Theology.  The study of God, often known as Theology proper.  Theology proper includes such subjects as the nature of God (the Trinity); the attributes or characteristics of God, including His powerful attributes and His moral attributes.  God’s powerful attributes include His infinity, immutability, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, and sovereignty.  His moral attributes include His holiness, love, justice, and truth.  Theology proper also discusses the Kingdom of God, His rule over His creation.

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Theophany. Instances in which God has appeared to man in the form of an angel, human, or other entity. The word "theophany" is an English adaptation of two Greek words, theós (2316), God, and the root syllable phan, representing such Greek words as the adjective phanerós (5318) (visible, evident, clearly seen, apparent); the verb phaneróō (5319) (to make known, cause to be seen, make manifest); the adverb phanerōs (5320) (openly, publicly, plainly, clearly, distinctly); and the noun phanérōsis (5321) (manifestation, making known). So a very simple definition of "theophany" is "God- manifestation."

    God is essentially spirit (John 4:24), and has no body. He rarely has come into contact with humans. But from time to time He has done so. On these occasions He has accommodated Himself to the person or people with whom He was interacting by showing Himself in a visible form. Here are some examples:

    As the Angel (Messenger) of Yahweh (the LORD): to Hagar (Gen.16:7-14; 21:15-19); to Abraham (Gen. 22:11-18); to Jacob (Gen. 31:10-13); to Moses (Ex. 3:1-10); to Gideon (Judges 6:11-27); to Manoah and his wife, parents of Samson (Judges 13:2-22); to Zechariah in some sort of vision (Zech. 3:1-7). It is worth noting that Manoah and his wife described the angel (messenger) as a man (îysh, 376) (Judges 13:6, 8, 10, 11).

    As a "consuming fire" displaying "the glory of the LORD" on Mt. Sinai (Ex. 24:16-18); as a "pillar of cloud" by day and a "pillar of fire" by night to guide Israel through the wilderness (Ex. 13:21).

    Isaiah "...saw the LORD sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple...," attended by six six-winged seraphim (Isa. 6:1-3).

    Ezekiel saw the heavens opened in visions of God. He saw four living beings accompanied by enormous wheels, all enveloped in a brightly lit great cloud with fire flashing back and forth continually. Over the heads of the living beings was stretched out something like an expanse appearing as crystal. Over the expanse there appeared to be a sapphire throne, upon which sat a figure with the appearance of a man. From his waist upwards, he looked like glowing metal appearing like fire; from his waist downwards he appeared to be fire, and he was surrounded with a radiance that appeared like a rainbow on a rainy day. Such was the appearance of the glory of God (Ezekiel 1:1-28).

    Paul saw the risen Christ, who is God-come-in-the-flesh, in the form of a blinding light from heaven that flashed around him (Acts 9:3-4). He also heard the voice of Christ (Acts 9:4-6).

    The Apostle John, in a vision, saw the resurrected Christ (Rev. 1:12-16). John fell at His feet like a dead man (Rev. 1:17-18).

    John was also escorted up into heaven, where he apparently saw a representation of God. There was a throne standing in heaven (Rev. 4:2). The One sitting thereupon had the appearance of a jasper stone and a sardius stone (Rev. 4:3). There was an emerald-hued rainbow around the throne (Rev. 4:3). The One sitting upon the throne held a seven-sealed scroll in His right hand (Rev. 5:1).

    Such are a few examples of theophanies. It is my opinion that the theophanies of God in the Old Testament were pre-incarnate appearance of the Messiah. That would especially be true of those in which God had the form of a man, or was termed as "the Angel of the Lord." If that is true, and I think it is, these Theophanies were also Christophanies, pre-incarnate manifestations of the Messiah.

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Thessalonica. One of the main cities of Macedonia. It lay at the intersection of two major Roman roads, the Ignatian Way, leading from Italy eastward, and the other road leading from the Danube to the Aegean, on the shores of which Thessalonica was situated. This name has been retained down to the present time, usually abbreviated since medieval times to Salonica or Saloniki.

    From the point of view of the NT, this city was important because it was the location of a major NT church, the Church of the Thessalonians. It was founded by Paul on his Second Missionary Journey after he had reasoned from the Hebrew Scriptures in the Synagogue there at Thessalonica for three Sabbaths, attempting to persuade the Jewish people that Jesus was the promised Messiah (Acts 17:1-9). Some were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, but others became jealous and started a riot, dragging Jason and some other brothers before the city authorities with wild, seditious accusations. They accused the new Christians of being anti-Caesar, of promoting another King, Jesus.

