Christian-‘ese’ Words

Getting saved– (1)
Personal Savior-

(2)Saved by the blood-

(3)Lamb of God –

(4)Sin, Sinful, Sinner- (5)

Born again –

(6)The heart, The Spirit (7)

Repent – (8)

Gospel – (9)

The Old man –(10)

The Flesh –(11)

Carnal – (12)

The Soul – (13)

Regenerated – (14)

Assurance – (15)

The word, word of God – (16)Grieve the Spirit – (17)

Check, check in the spirit –(18)

Have a peace – (19)

Convict, conviction – (20)
Confess Christ – (21)

A burden for… -(22)

Works – (23)

Grace – (24)

Mercy – (25)

The Law – (26)

Priest – (27)

Altar – (28)

Atonement – (29)

Justified, Justification – (30)

Righteous, Righteousness – (31)

Redeem, Redeemed – (32)

Old Testament –(33)

Sanctified –(34)

New Testament –(35)

Holy –(36)

Covenant- (37)

Lord – (38)

Kingdom of God – (39)

Hell – (40)

Heaven – (41)

Trinity – (42)

The Father- (43)

The Son- (44)

The Holy Spirit- (45)

Bible doctrine – (46)

The God Head- (47)

Bible prophesy- (48)

Ascension – (49)

Disciples – (50)
Great Commission- (51)
Nations – (52)
Types and Shadows – (53)
The Passover – (54)
Day of Pentecost- (55)
The Church- (56)
Edify – (57)
Body of Christ, The body – (58)
Gifts and callings – (59)
Admonish – (60)
Sacraments – (61)
Baptism – (62)
Communion, Lord’s Supper – (63)Fellowship – (64)
Denomination – (65)
Fear of the Lord – (66)
Praise – (67)
Hosanna- (68)
Worship – (69)
Testimony – (70)
Tithes – (71)
Offerings- (72)
Benediction – (73)
Salt and Light –(74)
The World – (75)
(Witness, Witnessing)- (76)
Outreach, Evangelism- (77)
Planting Seed- (78)
Reaping the harvest- (79)
Backslidden, Backslider–(80)
Walk – (81)
Crucify the flesh – (82)
Bear our cross – (83)
Fruitfulness – (84)
End Times – (85)
Rapture – (86)
Apostate, reprobate – (87)
Gift of Discernment – (88)
Bear witness – (89)
Tribulation – (90)
The Rock – (91)
Consecration – (92)
Son of Man – (93)
Incarnate – (94)
Gentiles – (95)
Pharisees- (96)
Sadducees- (97)
Scribes- (98)

The numbers correspond to the explainations for these terms found by scrolling down.

“What is Christianese?”

Christianese is the specialized set of terminology common to Christians but perhaps unfamiliar to people who don’t spend a lot of time in church. Football fans have their unique terminology, as do computer ‘geeks’. We could call these football’ese’ or computer’ese.

The following are ‘Christianese’ terms explained in Everyday English. Many of these terms are so deep and profound that they would require whole books to fully explain but effort has been made to just keep to the main point.

In cases where there are differing views regarding some aspects of a particular term, the opposing views are noted but no side is taken on the debate. While it is true that Christians disagree on certain things. They are generally on relatively minor points. The core of the Christian message or ‘The essentials’ however will be the same in all real Christian denominations because the context of the Christian message itself defines them.

How difficult is it to understand Christianese? Well, read the following little story and see how unique the language really is. In some cases the words are common words with a uniquely Christian usage or definition. Note: The 'Christianese' terms are underlined as a way to identify them, they do not open as links if you click on them.

Billy Bob Gets Saved

Billy Bob was walking down the street one day when some guy started witnessing to him and told him he needed to get saved. He told him that he needed to trust in the blood and believe the word so that God’s grace could do the work of sanctification and justification in the inner man. The man told him he needed to let the Spirit convict him and that the carnal man must be crucified so that the inner man could be renewed. The guy told him that all he needed to do was pray a prayer of repentance and believe the gospel and the Lord would give him witness and assurance of his salvation if he would accept Christ as his personal savior and that the power of the resurrection was by grace and not of works, membership or tithing.

He went to church with the guy where the Pastor preached on The Great commission and the Lamb of God, relating the prophetic doctrines of the Old Testament to the New Covenant concepts of Grace and revelation through the witness of the Spirit.

He was invited to dedicate his heart to the advancement of the kingdom of God and to walk in the light so that he might bear fruit. He was warned that these are the End times and that the Rapture was immanent. He was admonished to live in sanctification and holiness and not in a worldly or fleshly manner.

The whole body gathered shouted Hallelujah and exalted the name of the Lord and the blood of the lamb. They shouted Hosanna and left the meeting edified and looked forward to the next Lord’s Day.

