Topical Encyclopedia
In the biblical context, "action" refers to the deeds, conduct, and behavior of individuals as they live out their faith and interact with the world around them. The Bible places significant emphasis on the importance of actions, often linking them to one's faith, character, and relationship with God.
Faith and WorksThe relationship between faith and action is a central theme in Scripture.
James 2:17 states, "So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead." This verse underscores the belief that genuine faith is demonstrated through actions. The Apostle Paul also emphasizes this connection in
Ephesians 2:10 : "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life."
Obedience to GodActions are often seen as a reflection of one's obedience to God. In the Old Testament, obedience to God's commandments was a key aspect of the covenant relationship between God and His people.
Deuteronomy 28 outlines the blessings for obedience and the consequences for disobedience, highlighting the importance of actions in maintaining a right relationship with God.
Moral and Ethical ConductThe Bible provides numerous guidelines for moral and ethical conduct, emphasizing actions that align with God's will. The Ten Commandments (
Exodus 20:1-17) serve as a foundational ethical code, instructing believers on how to act in relation to God and others. Jesus further expounds on ethical behavior in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), where He calls His followers to a higher standard of righteousness.
Love in ActionLove is a central theme in the Bible, and it is often expressed through actions. 1
John 3:18 encourages believers, "Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth." The parable of the Good Samaritan (
Luke 10:25-37) illustrates love in action, demonstrating that true love is shown through compassionate deeds.
Judgment and AccountabilityThe Bible teaches that individuals will be held accountable for their actions.
Ecclesiastes 12:14 states, "For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil." Similarly, Jesus speaks of the final judgment in
Matthew 25:31-46, where actions toward "the least of these" are seen as actions toward Christ Himself.
Empowerment by the Holy SpiritBelievers are empowered by the Holy Spirit to perform actions that glorify God.
Acts 1:8 promises, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The Holy Spirit enables believers to live out their faith through actions that bear witness to the gospel.
ConclusionWhile the Bible emphasizes the importance of faith, it consistently teaches that faith must be accompanied by action. Through obedience, love, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, believers are called to live out their faith in tangible ways that reflect the character and will of God.
Topical Bible Verses
1 Corinthians 6:18Flee fornication. Every sin that a man does is without the body; but he that commits fornication sins against his own body.
Topicalbible.org1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
Topicalbible.org
Genesis 1:28
And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
Topicalbible.org
1 Peter 2:1-25
Why laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, all evil speakings,
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
n.) A process or condition of acting or moving, as opposed to rest; the doing of something; exertion of power or force, as when one body acts on another; the effect of power exerted on one body by another; agency; activity; operation; as, the action of heat; a man of action.
2. (n.) An act; a thing done; a deed; an enterprise. (pl.): Habitual deeds; hence, conduct; behavior; demeanor.
3. (n.) The event or connected series of events, either real or imaginary, forming the subject of a play, poem, or other composition; the unfolding of the drama of events.
4. (n.) Movement; as, the horse has a spirited action.
5. (n.) Effective motion; also, mechanism; as, the breech action of a gun.
6. (n.) Any one of the active processes going on in an organism; the performance of a function; as, the action of the heart, the muscles, or the gastric juice.
7. (n.) Gesticulation; the external deportment of the speaker, or the suiting of his attitude, voice, gestures, and countenance, to the subject, or to the feelings.
8. (n.) The attitude or position of the several parts of the body as expressive of the sentiment or passion depicted.
9. (n.) A suit or process, by which a demand is made of a right in a court of justice; in a broad sense, a judicial proceeding for the enforcement or protection of a right, the redress or prevention of a wrong, or the punishment of a public offense.
10. (n.) A right of action; as, the law gives an action for every claim.
11. (n.) A share in the capital stock of a joint-stock company, or in the public funds; hence, in the plural, equivalent to stocks.
12. (n.) An engagement between troops in war, whether on land or water; a battle; a fight; as, a general action, a partial action.
13. (n.) The mechanical contrivance by means of which the impulse of the player's finger is transmitted to the strings of a pianoforte or to the valve of an organ pipe.