    The brothers rescued Paul and Silas and sent them by night to the city of Berea, where they were favorably received (Acts 17:10-12). However, Jewish people from Thessalonica came and agitated the crowds in Berea (Acts 17:13). The brothers in Berea helped Paul escape to Athens (Acts 17:14-15).

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Thessalonians. The church of the Macedonian city of Thessalonica. In certain contexts, the citizens of Thessalonica, which would include unbelievers as well as believers.

    Paul wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians in AD 51. He reviewed his personal relationship with them (1 Thess. 1:1-3:12), urged them to abstain from sexual immorality (1 Thess. 4:1-8), and encouraged them to lead lives focused on helping others (1 Thess. 4:9-12). He also focused on Eschatology, urging the brothers to live holy lives as they awaited the coming of the Lord Jesus with all His holy ones (1 Thess. 3:13); he reminded them that they need not grieve hopelessly when some among their number died before Christ returned, because, when He did return, He would resurrect them and give them all resurrection bodies, some without having had to die first (1 Thess. 4:13-18). This is a central NT passage on the Rapture. Moreover, he encouraged them that they would not have to participate in the devastating Day of the Lord, the Tribulation period (1 Thess. 5:1-11).

    In his Second Letter to the Thessalonians (also written AD 51), Paul expanded on the theme of "End-Time Encouragement." Even though they were experiencing persecution, they could anticipate that, when Christ returned to earth in power and glory (the Second Coming), He would pay back vengeance on their persecutors (2 Thess. 1:3-12). Moreover, they were not to fear the Rapture had come and left them behind to endure the horrible Day of the LORD (2 Thess. 2:2). That Day of the Lord would not come until first, the Church was gathered to Christ in the Rapture (2 Thess. 2:1), second, an apostasy arose (2 Thess. 2:3), and, third, the Man of Lawlessness was revealed (2 Thess. 2:3-12). This deceiver, and all deluded by him, the Lord would slay with the breath of His mouth when He returned to set up His kingdom (2 Thess. 2:7-12). The Thessalonian believers could take comfort that, from the beginning, God had chosen them for salvation by means of the setting apart of the Holy Spirit and their faith in the truth of the Good News and for the glory of their Master, Jesus, the Messiah (2 Thess. 2:13-14). Meanwhile Paul urged them to pray for him and his associates (2 Thess. 3:1-5). He urged them to withdraw from undisciplined brothers, and not to grow weary in doing good (2 Thess. 3:6-15).

The following include the author's Outlines and Analyses of 1 Thessalonians: "Relationship, Review, and Rapture." Brief Outlines; Analytical Outline of 1 Thessalonians; Annotated Outline of 1 Thessalonians.

The following include the author's Outlines and Analyses of 2 Thessalonians: "End-Time Encouragement." Brief Outlines; Analytical Outline of 2 Thessalonians; Annotated Outline of 2 Thessalonians.

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The Times of the Gentiles. The time of Gentile domination of Jerusalem. It is difficult to say precisely when Gentile domination began, but the Babylonians' destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple in 586 B.C. is probably a good starting point. Even though Jewish people returned from Babylonian captivity at the decree of Cyrus, King of Persia, their independence was muted. In the decades before Roman domination, Israel was a political football kicked about by the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria. In Jesus' day, Rome occupied Israel. Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem in Luke 21:20-24. Jesus' prophecy came true when the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem and ultimately destroyed both the city and the sanctuary, Herod's Temple, in A.D. 70, just as the angel Gabriel had predicted to the statesman Daniel in the sixth century B.C. (Dan. 9:24-26). Jesus' prediction has been precisely fulfilled to this point. Jewish people were scattered all over the world, and Israel ceased to exist as a state until 1948. Even though Israel Defense Forces recaptured Jerusalem from Arab control in the Six Day War of 1967, much of Jerusalem and much of Israel's land remains occupied, "trampled under foot by the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). Every time Israel resumes building homes in East Jerusalem, howls of protest break out around the world, including in America. Because Arabs have built a shrine and a mosque on the Temple Mount, Israel is unable even to rebuild its own temple. "The Times of the Gentiles" will be fulfilled, or completed, when Jesus returns in power and great glory to defeat all His enemies and establish His Kingdom of Peace and Plenty, headquartered in Jerusalem. That will not happen until the close of the Great Tribulation. Jesus' initial Kingdom on earth will last one thousand years (Rev. 20:1-6). That is why we call it the Millennium. When "The Times of the Gentiles" have been completed, Israeli supremacy will ensue (Isaiah 60:1-22), and the world will be blessed as long as its nations cooperate with Israel and her Messiah (Zech. 14:16-21).

