The earliest English concordances were published in the 16th century. Since then they have become an invaluable tool in Bible study. Computers’ searching capabilities have made long hours of collecting words from the Bible a task that takes only a few seconds.
Yet, concordances and word search software fails at the point of context. It is not enough to find every instance of a word in the Bible. Every word must be rightly divided; it must be put in its proper dispensational context.
Context and Definition
The context can greatly affect definition. It is proper to say, “my salary went down”; which means that the amount of money decreased. It is also possible to say, “I went down to Mexico”; which means I traveled south.
It is the same with important words in your Bible such as faith, belief, salvation, grace, and gospel. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Gen 6:8). Yet, this must be different than the grace which is pictured by the cross work of Christ (Eph 2:5).
Abraham’s belief in the Lord was counted righteousness in Genesis 15:6. Yet Abraham did not know the gospel of salvation through the blood of Christ in Eph 1:13 that we are called to believe upon today.
In the same monologue Zacharias uses salvation to describe both salvation from political enemies and salvation from sins (Luke 1:69 and 77).
Romans 1:17 quotes Hab 2:4 when it states the truth that “the just shall live by faith”. However, faith in the Messiah was not possible until he arrived centuries after the law was given. Faith in Jesus’ work on the cross was not revealed until Paul was given apostleship.
Faith must be identified dispensationally to understand the subject of faith. A concordance fails to provide the dispensational context.
The Need for Right Division
Ignoring the rightly divided context has introduced serious errors into the church’s presentation of the gospel.
The gospel taught of the disciples and Jesus in Luke 9:6 is not the same gospel that Paul taught since that gospel did not include the meaning of the cross (Luke 18:32-34).
While it is necessary and useful to compile a list of every word instance in the Bible, the work is not yet done. To be the workman that will not be ashamed we must rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15).
Article Index Published: February 20, 2010
Last Modified: August 4, 2016