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A covenant is an agreement between two parties. In some cases, the parties stand on equal footing, and each party contributes to the conditions of the covenant. It can be the case, however, that one of the parties is infinitely superior to the other, as in the case of God versus man. Accordingly,...
Idolatry is the worship of any being or object other than the true God, or the worship of supposed images of Jehovah himself (Ex. 20:3-6). A more subtle form of idolatry is the slavish yielding to one's passions (Phil. 3:19; Col. 3:5). Idolatry is strongly condemned and, if persisted in, will lea...
The Greek word psallo is found five times in the N.T. It is rendered by the English terms "sing" (Rom. 15:9; 1 Cor. 14:15; Jas. 5:13), and "make melody" (Eph. 5:19). In the era of classical Greek (cir. 900 to 330 B.C.), the word was used in the sense of "to touch" or "to twang," as with a carpent...
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...
Dispensationalism is a system that divides history into seven dispensations, each corresponding to one day of creation week. C.I. Scofield popularized the theory in his Reference Bible (1909). These dispensations are alleged to be: • Innocence • Conscience • Human Government • Promise • Law • Gra...
The Greek term porne is a comprehensive term, covering every form of illicit sexual activity by human beings. Note the following passages that help us understand this word. Single people who wish to satisfy their sexual appetites may marry. Otherwise, such activity is "fornication" (1 Cor. 7:2). ...
A "mediator" is a "go-between" (from mesos, "middle" and eimi "to go"). Ideally, the role of a mediator is to work for the reconciliation of parties that have become estranged. (a) Moses was a mediator between God and Israel. He delivered the law to the nation on behalf of Jehovah (Jn. 1:17; Gal....
The Holy Spirit is a divine being who is spirit in nature (Luke 24:39) and holy in character. • The Holy Spirit is not a mere force (as some cultists insist, e.g., the "Jehovah's Witnesses"); rather, he is an individual entity, a person, who speaks, teaches, helps, etc. (1 Timothy 4:1; John 14:26...
The doctrine of "annihilation" is the idea that eventually, after a sufficient period of punishment, the souls of the wicked will go out of existence. This dogma is without biblical support. The punishment of those who die estranged from God is described as: "fire unquenchable" (Mt. 3:12). Final ...
The word "Trinity" does not occur in the Scriptures. The term combines the dual concepts of "three" and "unity," and thus it does convey a biblical idea, namely that the Godhead is composed of three distinct personalities that share one, identical essence, the nature of deity. God is "one" as to ...
In the N.T. (cf. Heb. 7:6, 9), this term derives from the Greek, dekatos, meaning "tenth." (a) In the Patriarchal period of history, it appears to have been the practice that godly men gave a tenth of their income to the service of God (Gen. 14:20; 28:22). (b) Under the Mosaic system, tithing was...