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Throne of David. God promised Israel's greatest (merely human) king, David, that his throne, kingdom, and dynasty would be eternal (2 Sam. 7:16). The angel Gabriel repeated virtually the same words to Mary about her son, Jesus (Luke 1:30-33). The obvious conclusion is that Jesus, the Messiah, would fulfill the promise (later reinforced as a covenant) made to David. 

Most of Christendom, whether Roman Catholic or mainline Protestant, interpret this promise metaphorically. They hold that, with Jesus' resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father, He is now seated on David's throne. Christ's Kingdom has begun. In some way, shape, or form we are now in the Millennial Kingdom spoken of in Rev. 20:1-7. This is called "realized millennialism."  Here is a good example of this thinking. There follows the first statement in the Presbyterian Church of America's Preface to the Book of Church Order under the heading I. The King and Head of the Church:

Jesus Christ, upon whose shoulders the government rests, whose name is called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace; of the increase of whose government and peace there shall be no end; who sits upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth, even forever (Isaiah 9:6-7) ....

WordExplain maintains that this is an incorrect view of the present state of affairs. This is the Church Age, not the Kingdom. Jesus is not presently seated at His Father's right hand as King, but rather as High Priest, as the Book of Hebrews makes abundantly clear. Jesus Himself said that He would go to far country to receive His kingdom and then to return. Inasmuch as the King has not returned to Jerusalem and to Mount Zion here upon earth, where David's throne was located, He cannot possibly now be sitting on David's throne. When He sits on David's throne, He will rule from Zion over all the nations. He will rule them with an iron sceptre, and He will dash them in pieces like broken pottery. The nations are presently in a state of revolt against the Messiah (Psa. 2:1-3). And even the nation of Israel itself largely repudiates Jesus of Nazareth as its Anointed King. How, then, can anyone credibly claim that Jesus is presently seated on David's throne?

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Timothy. One of the Apostle Paul's most-trusted assistants. Paul repeatedly refers to Timothy as his child (teknon, 5043) (1 Cor. 4:17; 1 Tim. 1:18; 2 Tim. 1:2; 2:1). (Note: NASB 95 has incorrectly translated teknon, 5043, as "son" instead of "child" in the following instances: 1 Tim. 1:18; 2 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 2:1.)  Apparently Paul led three generations of a single family to Christ, first, Timothy's grandmother Lois, then his mother Eunice, and finally Timothy himself (2 Tim. 1:5). This would have happened during Paul's First Missionary Journey (AD 48-49), in which he worked in their city of Lystra (Acts 14:6-23). On Paul's Second Missionary Journey (AD 51-53), Paul again encountered Timothy. He was termed a "disciple" (mathetes, 3101) (Acts 16:1). He was the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, preumably not a believer (Acts 16:1). Timothy had a good reputation among the brothers of Lystra and Iconium (Acts 16:2). Paul wished Timothy to accompany him on his Second Journey, so he had him circumcised on account of the Jewish people in that region, for all knew his father was a Greek (Acts 16:3). Constable gives a good synopsis of Timothy's work alongside Paul:

While on the second journey Timothy helped Paul in Troas, Philippi, Berea, Thessalonica, Athens, and Corinth. During the third journey he worked with Paul in Ephesus. From there Paul sent Timothy on to Macedonia (Acts 19:22). Later he was joined by Paul in Macedonia (2 Cor. 1:1, 19) and apparently traveled with the apostle to Corinth (Rom. 16:21). On the return trip to Ephesus Timothy accompanied Paul through Macedonia as far as Troas (Acts 20:3-6). Still later Timothy was with Paul in Rome (Col. 1:1; Phile. 1; Phil. 1:1), and from there he probably made a trip to Philippi (Phil. 2:19-23).

