Introduction. Each time we discover a new hobby or begin a new job, we look forward to learning and mastering it. One of the very first steps is learning a new set of vocabulary.
Every school subject, sport, hobby, or job has a special and exclusive vocabulary. In our youth we learned numbers, then to add subtract, multiply and divide. This vocabulary is the foundation of nearly every activity in life. There are also special vocabulary words in English, history, biology, geography, anatomy, etc. If we want to speak intelligently and understand intricacies, we must know these words.
As the word "strike" moves from bowling, baseball, a gold mine or work, our minds shift. "Needle" is an entirely different thing in sewing, medicine, sports, knitting, and music. If we know the subject, we know what it means. If we don’t, then it means nothing and is only confusing. This is why college courses require pre-requisites. Without a knowledge of new vocabulary and principles, we can’t understand some of what the teacher says.
The "great... mystery of godliness" is exactly the same (1 Tim 3:16). The Holy Spirit uses vocabulary words found nowhere else and uses common words in entirely different ways. If we want to initially be saved and then mature as faithful Christians, we must learn the vocabulary of the Bible. We cannot fulfill the command: "if any man speak, let him speak the oracles of God;" (1 Pet 4:11) without this knowledge.
Every school subject, sport, hobby, or job has a special and exclusive vocabulary. In our youth we learned numbers, then to add subtract, multiply and divide. This vocabulary is the foundation of nearly every activity in life. There are also special vocabulary words in English, history, biology, geography, anatomy, etc. If we want to speak intelligently and understand intricacies, we must know these words.
As the word "strike" moves from bowling, baseball, a gold mine or work, our minds shift. "Needle" is an entirely different thing in sewing, medicine, sports, knitting, and music. If we know the subject, we know what it means. If we don’t, then it means nothing and is only confusing. This is why college courses require pre-requisites. Without a knowledge of new vocabulary and principles, we can’t understand some of what the teacher says.
The "great... mystery of godliness" is exactly the same (1 Tim 3:16). The Holy Spirit uses vocabulary words found nowhere else and uses common words in entirely different ways. If we want to initially be saved and then mature as faithful Christians, we must learn the vocabulary of the Bible. We cannot fulfill the command: "if any man speak, let him speak the oracles of God;" (1 Pet 4:11) without this knowledge.
The vocabulary exclusive to Scripture is purely spiritual, received from “the Spirit who is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God.” Those inspired to preach and write Scripture revealed words “not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Spirit teaches” (see 1Cor. 2:9-13). Only in Scripture can we find “spiritual truths expressed in spiritual words.” These are the “words, whereby you shall be saved” (Acts 11:14). If we want to speak “sound words, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ” and avoid “disputes of words” becoming “proud, knowing nothing,” or being “obsessed” (1Tim. 6:3-4), we must learn their meaning. Only then can we “hold the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me.” (2Tim. 1:13)
In Corinth, the words Paul needed to use were still unknown. They were still “carnal” and the new spiritual language of the Christian was beyond them. “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ." (1Cor. 3:1)
A spiritual vocabulary is a prerequisite to spiritual maturity and understanding. Only those who “by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil” truly hear and grasp important truths. What about us? Have we mastered “the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God” (Heb 5:12-6:3)?
This article is summed up in the word “rudiment.” The Greeks used this term to describe the new vocabulary of any subject: “stoicheia... any first thing, ... first principle... 4. the elements, rudiments, primary and fundamental principles of any art, science, or discipline...” (Thayer p 589; 4747) Without rudimentary knowledge we can only drink the “milk” of the word and can’t move on to “solid food.” God sees us as “unskilled in the word of righteousness” and still only a “babe.” We just don’t have the tools necessary to visualize or understand “the deep things of God.”
When the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, He brought a message from God. Sadly most in Israel could not speak His language. They could not hear what He said. They heard words, but could not take any meaning from them. They were like children listening to a fast paced football game on the radio with no ability to follow the game because they don’t know the vocabulary. “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God” (Jn. 8:43, 47).
Nothing New. God has faced this problem with mankind from the beginning. He always carefully explained and gave clear instructions, but though they heard the words, they never understood them. As God led Israel out of Egypt, He carefully explained His expectations. As He spoke a language of commitment and faith, their selfish hearts could not grasp it. We must learn from this example. Only after learning the vocabulary of faith can we hear what God wants to tell us. “For indeed we have had good tidings preached unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard.” (Heb 4:2)
If we are competent in our work and hobbies, it is because we know the vocabulary. Only with our senses exercised by reason of use we can listen to a basketball game on the radio and without seeing the game still know exactly what is going on.
An Example. What about the words of God? Can we hear with a heart of faith and discernment? When God introduced the new vocabulary word “baptism” to Israel, He expected man to master it. He took a common word “bury” and used John’s ministry to reveal it as an immersion in water for the remission of sins (Mk. 1:4; Lk. 3:3). His very name, “John the Baptist” revealed the importance of baptism to his ministry. Jesus took all that John revealed and placed it in His gospel (Mk. 16:15-16). Yet few today can speak “sound words” about baptism. They have allowed the world to redefine it. Instead of “seeing” a burial in water they also hear sprinkling or pouring water. But since we can only be “buried with Him in baptism” through immersion, anything else is “carnal.”
