction through faith into this state of God's favor, in which we safely stand; and let us continue exulting in the hope of enjoying the glorious presence of God.

Since then, my brothers, we have free access to the real sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, the new and living way which He opened for us, through the curtain, that is, His physical nature, and since in Him we have a Great Priest over the house of God,read more.
let us continue to draw near to God with sincere hearts and perfect faith; with our hearts cleansed from the sense of sin, and our bodies bathed in clean water;

For you have not come to a blazing fire that can be touched, to gloom and darkness, storm and trumpet-blast, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not a word more should be added; for they did not try to bear the order, "Even if a wild animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death,"read more.
and so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I am terrified and terror-stricken!" But you have come to Mount Zion, even to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless hosts of angels, to the festal gathering and assembly of God's firstborn sons enrolled as citizens in heaven, to a Judge who is the God of all, to the spirits of upright men who have attained perfection, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks a better message than even Abel's did.

Now eternal life means knowing you as the only true God and knowing Jesus your messenger as Christ.

But Jesus cried aloud, "Whoever believes in me believes not merely in me but in Him who has sent me; and whoever sees me sees Him who has sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that no one who continues to believe in me can remain in darkness.

Jesus answered him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you knew me, you would know my Father too. From now on you do know Him and you have seen Him."

but when the proper time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to law, to ransom those who were subject to law, so that we might be adopted as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba," that is, "Father."read more.
So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir by God's own act.

For all who are guided by God's Spirit are God's sons. For you do not have a sense of servitude to fill you with dread again, but the consciousness of adopted sons by which we cry, "Abba," that is, "Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirits that we are God's children;read more.
and if children, then also heirs, heirs of God and fellow-heirs with Christ if in reality we share His sufferings, so that we may share His glory too.

For all of you are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who have been baptized into union with Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no room for Jew or Greek, no room for slave or freeman, no room for male or female, for you are all one through union with Christ Jesus.read more.
And if you belong to Christ, then you are real descendants of Abraham, and heirs in accordance with the promise made to him.

and you have forgotten the encouragement which is addressed to you as sons: "My son, refrain from thinking lightly of the discipline the Lord inflicts, and giving up when you are corrected by Him. For He disciplines everyone He loves, and chastises every son whom He heartily receives." You must submit to discipline. God is dealing with you as His sons. For who is the son that his father never disciplines?read more.
Now if you are without any discipline, in which all true sons share, you are only illegitimate children and not true sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we used to treat them with respect; how much more cheerfully should we submit to the Father of our spirits, and live! For they disciplined us only a short time, as it seemed proper to them, but He does it for our good, in order that we may share His holy character. Now for the time being no discipline seems to be pleasant; it is painful; later on, however, to those who are trained by it, it yields the fruit of peace which grows from upright character.

But you are the chosen race, the royal priesthood, the consecrated nation, the people to be His very own, to proclaim the perfections of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once His mercy had not been shown you, but now it has.

So you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but you are fellow-citizens of God's people and members of His family; for you are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself the cornerstone. In union with Him the whole building is harmoniously fitted together and continues to grow into a temple, sacred through its union with the Lord,read more.
and you yourselves, in union with Him, in fellowship with one another, are being built up into a dwelling for God through the Spirit.

Then He turned to His disciples when they were alone, and said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you are seeing. For I tell you, many prophets and kings have wished to see what you are seeing, but they did not, and to hear what you are hearing, but they did not."

Then His disciples came up to Him and asked, "Why do you speak to them in stories?" He answered: "It is you and not they who are granted the privilege of knowing the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. For to anyone who has, more will be given, and his supply will overflow, but from anyone who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.read more.
This is why I am speaking to them in stories, because they look but do not see, they listen but do not really hear or understand. So in them the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: "'You will listen and listen and not understand, and you will look and look and never see at all, For this people's soul has grown dull, and with their ears they can scarcely hear, and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they will never see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn to me, so that I may cure them!' "But blessed are your eyes, for they are beginning to see, and your ears, for they are beginning to hear. For I solemnly say to you, many prophets and upright men yearned to see what you are seeing, and did not see it, and to hear what you are hearing, and did not hear it.