Greek
4930. sunteleia -- a joint payment (for public service), joint...... a joint payment (for public service), joint
action, spec.
... Word Origin from sunteleo
Definition a joint payment (for public service), joint
action, spec.
...2041. ergon -- work
... work. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: ergon Phonetic Spelling:
(er'-gon) Short Definition: work, labor,action, deed Definition: work, task...
4234. praxis -- a deed, function
... a deed, function. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: praxis Phonetic
Spelling: (prax'-is) Short Definition: anaction, deeds, function Definition...
5428. phronesis -- understanding, practical wisdom
... phronesis Phonetic Spelling: (fron'-ay-sis) Short Definition: understanding Definition:
understanding (which leads to rightaction), practical wisdom, prudence...
3425. mogis -- hardly.
... 3425 ("scarcely") also stresses the of anaction -- which itself makes theaction .
See 3433 (). Word Origin another reading for molis, qv. hardly....
2108. euergesia -- a good deed
... a good deed. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: euergesia Phonetic
Spelling: (yoo-erg-es-ee'-ah) Short Definition: goodaction, kind service...
278. ametameletos -- not repented of
... 278 (an adjective, derived from 1 "not" and 33387, "regret") -- properly, no change
of concern (interest), ie for anaction because it was done from (true...
3551. nomos -- that which is assigned, hence usage, law
... a law, the Mosaic Law Definition: usage, custom, law; in NT: of law in general,
plur: of divine laws; of a force or influence impelling toaction; of the...
265. hamartema -- a sin
... [265 () emphasizes the consequences of making any decision (action) by
rather than of faith ("God's inworked ," cf. Ro 14:23).]....
5280. hupomnesis -- a reminding, reminder
... Cognate: 5280 -- a remembrance, by the Holy Spirit, urging someone to recall a good
memory, etc. This stimulates them to give thanks (takeaction, etc.)....
Strong's Hebrew
1709. dag -- a fish... a fish (as prolific); or perhaps rather from da'ag (as timid); but still better
from da'ag (in the sense of squirming, ie Moving by the vibratory
action of the
...3415. yara -- to quiver
... to fear, be grevious. A primitive root; properly, to be broken up (with any violent
action) ie (figuratively) to fear -- be grevious (only Isa....
4639. maaseh -- a deed, work
... From asah; anaction (good or bad); generally, a transaction; abstractly, activity;
by implication, a product (specifically, a poem) or (generally) property...
4928. mishmaath -- an obedient band, body of subjects
... simile. Feminineal sense of superiority in mentalaction; properly, a pithy maxim,
usually of metaphorical nature; hence, a simile (as a adae, compare, use (as...
5949. alilah -- wantonness, a deed
... actions (3), acts (1), deeds (17), shameful (2).action, deed, doing, invention,
occasion, work. Or malilah {al-ee-law'}; from alal...
4912. mashal -- a proverb, parable
... Apparently from mashal in some original sense of superiority in mentalaction; properly,
a pithy maxim, usually of metaphorical nature; hence, a simile (as an...
1870. derek -- way, road, distance, journey, manner
... From darak; a road (as trodden); figuratively, a course of life or mode ofaction,
often adverb -- along, away, because of, + by, conversation, custom, (east...
6213a. asah -- do, make
... 1), sacrifice (2), set (3), set* (1), show (16), showed (6), showing (2), shown
(9), shows (3), spend (1), surely show (1), takeaction (6), thoroughly deal (1...
6823. tsaphah -- to lay out, lay over
... A primitive root (probably identical with tsaphah through the idea of expansion
in outlook, transferring toaction); to sheet over (especially with metal...
Library
Whether Fear HindersAction?
... OF THE EFFECTS OF FEAR (FOUR ARTICLES) Whether fear hindersaction? Objection
1: It would seem that fear hindersaction. Foraction...
Whether a HumanAction is Right or Sinful, in So Far as it is Good...
... OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF HUMAN ACTIONS BY REASON OF THEIR GOODNESS AND MALICE (FOUR
ARTICLES) Whether a humanaction is right or sinful, in so far as it is good...
Whether a Circumstance Places a MoralAction in the Species of...
... OF THE GOOD AND EVIL OF HUMAN ACTS, IN GENERAL (ELEVEN ARTICLES) Whether a
circumstance places a moralaction in the species of good or evil?...
Whether a HumanAction is Good or Evil from Its End?
... OF THE GOOD AND EVIL OF HUMAN ACTS, IN GENERAL (ELEVEN ARTICLES) Whether
a humanaction is good or evil from its end? Objection...
Whether an IndividualAction Can be Indifferent?
... OF THE GOOD AND EVIL OF HUMAN ACTS, IN GENERAL (ELEVEN ARTICLES) Whether
an individualaction can be indifferent? Objection 1: It...
Whether Shamefacedness is About a DisgracefulAction?
... OF SHAMEFACEDNESS (FOUR ARTICLES) Whether shamefacedness is about a disgraceful
action? Objection 1: It would seem that shamefacedness...
Whether anAction Has the Species of Good or Evil from Its End?
... OF THE GOOD AND EVIL OF HUMAN ACTS, IN GENERAL (ELEVEN ARTICLES) Whether
anaction has the species of good or evil from its end?...
Whether the Consequences of the ExternalAction Increase Its...
... OF GOODNESS AND MALICE IN EXTERNAL HUMAN AFFAIRS (SIX ARTICLES) Whether the
consequences of the externalaction increase its goodness or malice?...
Whether a HumanAction is Meritorious or Demeritorious Before God...
... OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF HUMAN ACTIONS BY REASON OF THEIR GOODNESS AND MALICE (FOUR
ARTICLES) Whether a humanaction is meritorious or demeritorious before God...
Whether Every Circumstance that Makes anAction Better or Worse...
... OF THE GOOD AND EVIL OF HUMAN ACTS, IN GENERAL (ELEVEN ARTICLES) Whether every
circumstance that makes anaction better or worse, places a moralaction in a...
Thesaurus
Action (21 Occurrences)... of power or force, as when one body acts on another; the effect of power exerted
on one body by another; agency; activity; operation; as, the
action of heat; a
...Active (4 Occurrences)
... 1. (a.) Having the power or quality of acting; causing change; communicatingaction
or motion; acting; -- opposed to passive, that receives; as, certain active...
Play (61 Occurrences)
... 8. (n.) To act on the stage; to personate a character. 9. (vt) To put inaction
or motion; as, to play cannon upon a fortification; to play a trump. 10....
Exercise (35 Occurrences)
... 1. (n.) The act of exercising; a setting inaction or practicing; employment in
the proper mode of activity; exertion; application; use; habitual activity...
Creator (19 Occurrences)
... 2. Purpose in Creation: God's free creativeaction is destined to realize
archetypal ends and ideals, which are peculiar to Himself....
Scene (3 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) The decorations and fittings of a stage, representing the place in which
theaction is supposed to go on; one of the slides, or other devices, used to...
Wash (105 Occurrences)
... 4. (vt) To remove by washing to take away by, or as by, theaction of water; to
drag or draw off as by the tide; -- often with away, off, out, etc.; as, to...
For (102061 Occurrences)
... 2. (prep.) Indicating the antecedent cause or occasion of anaction; the motive
or inducement accompanying and prompting to an act or state; the reason of...
Incentive (1 Occurrence)
... 1. (n.) That which inducesaction, motivation; as a work incentive; that which incites,
or has a tendency to incite, to determination oraction; that which...
Force (250 Occurrences)
... 5. (n.) Strength or power for war; hence, a body of land or naval combatants, with
their appurtenances, ready foraction; -- an armament; troops; warlike array...
Resources
What is apostolic action? | GotQuestions.orgWhat is a biblical view of social action? | GotQuestions.orgWhat is normative ethics? | GotQuestions.orgAction: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
Bible Dictionary •
Bible Encyclopedia •
Topical Bible •
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