We can piece together Timothy's persona from glimpses in the Scripture. He seems to have been afflicted with gastro-intestinal difficulties along with other ailments (1 Timothy 5:23). Unlike the hard-driving Paul, it seems Timothy could be easily intimidated. Paul urged him not to be cowed by people who thought he was too youthful (1 Tim. 4:12). Paul urged the Corinthians to make sure that, if Timothy were to come visit them, he would be able to do the Lord's work without cause to be afraid (1 Cor. 16:10). When Paul departed to Macedonia on one occasion, he left Timothy behind to give good spiritual guidance to the church at Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3). Some NT prophet evidently made some prophecies about Timothy. Timothy was to bring these to pass by fighting "the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience" (1 Tim. 1:18-19). Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy so that he would know "how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, ... the church of the living God" (1 Tim. 3:14-15). Paul identified Timothy as a "fellow-worker" (Rom. 16:21; 1 Thess. 3:2), "our brother" (2 Cor. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 1 Thess. 3:2; Philemon 1:1), and as a slave of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:1). It appears that at one time in his life, "brother Timothy" was placed in prison, presumably on account of his ministry on behalf of Christ (Heb. 13:23). Paul wrote two letters to Timothy. 1 Timothy I have entitled, "Leadership Manual." I have entitled 2 Timothy, "Taps for a Christian Soldier." For further study, consult "Brief Outlines of 1 Timothy" and "Analysis of 1 Timothy," "Brief Outlines of 2 Timothy," and "Analysis of 2 Timothy," all by the current author.

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Titus. One of the Apostle Paul's trusted assistants, and recipient of the Pastoral Letter from Paul that goes by his name. Titus was a convert of Paul's (Titus 1:4). He was a Greek Gentile (Gal 2:3). When Paul attended the important Jerusalem Council described in Acts 15, he took with him Barnabas and Titus (Gal. 2:1). Even though Titus was an important assistant of Paul, he did not have him circumcised (Gal. 2:3). This shows that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised to be saved, nor did they have to keep the Law. Paul refers to Titus as his partner and fellow worker among the Corinthians (2 Cor. 8:23). There was a time in Paul's ministry when Titus brought him great comfort, reporting to him of the Corinthians' warmth toward him (2 Cor. 7:6, 13, 14). Throughout Paul's ministry, he deployed Titus to such places as Corinth (2 Cor. 8:6, 23; 12:18), Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1), Dalmatia (2 Tim. 4:10), and Crete (Titus 1:4, 5). Paul's letter to Titus on the island of Crete I have entitled, "Sane Living in an Insane World." See also "Brief Outlines of Titus."

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Torah. The Law God gave to Israel through Moses. The Hebrew word is tōráh (8451). In various contexts it means "law," "commandment," "statute." Collectively, the laws God gave Moses, which he wrote in "the book of the law" came to be called "The Law" or, in Hebrew terms, "the Torah." Since the laws God gave to Israel are contained specifically in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (the second giving of the Law to the new generation entering Canaan), we refer to the entire corpus written by Moses as "The Law," or "the Torah." The five books of the Law, or the Pentateuch, must be looked at as a whole. Moses authored each of them. In Hebrew understanding these five books are conceived of as a whole. There is a Torah scroll, for example that rabbis read from even today. There are not five separate scrolls.

Here are some specific uses of the word tōráh (8451) in the Old Testament.

    (1) Torah is equivalent to statutes, ordinances, laws (Lev. 26:46).

    (2) There are specific laws / regulations pertaining to offerings: Lev. 6:9, 14, 25; 7:1, 7, 11, 37; Num. 19:2 (law concerning the red heifer.

    (3) There are specific laws pertaining to diet and sanitation and the protection of God's cleanness, living amidst an unclean and defiled people: Lev. 11:46 (dietary); Lev. 12:7 (child-birth); Lev. 13:59; 14:2, 32, 54, 57 (leprosy); Num. 19:14 (defilement by death).

    (4) There are laws pertaining to special status:   Law of the Nazirite (Num. 6:13, 21).

    (5) There are allusions to the fact that the Law / laws were written down

(a) "Words of this law" Deut. 17:19; 27:3, 8, 26, 58; 31:12, 24; 32:46

(b) "book of this law" Deut. 28:61

(c) "this book of the law" Deut. 29:21; 30:10; 31:26

(d) Moses gave an exposition, or explanation of the law (Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44)

(e) copies of the laws were to be written on stones once the nation arrived in the land of Canaan (Deut. 27:3, 8)

(f) The king was to write out an keep his own personal copy of the law (Deut. 17:18-19).

