Verse 18

Of his purpose he gave us being, by his true word, so that we might be, in a sense, the first-fruits of all the things which he had made.

Referenced Verses

  • 1 Pet 1:23 : 23 Because you have had a new birth, not from the seed of man, but from eternal seed, through the word of a living and unchanging God.
  • John 1:13 : 13 Whose birth was from God and not from blood, or from an impulse of the flesh and man's desire.
  • Rev 14:4 : 4 These are they who have not made themselves unclean with women; for they are virgins. These are they who go after the Lamb wherever he goes. These were taken from among men to be the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.
  • 2 Thess 2:13-14 : 13 But it is right for us to give praise to God at all times for you, brothers, loved by the Lord, because it was the purpose of God from the first that you might have salvation, being made holy by the Spirit and by faith in what is true: 14 And in this purpose he gave you a part through the good news of which we were the preachers, even that you might have part in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • 1 Pet 1:3 : 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his great mercy has given us a new birth and a living hope by the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead,
  • Jer 2:3 : 3 Israel was holy to the Lord, the first-fruits of his increase: all who made attacks on him were judged as wrongdoers, evil came on them, says the Lord.
  • Eph 1:12 : 12 So that his glory might have praise through us who first had hope in Christ:
  • John 3:3-5 : 3 Jesus said to him, Truly, I say to you, Without a new birth no man is able to see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus said to him, How is it possible for a man to be given birth when he is old? Is he able to go into his mother's body a second time and come to birth again? 5 Jesus said in answer, Truly, I say to you, If a man's birth is not from water and from the Spirit, it is not possible for him to go into the kingdom of God.
  • Rom 4:17 : 17 (As it is said in the holy Writings, I have made you a father of a number of nations) before him in whom he had faith, that is, God, who gives life to the dead, and to whom the things which are not are as if they were.
  • Rom 8:29-31 : 29 Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers: 30 And those who were marked out by him were named; and those who were named were given righteousness; and to those to whom he gave righteousness, in the same way he gave glory. 31 What may we say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
  • Rom 9:15-18 : 15 For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and pity on whom I will have pity. 16 So then, it is not by the desire or by the attempt of man, but by the mercy of God. 17 For the holy Writings say to Pharaoh, For this same purpose did I put you on high, so that I might make my power seen in you, and that there might be knowledge of my name through all the earth. 18 So then, at his pleasure he has mercy on a man, and at his pleasure he makes the heart hard.
  • 1 Cor 4:15 : 15 For even if you had ten thousand teachers in Christ, you have not more than one father: for in Christ Jesus I have given birth to you through the good news.
  • Eph 2:4-5 : 4 But God, being full of mercy, through the great love which he had for us, 5 Even when we were dead through our sins, gave us life together with Christ (by grace you have salvation),
  • Col 1:20-21 : 20 Through him uniting all things with himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, uniting all things which are on earth or in heaven. 21 And you, who in the past were cut off and at war with God in your minds through evil works, he has now made one
  • Amos 6:1 : 1 Sorrow to those who are resting in comfort in Zion, and to those who have no fear of danger in the mountain of Samaria, the noted men of the chief of the nations, to whom the people of Israel come!
  • Lev 23:10 : 10 Say to the children of Israel, When you have come to the land which I will give you, and have got in the grain from its fields, take some of the first-fruits of the grain to the priest;
  • Heb 12:23 : 23 To the great meeting and church of the first of those who are named in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of good men made complete,
  • Jas 1:21 : 21 For this reason, putting away all dirty behaviour and the overweight of evil, take into your souls without pride the word which, being planted there, is able to give you salvation.
  • 1 John 3:9 : 9 Anyone who is a child of God does no sin, because he still has God's seed in him; he is not able to be a sinner, because God is his Father.