(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Parallel translations
- WEB for we walk by faith, not by sight.
- BSB For we walk by faith, not by sight.
- NKJV For we walk by faith, not by sight.
- NASB for we walk by faith, not by sight—
- NLT For we live by believing and not by seeing.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Christian life is governed by faith in God's promises, not by what is visibly seen. We trust unseen realities over present appearances.
Overview
This brief, well-known verse summarizes the believer's posture: living by trust in God's word and promises rather than by sight of present circumstances. It echoes 4:18 and grounds the confidence Paul has just described. Faith holds firmly to the unseen Lord and the unseen glory to come.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Heb 11:1–27Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
- 2 Cor 4:18While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
- Rom 8:24–25For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
- 1 Pet 1:8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
- Heb 10:38Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
- Gal 2:20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
- 1 Pet 5:9Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
- 1 Cor 13:12For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
- 2 Cor 1:24Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.
- Deut 12:9For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
In Christ all God's promises are 'Yes and Amen'; though rich, he became poor to make us rich, and in him God reconciles the world, making us new creations.
How 2 Corinthians 5:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.