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Total Depravity.  The first of five basic tenets of Calvinism, designated by the letter T.  Total depravity does not mean that all men are as evil as they could be or that all men are equally bad.  It means rather that, because of imputed sin, inherited sin, and acts of personal sin, every man is so disastrously damaged in body, soul, and spirit that he has absolutely nothing within himself that commends himself to God.  Here is God’s verdict on the dearth of righteousness in unsaved humans:  “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away” (Isa. 64:6).  Isaiah added, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” … (Isa. 53:6).  Paul quoted from the Old Testament, assessing man’s spiritual ineptitude:  “There is none righteous, no not one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one” (Rom. 3:10-12). Since there is nothing man can do to commend himself to God, and since man, left to his own devices, is even incapable of seeking God, the initiative for man’s salvation rests entirely with God (John 6:44).

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Transjordan. The land along the east bank of the Jordan River. According to Biblical history, the land from the Arnon River in the south to the Jabbok River in the north alongside the Jordan River was originally the possession of the sons of Ammon. However, before the sons of Israel arrived to possess the Promised Land, the Amorites had invaded and seized land on the east side of the Jordan River / Dead Sea corridor that belonged both to the sons of Ammon in the central area, and to the descendants of Moab in the south. The modern day Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is the current occupant of Transjordan. Its capital Amman, preserves the much earlier name Ammon. The actual site of Amman was, in OT times, identified as Rabbah (Rabbah, "great," 7237) of Ammon (Deut. 3:11;2 Sam. 11:1; 12:26, 27, 29; 17:27; 1 Chron. 20:1; Jer. 49:2, 3; Ezek. 21:20; 25:5; Amos 1:14). Some day the sons of Israel will possess the land presently occupied by Jordan (Zeph. 2:8-9). This will take place in Christ's Millennial Kingdom.

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Transubstantiation. The view of Roman Catholics that, in the rite of the Lord's Table, which Catholics call "the Holy Eucharist / Mass," the elements of bread and wine actually and literally become the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ. Catholics believe that this rite, which they call a sacrament, is one and the same with Christ's actual death on the cross. They say that the ritual is truly propitiatory, that is, participating in the Eucharist / Mass actually results in sins being forgiven. This view is invalid on at least two counts:

    (1) Jesus gave the true meaning of the ritual. According to Paul, Jesus said of the broken bread, "do this in remembrance of Me" (1 Cor. 11:24). Jesus also said, concerning the cup of wine, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me" (1 Cor. 11:25). Clearly this rite is an ordinance, not a sacrament. And it is clearly a memorial ordinance, not a saving sacrament.

    (2) Over the centuries Catholics have re-sacrificed Jesus millions of times in their observance of the Eucharist. That clearly contradicts the Scripture. The writer of Hebrews described Jesus as "a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself" (Heb. 7:26-27). The same author stated, further, "but when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption" (Heb. 9:11-12). The same writer declared, "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him" (Heb. 9:27-28).

There are four views of the meaning of the Lord's Table: (1) Transubstantiation, the Roman Catholic view; (2) Consubstantiation, the Lutheran view; (3) Spiritual Presence, the view of Presbyterians and some other Calvinists;  (4) Memorial, the view of Anabaptists (such as Baptists and independent Bible churches). The Memorial View is the view of WordExplain. It is the view that best explains the Scriptures.

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Tree of Life. The tree in the Garden of Eden and in New Jerusalem whose fruit enhances and helps perpetuate physical life. We are told "Then the LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed" (Gen. 2:8). We are told, moreover, "Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Gen. 2:9). Evidently the Tree of Life (literally, in Hebrew, "tree of the life") had special powers. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil did not, other than that God's forbidding the man to eat from from it on pain of death marked it out as the sole test of man's trust in and allegiance to God (Gen. 2:16-17).

    That the "Tree of the Life" had special, physical life-giving powers is demonstrated after man's disobedience (Gen. 3:1-7). The LORD God took special pains to prevent man, in his fallen condition, from partaking from the "Tree of the Life" (Gen. 3:22-24). God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and live forever" – (Gen. 3:22). The prospect was so horrible God did not even finish the sentence. I can only surmise that what God was determined to prevent was man trapped in and living forever in a gradually decaying body contaminated by sin and decay and disease and death, but never able to die nor be redeemed in resurrection! How horrible! To prevent that awful outcome God drove man out of the garden, and "He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life" (Gen. 3:23, 24).

