Acts 17:11 Bible Studies: Concise Christian Dictionary of Terminology

Concise Christian Dictionary of Terminology

1Cor 2:13 (NIV) This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
The definitions that follow are offered as an aid for those who want to know what Christians mean by certain terms. The original idea was to define a few terms that new believers often hear but don't know the meaning of, such as "hallelujah" and "hosanna". But it seemed good to go ahead and explain other words and phrases not normally used in English outside of Christianity, or where we Christians mean something more precise and narrow than the sort of definition found in an English dictionary. Less common words are included on page 2, linked below. Dean VanDruff

Advent The coming, as in Christ's. The "first advent" is recorded in the New Testament, and the "second advent" or "second coming" is a way of referring to Christ's promised return. [Jn 14:3, Lk 12:45, 2Pt 3:3-4, 1Th 3:13, Jm 5:7. Bible Study on The End of the Age.]
Body of Christ, The Not a cracker or wafer, but "the church"; those who hold fast to the teachings of Jesus and who are "temples of the Holy Spirit". The Body is nothing else or other than those in whom Christ dwells. [Rm 12:5, Jn 8:31-32, 1Cr 12:14-27, Ep :6,4:12]
Born Again Speaks of being given new life through faith in the gospel. Jesus said "You must be born again... of the Spirit". [Jn 3:3-7, 1Pt 1:23, Gl 4:29. Bible Study on Are You a Christian?]
Consecration To set aside for holy purposes. To be prepared to be used by God. [Ze 1:7, 2Cr 1:21, 2Ch 7:16. 2nd draft Bible Study on Consecration.]
Church Not a physical building, organization, or denomination, but all those who are being built into a spiritual "temple of the Holy Spirit", who manifest the "mystery of godliness" which is "Christ in us". [1Cr 15:9, Ac 9:4-5, Gl 1:13, 1Ti 3:15, Ep 2:19-22]
Christ means "anointed one" in Greek. The synonymous word in Hebrew is "Messiah". This is a title of Jesus, meaning the promised Righteous King and Son of God, who gains His throne by offering Himself up as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of His bride, the church. [Lk 4:18-19, Is 11:2, Mt 3:16-17, Cl 1:15-19,2:9. Sermon on The Anointing.]
Faith The substance of what is hoped for, the evidence of what is yet unseen. Believing in the truth revealed by God. [Hb 11:1, Rm 4:18-25,10:17, Jn 20:31. Bible Study on Faith.]
Flesh, The Generally refers to the sinful, "carnal nature" of man that the Gospel teaches us to "crucify daily". There are "sins of the flesh" but also "works of the flesh" which are an attempt to be good by mere human effort rather than the resurrection power of Christ. The Flesh is the opposite source of motive and energy to the Spirit. [Je 17:5, Jn 6:63, Rm 8:5-10]
Fruit What "Christ in Us" produces; character qualities such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The law could never produce such positive things. [Gl 5:22-24, Ph 1:11, Hb 13:15, Cl 1:6]
Gospel, The The "good news" (what "gospel" means) that Jesus, who is the Christ, came and was crucified and rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Jesus said "Follow Me" to those who wanted to be part of the Kingdom of God. [1Cr 15:1-4,1:18-23,2:2, 2Tm 2:8, Lk 9:23. Bible Study on The Gospel.]
Grace Getting what you don't deserve. More formally: "unmerited favor". Specifically, what we get by grace is "Christ in Us" through faith in the gospel. It is by grace we are saved, not of works, lest any man should boast in anything other than Christ. [Ac 17:25, 1Tm 1:9, Rm 5:1-2, Ep 2:4-10. Bible Study series on Grace.]
Hallelujah! Comes from the Hebrew "halal" which means to praise, and "yah" which is short for "Yahweh" (mis-transliterated as "Jehovah" in some translations) which is the personal name of God given to Moses at the burning bush, meaning: "I AM". An English equivalent would be "Praise to Yahweh!" or "Praise to I AM!" [Ex 3:14-15, Ps 9:1,98:4, Rv 19:1-6]
Heart, The In every language and culture, including the Bible, the heart means the emotions; the feelings. Some suggest that the heart includes the mind and/or the will, but if this were true than scriptures like Mr 12:30 would be redundant. [Jr 17:9, Lk 10:17, Ez 36:26, Is 60:5, Hb 10:22. Meditation on The Great Commandment.]
Holiness Without sin. "Otherness": God stuff. Something we will never have or attain, unless we are given it by the Lord. [Rm 6:19-22, 1Cr 1:30-31, 2Cr 7:1, Ep 4:24, Hb 12:14b]
Holy Spirit The third person of the Trinity. The Spirit of God convicts us of sin, teaches us about Christ, and empowers us to know and follow Him. [Lu 11:13, Jn 14:16-17,26, Ep 3:16-1. Bible Study on The Spirit and Bride.]
Hosanna! "Save us", often coupled with: "Save us in the highest way". There is an ongoing sense to Hosanna/Hoshiana as in: "keep on saving us", or "save us now!" [Mk 11:9-10, Ps 118:25-26]
