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The term "body" is used in Scripture in both literal and figurative sense. Literal user of the body In a literal sense, the term "body" in Scripture refers to the physical "tabernacle" in which the spirit of man dwells (2 Cor. 5:1ff). This human body was fashioned on the sixth day of the creation...
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...
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...
The term "restoration" conveys a number of ideas in the Scriptures, depending upon the immediate context. (a) It may refer to the restitution of property or money in compliance to law (Dt. 22:2), or it may be a reflection of one's repentance (Lk. 19:8). (b) The term may be used of a spiritual inv...
The New Testament is a collection of twenty-seven documents with the following characteristics: • They are classified as "scripture," a term suggesting a divine writing (1 Tim. 5:18; 2 Pet. 3:16). • Eight known writers — Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James, and Jude — produced these boo...
Several Hebrew words are rendered by the English "wine," the most common of which are yayin (134 times) and tirosh (33 times). The basic term for "wine" in the Greek New Testament is oinos (33 times). In both Hebrew and Greek, wine is a generic term for the liquid produced from squeezed grapes. S...
The term "heaven" is used in different ways in the Bible. The expression may refer to the atmospheric region just above the earth where the birds fly, the rain forms, and the wind blows (Gen. 1:10; 7:11; Dan. 8:8). The outer space region that houses the stars, the sun, and the planets is also des...
The term "works" is a perfectly noble word; yet, in the minds of some, there is a distorted view of this biblical term. Especially has the Protestant world reacted negatively to Catholicism's "works system" -- an ideology contrary to the divine plan of redemption. This reaction, however, is itsel...
The name "Jesus" means "savior." "Christ" means "anointed." These names suggest that this noble person was "anointed" of God (Acts 10:38) to be prophet, priest, and king, and indeed, the Savior of the world (Matthew 1:21). The following facts about Jesus are paramount: • He existed eternally as t...
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 "elect" derives from a compound Greek term, eklektos (ek -- "out of," and lego -- "to gather"). It suggests the idea of being selected or chosen. The New Testament uses the term in various senses. • God elected the nation of Israel to be the instrument through which Christ would come ...
The Greek term for "man" is anthropos. Plato suggested that the word reflects the idea of an "upward looking" one, hinting, perhaps, that man finds no rest upon this planet. He is ever searching for his Maker. The term "man" is used generically -- for human kind. "Let us make man in our image mal...
Existentialism is the name of a philosophical movement that began in Germany just before World War II. It attempts to probe the meaning of "human existence" apart from divine revelation and its restrictions. Existentialism argues that man must never surrender his freedom to a set of rules or a re...
"Confession" means "to say the same thing." In connection with our salvation, confession is the personal acknowledgment of the transgressions in our lives that God has spoken of and condemned through divine revelation. But confession involves more than mere tacit acknowledgment. Judas confessed: ...
Though this word is not found in most English translations of the New Testament, the thought is there in the Greek text. It is an anglicized form of the original term antitupos. The term is rendered "like-figure" (1 Pet. 3:21) and "figure" (Heb. 9:24). Literally, a tupos was a mark, or impression...
On several occasions the Scriptures speak of a "new heavens and a new earth" (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1). What does the phrase mean? It does not refer to a literal new heavens and earth. This is so very obvious in that these very contexts speak of the material heavens and earth being destroye...