Category Archives: Encyclopedia

Antinomianism

Antinomianism means “against law”, and the term has been used both rightly and wrongly. It has been used rightly to describe someone that uses “liberty for a cloke of maliciousness” (1 Pet. 2:16), “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness” (Jude 4). In other words, it is rightly used to accuse someone who is […]

Servanthood

Related: Spiritual Gifts   Is service optional? Yes, and no. Yes in the sense that God’s servants are not robots. Our service is a voluntary thing. Christ does not command us to serve Him. We were once slaves to sin and Satan, but Christ has freed us. But are we now “free” to do our […]

The Collection

The Collection. One of the most basic Christian privileges is giving. We have a giving God (John 3:16), and we ought to reflect His character. Throughout the New Testament we have instructions and patterns set forward for the assembly to have collections where funds can be gathered and used in the service of the Lord. […]

The Government of God

The Government of God. There is scarcely a more practical and foundational subject in that Word of God than the subject of God’s government in the lives of sinners and saints. The basic principle is this: because God is righteous and sovereign over all things, He generally rewards people on earth according to their deeds, […]

Circumcision

Circumcision. As we find in Genesis 17, circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, just as the rainbow was the  sign of God’s covenant with Noah. Circumcision itself did nothing inward for the soul. It was an outward sign of God’s covenant pertaining to outward blessing. In the case of Abraham, “he received […]

Chastening or Discipline

Chastening. We have been brought into relationship with God as our Father. In that relationship, God is watching over us, taking care of our every need, and seeking to conform us to the image of His Son. Just as with natural fathers, discipline or chastening is needed often for our blessing. Discipline is not always […]

Homosexuality

Homosexuality in the Bible. The Word of God expressly condemns homosexual behavior. Whether in the Old Testament (Genesis 19; Leviticus 18:22; 20:13) or the New Testament (Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9), homosexual behavior is labeled by God as an abomination, a shame, and self-abuse. Under the law of Moses, it was punishable by death. The […]

The Assembly

Related: The House of God; The Body of Christ; The Bride of Christ   What is the Church or Assembly? One of most important subjects for the Christian to understand is that of the Church or Assembly. Man has an idea of what the church is, and he has built upon those ideas in the […]

Holiness

Related: Sanctification; Godliness   Holiness. The word ‘holy’ is used in scripture in two different ways. It can refer to the character of a nature, or to an objective state. In the first sense, holiness is the character of God’s own nature. It is the love of good and the hatred of evil. As we […]

Heaven

Related: The Intermediate State; The Father’s House   Three Heavens. In 2 Cor. 12:2 we read that Paul was caught up to “the third heaven”, which indicates that there are three “heavens”. The first, or physical heaven. The first heaven would be that which we immediately observe above us. We read of this heaven in the […]

Judgment Seat of Christ

The Judgment Seat of Christ. In John 5, the Lord Jesus explained that God the Father has chosen to give up His right to judge men, so that the Son of man will have that place exclusively. Judgment as a whole, and in all its forms, is committed to the Son; “that man whom he hath ordained” (Acts […]

The New Covenant

Related: The Covenants   The New Covenant. The two great Covenants have to do with Israel, not the Church, as we clearly see from Rom. 9:4; “… Israelites; to whom pertaineth … the covenants”. Covenant theologians argue that the New Covenant is with the Church; but if we look at Jeremiah 31:31 we find that […]

Interpersonal Sufferings of Christ

Main article: The Sufferings of Christ   Christ’s Interpersonal Sufferings are what Christ endured in an emotional, social, or interpersonal way. These sufferings are not so much connected with His office of King, but with His Person as rejected, despised, etc. by fellow men. These interpersonal sufferings were felt by the Lord all through His life […]

Crucifixion

Crucifixion. Crucifixion was a method of execution used by the Romans for slaves, pirates, and enemies of the state. It was considered a most shameful and disgraceful way to die (Phil. 2:8). Condemned Roman citizens were usually exempt from crucifixion except for major crimes against the state, such as high treason. The victim was either […]

Antichrist

Main article: Key Players and Terms in Prophecy Related: The Personal Beast; Revived Roman Empire   The Antichrist is a reference to a future world leader that will play a remarkable role in the fulfillment of Daniel’s seventieth week. Like the Personal Beast, he will come to power in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week, and he […]

Dispensations

Related: Development of God’s Dispensations; Dispensational Truth   Dispensations or administrations are the various ordered dealings of God with men on the earth at different times. The Children of Israel in the Old Testament were in a different dispensation than we are in today. In the Millennium, inhabitants of the earth will live in a […]

The King of the North

Main article: Key Players and Terms in Prophecy Related: The Assyrian; The King of the South; Daniel 11   The King of the North is a future world leader that will come into play at the end of Daniel’s seventieth week. He will have a huge confederacy of Arab nations that will be allied with him; ten nations, to be […]

The Righteousness of God

The “Righteousness of God” is an expression that occurs in three senses in scripture; the Kingdom sense, the Gospel sense, and the Promise sense. In all cases, righteousness means “equity of character” and has the thought of consistency. The Righteousness of God is God’s total and absolute consistency in His actions with who He is in His […]

The Assyrian

Main article: Key Players and Terms in Prophecy Related: The King of the North; Gog and Magog; Daniel 11   The Assyrian in Prophecy. The Spirit of God in the Old Testament used the political circumstances of Israel as a pattern of future coming events. Prophecy was given to warn Israel about the events that would […]

The Rapture

Main article: Preliminary Events in Prophecy Related: The Great Tribulation   “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them […]