Reformed Doctrine
This list was compiled from catechism material written by Dr. cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary. Used with permission
Terms
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- The Kingdom of God
- God's reign over His universal realm. Covenant, prophets, priests, human kings, and the church are all tools, or instruments, of the Kingdom of God. Like a mustard seed, the Kingdom starts out small but grows and grows. The things that Kingdom people cherish and value -- like humility, forgiveness, kindness __ seem "Upside - down to people who are not members of the Kingdom.
- Faith
- The bond to Christ from our side. Faith includes belief in the promises fo God and trust in Jesus. Justification is recieved by faith.
- Sanctification
- The lifelong conversion by which Christians become gradually holier--that is, more like Jesus Christ. Sanctification is the solution to the problem od pollution. We want to live the life of holiness because of our desire for God, or gratitude to him, and our faith in him.
- Freedom
- The removal of the things that drag is down and the opening up to joyful life in God. (Because if we are not slaves to him, we will be slaves to something else.)
- God's Speaking
- God's communication to us
- Inspiration of Scripture
- The process by which God "breathed" into the biblical writers what he wanted them to write
- Atonement
- The process bu which Jesus Christ put right what sin put wrong
- Redemption
- To rescue someone by paying a ransom. Just as God redeemed Israel from the land of Egypt, so Jesus Christ redeems us from the slavery of sin and death by paying the ransom price of His lifeblood.
- Greatness of God
- (attribute)meaning that god is awesome, and his greatness is behind his power
- Law of God
- The statement of what God wants form us. The law of God is a training guide for the new life of liberty.
- Covenant Obligations
- The duties God's people owe to God
- Doctrine
- churches teachings about God and our salvation based on the bible
- Tragedy of the Fall
- The fact that the fall happens not to unimportant creatures (whose fall wouldn'
- Justification
- God's acceptance of unacceptable people. Justification includes the forgiving of our sins and the adding to us of Jesus' righteousness.
- Original Sin
- The corruption and guilt that the human race has inherited from Adam and Eve
- Covenant Promises
- God's Promises in the covenant of Grace is that he will love his people,protect them, and help them
- Guilt
- What we have when we brake God's law and deserve the law's penalty. Guilt includes not only what we have when we do wrong, it also includes what we have when we fail to do right. When we fail to do right, guilt is called debt.
- Reformed
- To be Reformed is to confess the common Christian faith with a special accent. In particular, it means to accent such things as the authority of sricpture, the sovereignty of God, personal integrity in the life of holiness, and the need for a view of world intergrity (sometimes called a "world-and-life view" or :Kingdom vision".)
- Misery
- The pain and suffering that comes from sin; the fallout that comes from the fall. Among the fallen world's miseries are disorders, estrangement, and death.
- Creation
- The sovereign act of God by which He bought into being the whole universe from nothing
- Estrangement
- A disorder in which persons or things that ought to be friends become strangers instead; for example, when people are estranged from God, they see God not only as a loving father, but as an embarrassment or even as an enemy.
- Circumcision
- The old testament sign and seal of the covenant of Grace
- Disorder
- The loss of harmony and right relation in the universe. Disorder shows up in relations between God and humanity, between some humans and others, between humanity and nature, and even within individual human beings.
- Sovereignty of God
- (attribute) means that he is supreme and in control
- Shame
- A sense of humiliation after sin
- Reconciliation
- Restoring peace and harmony to estrange parties. Jesus Christ brings peace and reconiliation by acting as arbitrator, or mediator between God and humanity.
- God's Word
- What God says in his speaking
- Satisfaction
- Giving someone what he has coming, so as to "fill up an empty place" in him
- Common Grace
- God's way of partly stopping corruption so that human life can continue. Common grace explains why unbelievers often show good behavior - better than that of some Christians.
- The Fall
- The event in which our first parents disobeyed God and thus brought evil into the world.
- Grace
- Loving kindness to a person in misery, especially when a person is miserable because of his or her sins
- Image of God
- The likeness of God in human beings
- Providence
- The care Good shows for all his creation
- Forgiveness of Sins
- The subtracting, or putting away, of sins so that they are no longer held against us. When God forgives our sins, we can be at peace with him.
- Goodness of God
- an attribute of God meaning that he satisfies the needs of all his creatures
- Incarnation
- The event in which the eternal Son of God took on human flesh, which we celebrate at Christmas
- Evil
- The combination of sin and misery that we see in the world around us. Evil originated in the angel world but comes to us through the fall of Adam and Eve.
- Repentance
- The complete turning around of our lives. Repentance is like dying and then being born again.
- Authority of Scripture
- The power of the Bible to influence our believing and acting. Because the Bible is our authority, it can even give commands that we must obey. The Bible is authoritative because God is its author and because only in the Bible do we find Jesus Christ, our rescuer.
- Confessions
- carefully organized written statements of doctrine approved by the church
- Triune
- Being a triple and a unit at the same time
- Bible
- The book that contains the writings or scriptures that Christians recognize as the written word of God
- Attributes of God
- God's characteristics or qualities such as goodness and greatness
- Infallibility of Scripture
- The quality of the Bible that means if will not fail.
- Corruption
- The seeping or flooding power of sin. Sin seeps into every part of human life, staining and spoiling thoughts, words, deeds, feelings, and inclinations.
- Covenant
- a solemn agreement, a contract, a pledge