explore these questions related to definitions

Many have speculated about the identity of the man of lawlessness. Some have suggested that he will be a specific individual who will rise to power in the end times (the “Antichrist” with a capital “A”), while others have [more]

The apostle John famously records Jesus telling the apostles that they would be guided into “all truth”¹. A casual reading of this might lead some to conclude that the apostles literally received all truth. It is, after all, what the [more]

Defining the day of the Lord is an increasingly important exercise when it comes to eschatological, or ‘end times’, Bible study. Many have hijacked this term or expression and imposed either partial or completely inaccurate definitions to it. For [more]

Being able to receive wisdom from God – the creator of the universe – would be a treasure! But what is it and how would one receive wisdom from God? The apostle James focuses some on this topic in his [more]

The first resurrection in Revelation is peculiar indeed. Of course, the Bible makes mention of many resurrections at different times, not the least of which is the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. However, only once is the [more]

Jesus makes a statement about the hot and cold of Laodicea that apparently does not sit well with some. Dr. Chip Bennett is lead “pastor” for Grace Community Church in Sarasota, FL. In a recent [more]

As a phrase, the second death is only mentioned four times in the Bible. All of them occur in the book of Revelation^1,2,3,4. One of these mentioning second death¹ gives a fairly explicit definition. It states that the second death [more]

Determining how church is defined in the Bible could be done a few different ways. If we were to simply look up the word “church” in our modern dictionaries we would get something like, “a building [more]

Defining salvation according to the Bible is yet another instance in which simply getting out a dictionary or “going to the Greek” is useless.  Knowing the Greek word for “salvation” (“soteria” – rescue or safety either physically or morally, deliverance, [more]

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” This somewhat obscure statement occurs in Ephesians¹ regarding the Holy Spirit. Understanding that this passage also speaks to something that the Holy Spirit does for the Christian today (e.g. seals), [more]

Godly love is a lot like Godly fear or Godly joy; there’s definitely more than meets the eye when measuring “love”, and the Christian’s demonstration of Godly love, according to Scripture. There may not be a more important [more]

Working through how “works” are defined in Scripture isn’t for the faint of heart. Where one comes down on works defined has led some to question the very inspiration of the Bible. After all, Paul said, “one is justified by [more]

The “Root of David” is a proper name used in Scripture, in particular in the book of Revelation¹. As is typical in Bible books of prophecy, a highly figurative and visual term is used to describe something…but what? Many times, [more]

Many of the cultural norms regarding marriage are under assault today. As a result, it’s important to reflect on how Biblical marriage is defined and described. United States marriage trends published from Pew Research (February, 2019) [more]

Joy is a readily understood word, so a Christian’s joy may seem to be self-evident. As a word, “joy” means pretty much the same in the English as it does in the Greek – the language in which the New [more]

The Holy Spirit can be a difficult topic to study. As a topic, it probably ranks as one of the most critical in applying a disciplined, Scripture interprets Scripture approach without Scripture weighting. The promise of the [more]

Sin is an ugly word that has its root and meaning in Scripture. Webster attests to the severity of this word in human terms. In the New Testament, the Greek word [more]

God has relied on messengers throughout history, but tracking the messengers of God through Scripture reveals some interesting things about God’s character and His word. It also has rather damning implications for “Churches” and individuals making claims about their own [more]

In today’s religious vernacular, a preacher is a pastor.  In fact, the word pastor is used almost exclusively as a title in religious organizations.  Most dictionaries would list synonyms for “preacher” to be “pastor” or “minister”.  Effectively, in the religious [more]

Inspired by the Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland in 1998, U2 wrote a song called “Peace on Earth”. The song challenged the very premise of its title. In the bombing’s aftermath, Bono, the Irish-native and lead singer [more]

The inward call versus the outward call. Many today distinguish these as two different types of Godly or heavenly ‘callings’. Dividing the spiritual callings found in scripture between an ‘inward call’ and an ‘outward call’ is perpetuated at least in [more]

The idea of Christian fellowship may seem obvious. After all, the word “fellowship” is commonly understood. Merriam defines it as “companionship” or “community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience.” So Christian fellowship is simply a group of [more]

Jesus teaches that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a sin that is unforgivable. The “unforgivable” aspect to this can be alarming and troubling. Undoubtedly, there’s no Christian that would want to be guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit!

Matthew [more]

Fear is a strong emotion with a fairly negative connotation. It’s generally not a good thing. Psychology Today gives advice about how to overcome fear. Therefore, “fear God” could leave the secular thinker with a negative [more]

The Kingdom of God is Within You, Leo Tolstoy

Understanding the kingdom of God is fundamental to understanding much of God’s revealed word. How and what one understands the kingdom of [more]