Divine Moral Standards We somehow have an unchanging standard of right and wrong that we all seem to recognize, and that standard of justice is written on our hearts. We cannot know or define evil unless we know what is good, and vice versa. Without a moral law, there is no standard of truth and no unchanging standard of justice….
The Gospel – The Heritage of Humanity The Gospel is the heritage of the entire human race. There is no village so small or isolated from God’s view that God cannot see — God provides the message of the cross of Christ wherever God sees positive volition toward Himself. God is fair and just to every person regardless of geography,…
The Absolute Character of God After salvation, the Holy Spirit, through God’s Word, leads the human soul and spirit into the marvelous light of God’s plan, converting doctrine from something merely understood into full comprehension for our advance, for our application, and for our increasing faith. The Holy Spirit is imperceptible in His behind-the scenes-work of glorifying our Lord Jesus…
Textual Criticism Formal Equivalence “Word for word” or “literal” translation of Scripture is termed the principle of formal equivalence as it develops and reveals as nearly as possible the structural usage of the original languages. It seeks to represent each word of the original text with an exact equivalent word in our modern English that most closely represents the original…
Faith A non-meritorious (unearned) system of perception and belief based on confidence and trust in the authority of God’s Holy Word and His veracity (truthfulness).
Syntax The method in which linguistic elements (as words) are put together to form constituents (as phrases or clauses), the part of grammatical usage dealing with this.
Barrier of Sin An invisible wall, insurmountable, that literally separates imperfect mankind from Perfect God. This barrier prevents man from having a relationship with God. Six bricks comprise this barrier: Humanity’s position in Adam. Sin. The penalty of sin. Physical birth. Man’s relative righteousness. The perfect Character of God. This barrier is removed solely by the atoning work of Jesus…
Faith-Perception (Based on Roman 8:28-32) Your understanding of salvation and the filling of the Holy Spirit comes by means of faith-perception—knowledge, understanding, acceptance, belief. Faith-perception (meditation and recall of doctrine) makes the power of the Holy Spirit, and the spiritual life of the believer, a reality in our thinking. Reality is not what we feel, not what we assume, not…
Internationalism Satan is the enemy of nationalism. Satan offers internationalism in its place in an effort to establish his own utopian kingdom on earth. Satan’s intent is a universal state which he can control and sit on the throne as God without God’s interference. How arrogant is that? Internationalism opens the door to a world dictator—the anti-Christ. The first satanically…
“World” and “The Devil’s World” World in the New Testament is frequently the word “cosmos,” which generally refers to the system that grew out of the fallen nature of Satan and man. “The devil’s world” is an expression of rulership apart from God, and comes from “cosmos diabolicus,” which means the world system headed by Satan—his behind-the-scenes rulership through human leaders…
Communion Communion is the worship ceremony in which the believer concentrates on the person and saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Christ commanded “This do in remembrance of Me“ (1 Corinthians 11:24b). The believer is required to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that he/she is in fellowship which is achieved by confession (1 John 1:9), before…
Time Time is the very process by which God’s plan unfolds and rolls out. God created angels, then time, and then man to resolve the Angelic Revolution Conflict, and to restore eternity, in time, through Jesus Christ. The consummation of time will occur when all creation is restored to its original status-purpose by God and to the praise and glory…
Yahweh/Yeshua Yahweh: The proper name for Israel’s God in the Old Testament. Yeshua: THE name for Messiah, Jesus Christ, in the Old and New Testament.
Naturalism Naturalism is the philosophy that there is no supreme power, no supernatural agency in creation, no spiritual influence, and that all life is pure chance without a God. (Reference Atheism/Skepticism for additional understanding.) What does God’s Word say in Acts 17:28? “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.”
THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY is unique to Christianity. No other faith, no religion, no sect or philosophy advocating one God also proclaims that there are three who are God. This apparent paradox does not mean that there are “three gods in one,” but that one God exists as three distinct persons who are coequal, co-infinite, and co-eternal, all three…
Foreknowledge God is omniscient. God has always known everything there is to know—there isn’t anything He has not always known. God gave life (reality-creation) to time (history). He always knew. God ordained history which He always knew. God’s foreknowledge became, by His decree, reality. God is! We are. Time became “to be.” God is the “I Am—to be!” Therefore, by…
Predestine To be determined beforehand. Predetermination: before anything can be predetermined, there must be foreknowledge—certain knowledge—divine knowledge. That knowledge which only God can know is based on the sovereignty of God—His essence—who and what God IS. (See Foreknowledge.)
Transience A state of being, limited by time; impermanence. We are transitory—fleeting, temporary; temporal in time.
Epoch An epoch is a period of time, characterized by particular events. Specific time periods (epochs) are clearly defined (visible) when we look back at history in Scripture. It is easier to grasp the great panoramic view of history and the times of various events when we place these events on a timeline. Epochs are basically time capsules of history….
Scapegoat A scapegoat is an animal that carries away sin, as in Leviticus 16:7-10. In ancient times, the Israelite ritual used two goats. One was designated for the Lord and offered as a sin offering (Leviticus 16:9), the other goat, the scapegoat, bore the people’s iniquities (Leviticus 16:11). In this ritual, Israel released a live animal to carry away impurities….