(Under Construction. Planning to add a few words each week. Please return to see updates. Leave a comment if you like!)
Index
Blaspheme
Deity
Grace
Pharisee
Repent
Blaspheme – To speak evil or reproachfully against God or sacred things, especially to deny God or make oneself equal to God.
Strong’s Dictionary
- to speak reproachfully, rail at, revile, calumniate, blaspheme
- to be evil spoken of, reviled, railed at
Example
John 10:35 If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
John 10:36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
Deity (word not in Bible)
Jesus is called both Man and God but what does the Bible mean when it declares the deity of Christ? What Scriptures support the fact that Jesus is truly God?
What is Deity
In the secular definition of a deity, it can be a supernatural being whose attributes are sinless, divine, holy, whose name is sacred and to be revered.
The Word Became Flesh
Matthew quotes Isaiah 9:14 in 1:23 “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” The name Emmanuel means “God with us” and this is what John wrote in 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” and anyone that knows their Bible understands that the Word is Jesus Christ. Paul writes to Timothy that “He was manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim 3:16).
Can it be any clearer than that?
Jesus is God
When Jesus said “Before Abraham was I AM” the Jews wanted to stone Him because they understood that this was the sacred name of God (John 8:58) that was used in the Old Testament Exodus (Ex 3:14).
God Became Man
Paul writes to the church at Philippi telling them and by extension, telling us to “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil 2:5-7).
Grace – Gift or kindness freely given that we did nothing to deserve.
Strong’s Dictionary
The merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.
Examples
John 1:17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Pharisees – A Jewish sect who sought the praise of men for their outward appearance of religion. Very legalistic and ready to condemn anyone who rocked their boat, especially Jesus.
Strong’s Dictionary
In addition to OT books the Pharisees recognized in oral tradition a standard of belief and life. They sought for distinction and praise by outward observance of external rites and by outward forms of piety, and such as ceremonial washings, fastings, prayers, and alms giving; and, comparatively negligent of genuine piety, they prided themselves on their fancied good works. (Edited)
Examples
John 3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;
Luke 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
Repent – Change my mind, behavior, purpose, and direction in life because of past sins.
Strong’s Dictionary
- to change one’s mind, i.e. to repent
- to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins
Examples
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Luke 16:30 But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’
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