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Mysticism: A belief that insight, intuition and other subjective experiences are a key method for knowing God and spiritual truth.

PREVIOUS DEFINITIONS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:

Ambassador: As ambassadors for Christ we have been appointed to interpret the mind of our master to those who live contrary to His good judgement.

Anoint: God gives authority to a person to operate in a particular gift, ministry or area of service.

Anointing: When the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit touch a person, or group of people; to heal, strip away, encourage, enthuse, restore etc. God's presence is electric on these occasions.

Apologetics: A branch of theology where people engage the public arena to present a reasoned objective defence of the Christian faith and it's doctrines.

Apostle: Someone commissioned and sent out with the message of Jesus.

Assurance: A confidence that comes from knowing Jesus and what He has done for humanity.

Atonement: An act that brings enemies together as friends, the most notable of which is Jesus offering up His life for ours. This was God's way of offering the hand of friendship and destroying the enmity (sin) that separated us. For a fuller explanation of atonement, visit The Word.

Banner: Jesus is the 'banner' under which God the Father has called the people's of all nations to rally.

Baptism: A public declaration that my old life has been washed away and I have begun to live focusing on Jesus and His ability to make all things new, not just for me but for anyone who gives their life to Him.

Begotten: Jesus was born in Bethlehem but the more accurate word for understanding his birth is 'begotten'. Jesus was, is and always will be one with God the Father, 'begotten' of Him, that is separate and distinct from Him, yet still uniquely and intimately one with Him. (John 3:16-18)

Believer: Someone fully committed to Jesus' purpose for their life (not just a mental exercise acknowledging certain facts about Him).

Beseech: To plead strongly and urgently. Often used in connection with praying.

Bestowed: Given to one as a gift. For example, God has bestowed on us the gift of life, the ministries of the Holy Spirit and eternity with Him.

Bible: The set of books recognised as God 'breathed'.

Blessed/blessing: a) To have a deep rooted joy which comes from joining with Christ to live the life God planned for us.
                                       b) To receive a God-given gift at a particular time, such as protection.

Book of Life: God's list of believers who will abide with Him.

Born again: This is synonymous with being a Christian. It's about receiving the life Jesus offers.

Calling: a) God asks everyone to honor and serve Him; become more Christlike; add to the health and well-being of His church; and, to witness to this world what the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have done and are doing.
                    b) A particular area of service God has asked a person to be committed to and for which He has prepared them.

Canon: The 66 books which are the authoritative Word Of God, the Bible.

Carnal: To seek to fulfil all physical desires or to be content with pursuing only what this world can offer.

Charity: Love

Christ: A title given to Jesus which emphasises He is the anointed of God; the one with the power and the authority to restore the relationship between fallen man and God.

Christian: Followers of Jesus. People who recognise they are under a higher command.

Comforter: A name given to the Holy Spirit that denotes the strength, encouragement and presence of God that is imparted in troubled times.

Commitment: To entrust your life to God as you actively serve Him.

Communion: a) Remembering Jesus' sacrifice for us by eating bread and drinking wine.
                              b) To be ‘in communion’ with God is to have an intimacy with Him that is based on shared hearts.

Condemnation: God's verdict on sin. Bearing the guilt of our sin is not where God finished the story though.

Confess: a) To admit openly to a sin.
                      b) To declare your agreement with God's Word.

Covenant: God has drawn up an agreement, a contract, which binds Him to making it possible for us to build a healthy relationship with Him and each other.

Damnation: To face the judgement of God having rejected Christ as The Way to come to Him.

Deliverance: God frees us from the bondage of our misdirected lives and enables us to live full lives for Him.

Destroyer: A name given to Satan because his purpose is to wreck what God has built.

Devil: A deceiver and tempter who uses these tactics against God, Christians and anything good or pure (see Satan).

Discernment: An ability to see into a problem, to understand why things differ. Christians are required to exercise discernment in respect to spirits, expressions of faith, separating good and evil; and so on.

Disciple: A student of Jesus who daily looks to Him on how best to live.

Doctrine: A foundational teaching. For example, only through Jesus can we come to God.

Edify: To build up or to strengthen someone's spiritual growth.

