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Psalms is a collection of 150 songs of praise, authored by a variety of writers (seventy-three are attributed to David). They celebrate the Lord's power of creation and his sovereignty over nature. The Psalms reflect an awareness of Israel's redemptive role in the history of mankind. A number of ...
The idea of being born in sin or inheriting ancestral sin at birth is not a biblical concept. The most commonly misapplied passage relating to the notion that children are "born in sin" is Psalm 51:5. For several reasons, this text cannot be teaching that infants are born sinful; such a view woul...
The doctrine of hereditary total depravity is also known as "original sin" in Roman Catholicism. This concept asserts that all children come into the world with both the effects and guilt of Adam's original sin. By "heredity," therefore, they are totally (completely) depraved (evil). Proponents o...
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...
Jesus once prayed that God's will might be done on earth, just as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Jehovah's will is what is best for humanity and what he requires us to implement in our lives. The Lord has the right to exert his will because of who he is (deity), and he can impose it in any way c...
The opening book of the Bible is a document of "beginnings." It consists of 50 chapters in our modern translations. Written by Moses some 1,500 years before Christ, it introduces the beginning of the Universe, life, mankind, the home, sin, the plan of redemption, nations, diverse human languages,...
The word "providence," is not used explicitly of divine activity in the Scriptures, though the concept is apparent in both Testaments. The word basically means "foresight." Theologically, it has been coined to explain the operations of God in: (a) maintaining the created world (Neh. 9:6; Col. 1:1...
The Bible clearly teaches that at the time of Christ's return, all the dead will be raised from their graves. In the Patriarchal age, Job seems to allude to the hope of the resurrection (Job 19:25-26). Abraham believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead (Heb. 11:19). Moses, speaking on beha...
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...
A significant portion of the Old Testament record embodies the law of Moses. Some basic facts relative to that system must be understood. (a) It was given by God, and ordained by angels; it came through Moses as a mediator (Gal. 3:19). (b) It was given at Sinai (cir. 1500 B.C.), and was terminate...
The Bible occasionally speaks of the wicked being ultimately "destroyed" (apollumi) in hell (Mt. 10:28; Lk. 13:3, 5; 2 Thes. 2:10). Some, therefore, have assumed that after an appropriate period of punishment, the spirits of wicked men will be extinguished. But the idea embodied in apollumi is "r...
Astrology is a pagan superstition that believes the heavenly bodies influence human activity. Additionally, the theory often includes the belief that human events can be predicted by "reading" the stars. This mythology is condemned in the Scriptures (Dt. 18:10-12; 2 Kgs. 23:5; Isa. 47:13-14; Jer....
References to "worship" are common in both the O.T. and the N.T. The Hebrew term shachah (about 100 times) refers to "bowing" before an object of religious devotion. Similarly, proskuneo (59 times) in the N.T. means to prostrate oneself, do obeisance. Worship can be offered to the true God (Gen. ...
A careful consideration of the various texts in the Old Testament that mention the "angel of the LORD" (KJV) or the "angel of Jehovah" (ASV) reveals that this being was not of the ordinary angel class. The Angel of Jehovah promised to multiply Hagar's seed, and she confessed, "You are a God who s...
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...
There are three kindred words in the Greek N.T. that represent the idea of "propitiation." Two are nouns -- hilasmos (1 Jn. 2:2; 4:10) and hilasterion (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 9:5), and the third is the verb hilaskomai (Lk. 18:13; Heb. 2:17). The terms are designed to provide an explanation as to how God...
"Gospel" derives from the Greek euangelion, literally "good tidings" (see Lk. 2:10, where it is fully translated). The gospel is mentioned more than 75 times in the New Testament. It is the good news of a plan of redemption for fallen man. Much can be learned about the gospel by a consideration o...
"The Lord's supper" is the name Paul gives to the memorial meal of bread and fruit of the vine that Christians eat in remembrance of Christ's death. The expression appears only once in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 11:20). The word rendered "Lord's" (kuriakos) means "belonging to the Lord." It...
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...
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...