Religious Definitions
F through J

faith:

trust, confidence. The Bible offers this definition: "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1). Saving faith is trust in Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world.

felicitous (or happy) inconsistency:

A term used to indicate that a person's personal faith might sometimes be at variance with his public confession. For example, a person who teaches that his good works contribute to his salvation may in his heart (or on his death bed) trust solely in Jesus and not rely on his own works.

flesh:

the sinful nature or original sin that we inherit from our parents. This sinful nature remains with the Christian until he dies, warring against his new man and causing him to fall into sin (Romans 7:14-25).

Formula of Concord:

A Lutheran confession written to settle a number of doctrinal controversies that rose within Lutheranism after the death of Luther. The two main authors of this confession were Jakob Andreae (1528-1590) and Martin Chemnitz (1522-1586) It was adopted by the majority of Lutherans in Germany in 1577 and was included among the Lutheran Confessions gathered in the Book of Concord of 1580.

forgive:

to pardon or not count a person's sins against him; when God forgives us he justifies us or declares us not guilty, he frees us from sin's guilt and punishment and "remembers our sins no more" (Isaiah 43:25).

fornication:

having sexual relations with a person other than one's spouse. Fornication is a sin against the sixth commandment and is condemned in the Bible with the strongest of terms (1 Corinthians 6:4-10). Jesus reveals that this sin begins in the heart with lustful thoughts (Matthew 5:27,28).

free will:

the ability to choose. Since human beings are born spiritually dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1), they do not have free will in spiritual matters. By nature they cannot choose to believe in Christ or do those doings which are pleasing to God (Romans 8:7-8). By nature human beings have free will to make choices in outward matters: what to eat, what to wear, to work, to marry, etc.

God:

God is the Supreme Being who has revealed himself in Scripture as three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, yet only one divine Being. He created and preserves the universe, redeemed the world, and calls us to faith through the means of grace. He is almighty, all knowing, wise, holy, good, and gracious and cannot be confined by space or time.

gospel:

the good news that God sent his Son Jesus to take away the sins of the world or one of the first four books of the New Testament which recount the words, life, suffering, death, and resurrection of our Savior. The word gospel is sometimes used in a broad sense to include all the teachings of the Bible.

grace:

the unmerited kindness and favor of God which moved him to provide salvation for sinners by sacrificing his Son in our place. The teaching of salvation by grace alone stresses that salvation is a gift freely given by God without any merit or worthiness on our part.

hades:

Hades is a Greek term that can mean the realm of the dead or the grave (Acts 2:27,31), but in the New Testament is often contrasted with heaven and is used as a term for hell (Luke 16:23), the place where unbelievers will be punished forever.

hell:

Hell is the place of torment prepared for the devil and his evil angels where unbelievers will suffer forever (Matthew 25:41, 46; John 3:16-18; Luke 16:22-23; Mark 9:42-48)

hermeneutics:

the study of principles for interpreting the Bible. Two basic hermeneutical principles are: let Scripture interpret Scripture, and read every passage of the Bible in its context.

historical-critical method:

a method of Bible interpretation based on rationalistic literary criticism which treats the books of the Bible to a greater or lesser degree as fallible human literature. The critic places himself as a judge above God's Word, changing or altering the meaning of Scripture according to the external criteria he chooses.

Holy Communion:

the sacrament instituted by our Savior on the night he was betrayed in which he gives us his very body and blood together with bread and wine for the forgiveness of sins

homiletics:

the art of preaching. Seminarians study homiletics to learn how to write and deliver a sermon.

hope:

trust or confidence. In the Bible, Christian hope is not some vague longing for something we don't have. It is confidence based on the certain promises of God. "We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe" (1 Timothy 4:10).

inerrancy:

The teaching that the Bible is without error and true in all that it says; since the Bible is the word of God, given through holy writers inspired by the Holy Spirit, everything it records is true because God cannot lie (2 Timothy 3:16, John 17:17, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18).

inspiration:

the teaching that God breathed into the writers of Scripture the truths he wanted them to record in the very words he chose. The Holy Spirit used each writer's vocabulary, writing style, life situation, etc., to convey the very message which he has intended us to have.

intercessory prayer:

to ask God for something for someone else. The Bible urges that "requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone-for kings and all those in authority" (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

Invocation:

a prayer asking God to be present with us as we worship. We generally begin our worship services with the brief Trinitarian invocation, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Jehovah (Yahweh):

the proper name of the Triune God, signifying his steadfast love (Exodus 34:5-7). This name was so sacred to the people of Israel that they would not pronounce it. Instead they substituted the LORD whenever they read it in the Old Testament. Our English translations also usually translate this Hebrew word as the LORD.

justification:

God's act of declaring sinners not guilty or forgiven. God declares us not guilty because he declared Jesus guilty in our place.

justify:

a courtroom term meaning to declare innocent or not guilty. When Jesus died and rose again God justified the world. He declared the whole world not guilty. He forgave all the sins of all people of all time.