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Unsure of something you heard in church or during a sermon? Our Glossary page aims to help clarify common Christian terminology. If we left something out or things are still unclear, feel free to email us at questions@colbychurch.ca

A

Atonement

In a general sense, “atonement” refers to reparation for a debt or wrongdoing. In the Bible it describes God’s plan to reconcile sinful humanity to Himself through the forgiveness of our sin debt – accomplished only through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. In the New Testament the Apostle Paul writes: “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood — to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:25)

B

Baptism

Baptism describes the process of plunging into water and being washed clean. John the Baptist baptized with water and proclaimed: “After me comes one who is more powerful than I. […] He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11) John spoke of the salvation made available to all humanity – that through faith in Jesus Christ our sin may be washed away. Jesus calls us to baptize in water as a visible reflection of this spiritual washing clean: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19) At Colby we hold regular Baptism services – please email questions@colbychurch.ca if you are interested in being baptized!

C

Communion

Communion is a simple meal we observe to proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ and remember His work in attaining and assuring our salvation. The Apostle Paul writes in the New Testament: “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). At Colby we observe a Communion meal consisting of bread and grape juice, every other Sunday during our family worship service. We invite everyone to be present during this meal but suggest only those believing in Jesus Christ participate in the emblems.

E

Eucharist

See: Communion

F

Faith

In the Bible, the author of Hebrews defines as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) Faith in it’s essence must contain a tangible component of belief in the nature, purposes and work of God and in His revelation to us. However, faith runs deeper than just “head knowledge” – it also requires that we place our trust solely in God for our personal salvation. The New Testament teaches consistently that salvation comes to us through faith alone – as Paul writes to the church at Ephesus: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

G

Gospel

The word “gospel” is an old English rendering of the term “good news”. In the Bible, Jesus calls His followers to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15) The “good news” of the Bible is this – that Jesus Christ came into the world to die to save us from our sins. The Apostle Paul writes the following: “By this gospel you are saved […] that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:2-4) In the New Testament, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all describe the life and work of Jesus Christ – sometimes these books are also referred to as “the gospels”.

Grace

Grace describes an act of unmerited or unearned favour. The Gospel of the Bible teaches that human salvation is an act of grace, in the sense that we cannot earn or work our way out of our own sin. Instead, Jesus Christ came into the world to save us. Paul writes in the New Testament: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

J

Justification

In the original Greek language, the word “justified” refers to an upright or righteous standing but the word is often used in a legal context, similar to how we might say “acquitted”. The reality is that each of us is guilty before God in that we have sinned more times than we could even count! However, the glory of the Gospel is that God offers us salvation, not as something we can claim to deserve or can hope to earn, but purely as an act of grace borne out of His love for us.

L

Law

Sometimes the Bible uses the word “law” in a generic sense – the following of a code of conduct that may have positive or negative consequences attached. We might similarly use the word generically by saying “countries have laws”. However, more specifically we might say “the law” referring to the specific codes that we live under. In the Bible, “the law” refers most often to the Mosaic Law – so named because God gave the Law to Israel through Moses in the Old Testament. God describes this moment to Moses, saying: “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.” (Exodus 19:4-5) In the New Testament, Paul teaches that the purpose of the Law was to lead to repentance and salvation through Jesus Christ: “So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24)

Lord’s Supper

See: Communion

R

Repentance

Repentance by definition means a “changing of mind”. This term is used in two ways in the Bible. Firstly, the sense of “repent and believe” occurs at the moment an individual comes to faith in Jesus Christ and receives salvation. The repentance in this context is a changing of mind of how an individual sees themselves, their sin and most importantly how they see God as their Saviour. The second way repentance is used in the Bible is in calling a church or individuals to “repent” of certain behaviours. In this context, individuals may have already received salvation but are being called upon to recognize bad behaviour as bad, turn from it and endeavour to do better.

Righteousness

Righteousness simply refers to a sense of “right-ness” or of “being right”. In the Bible what matters is whether or not we are right with God. All of us have sin in our lives, which creates separation between us and God. However, the Gospel teaches that Jesus Christ came into the world to bring us righteousness through faith in Him. As Paul writes in the Bible: “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” (Philippians 3:9)

S

Salvation

Salvation or “being saved” refers to rescue from a negative or dangerous outcome. In the Bible, the Gospel teaches that we have all sinned and stand deserving of judgement for that sin before God. However, as an act of grace, Jesus Christ has paid the price for our sin through His atonement, for all who will trust in Him. The author of Hebrews writes: “How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3)

T

Torah

See: Law

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