Kindness (chrestos) may be defined as that which is characterized by honesty, friendliness, goodness, generosity, compassion, etc. The term is used in the N.T. in two main senses. (a) Kindness desc...

Apostasy is an English term based on the Greek apotasia. Originally, it meant to desert one’s post; it was used for political revolt.

In the Old Testament, the word implies a turning away from Go...

“Jehovah” is a name for God that is found in the American Standard Version (1901) of the Old Testament. The word is actually a hybrid term, composed of four Hebrew consonants, YHWH, and vowel sound...

The names “Jesus Christ” mean “savior” and “anointed,” suggesting that this noble person was “anointed” of God (Acts 10:38) to be prophet, priest, and king, and indeed, the Savior of the world (Mt....

“Materialism” is commonly used in two different senses. (a) Philosophical materialism is the idea that nothing exists except that which is material in nature (i.e., composed of matter). There is, t...

We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Often we deceive ourselves, thinking that we can escape immediate consequences. After all, we can change someday — some convenient season. Actually, we can not avoid the destructiveness of habitual sin (Hebrews 3:12-13). Let us learn from several who were caught in the act that we might always take sin seriously.

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 employ...

“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 thr...

Faith is the willingness to trust and obey God without ever having seen him.

It is not a gullible “leap in the dark,” as existential “faith” postulates. Instead, it rests on evidence that allows u...

The English “angel” is an anglicized form of the Greekaggelos(pronounced angelos). The term signifies a “messenger.”

The wordAggelosis used in several ways in the Scriptures. 

• It commonly denot...

From the Greek word eschatos (“last”) comes “eschatology,” a study of “last things” (e.g., the second coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the judgment day, the end of the world, heaven,...

The word “kingdom” (basileia) is a noun that generally refers to a territory over which a king rules. Three senses are prominent in the theology of the N.T. 
• Jesus uses the term to denote the rei...

This is an expression used frequently in the Old Testament to describe those who forsook their loyalty to God and began to serve Satan again. 

No fewer than thirteen times, the prophet Jeremiah re...

The apostle John affirms that Jesus functions as an “advocate” on behalf of his people (1 Jn. 2:1). The Greek word for advocate is parakletos, literally suggesting the sense "to call to one’s side....

John’s first epistle is an defense against the “gnostic” doctrine that alleged that Jesus Christ was not a real, flesh-and-blood human being. This sect claimed a special “knowledge” received direct...

This book contains the historical record of the change in Israel’s form of government from judges to that of the kings. The nation, in an act of rejecting God, desired a king to be like their pagan...

This word is an anglicized form of the Greek apologeia, literally meaning “a verbal defense.” It is found eight times in the New Testament, and a verb form occurs some ten times.

For example, Luke...

Prior to the incident at Babel (Gen. 11:1ff), the people of the earth spoke one language. Because of ancient man’s ambition to “make a name” for himself, and due to his resistance to dispersing and...

This word is related to a Greek verb, apostello, meaning “to send away, to send forth.” It is used in several senses in the New Testament. 
• Christ was God’s “apostle,” sent from heaven to reveal ...

“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 ...