Billy Bob felt a bit confused and even overwhelmed because he thought he might have prayed the sinner’s prayer once when he was a kid. Someone told him that he may be backslidden or an apostate and that he needed assurance of his regeneration through faith or he would be found a reprobate.

At last Billy Bob had the revelation and witness in his sprit that he was truly born again by the blood of the Lamb and His saving grace and rededicated his life to the Lord. Amen - The end.

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These words and are defined in the following few pages in a ‘Context format’. Try to spend the time to read through the following pages in one sitting if possible. It will take just a few minutes and the result will be a much better understanding of not only the terms but of the message they are connected to.

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Getting Saved (1)—Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for mankind’s failure to live up to God’s standard. We all are guilty of failing to live up to God’s standard and are not worthy to enter heaven and are headed toward eternal hell. When a person hears of what Jesus did for us and chooses by faith (believing from the heart) that the sacrifice of Jesus dying on the cross was not just generally for the collective guilt of mankind but for our own individual guilt-we can apply what Jesus did to our own lives personally. Jesus then becomes our Personal savior. (2) The person is then rescued from going to hell and is thus saved. The Old Testament way of cleansing people from guilt was through the offering of blood sacrifices of animals. Jesus came to give his own blood once and for all to pay for our rebellion against God. When we accept what Jesus did on our behalf and by faith apply it to our own life- we are Saved by the Blood. (3) That is why Jesus is called the Lamb of God. (4) He gave his own blood as if he were a sacrificial lamb. The lamb represent someone who is absolutely pure, innocent and perfect.

Sin (5)--- The idea of Sin in the Bible comes from an archery term meaning to ‘miss the mark’. When an archer aims at the bull’s eye he ‘sins’ if he misses. When God created mankind the target was perfection. We were all intended to be like Jesus. Jesus is basically the standard of heaven. Adam and Eve (the first humans) declared independence from God the Creator and determined to be God themselves. Since that time all of their descendants have been born as though we were arrows aimed off target. No one has to teach babies how to be selfish or manipulative or mischievous. We have been off target since our first parents. When we do something that is off target for what God want us to be or do it is sinful. Thus we are all sinners, or ‘Mark missers’. We get back on target by realizing that we are off target and need to have a change take place in our lives to correct the course of our life. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. All of us have missed the mark, which is being the perfect glorious people God created us to be in the beginning.

Born Again (6)--- Since the time of Adam and Eve, the basic ‘bent’ or nature of the human heart is tended toward ‘sinfulness’. We may look good compared to others around us but the standard (or mark) is to be like the perfect model of heaven- Jesus. When Adam and Eve declared independence from God back in the Garden of Eden, mankind became like a branch cut off from the main tree. We were from that time separated from the life giving ‘sap’ of God’s life giving Spirit. By believing in Jesus and receiving the free gift of His sacrifice on the cross to pay for the guilt of our part in mankind’s declaration of independence from God, we are then re-connected to God and His Spirit takes up residence in our heart. (The deepest part of our being where we can know and interact with God)

The nature of the core of our heart from that time is made alive with a natural ‘bent’ toward pleasing God and honoring Him in our whole life. From that moment we are Born Again.

John 1:12 says, “To those who received Him, to those who believed on His name (Jesus means Savior or deliverer), He gave the right or privilege to become Children of God.” (Paraphrased) We cannot BECOME Children of God if we already are Children of God. Many people mistakenly believe that all people are God’s Children. Remember, Mankind collectively was ‘severed or disconnected’ from God by the decision of our first parents back in the garden. We have to deliberately and intentionally determine to ‘Opt Out’ of the declaration of independence from God and tell God that we want to be forgiven for our part in that ‘Experiment of Independence’. We want to be reconnected and want to live as a child of God. That is what we mean by the word Repent (8). It simply means to stop and change direction 180 degrees.

The message that we can be forgiven of our sin, and born again as a child of God is called the Gospel (9) or Good News.

The ‘Old self’ is often referred to by Christians as the ‘Old man’(10). The part of the person that is the body or the part of the self that is driven by appetites and desires of this world is called ‘The flesh’ (11) or the ‘Carnal nature’ (12). The part of our being which is the mind, will and emotions is called The Soul. (13) The deeper part of the human consciousness where humans can know and interact with God is called the Spirit or Heart (see7) . Note: The Heart is not capable of knowing God or interacting with God until the person is Born-again or ‘Regenerated (14). Until that time, this area of mankind’s being is ‘dead’ due to the effects of sin.

