Grace
charis
The unearned favour of God towards sinful people, which led him to save us when we did not deserve it. Nobody can earn salvation; it comes through the loving kindness of God.
A short glossary
Key Words. Plain meaning.
The words you will hear at church, with the Bible passages behind them.
Sin
hamartia
To miss the mark: thoughts, actions and behaviour contrary to God's will. We are born with a sinful nature that rebels against God. Sin produces death, spiritual, physical and eternal, and holds people captive like a slave master.
Faith
pistis
Firm persuasion, conviction, reliance on Jesus Christ for salvation. It comes by hearing the word of God and it shows itself in obedience. Faith without works is dead.
Confession
homologeo
Two things at once: agreeing with God's verdict that you are a sinner in need of his grace, and openly declaring that Jesus Christ is your Saviour.
Repentance
metanoia
A change of mind, heart and will that turns you from sin to God, driven by godly sorrow rather than mere regret. It includes recognising sin, confessing it, being sorry for it, deciding to forsake it, and putting right what can be put right.
Baptism
baptisma
To dip, plunge or immerse. Apostolic baptism is immersion in water in the name of Jesus Christ, mixed with faith, for the remission of sins. It is a burial with Christ.
Baptism of the Holy Ghost
The moment Jesus Christ himself fills a believer with his Spirit, raising them to new life. Its initial sign in Acts is speaking in tongues; its enduring evidence is the fruit of the Spirit.
Regeneration
paliggenesia
To become again: the new birth. God's impartation of new life to someone who was spiritually dead, through water baptism in Jesus' name and the infilling of the Holy Ghost.
Justification
dikaiosis
A legal term: to be declared righteous, acquitted, in right standing with God. The opposite of condemned. Done freely by grace, paid for by Christ's blood, received by faith.
Sanctification
hagiasmos
To be made holy, clean, set apart for God. Applied at the new birth through the blood of Jesus, and continued as a daily process by the Spirit until we are like Christ.
Adoption
huiothesia
Literally, to be placed as a son. When you are born again God places you in his family with the standing of a son: the name, the authority, and the inheritance. Sonship is a legal position, not a gender; every believer, male or female, is placed as a son and heir.
Glorification
The final stage of salvation, when the believer receives an immortal body like the Lord's at his coming.
Resurrection
anastasis
To stand up again. God will raise all people from the dead, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting judgement.
Eternal judgement
At the end of the age God judges everyone according to their deeds. Those who have refused Christ face the second death, the lake of fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels.
Holiness
hagios
Set apart for God. Not a list of rules but what belonging to God looks like from the outside, growing from the fruit of the Spirit on the inside.