Bible Terms (From Faith to Paul)

I thought about calling this, 'What's the deal with?...'. However, cooler heads prevailed. If you are a Christian and want to know more about the terms in the Bible, this is part 2.

1. Faith – Webster defines faith as “something that is believed especially with strong conviction”. Some think this means belief in something for which there is no proof; that is blind faith. How can people believe in a God that they have never seen? Where is the evidence? Why doesn’t God just show himself and then I will believe? The Bible explains this in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrew 11:1)”. How can you have evidence of things not seen? One example is air. We can’t see it, but we can see the effects of air. When it’s windy, it’s simply air that’s moving. In the New Testament, Jesus says, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going” (John 3:8). We can also see things that are in the air; dust, fog, rain, snow, smoke. Faith is required to have a relationship with God because He is somewhat hidden but not so hidden that you cannot find Him. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

2. Gospel – This term comes from the Old English for ‘good news’. Many people think the King James Version (lots of thee, thou, thy and eth endings such as cometh) of the Bible is written in Old English. However Old English originates from Germany and was popular from the 5th until the 13th century when it was replaced by Middle English which later developed into Early Modern English; used by Shakespeare and the King James translation. It can also refer to any one of the four canonical gospels, named for their traditional authors: the "Gospel according to Saint Matthew," the "Gospel according to Saint Mark," the "Gospel according to Saint Luke," and the "Gospel according to Saint John."

3. Grace -Is defined as the love and mercy given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not necessarily because of anything we have done to earn it. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

4. Jehovah – This is a Latin translation of the proper name of the God of Israel. Although the original pronunciation of the four consonants “YHWH” has been lost, it is most likely Yahweh.

5. Jesus Christ – In Aramaic, spoken the 1st century Israel, Yeshua was a common name derived from the Hebrew name Yehoshua (translated to English as Joshua) which means "Yahweh is salvation”. Translated to Greek it became Iesous; in Latin, it was Iesus; and finally, to English, Jesus. Christ is a title and not a last name. It should be Jesus the Christ. We get this from the Greek word, Christos which is a translation of the Hebrew משיח (Meshiakh), meaning the "anointed" and usually translated into English as "Messiah”. There are many Old Testament verses about the coming of the Messiah which were written 400 – 1500 years before Jesus was born. Jesus is the only person throughout all of history who matches what was written or predicted about the Messiah. Here are a few:

6. “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

7. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

8. “But you, Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)

9. “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)

10. “Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” (Psalm 22:16-18)

11. “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely, he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:3-7)

12. Judaism – Is the religion of the Jewish people. The term comes to us from one of the 12 sons of Jacob (grandson of Abraham), Judah. One of the sons, Joseph, was sold as a slave by his envious brothers and ended up in Egypt. His story is recounted in the musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. His father, Jacob, was renamed Israel after a mysterious incident in which he wrestles all night with God. Jacob and his entire family moved to Egypt to avoid starvation when it was discovered that Joseph was now the number 2 ruler in Egypt. 400 years later, the 12 tribes (descendants of the 12 brothers) returned to the land that was promised to Abraham by God. After centuries of wars and attrition, only 2 tribes remained; to the north, Israel (a consolidation of tribes) and Judah to the south. But what do adherents to Judaism actually believe? They emphasize practices and observances rather than religious beliefs, associating apostasy with a failure to observe Jewish law and maintaining that the requirements for conversion to Judaism included circumcision and adherence to traditional customs. The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) as well as texts such as the Talmud, tells much of the history and customs adhered to in modern Judaism.

13. Last Supper – The Last Supper is the final meal that, in the Gospel accounts, Jesus shared with his Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "Holy Communion" or "The Lord's Supper". During the meal, Jesus predicts his betrayal by one of the Apostles present, and foretells that before the next morning, Peter will deny knowing him (Luke 22:54-62). In Luke, chapter 22, instructs his followers to continue the tradition. “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19). Today we use some form of unleavened bread and either grape juice or wine.

14. Lord – This is a word that appears often in the Bible and used by Christians while praying and in conversation. The dictionary defines Lord as, “someone or something having power, authority, or influence; a master or ruler as in Lord of the Rings”. Since many Jews were reluctant to use the formal name for God (YHWH), several substitutes were used. Here’s a list of the most common with the number of times that it appears in the Bible.

15. Elohim (God) – (Used 2599 times)

16. Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah) – (Used 6519 times)

17. Adonai (Lord, Master) – (Used 434 times)

18. El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty) – (Used 48 times)

19. El Olam (The Everlasting God) – (Used 439 Times)

20. Jehovah Sabaoth (The LORD of Hosts) – (Used 285 times)

21. Passover – In the narrative of the Exodus, the Bible tells that God helped the Children of Israel escape from their slavery in Egypt by inflicting ten plagues upon the ancient Egyptians before the Pharaoh would release his Israelite slaves; the tenth and worst of the plagues was the death of the Egyptian first-born. The Israelites were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a slaughtered spring lamb and, upon seeing this, the spirit of the Lord knew to pass over the first-born in these homes, hence the English name of the holiday. When the Pharaoh freed the Israelites, it is said that they left in such a hurry that they could not wait for bread dough to rise (leaven). In commemoration, for the duration of Passover no leavened bread is eaten, for which reason Passover was called the feast of unleavened bread in the Torah or Old Testament. Thus matzo (flat unleavened bread) is eaten during Passover and it is a tradition of the holiday.

22. Paul the Apostle – No person, except Jesus, shaped the history of Christianity like the apostle Paul. As Saul of Tarsus, his fierce persecution of Christians influenced them to take the gospel world-wide. Paul was on the way to Damascus, Syria, to capture Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem when he had an encounter with Jesus that would change his life forever. He never lost his intensity, but from then on, it was channeled for the Gospel. As an Apostle, one who is sent or commission to preach the gospel, Paul wrote 13 of 27 books in the New Testament. A few of Paul’s companions were Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Marcus (John Mark), Epaphras, Luke, Demas, Archippus, Timothy and Barnabas.