When we truly receive Christ as our Lord and Savior (It must be both or neither!) Something happens in our Spirit whereby we know without a doubt that we are saved. The Holy Spirit gives us Assurance (15). It is the deep sense or knowledge that we are truly God’s children and are living for God’s purposes and not our own. This assurance is one of God’s greatest gifts. We are saved and know it! It is not by our own efforts or goodness. It is by believing God’s word (The promises of God from the Bible). Most Christians call the Bible the Word of God, or more simply, the Word. Jesus is also called ‘The Word (16). Jesus is in human flesh everything that the Bible is trying to teach us to be. He is the message of the Bible. His life is the full picture of what the Bible is about. The word is the life essence of the universe all brought together in the person of Jesus Christ.

When we are born again our heart is made alive again or regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit who then lives within us. We no longer need to go to a special temple or place to meet with God; we ARE the temples of the Holy Spirit. We then need to be very careful not to offend the Holy Spirit or Grieve the Spirit (17). When we are in a situation where there is a temptation to sin, the Holy Spirit will give us what Christians call a ‘Check’ (18). This is a little nudge in our conscience that tells us that the Holy Spirit is warning us not to make a bad decision. We need to be careful to be sensitive to those checks. If we ignore them, our heart will become calloused and it will become increasingly easy for us to sin. We will find the Holy Spirit will not continue to make His home in our heart.

If you find that you have sinned and offended the Holy Spirit and grieved Him, you must immediately confess your sin to God and ask that the Lord not take the Holy Spirit from you. He will forgive you and you will have a sense of peace in your heart again.

Sometimes when we are praying for guidance from the Lord about a decision, whether to do this or that. We can find ourselves confused because it is not a question about sin but about two seemingly good options. Sometimes, a Christian will pray until they ‘Have a peace’(19) in their heart about the decision. Maybe they will be concerned about a family member or friend not knowing Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They will pray about it until they have a peace that the Lord is going to ‘Convict them’ or give them a sense of conviction (20). This means they will have a deep awareness of their sinful condition and sense the need to seek God’s forgiveness and cleansing. If you have a Grandmother praying for the Holy Spirit to convict you of your sins and bring you to your knees before Christ (the Chosen Savior of God), you might as well give up right now and get saved, because God is going to listen to Grandma’s prayer and you are going to be miserable until you confess Christ (21). (Declare that Jesus is your own Lord and Savior.) Sometimes you will have a very strong sense that God wants you to pray for a particular person, or a particular town or even country. When that happens Christians say they have ‘A burden for’ (22) whatever it is. Someone may say, “I have a burden for China’. They may end up eventually having a call to be a missionary to China.

In most religious beliefs, a person can be ‘Saved’ or rescued from hell or whatever bad thing happens after death in that ‘belief system’ by doing certain things. These things range from; praying certain prescribed prayers a designated number of times, giving money to the poor, making a pilgrimage to a certain site, going with out food (fasting) for a period of time, and any number of rituals, ceremonies or actions. These things collectively are known as Works (23) (religious acts) in the Bible.

The Bible makes it clear that we are NOT saved by works. We are saved by Grace. (24) Grace is often defined as ‘unmerited favor’. In other words it means that we get something that we have not earned or deserved. If we go to work every day and do what we are supposed to do on the job, we do not say that our paycheck is an act of our employer’s grace. We have earned the check and have a right to expect it.

Our salvation is also and act of God’s mercy. (25) Mercy is often defined as Not getting something we deserve. If we are pulled over for running a stop sign and the officer decides not to give us a ticket even though we are guilty and deserve it, it is an act of mercy. We didn’t get what we deserve. God provides the offer of forgiveness of sin and eternal life to anyone who will by faith reach out and take it as both giving what we don’t deserve (Grace) and not giving the judgment we do deserve (Mercy).

When we are saved by God’s grace and mercy, we can truly be free to do good works from a pure motivation that has nothing to do with earning points with God for our own salvation. The works become a natural overflow from the fact that we are saved and connected to the Spirit of God working in us and through us. They are the result, not the motive. Anyone doing things ‘for God’ to earn salvation has not understanding of the message of Jesus. That is why Christians often say that Jesus is not about ‘Religion but Relationship’. Religion is man’s idea. It is man working, striving and reaching Up toward God by his own efforts. God provides the way for us to be in relationship with Him through His own provision when He reached down to us. If we ignore His sacrifice and determine to make our ‘own way to heaven, we are actually spitting in the face of God and saying we don’t need His way but will do it on our own. (Not a good idea!)

Mercy mixed with Justice

God does not merely forgive our sins and say, “Oh that’s OK.” It is like a kid breaking an expensive lamp in a fancy store. The storeowner may forgive the kid and not wish to have him punished or prosecuted in any way. But even still, the lamp was broken and someone will have to pay for the damage.

The Bible teaches that God’s expectations of mankind are summarized in the Ten Commandments. These are expounded on and given in much greater length in the first five book of the Bible. In short, God’s expectations of mankind are simply known as “The Law (26)”.

