Spiritual Blindness
43 passages listed in Nave’s Topical Bible and Torrey’s New Topical Textbook. Verse text: Berean Standard Bible; links open in your translation.
18 sections
- A Work of the Devil
- Christ Appointed to Remove
- Christ's Ministers are Lights to Remove
- Churches of Laodicea
- Explained
- Israel
- Judicially Inflicted
- Leads to all Evil
- Pray for the Removal of
- Removal of, Illustrated
- Saints are Delivered From
- Scribes and Pharisees
- The Effect of Sin
- The Self-Righteous are In
- The Wicked are In
- The Wicked Wilfully Guilty of
- Unbelief, the Effect of
- Uncharitableness, a Proof of
A Work of the Devil
- 2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Christ Appointed to Remove
- Isaiah 42:7 to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.
- Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,
- John 8:12 Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
- John 9:39 Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”
- 2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Christ's Ministers are Lights to Remove
- Matthew 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
- Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’
Churches of Laodicea
- Revelation 3:17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
Explained
- John 1:5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
- 1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Israel
- Romans 11:25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
- 2 Corinthians 3:15 And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.
Judicially Inflicted
- Psalm 69:23 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.
- Isaiah 29:10 For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.
- Isaiah 44:18 They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
- Matthew 13:13–14 This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’ …
- John 12:40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”
Leads to all Evil
- Ephesians 4:17–19 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. …
Pray for the Removal of
- Psalm 13:3 Consider me and respond, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death,
- Psalm 119:18 Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.
Removal of, Illustrated
- John 9:7 Then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.
- John 9:11 He answered, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and anointed my eyes, and He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight.”
- John 9:25 He answered, “Whether He is a sinner I do not know. There is one thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see!”
- Acts 9:18 At that instant, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and his sight was restored. He got up and was baptized,
- Revelation 3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
Saints are Delivered From
- John 8:12 Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
- Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
- Colossians 1:13 He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,
- 1 Thessalonians 5:4–5 But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief. …
- 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Scribes and Pharisees
- Matthew 23:16 Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
- Matthew 23:24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
The Effect of Sin
- Isaiah 29:10 For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.
- Matthew 6:23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
- John 3:19–20 And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. …
The Self-Righteous are In
- Matthew 23:19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred?
- Matthew 23:26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.
- Revelation 3:17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
The Wicked are In
- Psalm 82:5 They do not know or understand; they wander in the darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
- Jeremiah 5:21 “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
The Wicked Wilfully Guilty of
- Isaiah 26:11 O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them!
- Romans 1:19–21 For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. …
Unbelief, the Effect of
- Romans 11:8 as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
- 2 Corinthians 4:3–4 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. …
Uncharitableness, a Proof of
- 1 John 2:9 If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness.
- 1 John 2:11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Related topics
Spiritual Blindness is Consistent with Communion with GodSpiritual Blindness of Ministers, Fatal to Themselves and to the PeopleDarkness of Spiritual BlindnessBlindness
Topics: Nave’s Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey’s New Topical Textbook (1897), public domain, via the Berean Bible topical index.