Have you noticed many words have more than one common definition or meaning? For example: fair, lean, saw, train, or faith.
Some even have hundreds of meanings (depending on the dictionary) like the words put, set, run, and take.
Some words change meaning based on whether you emphasize the first or second syllable. For example: present, produce, permit, record, resume.
Some words change meaning upon its usage as a noun or verb (e.g. bump, hope, measure, plant, milk).
Some words have meanings that are their own opposites (contranyms), like dust, skin, let, oversight, fast, inflammable, and cleave.
When we add to this the fact that people have confused, wrong, or uniquely personal definitions to common words, assumptions in communication can be perilous.
As it concerns maintaining sound doctrine, errors can abound based simply on using a different definition.
“I’m a Christian!” – What do you think that means?
“I believe in God.” – How do you define ‘God’?
“I rightly divide!” – What do you mean by that?
“I’m a man of faith.” – Do you mean you are trustworthy, or that you have heard and believed the word of God?
When reading your Bible, using a different definition of a word can drastically change the interpretation of a passage. It can be the difference between blasphemy and truth.
When communicating with others, make sure you are using the same definitions of terms. Ask, “What do you mean?”
Then, make sure those definitions align with the Biblical usage. You will find many disagreements result not from reasoning, but from meaning.
Let’s all speak the same thing (1 Cor 1:10).
For clarity,
Justin “defined” Johnson