Definitions

Important Christian Definitions

Gospel

• good news; in particular the good news about the Kingdom of God and Jesus Christ and the salvation we can have when we truly decide to make Jesus our Lord and Saviour

Christ

• [Greek] anointed one, chosen one, Jesus Christ the Son of God

Messiah

• [Hebrew] anointed one, chosen one, Jesus Christ the Son of God

Salvation

• refers to our deliverance from the consequence of sin and therefore involves the removal of sin; entering the kingdom of God
  • https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-doctrine-salvation.html

Baptism - Water

• water baptism is a public event which symbolizes the believer’s total trust in and total reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as a commitment to live obediently to Him.
  • https://www.gotquestions.org/water-baptism.html

Baptism - Holy Spirit

• baptism in the Holy Spirit is an empowering for service that takes place in the life of the Christian (Acts 1:5,8). In it we are immersed in the Spirit's life and power.  It can take place at the moment you confess faith in Christ, as in the case of the first Gentile convert, Cornelius (Acts 10:44-46; Acts 11:15-16); but often it occurs some time after the salvation experience (Acts 8:12-17).
  • http://www1.cbn.com/spirituallife/what-is-baptism-in-the-holy-spirit
  • https://www.gotquestions.org/Spirit-baptism.html

Death - Physical

• when the physical body dies and the soul and spirit leave the body and await the judgment day of God

Death - Spiritual

• separation from God due to our unrepentant sin against God and man;  it can only be removed in Christ

Eternal Life

• a personal father-child relationship with our Heavenly Father established by faith in Jesus Christ and maintained through love which will last for eternity

Faith

• [Greek: pistis] faith, belief, trust, confidence; what is of prime importance is who or what we primarily place our faith in - by God's design it should be God

Love

• [Greek: agape] sacrificial love; God's love; giving freely, without expecting anything in return

Holy

• [Hebrew: qodesh] apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness;   apartness, sacredness, holiness - of God, of places, of things;   set-apartness, separateness
• [Greek: hagios] holy, set apart

Sanctification

• To sanctify someone or something is to set that person or thing apart for the use intended by its designer - the designer for a Christian is God
  • http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/justification-and-sanctification-what-do-they-mean-and-what-does-the-bible-teach-about-them-11628887.html

Sanctify

• to make holy; to set apart for holy use
  • https://bible.org/illustration/be-set-apart-holy-use

Justification

• to declare righteous; God’s declaring those who receive Christ to be righteous, based on Christ’s righteousness being imputed to the accounts of those who receive Christ (2 Cor 5:21)
  • https://www.gotquestions.org/justification.html
  • http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/justification-and-sanctification-what-do-they-mean-and-what-does-the-bible-teach-about-them-11628887.html

Power

• [Greek: dunamis] power; often used to denote the power of God;   miracles

Logos

• [Greek] the Word of God, or principle of divine reason and creative order, identified in the Gospel of John with the second person of the Trinity incarnate in Jesus Christ.

Rhema

• [Greek] a word that is spoken and means “an utterance.” A rhema is a verse or portion of Scripture that the Holy Spirit brings to our attention with application to a current situation or need for direction. 
  • https://atii.org/what-is-a-rhema/

Agape

• [Greek] sacrificial love; used to describe the love that is of and from God, whose very nature is love itself: “God is love” (1 John 4:8)
  • https://www.gotquestions.org/agape-love.html

Humility

• biblical humility is grounded in the character of God. The Father stoops down to help the poor and needy; the incarnate Son exhibits humility from the manger to the cross. The Christian ought to emulate Christ's example of meekness and humility. 
  • http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/humility/  
  • http://www.biblestudytools.com/classics/murray-humility/  
  • https://www.dougbrittonbooks.com/onlinebiblestudies-selfworthandrespect/meaningofhumilityinthebible-humbleinbible/

Sin

• is described in the Bible as transgression of the law of God (1 John 3:4) and rebellion against God
  • https://www.gotquestions.org/definition-sin.html

Seven Deadly Sins

• in Christian tradition the sins of pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth.  
  • http://www.bibleinfo.com/en/questions/what-are-seven-deadly-sins

Covetousness

• materialism; lusting after what someone else has; putting something or someone in a higher position of importance than God; keeping up with the Joneses (or neighbors); God's word says that it is idolatry which is the worship of anything other than God

Anxiety / Worry / Fear

• not trusting in God to take care of our needs; not trusting God to deliver us from evil; there is no fear in perfect love

Angels

• spiritual beings created by God to serve God and mankind; those that followed Satan are evil

Demons

• evil spirits which are the spirits of dead Nephilim;  Nephilim were the offspring of human women and fallen angels
  • https://blog.logos.com/2015/10/where-do-demons-come-from/

Confession

• If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)  God already knows what we have done but He is not able to forgive us or release us from spiritual bondage until we acknowledge it from our own mouth.

