All three are one God,
the same properties and attribites, and equal in power and glory. Even
though the woord Trinity does not appear in the Bible, God progressively
revealed Himself as a Trinity through the Father's work of creation, through
the incarnation of the
Son, and through the outpouring of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. The New
Testament writers reflect a consciousness of the Trinity, as seen in the Great
Commission.
God
the Father
God the Father in eternity
past, planned all things, including a wonderful plan of salvation
because of His great love. This plan involved sending His Son Jesus into
the world as the Redeemer
for all those who would belive in Him
God the Son existed with
the Father before the foundations of the world, and He executes His Father's
plan of redemption. God the Son was incarnated as Jesus. His mother, Mary,
was a virgin, and He lived as a perfect man. He was crucified (crucifixion),
died, and was buried. In His death, He secured the atonement
for sin. Then, after three days, He was resurrected (resurrection),
and later ascended (ascension),
into heaven. There He sits at the right hand of the Father. Someday He
will come return to earth in triumph and glory (second
coming).
God the Holy Ghost is
the Helper and Comforter who came to dwell permanently in the hearts of believers
after Jesus' ascension into Heaven. In this way God lives in us, and lives
among us. The Holy Ghost convicts us of sin, leads, guides, and directs
us, and helps us in every way to do God's will.
The act whereby the eternal
Son of God, united Himself with human flesh in the person of Jesus (the
word incarnation means 'in flesh'). Jesus was fully man and fully God at
the same time. God the Son came to earth and became the perfect sacrifice
on behalf of sinful people to atone for sin.
The act or process of
being delivered from sin and its consequences. Salvation refers to God's
actions in securing deliverance for sinners, through justification, santification,
and glorification. The
New Testament teaches us that we receive salvation as a free gift when
we acknowledge our need for God andtrust in Jesus' death to pay for our
sin.
To redeem something is
to buy it back or rescue it. All of creation, including mankind, belonged
to God, because He created it all. But with the fall
of man, sin entered the world, and all people are guilty of sin. God,
who is holy, requires an atonement for sin. Jesus Christ, God's Son, through
His suffering and death, paid the price of freedom to rescue all who believe.
It is in this sense that He is called the Redeemer.
A form of capital punishment
in the Roman Empire. The criminal's hands and feet were tied or nailed
to a wooden cross, which was then lifted up and inserted into a hole in
the ground. Crucifixion was excruciatingly painful. After Judas Iscariot
betrayed Jesus to the Jewish leaders, Jesus was taken to a midnight trial
before Caiaphas, the high priest. Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin
found Jesus guilty of blasphemy,
a crime punishable by death according to the Mosaic
Law. Under Roman law, however, the Jewish authorities could not impose
the death penalty. So the Jewish leaders took Jesus to Pontius Pilate,
the Roman governor of Judea. Pilate questioned Jesus, but found Him innocent.
Heord Antipas, the king in the region of Galiee, happened to be in Jerusalem,
so Pilate sent Jesus to Herod for questioning, Herod also found Jesus innocent,
and he sent Jesus back to Pilate. Pilate had Jesus flogged, and the Roman
soldiers put a crown of thorns and a purple robe on Him. Pilate then tried
to release Jesus, since he had a custom of releasing one Jewish prisoner
each year at the time of the Passover, but the Jewish leaders insisted
that Jesus be crucified. Pilate finally gave in, and he authorized the
death sentence, though he publicly washed his hands to show that he was
innocent of Jesus' death.
Atonement refers to the
reconciliation between God and sinners. This reconciliation is brought
about through the death of God's Son, Jesus, as a substitute for sinful
man. God has provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him without having
to pay the prescribed penalty of eternal separation from Him. Jesus satisfied
divine justice by His suffering
and death in the place of
Resurrection means coming
back to life after having died. After Jesus was crucified, His body was
laid in a tomb. At the request of the chief priests, Roman guards were
posted to ensure that Jesus' disciples, would not steal His body and claim
that He had come back to life. Early one morning Mary Magdalene and several
other women went to the tomb to annoint Jesus' body with spices. They found
the tomb was empty, and an angel told them that Jesus had come back to
life.
After Jesus' crucifixion
and resurrection, He was on earth forty more days. He appeared to His disciples
on several occasions and gave them various instructions and promised that
the Holy Ghost would come to them. One day Jesus and His disciples went
to the Mount of Olives, just outside of Jerusalem, and Jesus rose into
the sky and disappeared into a cloud. Then two angels told them that Jesus
had gone to Heaven. This is called the Ascension.
The New Testament teaches
us that Jesus will come to earth a second time. This is called the second
coming. Jesus did not specify when He would return.
Under the Mosaic Law
the system of sacrifices and offerings was spelled out in great detail,
including both thank offerings and sacrifices for atonement. For atonement,
each Israelite was to take a dove or a sheep or a goat to the Tabernacle
and in later years to the Temple, kill it, and give it to the priest, who
would sprinkle the blood on the altar, burn part of the sacrifice, and
set the remainder aside for eating. Since the penalty for sin was death,
the animal's blood was shed to atone for the sins of the person making
the sacrifice. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was the ultimate sacrifice. He was
sinless, so He did not have to die. His death on the cross, therefore,
was an acceptable sacrifice on behalf of all who believe in Him.
An offense against God;
disobedience to God's holy standards. The Bible teaches us that sin entered
the world when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden
fruit. As a result, all people are born with sin, because when Adam
and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit, the Bible teaches
us that all people share their guilt and miserable condition, and as a
result, all people are born in a state of alienation from God. But sin
is also a willful disobedience of God's laws, either by not doing what
we should do or by doing what we should not do.
