Word of the Day: Dispensation

Within the Catholic denomination, a dispensation is an exemption from Church law. For example, a married man becoming a priest being granted an exemption from the celibacy requirement otherwise imposed on all priests.

Within other denominations, a dispensation refers to a specific time period or group of people. 

For example, Christians are not required to build an ark to escape flooding--God only instructed Noah to build an ark; (Genesis 6:14) "Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch."

Another example would be prohibitions against eating pork (Leviticus 11:7-8). In Matthew 15:11, Jesus states "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man." 

This was later reinforced in a vision from God to the Apostle Peter, documented in Acts 10. 

Word of the Day: The Word of God

Often used to describe the writings in the Bible, or the Bible itself--implying that the Bible was written by, or dictated by God.

Less often, the phrase is taught to mean Jesus, before his birth, as in John 1;

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

² The same was in the beginning with God.

³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

⁵ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

John 1:14 further explains that this part of God became the man, Jesus Christ:

¹⁴ And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Word of the Day: Red Letter Edition

A Bible which has any statement from Jesus printed in red ink, to stand out from the black text the Bible is printed in. For example, "Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I." (John 14:28), would be in all red ink, to denote it is a quote from Jesus.

The first red letter edition of the Bible was printed in 1901, by Louis Kopsch. The color red for words spoken by Jesus was meant to signify the color of Christ's blood, which was shed to pay the price for mankind's sins.

Word of the Day: Scripture

The writings within the Holy Bible. Can mean all the writings, or a particular passage from the Bible. For example, "scripture tells us Jesus is God's only begotten son" refers to The Gospel of John, Chapter 3, verse 16; which states "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Sometimes, scripture is used to describe the Bible in its entirety. 

The word comes from the Latin word scriptura, meaning writings. 

Word of the Day: Epistle

A letter or message. The Apostle Paul wrote epistles to the churches in Rome, Corinth, and Ephesia. Today these are known as the Book of Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, and the Book of Ephesians in the New Testament. There are many more Epistles in the New Testament, all originally written from one of the apostles to a specific group or person. 

The word "epistle" derives from the Greek word epistolē, meaning letter, command, message, or commission. 

The use of epistle as a writing from an Apostle of Christ originates around 1200 A.D.

Many of Paul's epistles contain the same core message or theme. By studying how Paul communicated his messages to different audiences, Christians can learn how to communicate the Gospel to different types of people.

Word of the Day: Gospel

The New Testament starts with the "four gospels" of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John--four of Jesus' Apostles. These gospels are the testimony of these witnesses who personally watched Jesus perform miracles and preach.

The Apostle Paul starts 1 Corinthians 15 with "Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,".

Paul goes on to summarize Jesus' death (to pay for our sins) and resurrection. Some modern Christians preach that this is "the gospel". 

The word "gospel" literally means "message". It also often used in place of the word "truth". 

"Gospel" derives from the Old English "godspel", meaning good (or God) story. 

"Gospel music" is simply Christian music of a particular style, praising God and/or Jesus.

Word of the Day: Testament

In Christian terms, the Bible contains two testaments, old and new. The old contains the history of God's people, pre-Jesus. The new tells the story of Jesus Christ (cruxifiction, resurrection, and eventual return).

Pre-English, what we call the Old Testament was the Greek Septuagint--a translation of the Hebrew Tanakh.

The New Testament was also written in Greek--the scholarly language of the time.

"Testament" comes from testamentum, Latin word (for more on the etymology of the word see https://www.etymonline.com/word/testament)

Word of the Day: Bible

The Bible, or "Holy Bible", is a collection of writings that tell the story and origins of mankind, as told by worshippers of God and His son, Jesus Christ.

The book is divided into three main sections:

The Old Testament, detailing the Creation of everything and history of God's people before Christ;

Psalms and Proverbs, songs and poems related to worship of God, and wisdom and guidelines for God's people;

The New Testament, telling the story of Jesus Christ during his time on Earth, immediately after his resurrection, and what will happen when he returns.

Different versions of the bible exist, in different language translations. These different versions may contain additional verses, chapters, or even books. A majority of non-Catholics use either the King James version (KJV), New Living Testament (NLT), New International Version (NIV), or the English Standard Version (ESV).

The Bible's books are divided into numbered chapters and verses, for ease of reference. This reference numbering wasnt added to bibles until the 1500s.

Word of the Day: Saved

In simplest terms, being saved means you aren't going to hell and, later, the lake of fire described in Revelation 20.