The law viewed as one piece in Bible teaching. It is like ‘the expensive lamp from the store described above’. If we violate or ‘break’ one part of the law- we have broken the law. Jesus summarized the law into two basic commandments. Honor and respect (love) God the creator with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. He also said, honor and respect (love) your neighbor, as you would love yourself.

At any point where we do not love god with our whole being, or love our neighbor as our self, we have broken the law.

We tend to think of murder, rape, and stealing as the greatest sins. The Bible considers ignoring God and going our own way without consideration to God’s will for our existence as the greatest of all sins, because no other sin could possibly occur if we honored and respected God first.

The law is found in the writing of Moses and the whole Old Testament. The Old Testament itself is sometimes referred to as “The Law”. The law spells out rules, procedures and ceremonies whereby an individual would be permitted to approach God. Approaching God always involved the shedding of innocent blood on behalf of the individual coming to God’s presence. (Hebrews 9:22) It also involved a ‘Priest’ (27) or ‘Go-between’. The priest would then offer or present the blood of the sacrifice to the Lord on a special altar (28) (ceremonial table or bench).

The blood would be used to make atonement (29) for the individual’s sins. The sins were not just forgiven and blushed aside. The law was broken and the law required justice to be served. The individual was forgiven but also justified (30). That means that the penalty required for the law being broken was paid in full and the account was balanced or settled. The person is then made righteous with no debt for the broken law outstanding and is therefore made Righteous (31). We also say that the person is Redeemed (32), which means to ‘buy back’. If you change your car battery, the old battery can be taken to an auto parts store and redeemed for a price. It would otherwise be considered rubbish and just thrown away.

The Old Testament (33) picture was to show man how ugly and terrible sin is and also how much mankind had strayed from God’s standard. It was an endless parade of sinful people bringing countless animals to priests to offer on their behalf. The priests were sinful men also and had to go through their own set of cleansings and rituals and ceremonies before they could serve to offer the sacrifices for others. This is called being sanctified (34). They offered sacrifices for individuals and also once per year offered a special sacrifice for the sins of the whole nation of Israel. That offering was presented by the ‘High Priest’.

The New Testament (35) shows Jesus Himself as our High Priest. He is the ultimate Go-between because He visited the earth as the creator God born into human flesh. He was 100% human in every way yet at the same time was 100% God in human flesh. He gave his life so that we may be not only forgiven of our sin but also Justified and made righteous. In the Old Testament, the Priest was to sanctify himself. He was to be Holy (36) (Set apart for God’s special service).

The word ‘Testament’ can also be called a ‘Covenant’ (37) , which means a solemn agreement. A marriage is a form of covenant. Both partners enter into an agreement where they basically become one. His and her resources are joined together. They buy together. They sell together. If one is in debt, so is the other. They share the same family name. They are as one. The same could be said of the Old Indian custom of becoming a blood brother. One man’s enemies become the other’s enemies. If one dies, the other takes care of the other’s family and settles his debts; they are more than friends, they are blood brothers.

When we receive Jesus as our Lord (38) (Ruler, King, Chief, Director), we enter into a very special covenant with Him. We take on the name “Child of God” and are put back into the family of God. We are forgiven and justified. We are no longer cut-off branches doomed for destruction. We are members of God’s family and Citizens in His kingdom. The Kingdom of God (39) is every place where God’s authority, and sovereignty are acknowledged. God’s Kingdom will eventually be universal (Except in Hell (40), a place where those in rebellion against His rule will be contained in torment forever). We take on His name. We are clothed with His righteousness not our own worthless efforts. We have His protection against Satan. We have His love, His goodness, His mercy, His compassion, His power, His authority, His eternal life.

In exchange, He took our sin and guilt on Himself. He took our feebleness. He took our death. He took our corruption. He prepared a place for us to dwell with Him forever called Heaven (41). (Not a bad deal on our side- have you taken Him up on it?!)

One of the areas that confuses people is the idea of the Trinity (42). The term itself is not found in the Bible however the concept of ‘The Three in one’ is found throughout the scriptures. The Bible clearly teaches that the God The Father (43) is called God, Jesus (The Son) (44) is called God and the Holy Spirit (45) is also called God on numerous occasions but it is also quite clear that the Bible emphatically declares that there is one and only one God. Some people have had such a hard time with this idea that they felt it easier to just re-write the Bible to conform to the limitations of their own ability to comprehend. The Bible was written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The texts used to translate the Bible into English all clearly demonstrate that the concept of the Trinity is taught throughout the Bible.

