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 generic volunteerism or social-harmony service divorced from the gospel.
ROM.15.17-21
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Doctrine
Christian Fellowship
Shared participation in Christ, not generic in-group harmony feeling (仲間意識) from Japan's wa culture.
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 Buddhist temple (寺) or Shinto shrine (神社) institution.
ROM.15.26
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Glossary Term
Covenant
契約 is the only common Japanese word for both 'covenant' and an ordinary secular contract (employment, rental, insurance) — a fully secularized commercial term in everyday use.
ROM.15.12
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Glossary Term
David
Standard Shinkaiyaku proper name form.
ROM.15.12
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Doctrine
Davidic Covenant
Requires OT background explanation; 契約 (covenant) defaults to the everyday commercial-contract sense in modern Japanese, so the relational, unconditional nature of God's promise to David needs active restoration in teaching.
ROM.15.12
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Doctrine
Evangelism
Frame in terms of gentle proclamation and witness given Japan's low general receptivity and biblical illiteracy; avoid confrontational framing.
ROM.15.20
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Glossary Term
Exhort
Standard term for encouraging/urging fellow believers.
ROM.15.2
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Glossary Term
Fellowship
Shared participation in Christ.
ROM.15.24
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Doctrine
Fulfillment of Prophecy
Linear, one-time historical fulfillment (OT to NT), not a fortune-telling prediction (占い) coming true by chance.
ROM.15.8-12
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Glossary Term
Gentiles
Avoid casual 外人 (gaijin, 'outsider/foreigner'), which risks reinforcing Japan's strong insider/outsider (内・外, uchi-soto) social framework as the operative category, when Romans' Jew/Gentile distinction is a specific redemptive-historical category, not a generic ethnic-insider one.
ROM.15.7-12
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Doctrine
Gospel
The term itself is unambiguous, but most secular Japanese readers have no prior exposure to it at all; the risk is blankness/biblical illiteracy rather than a competing wrong meaning.
ROM.15.19-20
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Glossary Term
Gospel
Established Shinkaiyaku term.
ROM.15.19-20
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Glossary Term
Holy
Set apart for God, morally pure.
ROM.15.16
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Glossary Term
Holy Spirit
CRITICAL: always use the compound 聖霊; NEVER use 霊 (rei) alone.
ROM.15.16
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Doctrine
Inspiration of Scripture
Distinguish God-breathed Scripture from Buddhist sutras (経, kyou) transmitted through a teacher-disciple lineage, or from secular literary-classic status; Scripture is the direct, verbal communication of a personal God.
ROM.15.4
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Glossary Term
Intercession
Prayer on behalf of others addressed to God.
ROM.15.30-32
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Glossary Term
Israel
Proper name; established form.
ROM.15.7-12
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Doctrine
Kingdom Mission
God's reign advancing through the gospel; the exact phrase 神の国 was the slogan of pre-1945 State Shinto ultranationalism (神国日本), so materials must anchor the doctrinal sense clearly to avoid unwanted political-historical resonance.
ROM.15.12, ROM.15.18-21
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Glossary Term
Kingdom Of God
This exact phrase was the slogan of pre-1945 State Shinto ultranationalist ideology (神国日本, 'divine-nation Japan,' the doctrine that Japan itself was a sacred land under a divine emperor) — a 2000-era prime ministerial remark reviving this phrase caused significant public controversy.
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
キリスト (transliteration of 'Christos') is the standard term — so standard that 'Christianity' itself is キリスト教.
ROM.15.8-12
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Doctrine
Messianic Promise
CRITICAL: most secular Japanese readers know 'Kirisuto' only as a foreign cultural brand (commercialized Christmas, wedding-chapel aesthetics) with no connection to Jewish messianic-fulfillment content.
ROM.15.8-12
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Glossary Term
Mission
Japan's Christian history carries the weight of the 16th-17th century Kirishitan persecution and the subsequent two-and-a-half centuries of national seclusion (sakoku) during which hidden Christians (隠れキリシタン, Kakure Kirishitan) practiced underground.
ROM.15.15-24
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Doctrine
Mission to the Nations
Carries the historical weight of the Kirishitan persecution and centuries of national seclusion (sakoku), plus the modern reality of very low response rates to evangelism in Japan; frame with historical awareness and without triumphalism.
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 Shinto/Buddhist ritual petition at a shrine or temple (お参り, おみくじ).
ROM.15.30-32
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Glossary Term
Prophecy
Same 預言/予言 homophone risk as 'prophet' above.
ROM.15.8-12
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Glossary Term
Prophet
IMPORTANT: 預言者 ('one who deposits/entrusts words,' prophet) is a homophone of 予言者 ('one who predicts,' a fortune-teller), differing only in the kanji 預 vs.
ROM.15.4
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Doctrine
Sanctification
Spirit-wrought process, distinguished from ascetic training (修行) and sudden Buddhist enlightenment (悟り).
ROM.15.16
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Glossary Term
Sanctification
The Spirit's ongoing work in a believer already justified by faith.
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 ascetic withdrawal for spiritual training (修行) or Shinto ritual purification (禊, misogi).
ROM.15.16
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Doctrine
Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Directly challenges any lingering uchi-soto insider/outsider framing; must translate with theological clarity rather than softened diplomatic language.
ROM.15.7-12