Most modern Christians avoid references to Hell and simply explain that salvation (becoming saved) is a reference to eternal life. This isn't an avoidance of physical death, but rather a promise of resurrection, some time after death and eternal life.

John 3:16 summarizes, in briefest terms, salvation and eternal life: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Romans 10:9 further elaborates on what one must do to be saved: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

Acts 3:19, and multiple other verses further point out that you must also repent (turn away from) your sins--meaning you reject sin and instead accept Jesus. 

It should be noted that some Christians today put far more emphasis on accepting Christ than on the need to also repent. 

Word of the Day: Repent

The turning away from sin. Rejecting and not doing things that are sins. This includes an acknowledgment that actions were sins, not by any public statement, but to yourself.

Trying to not sin again, similar to the way an alcoholic might stop drinking, recognizing that their drinking was bad, and vowing not to drink again.

Some Christians include a prayer to God, apologizing for sinning and/or asking for forgiveness.

Note that some claim that they no longer sin. However, Jesus stated that even thoughts were sins, such as lusting after a woman (Matthew 5:28).The Apostle Paul made it clear that all continue to sin (Romans 7). 

Repenting is simply admitting you have sinned, acknowledging (to yourself and God) you have sinned, and trying not to sin and/or being ashamed (and seeking forgiveness) when you do sin again.

Word of the Day: Begat/Begotten

Meaning to father offspring (as opposed to adopting). Similar to the term "to sire". In the Old Testament, there are lineages listed of who begat whom--for example, Moses was begotten by Amram and Jochebad, but was raised by the Pharaoh's daughter (Exodus 2). 

Adam was not begotten, but rather "formed" from the dust (Hebrew word "yatser"). Jesus, on the other hand was begotten by God (John 3:16), in that Jesus is the actual Son of God, rather than just a creation. 

Note: In the Old Testament, there are descriptions of "Sons of God" which means followers or worshippers of God. 

In the case of Jesus, God made his Word flesh (John 1:14) and formed it in the Womb of the virgin Mary. Jesus is often described as an "incarnation" of God, which is partially incorrect; an incarnation is when something takes on flesh, such as when God wrestled Jacob (Genesis 32:24-32). Only God's Word became Jesus. God also appears in the bible as a burning bush, a column of fire, and has an undescribed physical body in the Garden of Eden, in that His footsteps could be heard as he walked there (Genesis 3:8).

Word of the Day: Sin

Disobedience to God. The breaking of a rule, law, or order of God, the offending of God. 

Speeding is not a sin, in that God doesn't set a speed limit. Fornication is a sin in that any intercourse outside of marriage is fornication (1 Corinthians 5:1). 

The Apostle Paul wrote that fornication was a sin against your own body (1 Corinthians 6:18).

"Sin" is often misused in modern Christianity to describe anything done by a Christian that is wrong, rather than reserving the term to mean something offensive to God.

Word of the Day: God

The nickname given to our Father in Heaven, creator of all. Comes from the German word "Gott". In Latin bibles, "Deus" is used, while in the original Greek of the New Testament, "Theos" (Creator) is used. Prior to the New Testament, it was against Jewish tradition to write God's true name. YAHWEH, derived from "YHWH"--from the statement God made to Moses, "I am", when asked who he was (Exodus 3:14).

In Modern Christian churches, Jesus is often declared to be God-the-Son, a part of the Trinity or "Godhead", signifying God exists as three beings in one; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost/Spirit. The Apostle Paul wrote that there is one God (1 Timothy 2:5), while the Apostle John wrote that the Word of God was made flesh and lived among us (John 1:1-14).

Word of the Day: Christ

Christ: savior; the title given to Jesus (the only begotten son of God).

Originally meaning "annointed", it comes from the Latin "Christus", which comes from  the Greek word "Khristos", which is a combination of the Greek word "khriein" (annoint) and the Hebrew "māšīaḥ" (messiah).

Jesus was sent to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), which is stated multiple times throughout the New Testament.

Word of the Day: Christian

New-and non-believers may find it difficult to understand the language of modern Christianity in the same way way civilians struggle with military jargon ormedical terminology. 

Christian: a follower of Jesus Christ; a person who believes Jesus, the only begotten son of God, died to pay the penalty for their sins, was ressurected by God, and who will one day return to rule the world; a person who follows Jesus Christ, rejecting and turning away from sin; and, a person who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and savior.