Some liken the idea to the triple point of water. At 32 degrees Fahrenheit or 0 degrees Centigrade, water exists simultaneously as, water vapor (steam), Liquid water, and Solid ice. All are formed of the exact same H20 molecules but all are separate and distinct representations. There is no way our puny little minds can fully wrap around the idea of the concept of the Trinity but is very much a Bible doctrine (46) (A teaching or concept taught in the Bible.) Sometimes you will hear people talk of God as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all together and they will use the term Godhead (47).

After Jesus died on the Cross-, He was Resurrected 3 days later just as the Bible predicted (according to Bible Prophecy) (48).

Jesus stayed with His disciples and showed Himself to about 500 people until His ascension (49) (Until He rose up to Heaven in front of His disciples.)

Jesus’ students who followed Him everywhere and learned directly from Him (Disciples) (50), were later sent to begin what is called the ‘Great Commission’ (51). This is Jesus’ commandment for His followers to go into all the earth and teach His Gospel (Good News message) to all the nations (52) (ethnic groups) of the earth. This includes all of His followers from the beginning until you and I complete the job.

The followers of Jesus all came together for intensive prayer meetings until the day of Pentecost. The Jewish people had a number of special Holidays known as ‘Feast days’. These days were all visual pictures or types and shadows (53) of greater spiritual concepts. Pentecost came fifty days after the Passover.

The Passover (54) was the Old Testament picture of the people of Israel coming out of the land of Egypt where they had been slaves. Moses had been telling the Pharaoh (king) of Egypt to let God’s people go. In order to prove His authority, God worked through Moses to bring about a series of plagues on Egypt. The plagues increased in severity up to the tenth one, which was a plague whereby the first-born child of every home in Egypt would die. Only homes with the blood of a lamb on the doorposts would be ‘Passed over’ by the plague. The blood was placed on the top and sides of the door (in the shape of a cross).

This of course was a picture of when Jesus would give His life on the day of Passover as the true and ultimate sacrificial Lamb of God. He did not die on just any day. He died on a very specific day to complete the picture God had been painting for hundreds of years up to that point.

He was then raised from the dead and something began bubbling just below the surface in the followers of Jesus. As about 120 of them gathered daily as Jesus had commanded them. He said, “Go to Jerusalem and wait there until you are given power from heaven. You will then be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea (a little further out), Samaria (a little further out) and to the uttermost ends of the earth (Alaska!). This is what Christians call The Great Commission.

As the disciples waited in an upper room in a house in Jerusalem, the place was shaken and they heard the sound of a mighty rushing wind. They saw something that looked like flames of fire over the people’s heads. They were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to be God’s ambassadors in the earth.

It was not an accident that this occurred on the fiftieth day after the Passover because the Day of Pentecost (55) or in the Jewish tradition, the day of First Fruits, was the day when the people presented the first fruits of their grain planting to God as an offering.

The picture God was painting was that the church being empowered and born that day was the first fruit of all that God had been planting and preparing for until that day. God used the idea of bread many times in the Bible as an illustration of the collective group of His people.

God would take individual ‘grains’ of people and break of the outer shell of their old self and release the born again ‘Inner man”. These people would be joined together and formed into one body like a loaf of bread. In the Bible the bread offered to God was ‘unleavened’ or made without yeast. Yeast is used in the Bible as kind of a symbol for sin because just a little yeast has an effect on the whole lump of dough.

The Church (56) was born to go out and complete the mission God had commissioned us to do. He told the church (which is the people, not the buildings) to go and make disciples from all the people groups of the earth, baptizing them in the name of the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit and teach them all things that Jesus had commanded us to do and He would be with us until the very end of the mission. (Matthew 28:19-20 paraphrased.) Sometimes people sense that the Lord wants them to go to another place and spread the message of Jesus. This is called mission work and the people who do the work are called missionaries. Some of the work is overseas and some is local, but it is all part of the one big mission.

When as person get saved and is born again, they are part of the church as a whole. They also have a responsibility to participate in the overall mission of the church. The Holy Spirit gives each individual Christian special gifts in order to be useful in God’s service. Some gifts are for helping to edify (57) (build up or strengthen) the body, or The Body of Christ. (58) (Another name for the church. Jesus is the Head and we are all individual cells or pieces of the body of Christ as His hands and feet etc. in the earth.) Some gifts are for reaching out to those who are still lost and need to be saved. Just as the Holy Spirit empowered the early believers, He empowers us today to continue the work until the job is done.

The job is to see to it that every man woman and child on earth has the opportunity to hear the message of Jesus in their own language and in a clear enough presentation that they can decide yes or no to become on of His believers and followers. The job will be complete when there are representatives from every language, tribe, and people group on earth as followers of Jesus.

