The Lexicon

Self-giving love — love that wills the good of the other, chosen and unconditioned, the love that is God's own nature.

Strong's G26

Grace — favor freely given, not wages owed. The word that defines the gospel as gift.

Strong's G5485

Righteousness / justice — and the word at the heart of justification.

Strong's G1343

Glory — the weight and radiance of God's presence; also honor, praise. The word behind “doxology.”

Strong's G1391

Church — the called-out assembly; not a building but a people.

Strong's G1577

Gospel — “good news,” a royal announcement of victory and accession, not advice but news.

Strong's G2098

“Of one being with the Father” — the non-biblical word that saved the biblical Christ.

Substance, assurance — then, after the Cappadocians, “person”: the word that names the Three.

Strong's G5287

The self-emptying of Christ (Philippians 2:7) — emptied of what? The question that made a doctrine.

Strong's G2758 (the verb kenoō)

Fellowship, communion, partnership — a shared life and shared possession, not mere socializing.

Strong's G2842

Lord; the Septuagint's word for YHWH — applied to Jesus.

Strong's G2962

Service / worship owed to God alone — the 'latria' of latria-vs-dulia.

Strong's G2999

Word, reason, the divine self-expression made flesh in Christ.

Strong's G3056

Repentance — not mere regret but a change of mind that turns the whole self around.

Strong's G3341

“Only begotten” or “one and only” — the disputed word of John 3:16.

Strong's G3439

Being, essence — what God is; the “substance” in “one substance with the Father.”

Strong's G3776

Tradition — what is 'handed over'; praised in one verse, condemned in another.

Strong's G3862

Advocate, Helper, Comforter — Jesus's name for the Holy Spirit, and a title for Christ himself.

Strong's G3875

The mutual indwelling of the three persons of the Trinity — each fully in the others, without confusion. A patristic term, not a biblical one.

Faith — not a leap in the dark but trust grounded in a trustworthy God. Also: faithfulness.

Strong's G4102

Spirit, breath, wind — the Greek of John 3 and Pentecost.

Strong's G4151

To bow down, do obeisance — the verb at the heart of the worship/veneration debate.

Strong's G4352

Flesh — from neutral “human body/humanity” to Paul's loaded “fallen self in rebellion against God.”

Strong's G4561

Body — the whole embodied person, good and destined for resurrection; also the Body of Christ, the church.

Strong's G4983

Savior, deliverer, rescuer — a title Caesar claimed and the church gave to Jesus alone.

Strong's G4990

God; the one true God — and the word John dares apply to the Word.

Strong's G2316

Deification — salvation as participation in God's own life. A patristic term, not a biblical one.

Covenant — a solemn, binding bond sealed by oath and blood. The spine of the whole Bible's story.

Strong's H1285

Steadfast covenant love — loyal, faithful, unbreakable kindness. The Old Testament's deepest word for God's love.

Strong's H2617

Soul, life, living being — not a ghost trapped in a body but the whole living self. You don't HAVE a nephesh; you ARE one.

Strong's H5315

The assembly — Israel gathered before God. The Old Testament root of the New Testament “church” (ekklesia).

Strong's H6951

Breath, wind, spirit — the Spirit hovering over the waters.

Strong's H7307

Peace — not mere absence of conflict but wholeness, completeness, flourishing; the world set right.

Strong's H7965