An Annotated Glossary of Biblical Christianity
[ Some entries are included for edification
purposes though they do not represent a Biblical Christian viewpoint (e.g.
Evolutionary Theory, Atheism, Antinomianism, Pantheism, etc.). The text of the
definition will usually indicate such as non-Biblical.
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Please see Acknowledgements at the end of this Glossary.
Abiding in Christ – Essential agreement with the teachings and commandments of
Christ (1 John 2:24) that is maintained by resisting temptation to sin (1 John
2:1). "Abiding in Christ" is synonymous with "fellowship
with Christ." The Christian is either (a) in carnality, resulting
from personal sin, or (b) in fellowship with God, resulting from
personal, private, confession of sin directly to God as a part
of our priestly ministry. Thus, confession
of personal sin—an admission of personal responsibility—is the basis for our restoration
to fellowship with God and the filling by means of the Holy Spirit. Subsequently,
the believer has the ability to be spiritually self-sustaining—to maintain
fellowship with God. (Psalm 32:5; 1 John 1:9; Luke 15:18).
Abiding is both necessary and indispensable for
spiritual growth and fruit production. (John 15:1-10). In fellowship with God,
the believer's task is to mature, to grow in the knowledge of Biblical truth,
and to handle the blessings and trials of life in occupation with Christ. Abiding
in Christ is not a result of a pious life, acts of penance, asking for
forgiveness, feeling sorry for sin, or any other emotion, feeling, or work. (see
Sanctification and Spiritual
(2))
Abrahamic
Covenant – An unconditional
covenant between God, as party of the first part, in favor of Abraham and his
progeny, as the parties of the second part. This is a grace covenant from God,
promising a progeny (Genesis 12:2), real estate for the Jewish race (Genesis
12:1; Genesis 13:14-15), a king from among Abraham’s progeny (Genesis 17:6),
and a heritage of blessing (Genesis 12:3).
See Covenants to Israel.
Abraham's Bosom – See Hades.
Accommodation – The adaptation of eternal truth
to the human frame of reference through verbal plenary
inspiration, using figures of speech and other human language terms. God
knew, at the time of the writing of the books of the Bible, all the scientific
knowledge which would be accumulated throughout all time. However, He did not
force the writers of the Scriptures to eliminate their contemporary idiomatic
phraseology. For example: "The four corners of the earth .." (Revelation
7:1). God knew the earth was round (Isaiah 40:22; Job 26:10) but did not force
John to change his vocabulary. Thus, God accommodated (or adapted) human
language to divine revelation. God's use of anthropopathisms and anthropomorphisms is another example of the
principle of accommodation. A modern example of accommodation is our use of the
term sunrise. Sunrise is observational, but not scientific. Many similar phrases occur in Scripture. The
understanding of this principle serves as an important preservation of the
integrity of God’s word.
Adam's Original Sin – See Fall of Man.
Adoption – In the Bible, adoption has more than one meaning. It has the more usual meaning of placing one into the position of a legal child, as in the case of Esther's adoption (Esther 2:7;