When He was by Himself, those who stayed about Him with the Twelve began to ask Him about the stories. Then He said to them, "To you the secret of the kingdom of God has been entrusted, but to those who are on the outside everything is presented in stories, so that 'They may look and look and yet not see, And listen and listen and yet not understand, Lest, perchance, they should turn and be forgiven.'"

His disciples were asking Him what this story meant. So He said, "You are granted the privilege of knowing the secrets of the kingdom of God, but to others they are told in stories, so that they may look and not see, may hear and not understand.

I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not know what his master is doing; I now call you friends, because I have told you everything that I have learned from my Father.

Yet, when among mature believers we do set forth a wisdom, but a wisdom that does not belong to this world or to the leaders of this world who are passing away; rather, we are setting forth a wisdom that came from God, once a covered secret but now uncovered, which God marked off as His plan for bringing us to glory. Not one of this world's leaders understands it, for if they had, they would never have crucified our glorious Lord.read more.
But, as the Scripture says, they are: "Things which eye has never seen and ear has never heard, and never have occurred to human hearts, which God prepared for those who love Him." For God unveiled them to us through His Spirit, for the Spirit by searching discovers everything, even the deepest truths about God. For what man can understand his own inner thoughts except by his own spirit within him? Just so no one but the Spirit of God can understand the thoughts of God. Now we have not received the spirit that belongs to the world but the Spirit that comes from God, that we may get an insight into the blessings God has graciously given us.

Even the prophets, who prophesied about the spiritual blessing meant for you, made careful investigations and persistent research about this salvation, earnestly trying to find out the time, and the nature of the times, which the Spirit of the Christ within them pointed to, in foretelling the sufferings of the Christ and the glory that should follow them. It was made known to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in their searching for these things that have already been told to you by those who through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven brought you the good news. The angels long to take a peep into these things.

I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not know what his master is doing; I now call you friends, because I have told you everything that I have learned from my Father. You have not chosen me; I have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit, that your fruit may remain too, so that the Father may grant you, as bearers of my name, whatever you ask Him for.

He was seen by me, too, as though I were born out of time. For I belong to the lowest rank of the apostles, and am not fit to bear the title apostle, because I once persecuted the church of God. But by God's unmerited favor I have become what I am, and His unmerited favor shown to me was not bestowed for nothing, for I have toiled more extensively than any of them, and yet it was not I but God's unmerited favor working with me.

I have never coveted any man's silver or gold or clothes. You know yourselves that these hands of mine provided for my own needs and for my companions. In everything I showed you that by working hard like this we must help those who are weak, and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It makes one happier to give than to get.'"

Now I am going to tell you, brothers, of God's spiritual blessing which was given in the churches of Macedonia, because in spite of a terrible test of trouble, the mighty flood of their gladness mingling with the depths of their poverty has overflowed and resulted in the abundance of their liberality. For they have given, I can testify, to the utmost of their ability, and even beyond their ability. Of their own accord,read more.
with earnest entreaty, they kept on begging me for the favor of sharing in this service that is being rendered to God's people. They did not do as I expected but even more; they first by God's will gave themselves to the Lord, and then to me; so that I insisted that Titus, as he had formerly commenced it, should bring to completion this gracious contribution among you too. Yes, just as you are growing rich in everything else, in faith, expression, knowledge, perfect enthusiasm, and the love inspired in you by us, you must see to it that you grow rich in this gracious contribution too. I am not saying this in the spirit of a command, but I am simply trying to test the genuineness of your love by the enthusiasm of others. For by experience you know the unmerited favor shown by our Lord Jesus Christ; that although He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, in order that by His poverty you might become rich. Now I will give you my opinion on this matter. For this is for your interest, because you were not only the first to do anything about it, but the first to want to do so; you started it a year ago. Now finish doing it too, so that your readiness to finish it may be just like your readiness to start it, in accordance with what you have. If a man is ready and willing to give, his gift is acceptable in accordance with what he has, not with what he does not have. For I do not want it to be a relief for others and a burden on you, but through an equalizing of matters in the present crisis I do want your abundance to relieve their need, that some day their abundance may relieve your need, so that equality may exist -- just as the Scripture says, "The man who gathered much did not have too much, and the man who gathered little did not have too little."

