His Church

Glossary

There are two reasons for the inclusion of this glossary:

1. Although the original writings of Scripture were wholly inspired of God it does not follow that every translation of the Bible meets that standard of perfection. Each translation has its own quirks. When the Authorized Version of the Bible was being produced the committee in charge were under obligation to use (or keep, in respect of revising earlier translations) such words as ‘church’, ‘bishop’, ‘office’ and such like. These terms had come to take on very distinct ecclesiastical, even social and political meanings by this time. Many of these words could have been translated into far more ‘ordinary’, every day terms. For the purposes of this study, instead of changing these words it was considered better to stick with them for the sake of consistency and hopefully make their meanings clear. Despite these obstacles the A.V. still has many favourable advantages, just one of which is that we are very fortunate in having a wealth of available dictionaries, concordances and the like especially for use with this version of the Bible.
2. Apart from the translators’ choice of words we have a much bigger problem of many biblical words and phrases being confused, misunderstood, and above all, persistently misused! It is, and no doubt will continue to be, a never-ending task to constantly define and restore the proper Scriptural meanings of many Bible terminologies. This glossary deals with some of the terms used in this study which are either potentially misleading in their translation and/or just plain misunderstood. Most of these are more clearly explained as they occur within the study. The glossary has been included simply to alert the reader to be careful not to assume the meaning of any of any of these terms. The table below gives their proper meanings as reflected by the original Greek and/or their obvious context and usage in the Authorized Version.

