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The Philippian church was established by Paul on his first missionary journey (Acts 16:11ff). These people quickly secured a place in the great apostle's heart. This letter, written some ten years after the founding of the congregation, is designed to thank them for their support in the gospel al...
Citizenship is the legal relationship that one sustains to a city, state, or country. Paul was a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia (Acts 21:39), and he enjoyed the privileges of "citizenship" in the Roman empire (Acts 22:28). His citizenship granted certain protective procedures (cf. 22:25), and the p...
The term "truth" carries several connotations in the Bible. (a) Truth can convey the idea of loyalty. Those who abide in Jesus' teaching are "truly" his disciples (Jn. 8:31). (b) True may denote that which is genuine, in contrast to the counterfeit. God is "true" deity; idols are not (1 Thes. 1:9...
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 Greek word paradeisos derives from the Persian term pairidaeza, which meant an enclosure, a royal park, a garden with a wall. In the Greek Old Testament (LXX) the term is employed of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8; cf. Ezekiel 31:8). Paradise is found three times in the New Testament. 1. Whi...
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 term "grace" occurs about 155 times in the New Testament. The word relates to the Greek term chairo, meaning "to rejoice," and grace itself comes to mean favor, gratification, or gratitude -- depending on the context. The New Testament emphasizes that salvation is the result of God's grace (E...
A number of terms, both in the O.T. and the N.T., suggest the idea of a "path" or "way" of travel. The words come to be employed of a "course of conduct," whether for good (Ex. 18:20; 32:8; Dt. 31:29; Jer. 6:16) or evil (Num. 22:32; Psa. 139:24; Isa. 65:2; Acts 14:16). (a) Jesus declared that he ...
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 common word for "walk" in the New Testament is peripateo. It means to walk around or, in a figurative sense, "to conduct oneself" in a certain way. It was the common Jewish idiom for how one lived one's life. How one walks is addressed both negatively and positively in the Scriptures. We are ...
The Greek expression for "lord" is kurios. One must look at the context to observe the sense conveyed in a particular setting. "Lord" may be used as a mere title of respect, or it can suggest one who is deity. (a) Kurios is sometimes used in the sense of one who is owner or master of a thing, i.e...
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...
"Salvation" is the result of having been "saved." The verb "save" (sozo) had a variety of ancient meanings. It could signify to deliver, to heal, to liberate, to preserve, etc., depending upon the context. Most prominently in the N.T. it has to do with deliverance from the guilt and ultimate cons...
"Predestination" is the idea that God determined something beforehand. The noun itself does not appear in the Bible, but the verb behind it does. The Greek term is proorizo (pro — "before" and horizo — "to mark out, to set a boundary"). It is found six times in the New Testament (Acts 4:28; Roman...
Justice may be viewed from two vantage points. Divine justice is that which is between God and man. Human justice exists between men. Divine Justice Divine justice has to do with the harmony between the absolutely holy nature of God, and his dealings with sinful creatures. God is a being of utter...
The Greek word is huiothesia, from huios, "son," and tithemi, "to set, put, or place." The word suggests the idea of putting one into the position of a son. It is used five times in the New Testament. • The Christian's reception of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:38) is God's pledge that he has been ...
The term "evangelist" is an Anglicized form of the Greek euanglistes, derived from eu ("well") and angelos ("messenger"). An evangelist is someone who proclaims the good news, serving as a gospel herald. In a broader sense, all Christians are evangelists. However, the term is used in the New Test...
Marriage is a covenant between a man and woman, whereby they pledge to belong to one another in a life-long union. There are several elements relative to this institution that are important to understand. (a) The origin of marriage is divine, commencing from the sixth day of the creation week (Ge...
The Bible is filled with affirmations of our Creator's generosity. Every good and perfect gift is from him (Jas. 1:17). Surely our gratitude must be lavishly expressed for his graciousness. God has given us life itself (Acts 17:25; 1 Tim. 6:13). Human life, therefore, is sacred. Jehovah gives us ...
This English term is a rendition of the Greek zoopoieo, "to make alive." It is found about a dozen times in the N.T. and is rendered by such expressions as "quicken," "give life," and "make alive." Consider these facts: (a) The power to "make alive" is always attributed either to God (Jn. 5:21; R...