Passage
Romans 15
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Doctrine
Christ-Centered Ministry
Ministry done in Christ's name and by his power, for his glory, not humanitarian service or merit-building practiced independently of the gospel.
ROM.15.17-21
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Doctrine
Christian Fellowship
Shared participation in Christ, not a clan/native-place association (同鄉會) or sworn-brotherhood pact (結拜).
ROM.15.24
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Glossary Term
Church
Established term.
ROM.15.26
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Doctrine
Church as God's People
New covenant community, not a temple-based ritual institution (廟) or a clan ancestral hall (祠堂).
ROM.15.26
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Glossary Term
Covenant
Relational, divinely initiated covenant bond.
ROM.15.12
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Glossary Term
David
Standard Cantonese Bible proper name form.
ROM.15.12
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Doctrine
Davidic Covenant
Requires OT background explanation; no directly analogous perpetual-lineage covenant concept exists in Cantonese/Pearl River Delta clan tradition, where lineage continuity is maintained through adoption-for-succession rather than an unconditional divine promise.
ROM.15.12
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Doctrine
Evangelism
Frame in terms of proclamation and witness within community; be attentive to Hong Kong's current political and social climate around public religious expression.
ROM.15.20
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Glossary Term
Exhort
Standard term for encouraging fellow believers.
ROM.15.2
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Glossary Term
Fellowship
團契 is the established Hong Kong Christian coinage.
ROM.15.24
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Doctrine
Fulfillment of Prophecy
Linear, one-time historical fulfillment (OT to NT), not the cyclical fortune-forecast framework (運程) of yearly feng shui predictions familiar from Hong Kong almanac culture.
ROM.15.8-12
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Glossary Term
Gentiles
Avoid colloquial Cantonese insider/outsider terms like 外江佬 (a dated, mildly derogatory term for non-Cantonese/non-local Chinese) or clan-outsider framing (鄉下人 used dismissively) — using either would import a local ethnic/clan hierarchy into a term meant to erase, not reinforce, insider/outsider distinctions.
ROM.15.7-12
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Doctrine
Gospel
福音 is established and unambiguous as a word, but Hong Kong's commercial prosperity-and-luck culture (e.g.
ROM.15.19-20
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Glossary Term
Gospel
Shared written form with Mandarin 福音, but heard through Hong Kong/Guangdong commercial-luck culture, where 福 (fuk1, fortune) is the anchor of the New Year greeting 恭喜發財 (gong1 hei2 faat3 coi4, 'wishing you prosperity').
ROM.15.19-20
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Glossary Term
Holy
聖潔 = set apart for God, morally pure.
ROM.15.16
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Glossary Term
Holy Spirit
CRITICAL: always use the compound 聖靈; NEVER use 靈 alone, which in Hong Kong folk usage covers ancestral spirits, temple spirits, and the spirits summoned in 問米 mediumship.
ROM.15.16
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Doctrine
Inspiration of Scripture
Distinguish God-breathed Scripture from divination texts and almanacs (老黃曆) consulted for guidance in daily Hong Kong life; Scripture is the direct communication of a personal God, not a predictive reference text.
ROM.15.4
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Glossary Term
Intercession
Prayer on behalf of others addressed directly to God.
ROM.15.30-32
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Glossary Term
Israel
Proper name; established form shared across Chinese-character Bible traditions.
ROM.15.7-12
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Doctrine
Kingdom Mission
God's reign advancing through the gospel; given Hong Kong's political sensitivities, keep clearly framed as spiritual reign rather than a political program.
ROM.15.12, ROM.15.18-21
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Glossary Term
Kingdom Of God
Avoid 天下 ('all under heaven', the classical unified-earthly-realm concept) and 王朝 ('dynasty').
ROM.15.12, ROM.15.18-21
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Glossary Term
Law
The Mosaic Law.
ROM.15.8-12
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Glossary Term
Messiah
CRITICAL: established transliteration of 'Christos'.
ROM.15.8-12
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Doctrine
Messianic Promise
CRITICAL: must not be conflated with Maitreya (彌勒) or with the wish-granting savior framing popularly attached to Wong Tai Sin.
ROM.15.8-12
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Glossary Term
Mission
Hong Kong's mission history runs through British colonial-era Anglican and Catholic institutions as well as Protestant missions, giving 'mission' a different historical texture than in mainland Mandarin contexts (less 洋教/'foreign religion' stigma given the churches' long institutional presence in local education and healthcare), but public evangelism still requires sensitivity in the current political and social climate.
ROM.15.15-24
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Doctrine
Mission to the Nations
Hong Kong's mission history via colonial-era Anglican/Catholic institutions gives 'mission' a different, less foreign-stigmatized texture than in mainland contexts, but current political and social sensitivities still call for care in public evangelism framing.
ROM.15.15-24
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Doctrine
Mutual Edification
Building one another up in faith; no significant doctrinal risk.
ROM.15.2
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Doctrine
Prayer and Intercession
Direct access to God in Christ's name; distinguish from drawing a temple fortune-stick (求籤) or consulting a spirit-medium (問米) on someone else's behalf.
ROM.15.30-32
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Glossary Term
Prophecy
God-inspired declaration; distinguish from 求籤 (kau4 chim1, drawing a temple fortune-stick, extremely common at Hong Kong temples including Wong Tai Sin) and from date-selection by feng shui/almanac (睇風水擇日).
ROM.15.8-12
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Glossary Term
Prophet
God's spokesperson; distinguish from 算命佬 (a fortune-teller) or a feng shui consultant (風水師), both common consulted professions in Hong Kong.
ROM.15.4
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Doctrine
Sanctification
Spirit-wrought process, distinguished from self-directed cultivation regimens (修煉) or simple habit-reform (戒除惡習).
ROM.15.16
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Glossary Term
Sanctification
Shares the Confucian self-cultivation-into-sagehood resonance found across the Chinese-character sphere, but Hong Kong's more religiously plural, less classically-Confucian-schooled general population makes the collision somewhat less acute than in Mandarin contexts; still requires a clarifying note distinguishing Spirit-wrought sanctification from self-directed moral discipline (修煉, associated with qigong/martial-arts training regimens) or simple habit-reform (戒除惡習).
ROM.15.16
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Glossary Term
Seed Of David
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and OT covenant fulfillment.
ROM.15.12
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Doctrine
Separation unto God's Service
Must not be confused with ritual dietary abstinence or vow-keeping practices tied to temple worship (戒口, 還神還願).
ROM.15.16
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Doctrine
Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Directly challenges any lingering local/outsider or clan-based hierarchy; must translate with theological clarity rather than softened diplomatic language.
ROM.15.7-12