Jesus In Hebrew, His name is the word for "Salvation". Jesus is the perfect expression of the Father, the fullness of God manifested bodily, our Savior, and Lord. Jesus heals and saves, putting us at peace with God the Father and sharing His glory and power with us. [Pr 30:4, Cl 1:12-20,2:9, Jr 17:14. See also "Salvation", below.]
Justification To be "put right with" God. When our rebellion towards God is ended by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who pays for our sins and establishes peace with the Father. [Gl 3:11, Rm 5:18, 1Cr 6:11]
Kingdom of God, The Those who serve King Jesus as Sovereign God and follow Him as Lord of the universe. At present, not a visible kingdom. You can't join the kingdom, earn or buy your way into it; you must be born into it. [Jn 3:3-5, Col 1:12, 1Pt 1:10-11]
Law, The The old covenant. The "Torah" in Hebrew. The straight edge of the Law shows us how crooked we are, and illustrates our need for supernatural life through Christ Jesus. Termed the "ministry of condemnation" in the New Testament, and spoken of in two ways: the moral Law and the ceremonial Law. [Rm 3:19-20,7:7-13,10:3-4, Gl 2:16, Ac 13:38-39, 2Cr 3:9-11, Hb 7:18-19. Sermon on The New Legalism.]
Prophecy Saying what God wants said. Forth-telling the word of the Lord. Prophecy speaks to the past concerning sin, and to the future based on whether we repent or not now. True prophecy is convicting, and easy to despise in the flesh. [2Sm 12:7, 1Pt 1:21, 1Th 5:20-21, 1Cr 14:1. Bible Study on False Prophecy.]
Repentance Turning from sin to God's will. Taking in God's point of view. Staring at His word, glory, and way. Both a starting point of the Christian life as well as an ongoing practice. [Jn 6:29, 2Tm 2:19, Ep 5:8-17, Ac 2:38,17:30. Bible Study on Repentance.]
Revelation God's self-disclosure about Himself and us; knowledge from above. Without revelation, all we would have is human opinions about God. But God has revealed Himself to us by His own initiative and love. God's ultimate revelation is Jesus Christ. [Jn 1:1-3,3:27 Mt 17:5-7, Cl 1:9,2:2, Ep 1:17-18. Dialog on Revelation Theology.]
Rapture, The A shorthand term for denoting what the scripture describes as "being collected together with Him in the air" that will happen before, during, or after the "great tribulation/trouble". [1Th 4:15-17, 1Cr 15:51-52, Mt 24:30-31, 2Th 1:7-10]
Righteousness Perfection. Success from God's point of view. The absence of sin and the presence of Christ's goodness. [Rm 1:17,3:21-22,8:10, Ph 3:7-9]
Salvation Jesus' name is "Salvation" in Hebrew. Salvation is not merely a thing or event, but a person. Salvation is not so much an "it" or a "what", but a "whom". If we have Jesus, we have Salvation. We are saved from God's wrath if and when Jesus is "in us", and we are "in Him". [Mt 1:21, Ex 15:2, Is 12:2, Ac 4:12, Rv 12:10]
Sanctification The process of being purified, cleaned up, and set apart. A work of the Holy Spirit in us through trials, ongoing self-denial, and the gifts and fruit of the Spirit. [Jn 17:17-19, Ac 26:18, 1Th 4:3,5:23-24]
Sin Doing what God says is forbidden; or not doing what God says we should do. Whatever is not of faith; not of Christ's life in us, is sin. It is what we are born into. [Rm 5:12,3:9,3:23,14:23c, Gl 3:22, Jm 4:17]
spirit In the human sense, that portion of the Holy Spirit that we are given when we are "born again". Those who are not born of the Spirit are "dead" in this sense, although they have bodies and souls. The Children of God have been "made alive" in the Spirit by new-birth. [Mt 12:18, Rm 8:10-13, 1Cr 15:45, Gl 5:25]
Soul The eternal part of us. Closely associated with our wills and basic instincts. Who we are as individuals. [Hb 4:12, Mt 16:26, De 4:29, Jb 33:38, Ps 35:9,63:1,116:7-8. Dialog on Body, Soul, and Spirit.]
Trinity, The A doctrinal term depicting what is taught in scripture, that God is three in one: The Father, Jesus the Eternal Son, and the Holy Spirit. A fundamental, foundational starting point in the knowledge of God. [Mt 3:16-17, Jn 15:26, Mt 28:19, 2Th 1:8]
Witnessing Telling others of what God has done in delivering us from our sins, and of how He has poured His Spirit upon us. Not a pre-fab sales pitch. Often involves a dying-to-self in transparency, a confession of past sins so that others will have hope that they can be saved and experience the righteousness, peace and joy they see in us. [Ps 40:1-10, Jn 3:11, Pr 12:17, 2Cr 12:9-10 2Pt 2:12. Dialog on Witnessing and Truth.]
Worship The appropriate response to God saving us. God is not interested in play-acting, but wants to actually heal and save people that will then worship Him in Spirit and in truth. People love to praise things that are great; thus in praising God we find our ultimate purpose and pleasure. [Ps 145:3,84:2,63:1,42:1, Jn 4:23-24, Ph 3:3]

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