Born-again Christianity introduced me to a new way of living and a whole new vocabulary.

I remember my sister-in-law said she had to leave for a meeting with the worship team.

“What’s a worship team?” I asked.

She explained it was the group of musicians and singers who led the congregation in song during church services.

“Oh, like a choir.”

I came across other unfamiliar terms I’d also consider “Christianese” such as “born again”, “sanctification”, and “justification”.

Born Again

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association defines “born again” as “someone who has repented of their sins and turned to Christ for their salvation, and as a result has become part of God’s family forever.”

To me, being born again is like wearing glasses and gaining 20/20 spiritual vision for the first time.

Sanctification

“Sanctification” is interpreted by GotQuestions.org as “making a person holy”.

I read the Bible, pray, and fellowship with other believers in my attempts to be more like Jesus. Sanctification is a fancy word for making a believer more like Jesus.

Justification

Bible Study Tools describes “justification” as “the declaring of a person to be just or righteous.”

I cannot declare myself absolved from all blame and guilt, but through my faith in Jesus, God sees me as righteous.

There are also common phrases that are said in Christian circles such as “getting saved”, “ walk in the Spirit”, and “lift up the Lord”.

Getting saved

“Getting saved” is clarified by Grace Theological Seminary as “the moment a person turns from his sin and trusts in Jesus to be forgiven of his sin, he is saved.”

Although I grew up in the church, I regard 2001 as the year I came to fully trust Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, and “get saved”.

Walk in the Spirit

Logos Bible Study App states “to walk in the Spirit means to live a life that depends on the Spirit’s power to (1) grow in godliness, (2) obey God’s commands, and (3) experience increasing intimacy with God.”

Similar to sanctification, I read my Bible and pray to the Spirit to help me do what it says.

Lift up the Lord

Victory Church shared in a blog post that “lift up the Lord” means, “To magnify his name. To praise him. To glorify him.”

I like to start my prayers with stating God’s character traits in praise. “Lord, You are awesome. You are faithful. You are kind. You are merciful.”

There are other “simpler” words I’ve struggled with. For example, the word “forsake”.

Forsake

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged (Deuteronomy 31:8, NIV).

In these cases, I like to dig deeper into scripture by reading Bible commentaries and different Bible translations.

For example, the Bible verse above is more clear when read in these three versions:

And He will be leading you. He’ll be with you, and He’ll never fail you or abandon you. So don’t be afraid! (Deuteronomy 31:8, The Voice)

But the Lord is the one who is marching before you! He is the one who will be with you! He won’t let you down. He won’t abandon you. So don’t be afraid or scared!” (Deuteronomy 31:8, Common English Bible)

The Lord himself will go before you. He will be with you; he will not ·leave [fail] you or ·forget [abandon; forsake] you. Don’t be afraid and don’t worry.” (Deuteronomy 31:8, Expanded Bible)

Becoming a born again believer has been an exciting adventure in experiences and in vocabulary.