Sermons & Devotionals by Dictionary of Theology

The due reward or punishment for an act. Justice is getting what is deserved. God is merciful but He is also just (Deut. 32:4 - righteous) and must punish sin. In the grace of God, justice fell upon His Son so that mercy would fall upon us. (See also Prov. 8:15; Gen. 18:19; Heb. 10:38).... Read More

To be justified is to be made righteous. It is a divine act where God declares the sinner to be innocent of his sins. It is not that the sinner is now sinless, but that he is "declared" sinless. This justification is based on the shed blood of Jesus, "...having now been justified by His blood..." (R... Read More

In Hinduism, the total compilation of all a person's past lives and actions that result in the present condition of that person. Normally, it is associated with reincarnation.... Read More

This is a teaching concerning Jesus' incarnation. The Kenosis attempts to solve some paradoxes between the nature of God and of man as united in Jesus. For example, how could an all knowing God become a baby, or how could God be tempted? The Kenosis maintains that God, when becoming a man, divested ... Read More

The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven seem to be variations of the same idea. A kingdom implies a king. Our king is Jesus. Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). Jesus' authority did not come from man but from God (Luke 22:29). Entrance into the kingdom of God is by a new ... Read More

The members of the church who are not in the clergy. Clergy are the body of people ordained to perform religious tasks.... Read More

The Law is God's instructions concerning the moral, social, and spiritual behavior of His people found in the first five books of the Bible. The Law is the very reflection of the nature of God because God speaks out of the abundance of what is in Him. Therefore, since God is pure, the Law is pure. S... Read More

The Law of non-contradiction is the law that something cannot be both true and not true at the same time when dealing with the same context. For example, the chair in my living room, right now, cannot be made of wood and not made of wood at the same time. In the law of non-contradiction, where we ha... Read More

Physical contact by touching of the hands. In the OT and NT it was sometimes used in reference to doing physical harm (Gen. 22:12; Luke 20:19). In the NT it is also used to signify an attempt at healing (Acts 9:12) and commissioning of Holy Work (1 Tim. 4:14). Usually, during the ordination of an el... Read More

In Christianity, the movement away from traditional orthodoxy often in an attempt to harmonize biblical teachings with science, humanism, or other secular fields. The result is often a denial of essential biblical doctrines such as the Trinity, the deity of Christ, His virgin birth, His resurrection... Read More

The teaching held in Reformed (Calvinist) circles of Christianity that Jesus bore only the sins of the elect, and not that of the entire world. It maintains that the sacrifice was sufficient for all, but intended for the elect.... Read More

From the Greek “logos” meaning “word.” Logic is study of the principles of reasoning. A set of premises that are examined and arranged so as to bring a conclusion. If A = B and B = C, then A = C. Deductive logic is the method of validating a claim by means of supportive information where both the cl... Read More

The Greek word for "word." Mentioned only in the writings of John. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word [logos] and the Word [logos] was with God and the Word [logos] was God." The Logos is sometimes used to refer to the second person of the Trinity as the Son in pre-incarnate form. Jesus i... Read More

Man is the creation of God. It is man alone who reflects God. The first man, Adam, was made in God's image (Gen. 1:2627), and placed in the Garden of Eden for the purpose of enjoying the fellowship of the Lord and fulfilling the purpose of God's creation. He was told to "be fruitful and multiply, an... Read More

A document or a copy of an original writing. There are thousands of existing manuscripts of the biblical documents ranging from vellum (animal skins) to papyri (plant material) upon which the original and copies of the original writings were made.... Read More

Someone who dies for a belief or cause. A Christian martyr would be a person who dies because of his or her faith in Christian principles.... Read More

In Catholicism, a reenactment of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross in a ceremony performed by a priest. This ceremony is symbolically carried out by the priest and involves Consecration where the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Jesus.... Read More

The position that only material things exist and that all other things can be explained in terms of matter and the physical properties of matter.... Read More

This is associated with sacramental theology. A means of grace is a manner in which the Lord imparts grace to a believer as he partakes in the sacrament. A sacrament is a visible manifestation of the word. The bread and wine in the Lord's Supper are considered sacraments in that they are visible man... Read More

A mediator is someone who intervenes, someone who conveys and conciliates. The word "mediator" is not found in the O.T., but its principle is. God gave the Law to the people through a mediator, Moses (Gal. 3:19), who was a type of the true mediator, Jesus. The word occurs only a few times in the N.T... Read More