Advent   The coming, as in Christ's.

The "first advent" is recorded in the

New Testament, and the "second advent" or "second coming" is a way of
referring to Christ's promised return. [Jn 14:3, Lk 12:45, 2Pt 3:3-4, 1Th 3:13, Jm 5:7. Bible Study
on The End of the Age.]

Body of Christ, The   Not a cracker or wafer, but "the church"; those
who hold fast to the teachings of Jesus and who are "temples of the Holy
Spirit". The Body is nothing else or other than those in whom Christ
dwells. [Rm 12:5, Jn 8:31-32, 1Cr 12:14-27, Ep :6,4:12]

Born Again   Speaks of being given new life through faith in the gospel.
Jesus said "You must be born again... of the Spirit". [Jn 3:3-7, 1Pt 1:23, Gl 4:29. Bible
Study on Are You a Christian?]

Consecration   To set aside for holy purposes. To be prepared to be used

by God. [Ze 1:7, 2Cr 1:21, 2Ch 7:16. 2nd draft Bible Study on Consecration.]

Church   Not a physical building, organization, or denomination, but all those

who are being built into a spiritual "temple of the Holy Spirit", who manifest
the "mystery of godliness" which is "Christ in us". [1Cr 15:9, Ac 9:4-5, Gl 1:13, 1Ti 3:15, Ep 2:19-22]

Christ   means "anointed one" in Greek. The synonymous word in Hebrew is

"Messiah". This is a title of Jesus, meaning the promised Righteous King and
Son of God, who gains His throne by offering Himself up as a sacrifice to pay
for the sins of His bride, the church. [Lk 4:18-19, Is 11:2, Mt 3:16-17, Cl 1:15-19,2:9. Sermon on The Anointing.]

Faith   The substance of what is hoped for, the evidence of what is yet unseen.
Believing in the truth revealed by God. [Hb 11:1, Rm 4:18-25,10:17, Jn 20:31. Bible Study on Faith.]

Flesh, The   Generally refers to the sinful, "carnal nature" of man that the
Gospel teaches us to "crucify daily". There are "sins of the flesh" but also
"works of the flesh" which are an attempt to be good by mere human effort
rather than the resurrection power of Christ. The Flesh is the opposite source of
motive and energy to the Spirit. [Je 17:5, Jn 6:63, Rm 8:5-10]

Fruit   What "Christ in Us" produces; character qualities such as love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
The law could never produce such positive things. [Gl 5:22-24, Ph 1:11, Hb 13:15, Cl 1:6]

Gospel, The  The "good news" (what "gospel" means) that Jesus, who is the
Christ, came and was crucified and rose again on the third day, according to the
Scriptures. Jesus said "Follow Me" to those who wanted to be part of the
Kingdom of God. [1Cr 15:1-4,1:18-23,2:2, 2Tm 2:8, Lk 9:23. Bible Study on The Gospel.]

Grace   Getting what you don't deserve. More formally: "unmerited favor".
Specifically, what we get by grace is "Christ in Us" through faith in the gospel.
It is by grace we are saved, not of works, lest any man should boast in anything
other than Christ. [Ac 17:25, 1Tm 1:9, Rm 5:1-2, Ep 2:4-10. Bible Study series on Grace.]

Hallelujah!   Comes from the Hebrew "halal" which means to praise, and "yah"
which is short for "Yahweh" (mis-transliterated as "Jehovah" in some
translations) which is the personal name of God given to Moses at the burning
bush, meaning: "I AM". An English equivalent would be "Praise to Yahweh!"
or "Praise to I AM!" [Ex 3:14-15, Ps 9:1,98:4, Rv 19:1-6]

Heart, The   In every language and culture, including the Bible, the heart
means the emotions; the feelings. Some suggest that the heart includes the mind
and/or the will, but if this were true than scriptures like Mr 12:30 would be
redundant. [Jr 17:9, Lk 10:17, Ez 36:26, Is 60:5, Hb 10:22. Meditation on The Great Commandment.]

Holiness   Without sin. "Otherness": God stuff. Something we will never have
or attain, unless we are given it by the Lord. [Rm 6:19-22, 1Cr 1:30-31, 2Cr 7:1, Ep 4:24, Hb 12:14b]

Holy Spirit   The third person of the Trinity. The Spirit of God convicts us of
sin, teaches us about Christ, and empowers us to know and follow Him. [Lu 11:13, Jn
14:16-17,26, Ep 3:16-1. Bible Study on The Spirit and Bride.]

Hosanna!   "Save us", often coupled with: "Save us in the highest way". There

is an ongoing sense to Hosanna/Hoshiana as in: "keep on saving us", or "save
us now!" [Mk 11:9-10, Ps 118:25-26]

Jesus   In Hebrew, His name is the word for "Salvation". Jesus is the perfect
expression of the Father, the fullness of God manifested bodily, our Savior, and
Lord. Jesus heals and saves, putting us at peace with God the Father and
sharing His glory and power with us. [Pr 30:4, Cl 1:12-20,2:9, Jr 17:14. See also "Salvation", below.]