    The next reference in the Bible to the Tree of Life is in Rev. 2:7. To the messenger of the church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1), Jesus Christ promised, "To him who overcomes [conquers], I will give to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise (parádeisos, 3857) of God." It next appears in Rev. 22:2. As John saw it, It was situated in a broad area on either side of the river of the water of life (Rev. 22:1, 2). It apparently was bearing a different kind of fruit each of the twelve months (Rev. 22:2). Even its leaves are beneficial. They contribute to the well-being (therapeía, 2322) of the nations who live on New Earth, but have ready access to New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:24-26). The final reference to the Tree of Life is in Rev. 22:19.

    Is the Tree of Life in New Jerusalem the same tree as that in the Garden of Eden? Scripture does not say. It certainly has the same name. The answer to that question probably awaits us believers in Christ when we arrive in New Jerusalem.

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Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The tree God placed in the Garden of Eden to test man to see if he would trust God and obey him or not (Gen. 2:15-17). God never solicits anyone to commit evil (James 1:13). But he is continually testing man to see if he will trust Him or not (Heb. 11:6). If man trusts God, he will obey Him. If he does not obey God, it is because he does not trust Him. God specifically said to the first man, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 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 will surely die" (Gen. 2:16-17). God did not define what "death" meant, but He expected Adam to realize how disadvantageous it would be for him to disbelieve God and disobey and eat.

    Anyone who has read the opening chapters of Genesis understands that, apparently very soon after creation, Satan came in the guise of a beautiful and subtle snake to tempt Eve, a subordinate of Adam, to sin against God and partake of the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:1-5). She chose to believe the serpent rather than her husband or God. She partook of the forbidden fruit and gave to her husband, who joined her in disbelieving God and disobeying Him (Gen. 3:6). The results were instantaneous. Their eyes were opened. They realized they were naked. So they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves loincloths to cover their private parts (Gen. 3:7).

    In the cool of the day they heard God walking in the garden, and both Adam and Eve hid themselves from the presence of the LORD. When God confronted the couple, each of them blamed someone else (Gen. 3:8-19). The damage had been done. They had already died spiritually instantly, separated from God. Their bodies began to age and deteriorate, and ultimately they would die physically. They were now in need of spiritual life, which could only come about through deciding to trust God. They could not know it  yet, but if they did not rectify their Spritual Death before the arrival of their Physical Death, the result would be Second Death, eternal and painful separation from God in the Lake of Fire. God made sure they would not perpetuate themselves in their physically dying state, so he barred access to the Tree of Life (Gen. 3:22-24). The Tree of Life is now evidently in New Jerusalem, where it will exist forever (Rev. 22:1-2).

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Tribulation. The period of unprecedented trouble "which is about to come upon the entire world, to test those who dwell on the earth" (Rev. 3:10). Jesus characterized this event as "great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will" (Matt. 24:21). Transported to heaven in his vision, the Apostle John saw, in the future, an innumerable multitude from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues" (Rev. 7:9). He is told by one of heaven's elders that the white-robed members of this incalculable assembly have "come out of the great tribulation" (Rev. 7:13-14). During this time of  trouble, God will unleash on earth a series of horrific plagues, described in graphic terms in Rev. 6-16. The Tribulation is the exhibition of the wrath of God and the Lamb, Jesus (Rev. 6:16-17; 11:18; 14:10, 19; 15:1, 7; 16:1, 19; 19:15). The Rapture will precede the Tribulation, and the Second Coming of Christ will end it. Go here for a more extensive discussion of the Tribulation.

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Tribulation Saints. People who become believers in Jesus as the Messiah during the Tribulation. All living Church-Age Christians will be raptured (snatched up, harpazô, 726) to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17). They will be joined by resurrected Church-Age believers (1 Thess. 4:16-17). We call this event the Rapture. 

    The Church began on the Day of Pentecost. It will be completed at the Rapture. With the Church having departed from earth, the stage will be set for a time of terrible trouble. The seven-year Tribulation period will be inaugurated when the sinister leader of a Revived Roman Empire signs a peace treaty with Israel (Dan. 9:27). He is described as "the prince who is to come" (Dan. 9:26). With the Church removed from earth, there will be no one to stop this evil, anti-God, anti-Christ ruler. In a relatively short period of time, he and his subordinates will take over the world. During that time many people will decide to place their faith in Jesus as the Messiah, in opposition to the malevolent Antichrist. Most of these believers will pay for their faith with their own lives. 

