For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Parallel translations
- WEB for we walk by faith, not by sight.
- KJV (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
- BSB 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 assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
- 2 Cor 4:18while we don’t look 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 were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?
- 1 Pet 1:8whom not having known you love; in whom, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory —
- Heb 10:38But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
- Gal 2:20I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.
- 1 Pet 5:9Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.
- 1 Cor 13:12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.
- 2 Cor 1:24Not that we control your faith, but are fellow workers with you for your joy. For you stand firm in faith.
- Deut 12:9for you haven’t yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which Yahweh your God gives you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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.