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 moral cultivation practiced independently of the gospel.
ROM.15.17-21
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Doctrine
Christian Fellowship
Shared participation in Christ; not a ritualized sworn-brotherhood pact (结拜) or mere social association.
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 (庙/寺/道观) or a clan association.
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
CUV standard proper name form.
ROM.15.12
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Doctrine
Davidic Covenant
Requires OT background explanation; no directly analogous concept of a perpetual royal covenant promise exists in Chinese dynastic tradition, where legitimacy is understood as a revocable Mandate of Heaven rather than an unconditional promise to one line.
ROM.15.12
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Doctrine
Evangelism
Culturally sensitive given the historic 洋教 ('foreign religion') stigma; frame in terms of proclamation and witness within community, not confrontational or foreign-imposed messaging.
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
团契 is a Chinese Christian coinage for shared participation in Christ.
ROM.15.24
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Doctrine
Fulfillment of Prophecy
Linear, one-time historical fulfillment (OT to NT), not the cyclical dynastic-rise-and-fall pattern (治乱循环, the recurring order-chaos-order cycle of Chinese historiography) that shapes how many Chinese readers intuitively read long historical narratives.
ROM.15.8-12
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Glossary Term
Gentiles
NEVER use 夷人 (yírén, historically 'barbarian' in the classical Hua-Yi [华夷] distinction between civilized Chinese and outside peoples) — using it would ironically import the very insider/outsider hierarchy Romans 'no distinction' language dismantles.
ROM.15.7-12
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Doctrine
Gospel
福音 is an established, unambiguous term, but its root character 福 (fortune/blessing) sits inside the same semantic field as folk fortune-seeking language; teaching must make clear the gospel is news of salvation through Christ, not an omen of coming luck.
ROM.15.19-20
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Glossary Term
Gospel
Established CUV term, literally 'blessing-news'.
ROM.15.19-20
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Glossary Term
Holy
圣洁 = set apart for God and morally pure.
ROM.15.16
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Glossary Term
Holy Spirit
CRITICAL: always use the compound 圣灵; NEVER use 灵 (líng, 'spirit') alone, which in folk usage covers ancestral spirits (祖灵), nature spirits, and ghosts, and is invoked in ancestor-veneration ritual.
ROM.15.16
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Doctrine
Inspiration of Scripture
Distinguish God-breathed Scripture from the Chinese classical canon (经, jīng, as in the Confucian Five Classics or Daoist Daodejing), which is authoritative as sage-wisdom rather than as the direct, verbal communication of a personal God through human authors.
ROM.15.4
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Glossary Term
Intercession
Prayer on behalf of others addressed to God directly.
ROM.15.30-32
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Glossary Term
Israel
Proper name; CUV established form.
ROM.15.7-12
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Doctrine
Kingdom Mission
God's reign advancing through the gospel, not a this-worldly political order framed as 天下 ('all under heaven') or dynastic succession.
ROM.15.12, ROM.15.18-21
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Glossary Term
Kingdom Of God
Avoid 天下 ('all under heaven'), the classical term for the unified earthly realm under a single legitimate ruler — it risks framing God's kingdom as a this-worldly political/dynastic order rather than God's sovereign spiritual reign.
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: 基督 (transliteration of 'Christos') is the CUV standard, used far more than the direct transliteration 弥赛亚 (mísàiyà).
ROM.15.8-12
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Doctrine
Messianic Promise
CRITICAL: must not be conflated with Maitreya (弥勒), the future Buddha expected in Chinese Buddhist eschatology to appear and save the world in a coming age — a figure historically invoked by Chinese millenarian folk-religious movements.
ROM.15.8-12
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Glossary Term
Mission
Historically, Christianity in China was labeled 洋教 (yángjiào, 'foreign/Western religion'), a term carrying colonial-era and anti-imperialist connotations from the 19th-20th centuries.
ROM.15.15-24
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Doctrine
Mission to the Nations
Cultural sensitivity: Christianity has historically been labeled 洋教 ('foreign/Western religion') in China, carrying 19th-20th century colonial-era connotations.
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 consulting a fortune-stick (求签) or diviner (问卜) for guidance.
ROM.15.30-32
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Glossary Term
Prophecy
God-inspired declaration of what he will do; distinguish from 算卦/占卜 (divination, e.g.
ROM.15.8-12
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Glossary Term
Prophet
God's spokesperson; distinguish from 算命先生 (suànmìng xiānsheng, a fortune-teller).
ROM.15.4
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Doctrine
Sanctification
CRITICAL: 成圣 is a direct borrowing of the Neo-Confucian technical term for self-cultivation into sagehood through personal moral effort (Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming).
ROM.15.16
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Glossary Term
Sanctification
CRITICAL: 成圣 ('becoming a sage/holy one') is itself a technical term in Neo-Confucian philosophy (Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming) for the process of self-cultivation by which a person perfects their innate moral nature into sagehood through personal effort.
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 the Daoist/Buddhist ideal of withdrawing from worldly life to pursue ritual purity or immortality through seclusion.
ROM.15.16
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Doctrine
Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Directly challenges any lingering insider/outsider ethnic hierarchy; must translate with theological clarity rather than softened diplomatic language.
ROM.15.7-12