Now this is the way it is: Whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly too, but whoever sows bountifully will reap bountifully too. Each must give what he has purposed in his heart to give, not sorrowfully or under compulsion, for it is the happy giver that God loves. And God is able to make your every spiritual blessing overflow for you, so that you will always have in every situation an entire sufficiency and so overflow for every good cause;read more.
as the Scripture says: "He has generously given to the poor; His deeds of charity go on forever." He who always supplies the sower with seed and the eater with bread will supply you with seed and multiply it and enlarge the harvest which your deeds of charity yield. In every way you will grow richer and richer so as to give with perfect liberality, which will through me result in thanksgiving to God for it.

As for us apostles, men ought to think of us as ministers of Christ and trustees to handle God's uncovered truths. Now in this matter of trustees the first and final requirement is that they should prove to be trustworthy.

"Who then is the faithful and thoughtful slave, whom his master put in charge of his household, to deal out to the members of it their supplies at the proper time? Blessed is that slave if, when his master comes back, he finds him so doing. I solemnly say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.read more.
But if the slave is bad and says to himself, 'My master is going to be gone a long time,' and begins to beat his fellow-slaves, and keeps on eating and drinking with those who get drunk, the master of that slave will come on the very day he is not expecting him, and will cut him in two, and give him his share with the hypocrites, where they will weep and grind their teeth."

And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful, thoughtful manager whom his master will put in charge of his household, to give out the supplies at the proper time? Happy is that slave whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. I tell you truly, he will put him in charge of all his property.read more.
But if that slave says to himself, my Master is not coming back for a long time, and begins to beat the men and women slaves, and to eat and drink and get drunk, his master will come back some day when he is not expecting him, and at an hour of which he is not aware, and will cut him in two, and give him his share with the unfaithful. That slave who knows his master's wishes and does not get ready or act upon them will be severely punished. But the one who does wrong without knowing it will be lightly punished. Much will be demanded from anyone to whom much has been given; yea, people will demand much more from anyone to whom they have entrusted much.

Or, are you not conscious that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit that is in you, whom you have as a gift from God? Furthermore, you are not your own, for you have been bought and actually paid for. So you must honor God with your bodies.

Continue to obey and to be submissive to your leaders, for they are ever watching in defense of your souls, as men who will have to give account of their trust. Treat them in this way, so that they may work with joy and not with grief.

When day broke, the chiefs of the police court sent policemen with the message to let the men go. The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The chiefs of the police court have sent orders to let you go. So now you may come out and go in peace." But Paul said to them, "They beat us in public and that without a trial, and put us in jail although we are Roman citizens! Let them come here themselves and take us out!"read more.
The policemen reported this message to the chiefs of the police court, and they became alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens, and came and pleaded with them, and took them out and begged them to leave town.

Paul fixed his eyes upon the council and said, "Brothers, with a clear conscience I have done my duty to God up to this very day." At this the high priest Ananias ordered the people standing near him to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, "You white-washed wall, God will strike you! Do you sit as a judge to try me in accordance with the law and yet in violation of the law you order them to strike me?"

"Listen to another story. There was once an owner of an estate who planted a vineyard and built a fence around it, and hewed out a wine-vat in it, and built a tower, and rented it to tenant farmers, and then went abroad. But when the time for gathering grapes was near, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his rent. But the tenants took his slaves and beat the first one, killed the second, and stoned the third.read more.
Again he sent other slaves, and more than at first, and they treated them exactly the same way. At last he sent his son to them, for he said to himself, 'They will surely respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is his heir, come on, let us kill him, and get all that is coming to him!' So they took him and drove him out of the vineyard and murdered him. Now when the owner of the estate comes back, what will he do to these tenants?" They answered, "In vengeance he will put the scoundrels to death, and rent the vineyard to other tenants who will promptly pay him the rent." Then Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures: 'That stone which the builders threw away has become the cornerstone; this is the work of the Lord and seems wonderful to us!' "This, I tell you, is why the kingdom will be taken away from you, and given to a people who will pay a fair rent for it.

