It is the casual language used by Christians. You can think of it as “Christian slang.” It’s a language that Christians use that unbelievers and some believers really do not understand. It is a language of words, terms and phrases used in Christianity. Some of these words are not even in the Bible. Some of these words are rapture, ask Jesus into your heart, agape, born-again, if it is God’s will, spiritual gift, and fellowship – well you get the idea. Here is a short list of this language and what each means.
Agape – This is a Greek word
for brotherly love. It is the love of
God or Christ for mankind. It is the
unselfish love Christians have for other persons.
Adoption – When someone
surrenders their life to Jesus they are brought into the family of God through
the work of Jesus on the cross. (Rom 8-9; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5)
Ask Jesus into your heart – This
phrase is not in the Bible. It refers to
the most important decision a person can ever make – to believe in Jesus as
Lord. It means to give your heart to
Him, making Him your Lord and Savior and obeying His commands. Salvation is by grace through faith, not of
works. Just asking doesn’t save you. You
must believe that Jesus paid for your sins on the cross, was buried and rose
again. It is believing in and
surrendering to Jesus. It is asking Him
to transform you, to push yourself out and fill yourself up with Him.
Atonement – Sin separates us from
God. When Jesus died on the cross, He bore
the punishment for our sins. His blood
was shed as a sacrificial offering which enabled the reconciliation between God
and man. (1 Peter 2:24; Heb. 9:12)
Baby Christian – This
is a person who has recently converted to Christianity and is new to Biblical
teachings.
Backslidden – This
doesn’t mean they are not saved, necessarily.
It refers to those Christians who have reverted back to sinful habits.
Bride of Christ – This
refers to the church, which is the redeemed body of believers. It represents the spiritual intimate
relationship we will have with God when we have been fully sanctified.
(Rev. 21)
Believe – This is to be
persuaded of the truth, to expect and hope with confidence, and to trust – to
believe that Jesus is God, that He died on the cross to pay the penalty for
your sins, which you deserve eternal separation from God. (John 1:1-4, 14; 1
cor. 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 6:23)
Bible belt – This
is the area of the southern and Midwestern US and western Canada where
Protestant fundamentalism is widely practiced.
Blasphemy – This is the act of
insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God.
To be Blessed – This
mean to be truly satisfied. This does
not mean to be simply happy. We can
never be happy living self-centered lives.
Matt. 5:1-12 tells us what it means to be blessed.
Born-again – This
literally means to be “born from above”.
It means to have a spiritual transformation. To be born again is when you have a change of
heart and a change in how you live. You
are dead to your sins and made alive by repenting and believing and trusting
Jesus as Lord. You are spiritually
renewed and are a child of God by right of new birth. (John 3:3-7, 2 Cor. 5:17,
Titus 3:5)
Church / Body of Christ – This
is not the church building, but the believing people made up of all Christians
who have ever lived all over the world.
Children of God - God
is our creator and we are all His children.
When the Bible talks about God’s children, it means people who have a
relationship with God because of their believing in Him and trusting in Him for
salvation. God takes care of us
physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
He loves and takes care of us just as an earthly father loves and takes
care of his children.
Communion or Lord’s Supper – This
is a memorial, celebration, and reminder of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It’s the taking of wine or juice and bread
which symbolizes Jesus blood and body that was sacrificed on the cross. We rejoice that Jesus conquered death and has
set free all who were enslaved by a fear of death. We remember His triumph over sin and
death. It’s a celebration, not a
funeral. It’s a reminder of Jesus’
return. (Matt. 26:17-29; Mark 14:12-25; Luke 22:7-23;
Die to self – This
refers to surrendering and dying the selfish ways of the fleshly nature in
order to honor God by living by the Spirit. (Luke 9:23; 1 Peter 2:24; Rom.
8:13)
Disciple – When used as a noun
it means to be a student and follower of Jesus.
As a verb it means to train another in the Christian faith. (Luke 14:27;
John 8:31-32; Matt. 28:18-20)
Election – This is in reference
to God choosing in His sovereignty those people that will be saved. (Rom.
8:31-39, 9:1-29) He chose us all to be
saved, but it’s our choice whether to accept Him or not.