Elect: (Noun) God chose to be for mankind long before anyone gave their life to Him. Hence He elected us. We simply have to choose to be a disciple of Jesus to be in God's elect.

Eternal: Without beginning or end - such as God's power, Jesus' redemption, the life given to a believer in Christ.

Evil: Any act that is morally bankrupt and whose source is the flesh or Satan - can apply to thoughts and words.

Evil One: A spirit, a force that seeks to seduce us away from God.

Exceedingly abundantly: Surpassing far beyond and above what we think is possible.

Exegesis: A close study of words and passages in the Bible.

Expiate: To fully make amends for wrongdoing and hence restore a wronged relationship.

Faith: A conviction, a confidence to act on the beliefs Christ has stored up in your heart.

Fallen: Men and angels who lost the level of intimacy God designed for them to have with Him.

Fasting: Abstinence from food for the purpose of purifying motives and being attuned to God's will.

Fear of God: Being in awe before God, the One to whom you owe everything to and are responsible to. Embedded in this wonder is a heightened sense of God's just judgement directed by His pure love.

Fellowship: To enjoy the company of others who have the same foundation of faith in Jesus.

Firstfruit: a) Giving to God, in faith, the first portion of your livelihood.
                   b) The gift of the Holy Spirit to Christians, a first portion of God's presence.
                   c) Jesus, whose death and resurrection is the beginning of a harvest of souls into heaven.

                   For a fuller explanation, visit The Word.

Flesh: The desires of self that are at odds with God's best for us.

Forbearance: a) Putting up with the faults of others.
                               b) A fruit/outworking of the Holy Spirit in people's lives.

Foreigner: A term applied to Christians because they are citizens of heaven to which they owe their first allegiance. Hence, the foreigner prays Jesus prayer "your will be done on earth as it is in heaven".

Forgiveness: Saying you bear no grudge for any wrong committed against you. You won't even talk about it anymore because you want a clean sheet to build a healthy relationship on.

Fornication: Sex outside the covenant of marriage.

Gird: To be ready for action in Christ's service. (From the idea of hitching up your long garments so you can move faster and more freely.)

Glory: a) Beauty, honour and adoration all rolled into one. Empires or individuals can "shine" in this way.
                 b) God is glorious. Everything He creates emanates glory. Think splendour, perfection and goodness all rolled into one; that is the glory of God. For a fuller explanation of Glory, visit The Word

Gospel: Good news! Jesus has ascended to the Father so that we can follow in His footsteps!

Grace: With pleasure, God offers humanity His free and undeserved favour. It is up to us whether we will waste or embrace His grace.

Hallelujah!: An exclamation of delight meaning literally "praise be to the God of our salvation".

Heart: The real self; the inner man with all his affections, motivations and spirit.

Heaven: God's home, filled with his servants (angels) and invited guests (Christians who have stepped beyond the grave). It's a house of unbelievable joy and celebration.

Hell: Satan's home, filled with his misguided lackeys (fallen angels) and house bound guests (people who chose not to love God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). It's a house of pain, "worms" and "unquenchable fire". (The opposite of heaven.)

Holy: Someone set apart from his or her former life (or something set apart from its common use) to serve God. For a fuller explanation of Glory, visit The Word

Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost): The second person in the Trinity who was sent by God, the Father and Son, on Pentecost, to dwell with those who believe in Jesus.

Hope: A substantial conviction that what has not yet fully transpired in our relationship with Jesus will occur. Not just a wish.

Husband: a) An illustration highlighting some of the attributes of God's love for His people.
                  b) An image of Jesus as He waits for His bride, the church, who is preparing herself for their                               wedding at the end of this age. For a fuller explanation of Husband, visit The Word

Immutable: Unchanging and unchangeable - said of God and His plans and purposes.

Imperishable: Something that cannot be ruined or changed for the worse.

Impute: To credit one person with something that belongs to another. (When we put our faith in Jesus, He gives us His righteousness.)

Incarnation: The divine Christ revealed as the human Jesus.

Ineffable: a) In a spiritual context, this is an experience of God so overpowering that you fail to find the                                 words to express it.
                  b) It also refers to things that should not be said. For example, the Israelites' unwillingness to                              speak the name of God in Old Testament times.