    There are various descriptions of these Tribulation Saints. In the portion of the Book of Revelation which describes the Tribulation, there is not one single mention of the Church using that term (Rev. 6:1-Rev. 18:24). The word ekklêsia is never used in that section. Examples of Tribulation Saints include the martyrs underneath the altar (Rev. 6:9-11), the 144,000 (Rev. 7:1-8; 14:1-5), the innumerable crowd up in heaven (Rev. 7:9-16), the Two Witnesses (Rev. 11:1-14), the saints who are persecuted by the Beast (Rev. 13:7-10), the victors over the Beast (Rev. 15:1-4), the martyred saints and prophets (Rev. 16:6), the saints and witnesses killed by the Great Prostitute, the religion of Babylon (Rev. 17:6; 18:24; 19:2), and those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the Word of God -- those who had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand (Rev. 20:4-5).

    Elsewhere, Jesus describes a believer who survives the Tribulation as "the one who endures to the end" (Matt. 24:13). He further describes Tribulation Saints as "the elect" (Matt. 24:22, 31); as those who will be left alive (to inherit the kingdom) (Matt. 24:40-41), as the "faithful slave" (Rev. 24:45-47), as the five wise virgins who were admitted into the wedding feast (Matt. 25:1-13), as the slaves who faithfully invested their master's money (Matt. 25:14-30), as the people among the nations on His right, termed "sheep" (Matt. 25:34-40), and those to whom Jesus refers as His "brothers" (Matt. 25:39, 45), probably meaning Messianic Jews who had survived the Tribulation.

    It is a mistake to describe believers in the Tribulation as part of the Church. Those who do so assume that the Church will go through the Tribulation period. A close examination of the facts leads one to the conclusion that assumption lacks credibility.

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Trinity. The understanding that the One True God exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Perhaps a better word would be Tri-Unity. The Scriptures are emphatic that God is one (Deut. 6:4). Yet why should it surprise us that God, the Sovereign, Eternal Creator of the Universe should exist as the most complex Being in the entire universe and outside it? It is asserted in Scripture that the Father is God (John 6:27; Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 8:6; Eph. 4:6). Moreover in Scripture the Son is identified as God (John 1:8; 8:58; 20:26-29; Col. 1:15-20; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8; 1 John 5:20). Furthermore the Holy Spirit is identified as God (Gen. 1:1-2; Psalm 139:7; Acts 5:3-4; Rom. 8:14). We conclude then, that though the word "Trinity" is never used in Scripture, the evidence demonstrates that the One God exists in three Persons. Actually, the fact that multiple persons comprise the one essence, God, can be easily demonstrated from the first chapter in the Bible. "In the beginning, God (Elohim, 430) created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). The name Elohim, the generic name for God, appears in the plural. So the very name of God in the OT allows for the existence of multiple persons, even though He is but one essence (Deut. 6:4). Furthermore, plural pronouns in the narrative of Genesis indicate that multiple Divine Beings participate in the discussion – "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, according to Our likeness ..." (Gen. 1:26). The next verse, Gen. 1:27, resumes the singular pronouns in reference to God. Several Scriptures allude to the Trinity. For example, when Jesus was baptized, there was a voice from heaven (God) expressing His approval of His Son at the same time that the Spirit of God, in the form of a dove, descended upon Jesus (Matt. 3:16-17). The three persons of the Trinity appear in such passages as 2 Cor. 13:14 and 2 Pet. 1:2. See the article "The Trinity" for a further, graphic discussion of the topic.

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TULIP. The acronym listing the five pillars of Reformed Theology. These five pillars are actually a summation of the Canons of Dort. They are a response to objections raised in the Presbyterian Church of Holland in the seventeenth century by Jacobus Harmenszoon (whose surname in Latin is Arminius, hence the designation Arminian to those who espouse his views). These five points of Presbyterianism to which Harmensen (another variation of Harmenszoon) objected were reaffirmed in opposition to his views by the Synod of Dordt in 1618-1619. For a presentation of Presbyterian theology in response to Harmensen written by R. L. Dabney, click here. (Dabney was a Presbyterian theologian, pastor, and chaplain and chief of staff to Stonewall Jackson. He lived from 1820-1898.) WordExplain adheres to four-point Calvinism, not five.

