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Repentance has a variety of uses in the Scriptures. (a) One form of "repentance" is simply a feeling of remorse. It was in this sense that Judas "repented" (Mt. 27:3) just before he hanged himself and perished eternally (Jn. 17:12). (b) Valid repentance is a "change of mind" that results in a cha...
The noun "baptism" and the corresponding verb "baptize" come directly from Greek into English with only slight spelling changes. The word literally denotes to immerse, dip, or submerge. When used metaphorically, it suggests being overwhelmed. It takes several senses in the New Testament, dependin...
While the term "unity" is rare in the English Bible (Psa. 133:1; Eph. 4:3; 4:13), the idea prevails profusely in a variety of contexts. (a) Unity is that oneness that obtains perfectly among the members of the divine Godhead -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These holy Persons are "one" (Dt. 6:4; ...
The Bible affirms God's omniscience (i.e., that he knows everything—past, present, and future; cf. 1 Sam. 16:7; Psa. 139; Is. 40:13ff; Acts 1:24; Heb. 4:13). One aspect of divine omniscience is "foreknowledge" (prognosis -- knowing beforehand). This divine attribute is affirmed of God in Acts 2:2...
The verb "reconcile" (Grk. katallasso) basically suggests a "change." In an ethical or religious sense, it denotes a change between parties who have been estranged. It may refer to human associations, or man's relationship to his Creator. (a) In human relationships that are breached, the fault ma...
The Flood, recorded in Genesis 6-8, was the most widespread disaster ever to affect this planet. Waters from the atmosphere above and from chasms beneath the earth inundated the entire globe (Gen. 7:19, 21; cf. 2 Pet. 3:6). More than 200 traditions of an ancient, universal flood, from which only ...
Three Greek terms in the N.T. reflect the idea of a "miracle," and there are three contexts in which all three terms are found together (Acts 2:22; 2 Thes. 2:9; Heb. 2:4). The Greek terms are as follows. (a) Dunamis is "power, a mighty work." This word stresses the divine power involved in the mi...
Divorce may be defined as the legal dissolution of a marriage covenant. Under the Mosaic regime, divorce could be obtained for a variety of reasons (Dt. 24:1; Mt. 19:8). But this looseness was merely tolerated; it was not the divine ideal. Under the Christian system, the strictness of the marital...
The Greeks had several words that reflected various concepts of "love." Forms of three of these are found in the N.T. (a) The noun storge had a variety of uses in the ancient world, but it most commonly had to do with family love. Paul uses a negative form of it twice to designate those who are "...
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 ...
This phrase has roots in the Old Testament. The book of Daniel alludes to "the abomination that makes desolate" (cf. 9:27, 11:31, 12:11). It is generally believed that 11:31 is a reference to the abominable (evil) power that desolated the Jewish system during that historical period between the Te...