Iniquity: Anything, word or deed, that does not meet God's standard of holiness, hence the fallen condition of humanity.

Inner man: The spirit or innermost self of a person that lives on after the body is dead.

Inspiration: God's act of imparting something to one's mind or heart. It's where you know this thought, image, feeling or whatever construct it takes is a spirit-to-spirit communication from God.

Intercession: A prayer where you stand before God on behalf of someone else and plead their case. For a fuller explanation of atonement, visit The Word.

Jesus: The Saviour who came to rescue sinners (humanity) from our misguided ways and restore us to an open relationship with God.

Joint: Found in Hebrews 4:12, "joints and marrow". A figurative expression for the totality of a person's spiritual and moral being.

Joint-heirs: Christians are to receive the same estate from God as did Jesus.

Joy: Delight, gladness. A Christian's joy is to be a sustaining strength even in the face of trials.

Judge: a) To decide on the basis of the knowledge we have.
              b) A powerful title for our omniscient God.

Justification: Despite the pain we have caused God, the wrongs we have committed against Him, our case has been thrown out of heaven’s court because there is no accuser for those who seek to live for Jesus.

Law: The demand and expectation of God; a demand and expectation that necessitated Jesus' substitutional death for us.

Life: a) existence; being; the time between birth and death.
              b) God is life and in Him is life. This life incorporates power, love and righteousness, all of which are imparted to those who believe in Jesus.

Lord: A title that applies equally to Father, Son and Holy Spirit, signifying their status as the highest and final authority.

Lord Jesus Christ: This phrase identifies the three dimensions of His character as man (Jesus); as God (Christ); and as sovereign (Lord).

Magi: A Median and Persian hereditary priestly class from which came the Wise Men who honoured the infant Jesus.

Magnify: To extol or glorify as great. For a fuller explanation of magnify, visit The Word.

Manifest: To show openly or to display (eg. Jesus made manifest the will, love and deeds of the Father).

Maranatha!: Our Lord (Jesus) has come and will come again.

Meek: People who are in awe of God and know they are totally dependent on Him.

Messiah: God's appointed One whose purpose is to deliver His people.

Minister: Someone who serves God, who is committed to His cause and purposes.

Ordain: A public declaration and acknowledgement of the authority God has given to someone to minister in His name.

Orthodox: The traditional, established, Bible-based doctrine of faith.

Outreach: Any structured approach by a group of Christians to spread the good news of Jesus to people.

Pastor: A minister who feeds his people with God's Word and tends to their needs, like a shepherd would his flock.

Penance: An act of self-abasement or devotion which demonstrates remorse and repentance for sin.

Pentecost: The day the church was born; the day God began to gather a harvest of people who would love Him and carry His gospel to the world. We are still living in the "day" of Pentecost. For a fuller explanation of Pentecost, visit The Word.

Perdition: Hell; a place of eternal misery and loss.

Perfection: When we become clay in God, the potter's hands, and are fashioned into a completed vessel. (A life-long work completed when we are with Jesus in eternity.)

Perish: To be cut off from God.

Perverse: To wilfully twist something out of moral shape.

Pilgrim: a) A Christian who takes a trip, the sole purpose of which is to draw near to God.
                     b) Christians who wander this earth far from their country (heaven) and people (Christians from all ages who live with God).

Pious: To be God-like in that you show love and kindness to all.

Prayer: Communicating your heart to God and listening to His.

Praise: Voiced admiration; extolling that which is at the centre of our lives.

Pre-eminence: To be first in order, or to have no other equal. (An essential understanding of Jesus.)

Principalities: Those who are in power and exercise rule, especially a spiritual dominion.

Prophet: A person who is regularly inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak on behalf of God.

Prophetic: Announcing to people things that could only have been learnt by a direct communication from God.

Propitiation: The act of satisfying the terms for both parties so that enemies can be reunited. Jesus' life and ministry achieved this for God and man.

Providence: God's guidance, care and protection for His people.

Psalm: A prayer put to song to extol God.

Purify: To have our disobedience, and its shame, washed away by Jesus' love and to then choose (again) attitudes which honour him.

Quicken: Where once there was sin and death, Jesus comes into our lives to quicken us. It's the process of being born again and renewed daily in our inner man.