Renunciation

• renouncing the hidden things of shame in our life is a declaration before God that we chose to see sin as God sees sin; we are saying that our sin or the sins of our ancestors is wrong, evil, wicked, etc.

True Repentance

• having a godly sorrow for our sin and choosing to turn away from our sin (2 Cor 7:10-11);  180 degree turn - going the other way; true repentance is a gift from God (2 Tim 2:25);  True repentance must involve our whole heart - mind, emotions, will (our entire soul) and conscience (part of our spirit)

Virtue

• moral life and conduct, moral excellence; someone who has virtue treats others fairly and esteems others highly and values the sanctity of life; they treat others better than they are treated; they have good, moral ethics and make biblical choices in life
  • http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2015/08/19/what-does-virtue-mean-a-biblical-definition-of-virtue-or-virtuous/

Goodness

• goodness is virtue and holiness in action; uprightness of heart and life; relates directly to morality; inclination for righteousness vs. bent or inclined toward evil; foundations built on Jesus; good soil (Matt 13:23)
  • https://www.gotquestions.org/fruit-Holy-Spirit-goodness.html

Godliness

• the character of God formed in us after discipline; involves holiness, loyalty ,trustworthiness, faith ,joy ,and peace; the fear of God, which is an attitude of reverence and awe, veneration and honor toward him, coupled with an apprehension deep within our souls of the love of God for us, demonstrated preeminently in the atoning death of Christ
  • https://bible.org/article/what-godliness

Redemption

• means "to buy out" - used specifically in reference to the purchase of a slave’s freedom;  our redemption is in Christ who bought our salvation by dying on the cross in our place and shedding his blood for us - the life is in the blood (Lev 17:11,14, Heb 9:22, 1 John 1:7).
  • https://www.gotquestions.org/redemption.html

Propitiation

• the word propitiation carries the basic idea of appeasement or satisfaction, specifically toward God. Propitiation is a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to him.
  • https://www.gotquestions.org/propitiation.html

Mind vs Brain

• the mind is part of a person's eternal (in Christ) soul, the brain is part of a person's physical and mortal body, they are closely linked;  the flesh - the physical body as functioning entity; in Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likewise present, and no good thing can live. 
  • http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/flesh/   
  • https://www.gotquestions.org/the-flesh.html

 

Special Information

When reading the New Testament remember to read it in the context of a 1st century AD Jew, and remember that their scripture was the Old Testament and letters from the apostles.  When reading any Scripture remember to ask, "How does this passage relate to the rest of the Bible?".

Exegesis [ < Greek exègeisthai (to interpret) < ex- (out) + hègeisthai (to lead). Related to English 'seek'.] Definition: To interpret a text by way of a thorough analysis of its content. When you do exegesis, you are an exegete who is exegeting the text. What you are doing is described as being exegetical. In its most basic Bible-relevant meaning, exegesis means finding out what the Spirit originally was saying through its author in that Bible passage.

The process of exegesis involves

1. Observation:      What does the passage say?

2. Interpretation:  What does the passage mean in context to the surrounding text?

3. Correlation:       How does the passage relate to the rest of the Bible?

4. Application:       How should this passage affect my life?

Eisegesis [ < Greek eis- (into) + hègeisthai (to lead). (See 'exegesis'.)] Definition: A process where one leads into study by reading a text on the basis of pre-conceived ideas of its meanings. It is rare for someone to be called an 'eisegete', because eisegesis has a well-earned negative reputation.

Hermeneutics [ < Greek hermeneu(te)s (interpreter). ] Definition: The science of interpretation of a story or text, and the methods used in that science.

http://www.spirithome.com/bible_exegesis.html