The most misunderstood words in Christianity

Life

What is Life?

There are two different categories of life that apply to human-beings.

There is our physical life that we as humans tend to hold on to with fear.

Second there is a Spiritual life that most people today don’t think of at all unless they are staring death in the door.

What is physical life?

A general definition of the word life as defined by society is: “The property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms and inanimate matter, manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, reproduction, and response to stimuli or adaptation to the environment originating from within the organism.The characteristic state or condition of a living organism.Living organisms considered as a group. “ Google search

Wikipedia attempts to define life in the following terms: “Since there is no consensus for a definition of life, most current definitions in biology are descriptive. Life is considered a characteristic of something that preserves, furthers or reinforces its existence in the given environment. This characteristic exhibits all or most of the following traits:

Homeostasis: regulation of the internal environment to maintain a constant state; for example, sweating to reduce temperature Organisation: being structurally composed of one or more cells – the basic units of life

Metabolism: transformation of energy by converting chemicals and energy into cellular components (anabolism) and decomposing organic matter (catabolism). Living things require energy to maintain internal organisation (homeostasis) and to produce the other phenomena associated with life.

Growth: maintenance of a higher rate of anabolism than catabolism. A growing organism increases in size in all of its parts, rather than simply accumulating matter.

Adaptation: the evolutionary process whereby an organism becomes better able to live in its habitat or habitats.

Response to stimuli: a response can take many forms, from the contraction of a unicellular organism to external chemicals, to complex reactions involving all the senses of multicellular organisms. A response is often expressed by motion; for example, the leaves of a plant turning toward the sun (phototropism).

chemotaxis.Reproduction: the ability to produce new individual organisms, either asexually from a single parent organism or sexually from two parent organisms.

These complex processes, called physiological functions, have underlying physical and chemical bases, as well as signaling and control mechanisms that are essential to maintaining life.

What is Spiritual life?

If life is the continued joining of our spirit, soul, and body; then spiritual life is the joining of our spirit and soul to the Spirit of God.

What is our spirit?

What is the difference between soul and spirit.

“Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” ESV Genesis 2:7 The King James uses the term “a living soul”.

Here we have all three components of the triune man.

God made Adam from the dust and formed the body. That body was perfect, complete, and lifeless.

God then breathed into that body His breath and Adam became a living soul.

God breathed His Spirit into Adam and Adam became a living soul.

Body, Soul, and Spirit.

DICHOTOMY | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary: dichotomy noun - a difference between two completely opposite ideas or things: There is often a dichotomy between what politicians say and what they do. “The view that man is made up of two parts, body and soul/spirit.” Wayne Grudem

Trichotomy Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster noun: division into three parts, elements, or classes. “The view that man is made up of three parts: body, soul, and spirit.” Wayne Grudem

God is a triune being made up of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Genesis says that we were made in the image of God. Many if not most theologians believe man is also a triune being: body, soul, and spirit.

“The Bible teaches that only God gives life and that only God should take life away. … Holman Bible Dictionary

Wayne Gruden says that it is “The immaterial part of man, a term used interchangeably with “soul.”” Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Second Edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2020), 1524.

What is Eternal Life?

One great misunderstanding of Eternal Life is that only Christians have it. Many if not most Christians think that only they have eternal life. A better rendering of the concept would be that of eternal existence.

Death

At it’s core, the most basic meaning of death is separation.

Physical death is the separation of life from the body.

Spiritual death is the separation of our spirit from God.

Even though most adults have experienced the results of death on some level in their lives, we have a hard time defining death.

When the Bible uses the term or word “death”, it is speaking of Spiritual Death most of the time. Most people when reading the Bible and seeing the word death, the think of physical death. This confuses most readers because they cannot make physical death fit into passage. This causes many of the strange interpretations we hear.

“but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Gen 2:17 Everyone who has read that verse and then the following verses understands that Adam did not die a physical death. He did begin the process of dying at that very moment. The process of dying took hundreds of years for Adam and Eve.

Then how can we interprept the passage “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” If we interpret the word “die” as a Spiritual death, then we have no problem. The Spiritual death was immediate and the process of physical death was also immediate. English Standard Version (Chapter 2)

Jesus on the cross is a great example. John records in his gospel that Jesus said “ It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. “ John 19:30 KJV Luke records the event this way, “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” Luke 23:46 KJV

In fact all four gospels record the act of Jesus willingly and purposely giving up His life.

There is no question that Jesus died a physical death at this point. The difference is the He was able to release his life-force willingly. Luke, a medical doctor wanted us to know that Jesus released His living force into the hands of God the Father. Is a Spiritual death at work here as well? Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. John 20:17

Yet there comes a God-appointed time for everyone to die (Eccles. 3:2; Heb. 9:27).

Although Christians value life highly, they need not fear death (1 Cor. 15:54–55; Heb. 2:14–15; cp. 2 Cor. 5:8).

The Apostle Paul, who was torn between life on earth and eternal life in heaven, was willing to follow either path that God desired for him (Phil. 1:19–26.”

Love

Biblical use of the word is an act of the will - not an emotion. You see a need and you decide to take care of that need because it is something you want to do. The person or problem that needs the act does not have to be worthy of your acting. They do not have to be thankful that you met the need. They do not even have to know that you met the need. God saw that we were in need. He saw that we could not take care of the need. God knew that we would not be worthy of the need. He also knew that the majority would not be thankful or even accept His sacrifice to meet the need. But God stepped in to meet our need of salvation of His own accord, His own power, and His complete willingness to sacrifice Himself to satisfy the need.

The Apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:7, 10 that “God is Love”. He continued in verses 10 “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins .” The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016).

Holy

Set aside for special use or function.

Sunday dishes or clothes

Perfect, Mature