Ransom: The price Jesus paid (crucifixion) to satisfy God's holy requirements for dealing with sin.

Reconcile: Our wilful defiance of God put us at odds with Him but Jesus came as the mediator to bring us together as friends.

Redemption: Jesus' death was God’s ransom price to buy our freedom from the grip of sin in our lives.

Regenerate: To have our lives made new again by God's Word and the Holy Spirit.

Repent: To seek forgiveness for a sin and commit yourself to doing an about face in how you think and act.

Resurrection: Life beyond death. Jesus rose from his tomb opening the way for all His disciples to follow Him to his Father's house. For a fuller explanation of resurrection, visit The Word.

Remission: Removal of the 'cancer' of sin through forgiveness. It also carries the idea of forgiveness being able to cancel the 'debt' of sin.

Reproof: A conviction for sin or an exposing of that sin or error. Part of God's process for correcting us.

Revelation: Having an insight into God's heart and mind.

Reverence: A deep respect for God that flows from a strong willingness to be subject to Him.

Righteousness: The quality of being right or just or truthful or faithful according to God's standard of holiness. To be in right standing with God.

Risen: The elevated status given to Jesus and his followers before the eternal throne of God.

Saint: Someone who believes in Jesus; not just someone of exceptional character or works.

Salvation: To be saved from the greatest danger in this life – a godless life.

Sanctification: God working with us to sort through the business of our lives so that we can fulfill His purposes.

Satan: A fallen angelic being who strives against God and man.

Scripture: The writings of God recorded in the Bible.

Sin: Choosing to live for yourself rather than for God.

Sojourners: Those living temporarily in a place. Applied to this life in contrast to eternity with or without Jesus.

Soteriology: The study of what God has done through Jesus to save mankind.

Soul: The "real you" within your fallen humanity, including desires, feelings and perceptions (see Spirit).

Spirit: The 'real you', which can only be free from sin when God awakens your spirit with His love and hence changes your desires, feelings and perceptions. (see Soul).

Spiritual gifts: Gifts from the Holy Spirit, freely given to and exercised through Christians, to serve God's gracious purposes.

Straight: Direct, right, narrow. The straight path is repentance and walking with Jesus.

Substitution: Christ's vicarious death on behalf of sinful humanity.

Suffer: a) To allow or permit: as in suffer the little children to come to Jesus.
              b) Pain and injustice, generally, but more specifically, from an identification with Jesus and His crucifixion.

Supplication: Asking earnestly and passionately. Often applied to a form of prayer.

Temperate: A Holy Spirit strengthened and directed self control. For a fuller explanation of temperate, visit The Word.

Theophany: God appearing to a person and manifesting His powers.

Transcendent: To surpass the normal limits. God surpasses every limitation we can think of.

Transubstantiation: A largely Catholic belief that the wine and bread literally become the blood and flesh of Jesus as you receive communion.

Trial: A problem, a hard situation you go through, that God is working out His purposes in.

Tribulation: a) A trial (see below) involving extreme hardship. God hasn't stopped loving us in these situations.
                           b) A coming time when Satan is given the opportunity to make a last ditch effort to drag as many people down into hell within as possible. Yet, God will still have His way at this time.

Trinity: The three ways God has revealed his personage to humanity; God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. (Three-in-one and one-in-three.)

Unbelievers: Those who do not acknowledge Jesus as mankind's Saviour.

Verily: Honestly, truly, surely, indeed. It tends to precede a solemn and important statement.

Way (The): Christ's way for life now and beyond the grave.

Witness: One who tells what he has seen or experienced. God's simple calling for everyone who has experienced Jesus in their life.

Word (The): a) The Bible - God's voice for all who will listen.
                            b) Jesus is the Word because He is the living testimony of who God is.

World: The world system or the values and ethos of a society that shunts God aside so it can pursue its own goals, ambitions and ego.

Worship: Any thought, word or deed whose focus is to honour God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For a fuller explanation of worship, visit The Word

Wrath of God: God bringing justice to an intolerable situation. Compare with wrath - a strong anger stirred by indignation.

Yahweh: Hebrew for the English name Jehovah. The name means "God is". God is "I am" - the eternal, self-existent, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent One.

- Definitions by LLOYD HARKNESS