Justification   To be "put right with" God. When our rebellion towards God is
ended by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who pays for our sins and establishes
peace with the Father. [Gl 3:11, Rm 5:18, 1Cr 6:11]

Kingdom of God, The   Those who serve King Jesus as Sovereign God and
follow Him as Lord of the universe. At present, not a visible kingdom. You
can't join the kingdom, earn or buy your way into it; you must be born into it. [Jn
3:3-5, Col 1:12, 1Pt 1:10-11]

Law, The   The old covenant. The "Torah" in Hebrew. The straight edge of the
Law shows us how crooked we are, and illustrates our need for supernatural life
through Christ Jesus. Termed the "ministry of condemnation" in the New
Testament, and spoken of in two ways: the moral Law and the ceremonial
Law. [Rm 3:19-20,7:7-13,10:3-4, Gl 2:16, Ac 13:38-39, 2Cr 3:9-11, Hb 7:18-19. Sermon on The New Legalism.]
Prophecy  Saying what God wants said. Forth-telling the word of the Lord.
Prophecy speaks to the past concerning sin, and to the future based on whether
we repent or not now. True prophecy is convicting, and easy to despise in the
flesh. [2Sm 12:7, 1Pt 1:21, 1Th 5:20-21, 1Cr 14:1. Bible Study on False Prophecy.]

Repentance   Turning from sin to God's will. Taking in God's point of view.
Staring at His word, glory, and way. Both a starting point of the Christian life
as well as an ongoing practice. [Jn 6:29, 2Tm 2:19, Ep 5:8-17, Ac 2:38,17:30. Bible Study on Repentance.]

Revelation   God's self-disclosure about Himself and us; knowledge from

above. Without revelation, all we would have is human opinions about God.
But God has revealed Himself to us by His own initiative and love. God's
ultimate revelation is Jesus Christ. [Jn 1:1-3,3:27 Mt 17:5-7, Cl 1:9,2:2, Ep 1:17-18. Dialog on Revelation
Theology.]

Rapture, The   A shorthand term for denoting what the scripture describes as
"being collected together with Him in the air" that will happen before, during,
or after the "great tribulation/trouble". [1Th 4:15-17, 1Cr 15:51-52, Mt 24:30-31, 2Th 1:7-10]

Righteousness   Perfection. Success from God's point of view. The absence of

sin and the presence of Christ's goodness. [Rm 1:17,3:21-22,8:10, Ph 3:7-9]

Salvation  Jesus' name is "Salvation" in Hebrew. Salvation is not merely a

thing or event, but a person. Salvation is not so much an "it" or a "what", but a
"whom". If we have Jesus, we have Salvation. We are saved from God's wrath
if and when Jesus is "in us", and we are "in Him". [Mt 1:21, Ex 15:2, Is 12:2, Ac 4:12, Rv 12:10]

Sanctification  The process of being purified, cleaned up, and set apart. A work
of the Holy Spirit in us through trials, ongoing self-denial, and the gifts and
fruit of the Spirit. [Jn 17:17-19, Ac 26:18, 1Th 4:3,5:23-24]

Sin  Doing what God says is forbidden; or not doing what God says we should
do. Whatever is not of faith; not of Christ's life in us, is sin. It is what we are
born into. [Rm 5:12,3:9,3:23,14:23c, Gl 3:22, Jm 4:17]

spirit   In the human sense, that portion of the Holy Spirit that we are given
when we are "born again". Those who are not born of the Spirit are "dead" in
this sense, although they have bodies and souls. The Children of God have been
"made alive" in the Spirit by new-birth. [Mt 12:18, Rm 8:10-13, 1Cr 15:45, Gl 5:25]

Soul  The eternal part of us. Closely associated with our wills and basic
instincts. Who we are as individuals. [Hb 4:12, Mt 16:26, De 4:29, Jb 33:38, Ps 35:9,63:1,116:7-8. Dialog
on Body, Soul, and Spirit.]

Trinity, The  A doctrinal term depicting what is taught in scripture, that God is
three in one: The Father, Jesus the Eternal Son, and the Holy Spirit. A
fundamental, foundational starting point in the knowledge of God. [Mt 3:16-17, Jn 15:26,
Mt 28:19, 2Th 1:8]

Witnessing  Telling others of what God has done in delivering us from our
sins, and of how He has poured His Spirit upon us. Not a pre-fab sales pitch.
Often involves a dying-to-self in transparency, a confession of past sins so that
others will have hope that they can be saved and experience the righteousness,
peace and joy they see in us. [Ps 40:1-10, Jn 3:11, Pr 12:17, 2Cr 12:9-10 2Pt 2:12. Dialog on Witnessing and Truth.]

Worship   The appropriate response to God saving us. God is not interested in
play-acting, but wants to actually heal and save people that will then worship
Him in Spirit and in truth. People love to praise things that are great; thus in
praising God we find our ultimate purpose and pleasure. [Ps 145:3,84:2,63:1,42:1, Jn 4:23-24, Ph
3:3]