'His Church' - Table of Terms

BISHOP	Means an ‘overseer’. It is synonymous with the terms ‘elder’ and ‘overseer’ and possibly ‘pastor’ (see section on ‘the pastoral system’ for more on this). It never implies someone who oversees the other overseers.
BAPTISM	Means ‘immersion’. The believer is immersed ‘into’ two things (for want of a better word): 1. God, in the person of the Holy Spirit. 2. Water, as an expression or sign of the first. Paul states quite clearly that there is only “one (real) baptism” (Eph 4:5). Thus, as already said, the latter is simply the accompanying sign of the former. Whenever we read the word ‘baptism/baptize/baptized’ in Scripture we need to ask diligently, into what? Don’t just assume it means water.
CHURCH	The Greek word is ECCLESIA. In simple terms it means a body of people. In the New Testament there is one occasion where it is used in reference to the entire nation of Israel (Acts 7:38). Apart from this once all other references are to God’s people in the New Covenant era. It is used in two ways: 1. As a collective term for all Christians. In this study this is referred to as ‘The Church’ and ‘The Universal Church’. 2. It is used of a localized, regular gathering of Christians, ‘a church’. In this study this is used interchangeably with ‘congregation’ and ‘assembly’. It never refers to a building of any sort or any man-made subsection of The Church – i.e. a denominational group. (See also the first page of the study under ‘What is the Church?’ for details of one instance where ‘church’ is misleadingly translated).
COVENANT	See ‘Testament’.
INSPIRATION	When used in Scripture of Scripture it means the incontrovertible, ‘God-breathed’ word. A man or woman may be ‘inspired’ in what he or she says, writes, sings or prophesies but it will not be a ‘for-all-time word’. The term ‘inspiration of Scripture’ means it is God’s revealed instruction and pattern for all Christians and all churches in all places at all times.
MINISTER	Translated from a variety of Greek words usually meaning ‘servant’ or similar. It is not used in a specific sense of an ‘office’ (see office). Local churches were not overseen by a minister. They were overseen by a plurality of elders.
MINISRTY (see also 'priest')	The commonly used word for ‘ministry’ in the New Testament means ‘service’. It is noted in this study that ‘The Ministry’ is the work of all believers (see section on ‘Authority in the Universal Church’ in reference to Ephesians 4:11&12). There are three references in the New Testament that perhaps best encapsulate the meaning of ‘The Ministry’: 2 Cor. 3:6 to 4:1 our ministry is the “New Testament” (God’s current basis for dealing with human beings); 2 Cor. 5:18 we have “the ministry of reconciliation” (by God’s grace he allows us to be involved in the process of sinners being reunited to Himself); 1 Cor. 16:15 we are in “the ministry of the saints” (all Christians are called to serve all other Christians in whatever way God enables them). The latter two references here are really the two streams of outworking the first. We are ministers (servants) of God and man. It is the same concept as priesthood. We are all in the priesthood; we are all ‘in the ministry’.
NEW TESTAMENT (see also 'testament')	Commonly used to describe the twenty-seven books of the Bible from Matthew to Revelation. To be more precise, it really covers the portion of the Bible from Acts chapter 2 (the outpouring at Pentecost marked the commencement of the New Testament) to the end of Revelation. Even more relevantly it defines the whole age, which started at Pentecost and continues up until the present day. Acts chapter 2 also shows clearly that this period is also termed “the last days” (v.17) (another grossly misused phrase). In other words the New Testament age is the final phase of God’s dealings with man before Jesus will return and intervene directly in the affairs of this world.
OFFICE	This is an added word used by the A.V. translators. For example: “if a man desire the_office_of_a_bishop” (1Tim 3:1). These last five words are just one in the Greek. An alternative translation would be: “if a man desire overseership” or “if a man has a desire to_be_a_bishop” or “to do_the_work_of_a_bishop”. In the same passage (v.10) we read of deacons: “let_them_use_the_office_of_a_deacon” again, these seven words are translating just one word in the Greek; it just means ‘serve’ or ‘minister’. Where I have used the term ‘office’ in this study it simply means ‘a recognized role’. ‘Office’ is way too officious.
OLD TESTAMENT (see also 'testament')	Commonly used to describe the thirty-nine books of the Bible from Genesis to Malachi. More accurately used, it covers the period that started at Exodus 19/20 when the people agreed (covenanted) to do what ever God said and God gave them The Law, to the end of Acts chapter 1 (Acts 2 marking the commencement of the New Testament era). It must always be remembered that the Old Covenant was an interim arrangement until Christ came and completed the necessary work for God to be able to regenerate corrupt human hearts (Gal. 3:19). The Old Testament, as in the agreement between God and man, has been entirely superseded by the New (Heb 8:13).
PASTOR	Used only once in the Bible as a noun, its meaning is ‘shepherd’. It could be interpreted as being synonymous with bishop, overseer and elder, which is a local church role. Alternatively, it could be interpreted as a Universal Church function as is the case for the other roles mentioned in the same list where it occurs (Eph 4:11), (See section on ‘the pastoral system’ for more on these two possible interpretations). It never in any way implies an individual who has overall responsibility for a local church or an individual who is in any way distinct among other elders. It should never be used in the personal ‘my pastor’ except in reference to Jesus. Remember, “The Lord is my Shepherd.”
PATTERN	Wherever I have used the term ‘pattern’ in this study, my only intended meaning and association with this word is: ‘example we should follow’.
PRIEST (see also 'ministry')	In the context of the Old Testament a priest was someone who functioned in a visibly distinct office. With one exception (Melchisedec), where ‘priest’ is used it refers to either a descendant of Aaron or a religious leader in a pagan order of worship. In both cases this office was accompanied with special garments, ‘holy’ places, religious ceremonies and required special ‘instruments’ of worship. In the context of the New Testament and where it is used of Christians it is reflective of an ‘inward’, spiritual role into which all believers are born (when we receive that “one baptism” into God). All Christians are priests under the New Covenant; there is no such concept as some who are and some who aren’t. God, as an interim order of things, established the Old Testament priesthood. It was full of symbolic meanings relating to the work that Christ has now fulfilled. Any order of priesthood now other than the spiritual priesthood of all believers is an express denial of the full accomplishment of Christ’s work.
TESTAMENT	Literally means a contract or agreement. It is used interchangeably in Scripture and in this study with ‘Covenant’.
WORSHIP	This word is used in translation of a wide variety of words in both the Old and the New Testament. Their literal meanings are along the lines of: Bow down, prostrate, serve, esteem, venerate etc. It is suggested in this study that the underlying meaning of ‘worship’ is ‘to sacrifice’ (see ‘a note on worship’ p.9). Worship can take place and find expression in many things, but its fundamental meaning does not equate with singing or music. True worshippers of the living God do so by living everyday in self-denying sacrifice in favour of the will of God taking precedence in their lives. Worship is not the reason given in the Bible for churches to gather together. Edification (“building one another up in our most holy faith”) is the plainly and frequently stated reason for the assembly meeting. Worship should indeed take place in our hearts as we sing, pray, preach, wait, listen etc. but the outward activities themselves do not constitute an ‘act of worship’. The question “where do you worship?” has only one answer in Scripture – “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23,24).

All Scripture references taken from the Authorised Version of the Bible. Strong’s Concordance and Greek Dictionary has formed the basis for most word analysis but many other study sources have been consulted for confirmation.

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