All Christians are to seek out their own individual gifts and callings (59) (special abilities and call from God to serve in a particular capacity). We are to honor and respect all the gifts and calling of God and learn to work together as a body. This can refer to the entire church worldwide or the local church that a person is directly affiliated with. The big toe is not to despise the ear lobe! We are all to appreciate each other and work together. It is like a baseball team. The first baseman and the shortstop may have personality issues but they need to get over them and work together for the sake of the team. Also on the baseball team, everyone can run, everyone can throw, everyone can hit and everyone can catch. We all need to have certain basic skills and knowledge but we each specialize in a particular area where we excel. All Christians can pray. All Christians can help instruct others to some extent. All Christians can study the Bible. All can help bring others to Jesus.

All Christians need to find a good local church where they can serve and grow in their gifts and callings. Being a part of the local church is part of God’s design. We need to cooperate with Him and do things His way. When you have a BBQ, you need all the coals burning hot and close together. When the coals are separate and isolated, they are not as effective and the heat generated has very limited effect. The Bible therefore Admonishes (60), or strongly pleads with us, to meet together regularly.

There are two things in Christianity called ‘Sacraments’. (61)These are sacred obligations or ceremonial acts. The First is Baptism and the other is The Lord’s Supper or Communion. If you are a new believer in Christ, Jesus tells us to be Baptized in water. Baptism (62) is a symbol that shows the picture of death, burial and resurrection. When we make the decision to be baptized, we declare that we are willing to publicly identify ourselves as a follower of Jesus. When we step into the water we declare that we are recognizing that our ‘Old Man or Old Nature’ was displeasing to God and was condemned to death. Jesus however, took our death sentence upon Himself. When Jesus died, He took our death on Himself. When He rose from the dead three days later, He also gave to us the power of His resurrection. We can both be forgiven of our sins and justified before God because our sin debt was paid, but we can also live in the power of the Holy Spirit and have victory over sin. Baptism does not save a person. It is a symbol of what the Lord has already done. He died, was buried and rose again. In baptism, I died in Jesus, I was buried in Jesus and I rose again in Jesus! If a person is not willing to follow the teaching of Jesus and be baptized, there is serious reason to doubt whether that person is a true follower of Jesus.

The thief on the cross next to Jesus was not Baptized and Jesus told him that he would be saved and be with Him in Paradise. He was saved without being baptized, but I am sure he would have been the first one in line to do so if he could have.

The other sacrament is the taking of Communion or the Lord’s Supper (63), which is the eating of bread and drinking of red wine or grape juice as symbols of the Body and Blood of Jesus. Jesus told His followers to do this in remembrance of Him. Jesus died on the Day of the Passover as described earlier. He himself was what the Passover feast was symbolizing. His body was broken for us. He is the bread of life that gives us spiritual sustenance. His life’s blood was shed on our behalf. When we drink the wine or grape juice, we are reminded that he is the water of life for our eternal souls. As our physical body needs food and water, our soul needs spiritual food and water, which is our connection to Jesus by faith in His sacrifice on our behalf on the cross.

Each time we take Communion, we are reminded that we are not saved because we are good people. We are not saved because we have done good deeds or religious works. We are not saved because our good outweighs our bad. We are saved purely because we have received the Lord’s goodness on our behalf and relationship with Jesus has become our spiritual nourishment.

Communion- means ‘fellowship (64) or joining together’. We have communion with each other when we hang out at church, especially at a church Potluck. The Bible teaches us that before we can have communion with Him, we are to examine ourselves and be sure that we are in right relationship with our fellow man.

If we examine our heart and discover that we have sinned against someone and have not gone to the person and asked forgiveness, we should not take the Lord’s Supper until we do. Before you take the Lord’s Supper, ask the Lord to show you if there is anyone whom you may need to ask forgiveness from or someone who may need to be forgiven by you. It is best to do this ahead of time before you get to church so that you will be prepared to receive communion with the others. The Bible says that if we do not so examine our hearts, and take communion anyway, we will be sinning against the Body and Blood of Jesus. If we do not have love for the Body of Christ, we cannot say we love Christ.

When Christians get together it is usually on Sunday or ‘The Lord’s Day’. Of course all days should be considered as such but we especially acknowledge Sunday as the first day of the week because it is in honor of the day of His resurrection.

On the Lord’s Day, the believers will gather together in congregations all over the word. The Bible does not tell us exactly how a church service should be conducted. There is actually a lot of room to do things differently without being wrong. God has many many facets or characteristics. God is Holy (set apart). God is our loving Father. God is a Righteous Judge. God is The Good Shepherd. He is all of these things and many more.