God's act of forgiving
sinners and declaring them righteous, not because they deserve it but because
of the righteousness of
Jesus. Justification is God's free gift for those who accept it, we are
justified by grace, through faith.
God justifies sinners in the Old Testament in the same way, though justification
was based upon the righteousness of the Christ who had not yet come. The
people demonstrated their faith by offering animal sacrifices that prefigured
the sacrifice of Jesus. God alone saves us, and nothing we do can make
us right with God, not good works, not church affiliation, nothing we do
on our own can earn our salvation. The apostle Paul taught, our salvation
is God's gift to us.
The ongoing development
of holiness in the life of the Christian. The Holy Ghost dwells within
believers, convicting them of sin and changing their character. As we recognize
sin, we can call upon the power of God to help us overcome it.
The transformation that
will take place when believers enter the future Kingdom of Heaven. We will
be given imperishable, glorious, spiritual bodies instead of our present
perishable bodies.
God created Adam and
Eve as sinless beings, holy and happy. When the serpent tempted Eve and
then she and Adam disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit, they became
sinful and miserable. This is called the fall of man. As a result of the
fall of man, all humans are born in a state of sin and misery.
The supreme religious
and legal council of the Jews during the New Testament period. The Sanhedrin
had a great deal of power under the Roman Empire, but it did not have the
authority to give the death sentence. For that reason, Jesus was taken
to Pilate for sentencing after he was found guilty by the Sanhedrin. The
members of the Sanhedrin were priests, Pharisees,
and scribes, and the high
priest served as president. The term cheif priests is frequently used to
refer to the priests who served in the Sanhedrin as well as other members
of prominent priestly families.
Isulting or mocking God,
or detracting from Him in any way. It can include using God's name in vain,
which is specifically prohibited in the Ten Commandments. Blasphemy was
punishable by death in the Old Testament.
After the Exodus (the
mass departure of the Israelites from Egypt), God gave Moses the Ten Commandments
and numerous other laws. This entire system of laws, is called the Mosaic
Law, and provides the framework for the Israelite's relationship with God,
with one another, and with the nations around them. We can never keep the
Law to God's satisfaction. Instead of the sacrifices required under the
Mosiac Law, Jesus' death serves as the ultimate sacrifice to provide atonement
for our sin once and for all.
Doing what is right for
another person, or ensuring that what is right takes place. In a stricter
sense, justice means giving a person what he or she deserves as a result
of their actions. The scriptures are very clear that "All have sinned and
come short of the glory of God" and that "The wages of sin is death." According
to God's justice, all people deserve damnation.
But due to God's love and mercy, He has provided a way of atonement for
those who believe.
Pardon for an offense
or a wrong; also called remission of sin. Due to the fall of man and our
own actions, all humans are sinful. Our sin separates us spiritually from
God, but God forgives us through our faith in the death of Jesus. God continues
to forgive us as we confess our sins.The Bible teaches us that God forgets
our sin when He forgives us, and also teaches us to forgive one another.
When Adam and Eve were
in the Garden of Eden, God told them they could eat the fruit of any tree
in the Garden, except the fruit from the tree
of knowledge of good and evil. When the serpent
came, he tempted Eve to eat this forbidden fruit. Eve disobeyed God by
eating the fruit and she also gave some to Adam and he also ate the fruit.
This is called the fall of man.
Being and doing what
is right in God's sight. Because of sin and depravity, no one is truly
righteous. But god declares His people righteous because of the righteousness
of Jesus if counted on their behalf.
Something that is freely
given, that cannot be earned. Grace is the unmerited favor of God bestowed
on sinners.The highest exprssion of grace is in the redemption provided
by Jesus' death. God's grace is extended to us because of His great love
for us.
Confidence or complete
trust in something. Faith entails belief in God and His offer of justification
by grace through Jesus. Faith also entails confidence in God as we pray,
expecting that He will provide for us as we ask for His will to be done.
Faith manifests itself in action.
An important party within
Judaism during the New Testament period. They were experts in the Mosaic
Law and in the hundreds of additional laws devised to ensure that the people
kept the laws in the Books
of Moses. Jesus was very critical of the Pharisees. He called them
hypocrites because they were concerned about tiny infractions of their
own rules while they themselves did not live by the spirit of the laws
of Moses.
The professional interpreters
of the Law during the New Testament period. Many of the scribes were Pharisees.
Like the Pharisees and the Sadducees,
most of the scribes rejected Jesus. Jesus called the hypocrites, for they
insisted that the people follow every detail of the law, but they themselves
missed the spirit of the Law.
When a person is convicted
of an offense, they are punished. The punishment for sin is damnation (spiritual
death or spiritual seraration from God). Anyone who is not saved by God's
grace, through faith in Jesus, is condemned to eternal damnation in hell.
The tree in the Garden
of Eden from which Eve took the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve were told
they could eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden except this one. When
they ate of the fruit of this tree sin entered the world. This is called
the fall of man.
In the Garden of Eden,
Eve was tempted by a serpent to eat the forbidden fruit. The serpent was
actually Satan, the chief of the forces of evil. In the book of Revelation,
the great dragon that fights Michael and Heaven's armies is identified
as that ancient serpent called, the devil or Satan, who leads the world
astray.
An influential priestly
party in Judaism during the New Testament period. The Sadducees accepted
only the Books of Moses as their Scripture. The Sadducees also rejected
Jesus. Jesus, in turn warned His followers not to be decieved by the teaching
of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
The first five books
of the Old Testament. They are also called the Pentateuch (Greek for five
books) and the Torah. The books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy.
