Here are some samples of Greek literature that were written before or around the same time as the New Testament. They all use a particular word in Greek and you’ll find the English translation of this word in boldface. Read the passages and see if you can come up with an idea of what the word means:
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soteriology
Read the Bible like an Architect Part II
This is Part II of a two-part series. Read Part I.
We are reading the Bible like architects by using what we know to find what we don’t know. In the last article, we looked at the core of Jas 2:14-26 and saw that “justify” only means “to declare righteous.” God calls someone righteous when he believes and people call someone righteous when they see his good works. For example, Abraham was justified by and before God by faith and he was justified by and before men by works.
Here are nine easy things we noticed about Jas 2:21-25 in Part I:
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Read the Bible like an Architect Part I
When I was in High School, I took an architecture class that I especially enjoyed. We got to use paper, right angles, compasses, and other cool instruments that architects use along with our knowledge of geometry to solve whatever problems the teacher presented to us. Often the problems involved taking limited information and using it to extract other information. He would always say the same thing:
Use what you know to find what you don’t know.
That’s some solid advice. Once we establish that something is true, we can use it to make sense of things that we don’t know or don’t understand. The applications of this advice go far beyond High School architecture; it’s essentially how we progress in science and technology. It is also a fundamental concept to interpreting documents, whether they be laws, historical records, or even the Bible.
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Christian Pluralism
In an earlier post, we discussed panmillennialism (the belief that in the end, everything will somehow “pan out”). Panmillennialism is probably the most commonly held view of eschatology (doctrine of end times) in the Bible Belt, and if we get to the core of it, what we’ll find is that panmillennialism is driven by theological apathy. Unfortunately, many Christians don’t see the value in studying prophecy. I maintain that there is a lot to benefit from eschatology, but you can read the original post and decide for yourself.
Today, I’d like to look at Christian Pluralism. If panmillennialism is the apathetic approach to eschatology, then Christian Pluralism is the apathetic approach to soteriology (doctrine of salvation). It teaches that there are many different ways to be saved, so long as those ways involve Jesus somehow.
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In 2 minutes, you will know 30% of NT word occurrences.
Say, “kai.” Now, say, “ho.” “Kai. Ho.” Kinda like that song from Slumdog Millionaire.
In Greek, “ho” means “the” and “kai” means “and.” In the New Testament, these two words are used 29,028 times (technically, ho will change forms in different situations, but it’s still basically the same word). Since there are only 138,162 words in the New Testament, you now know 21% of word occurrences in the NT. Congratulations!
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The only test for salvation
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Eph 2:8-9 (ESV)
The Bible clearly teaches that we are saved by grace through faith alone… but many people have twisted up this simple truth. Often, if you ask someone how he knows that he’s a Christian, his response will start with faith, but then his focus drifts to his own works. Here is an example from John Piper as he responded to the question, “How can I know I’m saved?”
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