In one Church service, there may be an atmosphere of quiet reverence in honor of the awesome power and majesty of the Lord. Another church service may be loud and boisterous as the people celebrate God’s victory over sin and His mercy and goodness in their lives. Christian Denominations (65) are not different religions, but rather differing points of emphasis regarding various real facets of the nature and character of God. If these characteristics were to be ranked 1-10, one group may put God as Righteous Judge at number one. Another group may put that at number 4 in terms of emphasis. Neither group would say that the other characteristics of God’s person should be left out of the equation. It just seems to be that those have similar emphasis tend to feel comfortable gathering together.

I personally enjoy a church where there is no predominant emphasis. It seems best to me that when we gather together over a period of time, we will find some times that the atmosphere was one of The Fear of the Lord (66) (Holy reverent awe of God’s incredible majesty and power). Other times we will bask in the light of His glory. Sometimes we will feel the need to celebrate who He is and what He has done. A well-balanced church will find that the Lord will manifest His presence in a number of ways without settling on one over the others.

Besides the general atmosphere, a church service will have a number of components. There will be a time of Praise, worship and Thanksgiving. These usually come during a time of singing usually at the beginning. Singing has been a big part of the church service since the Old Testament times. Songs help us to memorize scripture or scriptural principles. Songs help us to be able to acknowledge various truths together and make them a part of our corporate experience and not just our own individual experience.

Praise (67), is when we tell God how great he is to us. Praise tends to be about various attributes of God and things he has done. Praise songs tend to be faster and more joyful. You may hear Hebrew language words like Hosanna (68), which means something like Yippee or Yahoo! Worship (69) is when we tell God how much He means to us. Worship focuses more on who God is as a person more than what He has done. You may hear the Hebrew word Hallelujah, which means ‘God who keeps His covenant’. Thanksgiving is our acknowledgment of specific answers to prayer or divine interventions in our lives. Sometimes a time of Thanksgiving may be called a time of Testimony. (70) It is like a person testifying in court regarding what they have personally seen and heard. A person testifying in church is telling about what they have seen God do so that other members of the church will be encouraged and non-believing visitors will be aided toward believing.

You will hear a sermon or a message from God’s word. The Pastor will prepare and deliver the message but the Holy Spirit will custom tailor the message to speak to each person individually.

Another part of the church service is the giving of Tithes (71) and Offerings (72). The Tithe is the giving of ten percent of the income to the service of the Lord. The giving of Tithes was given as a commandment in the Old Testament in the Law of Moses. The Tithe was automatic and just a part of Jewish life. The People were required to give a tenth of everything they produced to the Lord’s service. Other gifts that were given above and beyond this were called freewill offerings.

There is no New Testament commandment regarding tithing. It is however, understood by most Christians that the Spirit of the teaching encourages giving to the Lord’s service at least what would have been required in the Old Testament and not less. Christians are not saved by how much they give. They are no less saved if they give less. We give the tenth part because it is an act of worship and this opens the door for the fullness of God’s blessing in our life. We may not find a scripture in the New Testament that orders us to tithe New Testament believers have always taken the view that they should do at least what was done in the Old Testament and even more-not from a commandment but from a heart of love and adoration as an act of worship.

The church service will often end with a Benediction (73). This is a special prayer of blessing that the Pastor will offer on behalf of the people of the congregation.

Church is important and useful but the believer still lives most of his or her life outside of the church walls. Jesus called the believers ‘Salt and Light’ (74) in the world. That means our lives are to be lived in contrast to the world around us. The world (75) is the Bible term for the non-born again society around us as a whole. We are not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed by the word of God.

As followers of Christ we are all to do our part in bringing others to faith in Christ. We are to witness or be witnesses (76). That means to testify to others about what we have seen God do in our lives and how we have seen God’s word to be true. This is similar to the time of testimony at church but this is when we are outside of church. Sometimes we witness one on one with individuals in our particular spheres of influence in our families, jobs, and neighborhoods. Other times we are part of organized church led Outreaches (out of church events to tell others about Jesus) or evangelistic services (77) (Special in church services focused specifically toward non-believers). In some cases, you will be ‘Planting the seed’(78) (giving a tid-bit from the word of God for people to think about. It may take root and start growing in the person’s heart and another person may be sent by the Lord at another time to bring the person to a point of decision to become a follower of Jesus. That is called ‘Reaping the Harvest’ (79). The Bible says, “Some plant, Some water, but the Lord brings the increase.” We each have our own part along the way. Sometimes we will witness to a person who has never heard the Gospel before. Other times we will share our faith with a person who at one time had followed Christ at one point but has since become ‘Backslidden or a Backslider’ (80).

We need to spend quality time in the Word of God. Set aside regular time to study the Bible. Start off with a short time say, 10 or 15 minutes in the morning. You can then add more later as it becomes a regular part of your life.

Set aside a time for prayer. Learn to simply ‘Talk to God’. There are a number of good books, which deal with the art of effective prayer. Find a Christian bookstore in your area. There are many good resources available to help you grow in your prayer life.

