52 Words

23. THE DEVIL Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your brothers in the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9) DEFINITION: The Devil is a supernatural spirit creature hostile to Go... Keep Reading

22. DEPRAVITY All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind. (Isaiah 64:6) DEFINITION: Depravity means tendency toward evil. Everyone is naturally inclined away from loving God and toward self-centeredness. Hu... Keep Reading

IV. SIN   The term “sin” has been relegated to the backwaters of public conversation. Failings, weaknesses, illegal activities, and flaws are still permissible for discussion, but not sin. Only the most scandalous of crimes (terrorist activities, for example, or child molestation) even warrant the description “evil.” ... Keep Reading

20. SABBATH Then He [Jesus] told them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28)  DEFINITION: Sabbath (Hebrew shabbat) means rest. It refers in particular to resting on the seventh day of the week in obedience to the fourth of the Ten Com... Keep Reading

19. CIRCUMCISION And he [Abraham] received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also. (Romans 4:11-12) DEFINITION: Physical circumcision refers to the act... Keep Reading

18. COVENANTS Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, “Understand that I am confirming My covenant with you and your descendants after you….The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the everlasting covenant.” (Genesis 9:8-9,16) DEFINITION: A covenant (berith in Hebrew) is a binding agreement b... Keep Reading

17. MARRIAGE “Haven’t you read,” He [Jesus] replied, “that He who created them in the beginning made them male and female, and He also said: For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has jo... Keep Reading

16. MIRACLES Men of Israel, listen to these words: This Jesus the Nazarene was a man pointed out to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through Him, just as you yourselves know. (Acts 2:22) DEFINITION: A miracle is a powerful intervention worked by God or some other supernatural agent in which ordinary operat... Keep Reading

15. ANGELS Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. (Revelation 12:7-8) DEFINITION: An angel is one of the multitudes of personal supernatural spirit beings that God made. All angels w... Keep Reading

III. CREATION (AND MANKIND)   The Eighth Psalm celebrates the intricate vastness of the universe God made as well as mankind’s splendor as the pinnacle of creation. “You…crowned him [man] with glory and honor. You made him lord over the works of your hands” (Ps 8:5-6). Christians have always and everywhere believed t... Keep Reading