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Life may be viewed under two categories -- physical life and spiritual life. (a) All biological organisms are characterized by physical "life." A living creature has independent movement, processes food and oxygen, reproduces, etc. Life is a mystery that science cannot explain. It is a "gift" fro...
More than a dozen words are used in the Greek N.T. to represent various aspects of "sin" (e.g., bad, evil, transgression, iniquity, trespass, godless, unrighteous, etc.). The most frequently employed word is hamartia (173 times), which provides the picture of "missing the mark." The word is used ...
The English word "atonement" derives from an Anglo-Saxon term that practically signifies "a making at one." Though the English term "atonement" is common to the Old Testament, it is found only once in the New Testament (Rom. 5:11 KJV). There, the original term (katallage) is better rendered as "r...
There are three basic words in the Greek N.T. that convey the idea of "ministering" in one way or another. (a) Diakonos, occurs about thirty times in the N.T. Generally it simply means "to serve." In the KJV it is rendered "servant" seven times and "minister" twenty times. Three times it is used ...
The term "sabbath" is derived from the Hebrew shabath, to "cease." The use of this word for the "seventh day" reflects the Genesis account of creation, when, after six days of creative activity, Jehovah "ceased" his labor (cf. Ex. 20:8-11). There is no astronomical phenomenon to explain a seven-d...
The church in Thessalonica was established on Paul's second missionary journey (Acts 17:1ff). After he left the region, he received a report regarding the congregation in Thessalonica, containing both positive and negative news. This letter, written from Corinth (Acts 18:1, 5), is a response to t...
This is one of the titles of a church official who oversees a local congregation of Christ's church in the company of fellow bishops (always a plurality of men). "Bishop" translates the Greek term episcopos, literally "oversee." The bishop is the same as an elder (presbuteros -- older man; see Ac...
The expression "Son of Man" is found mostly in the Gospel accounts (some 80 times) -- especially the Synoptics (see) -- and it is the term Christ used more than any other to designate himself. In fact, only he uses it of himself. The word is a Messianic title with roots in the O.T. (cf. Dan. 7:13...
Demons (not "devils" KJV) were evil spirits (Mt. 12:43-45) that were permitted to inhabit the bodies of some people during the days of Christ and his apostles. Almost certainly, this was to allow the Savior and his men the opportunity to demonstrate the superiority of God's power over Satan (see ...
Luke wrote the Book of Acts. He addressed it to Theophilus, a Gentile Christian official. The aim of the narrative is to record the establishment of the church of Christ on the day of Pentecost (see reference) and the spread of the Christian movement throughout the ancient world -- all the way to...
Paul's second preserved letter to the Corinthian brethren was designed to be corrective. It urged the saints to be forgiving to the brother who had been disciplined because of his fornication (2:1ff; cf. 1 Cor. 5:1ff). It also pressed for a correct perspective regarding the law of Moses (3:1ff), ...