Conclusion. There are multitudes of spiritual truths combined into spiritual words. We can never “accurately handle the word of truth?” (2Tim. 2:18), “preach the word”, or “endure the sound doctrine” without mastering the spiritual vocabulary revealed by the Spirit. While others have “itching ears” that lead them to “turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables” (2Tim. 4:1-4), we must “be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” (2Tim. 2:15).
It’s time to “gird up the loins of our mind”(I Pet 1:13) and speak the vocabulary of “the things which are not seen” for “the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2Cor. 4:18). While the world speaks the language of the “temporary,” for the mature Christian such “old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2Cor. 5:17) What a wonderful blessing to know the vocabulary of the eternal!
But if we are not careful, we too will fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah as so many have before us:
In Corinth, the words Paul needed to use were still unknown. They were still “carnal” and the new spiritual language of the Christian was beyond them. “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ." (1Cor. 3:1)
A spiritual vocabulary is a prerequisite to spiritual maturity and understanding. Only those who “by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil” truly hear and grasp important truths. What about us? Have we mastered “the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God” (Heb 5:12-6:3)?
This article is summed up in the word “rudiment.” The Greeks used this term to describe the new vocabulary of any subject: “stoicheia... any first thing, ... first principle... 4. the elements, rudiments, primary and fundamental principles of any art, science, or discipline...” (Thayer p 589; 4747) Without rudimentary knowledge we can only drink the “milk” of the word and can’t move on to “solid food.” God sees us as “unskilled in the word of righteousness” and still only a “babe.” We just don’t have the tools necessary to visualize or understand “the deep things of God.”
When the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, He brought a message from God. Sadly most in Israel could not speak His language. They could not hear what He said. They heard words, but could not take any meaning from them. They were like children listening to a fast paced football game on the radio with no ability to follow the game because they don’t know the vocabulary. “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God” (Jn. 8:43, 47).
Nothing New. God has faced this problem with mankind from the beginning. He always carefully explained and gave clear instructions, but though they heard the words, they never understood them. As God led Israel out of Egypt, He carefully explained His expectations. As He spoke a language of commitment and faith, their selfish hearts could not grasp it. We must learn from this example. Only after learning the vocabulary of faith can we hear what God wants to tell us. “For indeed we have had good tidings preached unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard.” (Heb 4:2)
If we are competent in our work and hobbies, it is because we know the vocabulary. Only with our senses exercised by reason of use we can listen to a basketball game on the radio and without seeing the game still know exactly what is going on.
An Example. What about the words of God? Can we hear with a heart of faith and discernment? When God introduced the new vocabulary word “baptism” to Israel, He expected man to master it. He took a common word “bury” and used John’s ministry to reveal it as an immersion in water for the remission of sins (Mk. 1:4; Lk. 3:3). His very name, “John the Baptist” revealed the importance of baptism to his ministry. Jesus took all that John revealed and placed it in His gospel (Mk. 16:15-16). Yet few today can speak “sound words” about baptism. They have allowed the world to redefine it. Instead of “seeing” a burial in water they also hear sprinkling or pouring water. But since we can only be “buried with Him in baptism” through immersion, anything else is “carnal.”
Conclusion. There are multitudes of spiritual truths combined into spiritual words. We can never “accurately handle the word of truth?” (2Tim. 2:18), “preach the word”, or “endure the sound doctrine” without mastering the spiritual vocabulary revealed by the Spirit. While others have “itching ears” that lead them to “turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables” (2Tim. 4:1-4), we must “be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” (2Tim. 2:15).
It’s time to “gird up the loins of our mind”(I Pet 1:13) and speak the vocabulary of “the things which are not seen” for “the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2Cor. 4:18). While the world speaks the language of the “temporary,” for the mature Christian such “old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2Cor. 5:17) What a wonderful blessing to know the vocabulary of the eternal!
But if we are not careful, we too will fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah as so many have before us:
- And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; 15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.' 16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; Mt. 13:14-16
- "B" for "Baptism" along with "I" for "Infant Baptism" - Is Bible "baptism" sprinkling water on a baby for "original sin" or to "christen" them, pouring water on a believer because they already have been saved, or something else?
- "C" for "Church", "Church Building", and "Church, the True" - Is "church" a building, a particular denomination, or something else?
- "D" for "Drinking" – Does the Bible encourage social drinking with its use of the term "wine"?
- "F" for "Fornication" - How does the Bible view "making love", "living together", or having "friends with benefits"?
- "M" for "Marriage" along with "D" for "Divorce" and "R" for "Remarriage" - What constitutes being "married"? What is God's view of having a "fling", an "affair", or an "open marriage"? Does God restrict grounds for divorce?
- "P" for "Predestination" – Does the Bible's use of "predestination" mean we have no choice regarding our salvation?
- "R" for "Religious Titles" along with "C" for "Church Government", "D" for "Deacons", "E" for Elders", and "P" for "Priesthood" – What about a local congregation having a "priest", "pastor", "Father", or teenage "elders"?
- "W" for "Works" along with "A" for "Apostasy", "F" for "Faith", and "O" for "Obedience" – What is the proper role of belief and obedience in our salvation?