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SPREADING GOD'S WORD
Words They Never Taught Me In Sunday
School
Many Christians are not taught some very important words that are in use
by pastors and Bible teachers. To eliminate the mystery surrounding these
words, and to encourage further studying the issues that the words pertain
to, the following list has been constructed. If you take proper
responsibility for discipling yourself and study these words and
investigate the doctrines and issues they pertain to, then you, like the
psalmist will be able to declare:
"I have more understanding than all my teachers:
for thy testimonies are my meditation."
Psalms 119:99
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Word
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Meaning
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Antinomianism
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The false teaching that says a person can become a
Christian but they are not under any obligation to obey any moral or
spiritual laws. Those who subscribe to this teaching believe that to
be "under grace" is indeed a license to sin.
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Apolgetics
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The study and defense of the Christian faith and its
various doctrines.
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Arianism
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Arminianism
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The belief that unsaved man has a free will to choose that
which is right and holy and true and therefore he has the ability in
himself to choose to become saved by inviting Christ into his life. This is
a false teaching.
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Baptismal regeneration
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The belief that water baptism causes a person to become
saved, i.e. it regenerates their soul. This is a false teaching and
is taught by the Catholic church
and the Church of Christ.
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Calvinism
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The Bible doctrines outlining 5 basic tenets of
salvation, that roughly state that man is dead in his sins and he cannot
and will not seek God until he has become saved (been made spiritually
alive by the power of the Holy Spirit).
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Charismatic
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A group of professing Christians, both Catholic and
Protestant, who are preoccupied with supernatural spiritual gifts and
phenomenon such as speaking in tongues.
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Dispensationalism
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A view of the history of the world as periods of time in
which God dealt with the world and His people in different ways.
Dispensationalists commonly believe that the Bible timeline can be broken
down into seven distinct dispensations (periods of time).
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Doctrines
of grace
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Another term for Calvinism and for the Bible doctrines
of salvation by God's grace alone.
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Ecclesiology
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Study of the church - church structure, worship format,
etc.
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Ecumenical
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The practice of various churches and denominations
joining together, setting their theological differences aside, at the
expense of truth, for some social cause, etc.,
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Eschatology
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Study of end time events (end of the world prophecies).
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Exegesis
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To expound on the meaning of a passage of scripture,
usually by examining the passage in all its parts and in consideration of
how words used in that passage are used elsewhere in the Bible.
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Gnosticism
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Hermeneutics
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Bible interpretation methodologies.
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Intra-Lapsarianism
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Irresistible
grace
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A Bible doctrine that states that those who will become
saved are drawn to God by His grace and that drawing is something they
cannot resist.
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Limited
atonement
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A Bible doctrine that states that Christ's atonement,
His sin payment was for only His elect children.
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Monergistic gospel
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A one way view of the Gospel... God reaches out to man.
Man does not and cannot reach out to God. Man does not cooperate with God
in salvation. This is the "reformed" (Calvinistic) view of
salvation, the biblical view of salvation.
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Paedo baptism
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Infant baptism (Presbyterians are one of many groups of
Christians referred to as paedo baptists since they baptize infants).
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Pelageanism
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A false teaching of a British monk by the name of
Pelagius who taught that man is not totally corrupt and lost in sin, so he
has the capacity in himself to become saved by an act of his own will. This
teaching contradicts the Bible's declaration that the unsaved are
"dead in their sins" (Eph 2:1) and "there are none [among
the unsaved] who seeketh after God" (Romans 3:11).
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Pentecostal
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A branch of Protestant Christianity that overemphasizes
supernatural spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues, being slain in
the spirit (falling backwards), prophesizing.
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Perseverance
of the Saints
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Also known as Preservation of the saints, is a
Bible doctrine that states that those who become saved by God cannot lose
their salvation, they will unquestionably endure to the end, they will
persevere to the last day and God will be the cause of that. He will
preserve them, keep them from falling and present them faultless (Jude 24).
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Prosperity
gospel
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A teaching that God wants all Christians to be financially
prosperous and physically healthy. All that is required of the Christian is
that they have enough faith in the promises of God about prosperity found
in the Bible. This teaching takes scripture passages out of context
and ignores Christ's teachings about the persecution and hardship
associated with taking up one's cross and following Him.
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Reconstructionism
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The belief that by the preaching of the Gospel and
teaching biblical principles, it is possible to change (reconstruct)
society around biblical laws. There are many groups and individuals in
America today who are trying to bring America "back" to its
Christian roots and heritage, not realizing that the mission of the Church
is not to make the heathen act Christian but rather the mission is to
preach God's word and let God convict and convert whom He wills, when He
wills.
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Reformed theology
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The various doctrines adhered to and taught by the reformers
(Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale, John Huss, etc.) during the
protestant reformation, primarily the five points of Calvinism.
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Reformers
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Those Christians who sought to correct (reform) the doctrinal errors
being spread by the Catholic church, primarily during the 16th and 17th
centuries.
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Semi-Pelageanism
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A false doctrine regarding the spiritual state of man
that says unsaved men are not totally corrupt spiritually, they are not
spiritually dead and unable to respond to God, but rather they are
corrupted by sin and are given the ability, by God, to accept salvation
when they hear the Gospel. Whereas, the Bible teaches that God must give us
His Spirit before we turn to Him (Ezek. 36:25-27) and before we can
"see" or enter into His kingdom (John 3:3)
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Social
gospel
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An overemphasis on social causes to the neglect of the preaching
of the Gospel. Some churches and organizations that preach a social gospel
believe that doing good works in the name of Christ is in and of itself
evangelism of a sort, not realizing that the word of God must
be preached in order for souls to be saved, since "faith cometh by
hearing and hearing by the word of God".
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Socinianism
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Soteriology
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Supra-Lapsarianism
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Synergistic gospel
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A "two-way" view of the gospel that believes
that man cooperates with God (i.e. God reaching out to man and man reaching
out to God). This is the Armenian (free-will) view of the gospel and
it is unbiblical.
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Total
depravity
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A Bible doctrine that states that man is totally corrupt
and cannot possibly worship God in spirit and in truth until and unless God
gives him a new heart.
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TULIP
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An acronym made up of the first letter of each word in
the 5 points of Calvinism (Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited
Atonement, Irresistible grace, Perseverance of the saints)
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Unconditional
election
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A Bible doctrine that states that those who become saved
are chosen by God from before the foundation of the world, based solely on
the good pleasure of God and based upon no merits of there own nor on any
foreknowledge of them choosing to get right with God.
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Universal atonement
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The belief that Christ's atonement was for the whole
world and therefore all will be saved. This belief is unbiblical.
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