Then He began to speak to them in stories. "A man once planted a vineyard and fenced it in and hewed out a wine-vat and built a watchtower; then he rented it to tenant farmers, and went abroad. At the proper time he sent a slave to the tenants to collect his part of the grape crop. But they took him and beat him and sent him back empty-handed.read more.
And again he sent another slave to them, and they beat his head and treated him shamefully. Then he sent a third one, and they killed him, and many others, some of whom they beat, some they killed. He had one more to send, his dearly loved son; at last he sent him to them, for he said to himself, 'They will surely respect my son.' But those tenants said among themselves, 'This is his heir; come on, let us kill him, and all that is coming to him will be ours.' So they took him and killed him, and threw his body outside the vineyard. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come back and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.

Then He went on to tell the people the following story: "Once upon a time a man planted a vineyard and leased it to tenant farmers, and then went abroad for a long stay. So at the proper time He sent a slave to the tenants, that they might pay him his part of the grape-crop, but the tenants beat him and sent him back empty-handed. Then again he sent another slave, and they beat him and insulted him, and sent him back empty-handed.read more.
And again he sent a third slave, and they wounded him and threw him out of the vineyard. Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my dearly loved son. They will, I should think, respect him.' But when the tenants saw him, they argued among themselves, 'This is the heir; let us kill him, so that what he inherits may be ours.' So they drove him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and put those tenants to death and give the vineyard to others." When they heard this, they said, "May it never be so!"

"For it is just like a man who was going on a long journey from his homeland, who called to him his slaves and turned his property over to them. He gave one five thousand dollars, another two thousand, another one thousand, to each in accordance with his ability. Then he started on his long journey. The man who had received the five thousand dollars at once went out and invested it, and made five thousand more.read more.
In the same way the man who had received the two thousand made two thousand more. But the man who had received the one thousand went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money. After a long time the master of those slaves came back and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five thousand dollars came up and brought him five thousand more, saying, 'You turned over to me five thousand dollars; here are five thousand more I made.' His master said to him 'Well done, my good and faithful slave, you have been faithful in the use of a small amount; I will put you in charge of a larger one. Come, share your master's joy!' Then the man who had received the two thousand came up and said, 'Master, you turned over to me two thousand dollars; here are two thousand more I made.' His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful slave, you have been faithful in the use of a small amount; I will put you in charge of a larger one. Come, share your master's joy!' Then the man who had received the one thousand came up and said, 'Master, I knew you were a hard man, who reaped where you had not sown, who gathered where you had not threshed. So I was afraid, and went off and buried your thousand dollars in the ground. Here is your money.' His master answered him, 'You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reaped where I had not sown and gathered where I had not threshed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, so that when I came back I could have collected my principal with interest. So take the thousand dollars away from him and give it to him who has ten thousand. For the man who has will have more given to him, even till it overflows, but from the man who has nothing even what he has will be taken away. And throw the good-for-nothing slave out into the darkness on the outside, where he will weep and grind his teeth.'

So He said: "Once upon a time a man of noble birth went off to a distant country to get for himself a kingdom and then return. He called in ten of his slaves and gave them twenty dollars apiece and told them to do business with his money while he was gone. But his citizens continued to hate him, and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We do not want this man to become king over us.'read more.
Then after he had gotten the appointment as king, he returned and ordered those slaves to whom he had given his money to be called in, that he might find out what business they had done. Now the first one came in and said, 'Your twenty dollars, sir, has made two hundred more.' So he said to him, 'Well done, my good slave! Because you have proven dependable in a very small business, be governor of ten cities!' The second one came in and said, 'Your twenty dollars, sir, has made a hundred!' So he said to him too, 'Be governor of five cities? But another one came in and said, 'Here is your twenty dollars, sir, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief. For I lived in constant dread of you, because you are a stern man, you pick up what you did not put down, you reap what you did not sow.' He said to him, 'On the ground of what you say I will sentence you, you wicked slave! You knew that I was a stern man, that I picked up what I did not put down, and reaped what I did not sow. So why did you not put my money into the bank? In that case, when I came back I could have gotten interest on my principal.' So he said to the bystanders, 'Take the twenty dollars away from him and give it to the man who has the two hundred.' And they said, 'Sir, he has two hundred already.' 'I tell you, the man who gets will have more given to him, but the man who does not get will have even what he has taken away from him! But bring those enemies of mine here who did not want me to become king over them and slay them in my presence!'"