Grace – Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology The word “grace” in biblical parlance can, like forgiveness, repentance, regeneration, and salvation, mean something as broad as describing the whole of God’s activity toward man or as narrow as describing one segment of that activity. An accurate, common definition describes grace as the unmerited favor of […]

Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary Of Biblical Theology – Golden Rule Golden Rule [N] The Old Testament. The term “Golden Rule” is not found in Scripture, but is the popular way of referring to the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:12 and lu 6:31. Jesus states, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” With […]

Good, Goodness The main Old Testament words for good/goodness come from the Hebrew word tob [b’f] while the most common New Testament words are kalos [kalov”], agathos [ajgaqov”], chrestos [crhstov”], and their cognates. These words often appear in a nonmoral sense; a “good” or “good-of-appearance” woman is beautiful ( Gen 6:2 ; 24:16 ; 26:7 ; 2 Sam 11:2 ; Est 1:11 ; Esther 2:2-3 Esther 2:7 ) and a “good” man is handsome ( 1 Sam […]

Gospel [N] [E] “Glad tidings” or “good news, ” from Anglo-Saxon godspell. The Old Testament. Good news is proclaimed widely ( 1 Sam 31:9 ; Psalm 96:2-3 ; Isa 40:9 ; 52:7 ), spread rapidly ( 2 Sam 18:19-31 ; 2 Kings 7:9 ; Psalm 68:11 ), and declared and received joyfully ( 2 Sam 1:20 ; Psalm 96:11-12 ; Isa 52:7-9 ; Jer 20:15 ). Where the message is gospel for Israelites and based on fact, the news is in every case but one ( Jer […]

God, Name of The God of Israel was known by many different names, titles, and epithets. God’s particular names derive both from his revealing his attributes and character to Israel and from Israel’s response to him. However, alongside this wealth of names and epithets in the Bible, the concept of God’s “Name” itself plays an […]