 T – Total Depravity. All men are born depraved, without any good within by which they may commend themselves to God. Man is unable to save himself from the deadly consequences of his sin and stands in need of God’s initiative in salvation (Rom. 3:10-12). Total depravity does not mean that each man is as bad as he could be, or that all men are equally bad. It does mean that each person is irretrievably contaminated with evil and doomed to a Christless eternity in the Lake of Fire apart from saving faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:36; Rev. 20:11-15).

U – Unconditional Election. Without respect to any merit on man’s part, for he has none, God from eternity past graciously chose certain ones to be the recipients of His eternal salvation (Acts 13:48; Eph. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13). It is because God chooses someone that that one in turn is able to choose God (John 1:11-13; 6:44; 15:16). Salvation is completely by grace through faith, apart from any works or effort, which are rather the result of salvation rather than its cause (Eph. 2:8-10). For a more complete Glossary definition see Election. For a more complete discussion, see God's Part in Salvation - Election, Part 1 - The Proof of Election.

L – Limited Atonement. The belief that, since God always achieves His purposes, Christ died for the sins of the elect in a way in which He did not die for the sins of the world. This is the only point of TULIP that WordExplain rejects, for it is a doctrine derived from Reformed Theology, and not explicitly from any text of Scripture. The Scriptures state the following: God loved the world, on whose behalf He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). It is true that Jesus is the propitiation (legal satisfaction) for the sins of believers, but His death was valuable enough to pay for the sins of the entire world, regardless of whether all would trust in Him or not (Matt. 1:21; John 1:29; 3:17; 4:42; 1 John 2:2; 4:14). His death is effective, however, only for those who place their faith in Him (John 3:16-18; 3:36; 5:24). The failure of some to trust in Jesus does not either thwart God’s purposes or logically limit the extent of the coverage of Christ’s blood. Jesus died for the sins of all.

I – Irresistible Grace. God’s grace toward the elect is completely efficacious. None whom God has chosen will fail to respond in faith. All whom God has chosen will respond positively to His gracious choice (John 1:11-13; 6:44; 15:16; Rom. 8:29-30; Eph. 2:10).

P – Perseverance of the Saints. All the elect will persevere in their walk with Christ. They will not depart from the faith (John 5:24; 10:27-29; Rom. 8:1, 29-30), for they are predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son (Rom. 8:29). God’s elect are eternally secure, for their salvation, though accessed by faith (John 3:16), nonetheless depends on God’s unconditional election, not man’s flawed performance. Jesus told a parable of the sower and the four soils (Matt. 13:2-9; Mark 4:3-9; Luke 8:5-8). Three of the four soils illustrate a positive response to the Word of God (Matt. 13:18-23; Mark 4:13-20; Luke 8:11-15). The difficulty is that the second and third kinds of soil, the rocky ground and the thorny ground do not possess saving faith. In other words they do not persevere in their walk with God and Jesus. In Luke 8:13, Jesus even says those who are represented by rocky soil “believe for a while.” Whatever faith they possessed, it was not saving faith in Jesus, for those who believe in Jesus pass from death to life (John 3:36; 5:24). Believers experience many ups and downs in their lives. They may be carnal, or fleshly at times (1 Cor. 3:1-4); they may commit sins that earn them physical death (not spiritual death – Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 5:1-5; 11:26-30; 1 John 5:16-17); but they will persevere by the grace of God (John 8:31; Acts 14:22; Rom. 11:22; Phil. 2:12-13; Col. 1:23; Heb. 6:9-12; Heb. 10:32-39).

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Twelve Tribes of Israel. The Patriarch Jacob, later known as Israel (Gen. 32:28), had twelve sons. These sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin (Gen. 32:23-26; Ex. 1:1-4; 1 Chron. 2:1-2). God chose Levi's sons to be priests and priestly assistants (called Levites). So this tribe received no land, because God was their inheritance (Josh. 13:14). Joseph adopted the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, as his own sons. They inherited land in the Promised Land, giving Joseph a double inheritance. During the Tribulation period 12,000 Jews from each tribe will be sealed (Rev. 7:1-8). I believe they will serve as modern-day Apostle Pauls winning many throughout the world, both Jews and Gentiles, to faith in Christ (Rev. 7:9-17). The vast majority of the converts will be put to death for their faith. The Twelve Tribes of Israel will exist during the Millennium (Matt. 19:28), and will hold a place of prominence in New Jerusalem throughout eternity (Rev. 21:10-13).

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