Faith – This is made up of 3
things – knowledge, belief, and trust in Jesus.
It is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
(Heb. 11:1) It is believing Jesus is
what He is said to be, and He will do what He promised, and then to expect this
of Him.
Flesh – This is in reference
to our physical and sinful human nature that is apart from divine influence. (1
John 2:15-17; Gal. 5:19-21; Rom. 8:1-17)
Fellowship – The
basic meaning is a real and practical sharing in eternal life with the Father
and the Son. The full meaning of
fellowship only exists, because God the Father through Jesus Christ, the Son
and the Spirit has established a relationship with man. Those who believe the gospel are united in
the Spirit and share in this relationship and communion. (1 John 1:3-6)
Fruit of the Spirit – This
is not Spiritual gifts. The fruit of the
Spirit are aspects of Christ’s character, which every Christian is to seek,
promote, and develop. They are love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. (Gal. 5:22)
Gospel – This means “good
News”, which is that Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins and we can be
reconciled with God through Christ’ work on the cross. (Matt., Mark, Luke,
John, Rom. 1-8) This is Jesus’
story. It is His birth, death and
resurrection.
Grace – This is described as
unmerited favor of God toward man. (Eph
2:8) This concept occurs in the Old
Testament as “favor in the eyes of the Lord”, “find favor”, “be pleased with”,
etc. (Gen 6:8 and Exodus 33). There are
many references to grace in the New Testament. (John 1:16, Luke 2:40, 52, Eph.
1:6)
Hedge of protection – This is
considered to be a fence or barrier which God places around us to protect us
from evil.
In Jesus’ Name – This
refers to making requests in the name of Jesus.
It is used at the end of prayers. Jesus told us to ask Him anything in His Name
and He will do it. (John 14:13-14)
Justification – This
refers to being made righteous in the eyes of God through the work of Jesus on
the cross (Rom. 3:28; Rom. 5; Gal. 2:16)
Prayer warrior – This
is Christian who is committed to praying often.
This is a believer who prays in Jesus’ name and is called to be an
intercessor for people.
Predestination – God
determines certain things ahead of time.
He knows who will believe and who will not. We all have a choice – to believe or not to
believe. God wants us all to accept
Jesus as Lord. He knows who these people
are and the choices they will make, because God is all knowing. (Eph. 1:5, 11)
Propitiation – This
refers to Jesus taking our place and bearing the punishment for our sins on the
cross. (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:10)
Rapture – The word rapture does
not occur in the Bible. The term means
“caught up”. Before Jesus comes back to
earth to judge the world and set up His Kingdom, He is going to rapture the
church, the true believers. He will take
them out of this ungodly world and transform their bodies into glorious bodies
in a twinkling of an eye. (2 Tim. 4:1, 16-18, 1 Cor. 15:51-56; 1 Thess. 5:1-22,
Matt. 25:13)
Redeemed – When Jesus died on
the cross, He paid for our sins and removed the obligation of payment to
God. He released us from the bondage of
sin. He rescued us by giving His life
for us. He saved us from God’s wrath. God placed the wrath due us upon Jesus so
that if we repent and trust in Jesus, God will look at us as being righteous
just like Jesus is righteous.
Repentance – This
refers to being conscious of guilt as a result of turning from that sin and
turning to God. (Luke 13:3; Acts 3:19; 1 John 1:9)
Sanctification – This
is the process God uses to make us holy.
It’s the growing and purifying setting us free from sin. It takes a lifetime. We will never be completely perfect until
that day of Jesus’ return.
Saved – This refers to the
deliverance from the consequences and power of sin through Jesus’ death and
resurrection. (Eph. 2:8-9; Mark 16:16; John 10:9)
Spiritual Gift – This
is a gift given to believers to be used by God.
It is a special divine empowerment bestowed on each believer by the Holy
Spirit to accomplish a given ministry according to God’s design and purpose.
(Eph. 4:11-13, 16) Gifts are given to
believers to grow and mature in their faith, the needs of the church will be
met, and God will be glorified.
Washed by the blood – This means to have your sins forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When He died on the cross, He acted as the Lamb of God to be killed like the Passover Lamb in the Old Testament. By the shedding of His blood we obtain eternal redemption. It means to have a cleansed heart.
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