Maintain your walk. Our Walk (81) is the Christian term for our day-to-day life example. It includes both the things people see and the things people don’t see. We need to learn how to cooperate with the Holy Spirit so that we are people of integrity both when people are looking and when they are not.

Maintaining our walk involves learning to Crucify the Flesh (82) and Bear our Cross (83) Crucifying the flesh is a strong determination to say ‘No’ to our flesh or old nature at any time that the Lord is directing us one way and our flesh want to go another. Bearing our cross means that we endure the difficulties that following Jesus will bring at times. We may be ridiculed for our faith. We may loose friendships when we refuse to do the things we used to do. We may have other difficulties that arise in our lives directly because we have decided to follow Jesus.

Finally, make it a point to live a life of fruitfulness (84). In other words, allow God to work in you and through you so that your life exhibits many examples of the workings of the Holy Spirit. Your speech will begin changing as you choose to honor God with your words. Your mannerism will change as you begin to show less and less of your old ways and become more like Jesus in your conduct. You will find a niche in the church where you can serve. You will be effective in sharing your faith with others outside the church. Family members will begin to comment about how different you have become ‘for the better’.

Keep in mind that these are what the Bible calls the ‘End Times’ (85). The Bible makes it clear through many prophecies that there would be certain things taking place just before the return of Jesus. He will take His people up from the earth to live with Him forever in Heaven. (This is called the Rapture (86). It is not a word found in the Bible but the event that is described as rapture because the word that means inexpressible joy.)

There are many who formerly walked with Jesus or at least pretended to, who will turn their back on the Lord and will actually work against Him. These people are called apostates or reprobates (87). There is a big difference between those who have hardened their hearts and determined not to follow the Lord and those who are weak and struggling. These people do not want to fail but have a hard time getting victory over sin. One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the ability to discern whether a person is a real believer or a deceiver. ) This is called the gift of discernment) (88). This is important because we need to be able to know even if we can’t put our finger on exactly why, whether a person is on the level or not. The Holy Spirit within us will Bear Witness (89) or, let us know it is OK, if a person is a true follower of Jesus or a true minister of the Gospel or not.

Jesus told the story of two men. One built his house on a rock and the other on sand. The winds and the waves came and beat against both houses. The one on the rock stood firm. The one on the sand fell flat. In this life we will face many tribulations (90) (troubles or difficulties). Jesus never promised a life free from problems.

He did however, promise that there would be clear distinction between the final outcomes of lives lived based on the word of God (The Rock) (91) and those built on the sand (the philosophies and ideas of man’s own imagination). If your life is consecrated (92)(dedicated-committed-set apart) to the Lord, be assured of this- The Lord certainly knows those who love Him and look forward to His return! Trust me on this-He knows –He knows very well.

Jesus asked this question in reference to His promised second coming, “When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth?” Jesus often referred to Himself as the Son of Man (93).

Remember, Jesus is the creator of the universe incarnate (94) (God in human flesh.).He called Himself the Son of Man, to emphasize the fact that He was the one promised back in the Garden of Eden. God said that He would provide a savior or deliverer for mankind through the descendants of Adam and Eve. Jesus called Himself the Son of man to inform the Jewish people (who knew the promise as it was written in the Old Testament book of Genesis) that He was that promised one.

The Gentiles (95), or all the ‘Non-Jewish’ people groups of the world were of course included in God’s plan of salvation. God’s love for mankind is not exclusively Jewish. It was just that the promised child was to come up through a Jewish line of genealogy.

There were some Jewish scripture ‘experts’ who were in ‘outward appearance’ very devout and religious but there hearts were far from God. The Bible mentions three particular groups of these so-called ‘experts’. The first of these and perhaps the most proud and stubborn of the bunch were the Pharisees (96).They believed in the afterlife and spirit world. They wore special clothes that indicated to people around them that they were more educated and of a higher social class. They loved special greetings in the market place and special seats of honor at special occasions. They were very careful to observe all of the special religious ceremonies, customs and traditions. Jesus often criticized them for their hypocrisy. They took great care to be very religious in ceremonial things but were very far from pleasing God in the more important matters of the heart.

The second group was the Sadducees (97). These people were similar to the Pharisees but differed in that they did not believe in the afterlife or the spirit world.

The third group was the Scribes (98). They were the ones who were specially trained in making copies of the Holy Scriptures and other religious writing. They were very meticulous in making their copies. The writing had to be absolutely perfect. If the smallest mistake was found even at the very bottom of a page that they had worked on for several hours, the page was destroyed and they would begin again.

Jesus often used them as examples of hypocrisy for their care for small details in writing scripture but their carelessness in living it out.