God’s Existence and Nature

What I Believe–stated simply

Ian Johnson July 24, 2022 7 Comments

In this post, I give a short, one web page, summary of what I believe, in language as simple as I can manage. It gives only a quick, “big picture” of my understanding of God, my relationship to him, and my role on Earth. Comments are invited.

Church purpose versus church growth, Complex unity, Conversation with God, Divisions in the Church, Eternity, Free will, God Acts by Speaking, God is Love, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God was never our enemy, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's rationality, God's sovereignty, His Children, His Friends, Immanence, Islam as a Consequence, Language and Speech, Male and female, Merit, Omnipresence, Reconciliation, Refusing to hear, Regeneration, Rejecting God, Repentance, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, Show us the Way of Truth, Sin, Sins versus sin, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, The Kingdom of the Heavens, The Problem of Evil, To be his ambassadors, To be in his image, To live in unity, Transcendence, Trinity, Ultimate reality, Unity, Wars as consequences, What is God's Word, What is sin?

Christian theology, Church, God, God speaks, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life purpose, Son of God, Son of Man

The Implications of Jesus’ Humanity, Revisited

Ian Johnson April 24, 2022 2 Comments

Jesus came as a man–fully human–and lived under the control (“filling”) and power of the Holy Spirit, in exactly the same way we can, if we will permit him to do it. In this respect, the only difference between Jesus, as a human, and us, is that Jesus was never anything but fully under the Spirit’s control. Jesus invites us to live as He did, obeying the Spirit’s direction and living by the Spirit’s power.

A God who Speaks, God Acts by Speaking, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's purpose for us, His Children, His Friends, Holy Spirit, Jesus the Son, Promises, Show us the Way of Truth, Son of Man, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, The Kingdom of the Heavens, Through Jesus, To be in his image, Trinity, Ultimate reality, What is God's Word

God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, God the Son, Holy Spirit, human, humanity of Christ, Jesus, living by the Holy Spirit, Mind of Christ

Paul’s Mourning over those who have Not Repented, 2 Corinthians 12:21

Ian Johnson April 3, 2022 2 Comments

When Paul wrote his second letter to the Corinthians, he feared he would later come to them and find that they had not repented of their underlying mixed motives and attitudes of self-centered worship and sensual focus. The result would be the same strife and disorder he had reproved in his first letter.

Desire to have our own way, Desire to have our own way, Divisions in the Church, Forgetting God, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, God's Other Attributes, Greed, Pride in accomplishments as our own, refusal to repent, Repentance, Salvation, self-serving worship, What is sin?

attitude, attitudes, Corinthians, disorder, immorality, mixed motives, mourning, not repented, Paul, repent, self-centered worship, sensual, sensuality, strife, uncleanness

Godly sorrow and repentance which leads to salvation, 2 Corinthians 7:8-10

Ian Johnson March 27, 2022 2 Comments

In Corinth, Godly sorrow over a letter Paul regretted writing led the members of the church to a zeal to put away their sins which is the definition of repentance. After that repentance, they were told to accept back among themselves even those who had lapsed into the “worst” sins, but had repented.

A God who Speaks, Changed treatment of each other, Consequences, forgiveness and mercy, God is Love, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, judgment, Repentance, Repentance in community, Repentance versus Remorse, Restoration of God's Image, Sin, Through the church, Victory

acceptance, Corinthians, deliverance, godly sorrow, Grief, immorality, Paul, reconciliation, regret, remorse, repent, repentance, salvation, sin, sinner

Self-righteousness, idolatry of self, repentance and an unrepentant heart in Romans 2

Ian Johnson March 20, 2022 2 Comments

Romans 2:4-5 is a warning aimed not at the wicked world, but at the self-righteous–even believers–who harshly judge others while forgetting that it was the kindness of God that led them to repentance.

A God who Speaks, Consequences, Forgetting God, forgiveness and mercy, God is Love, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's Other Attributes, idolatry, judgment, patience, refusal to repent, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Repentance, reprobation, Sin, through his creation, Truth and Falsehood, What is sin?

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Burning Cultural Bridges? Repentance and Paul in Athens, Acts 17:22-31

Ian Johnson February 20, 2022 1 Comment

Paul’s speech to the rulers of Athens in the Areopagus was a long exercise in deliberate irony, first building and then promptly burning cultural bridges. Paul did this to show them the folly of their deliberate ignorance of the true God.

A God who Speaks, Desire to have our own way, Eternity, Forgetting God, God Acts by Speaking, God is Love, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, idolatry, Immanence, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Repentance, Sin, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, Truth and Falsehood, What is sin?

Areopagus, Athens, Christianity, cross-cultural evangelism, cultural bridges, Epicurean, evangelism, Greek philosophies, Greek religion, Idolatry, idols, Paul, repentance, sermon, Stoic, trial, unknown god, willful ignorance

Repentance and Earthly Consequences: the Consequences of David’s Sins–including Jesus

Ian Johnson December 22, 2021 2 Comments

Though God forgave David his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah, this sin had a traceable chain of earthly consequences which extends to the present and which includes the death of Christ on the cross.

Consequences, Discipline or Correction, forgiveness and mercy, God Never Stopped Speaking, God's sovereignty, Prophecy, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Repentance, Repentance versus Remorse, Sin, The Problem of Evil, Through his enemies, Trusting sight over God's words

Absalom, Adonijah, Amnon, Asa, Bathsheba, consequences, consequences of sins, cross, forgiveness, Israel, Jeconiah, Jehoiachin, Jeroboam, Jesus, Josiah, Judah, King David, Nathan, Rehoboam, sin, Solomon, Uriah

God Rejected King Saul, But Declared King David a Man After His Own Heart. Didn’t God Get this Backwards?

Ian Johnson November 14, 2021 7 Comments

God rejected King Saul, a bungler who made a few mistakes trying to do God’s will, his own way. But he accepted King David, a rapist and murderer, forgave him two unforgivable sins, promised him an eternal kingdom, called him a man after his own heart–and put him in Jesus’ lineage! Didn’t God get this backwards? NO!!

Confession and Repentance, Desire to have our own way, forgiveness and mercy, God is Love, God's Existence and Nature, God's rationality, Leaving Our First Love, Peril of Seeking Power, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Repentance, Repentance versus Remorse, Sin, Sins versus sin, Social control and statecraft, The Problem of Evil, Trusting sight over God's words, What is sin?

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The Pharaoh who played “let’s make a deal” with God

Ian Johnson October 10, 2021 1 Comment

When God sent Moses to deliver his people from Egypt, the Pharaoh who ruled Egypt responded to some of the plagues with false repentance. That is, he tried to “make a deal” with God, and even admitted that he was in the wrong, only to renege on his agreements as soon as God removed the plague. With each “deal” on which he reneged, his heart became more hardened. But this is always what happens when, out of fear or remorse, we try to “make a deal” with God rather than obey him.

A God who Speaks, Events and Signs, God Acts by Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's sovereignty, idolatry, Omnipresence, Refusing to hear, Repentance versus Remorse, The Invisible God's Self-Existence

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“Unless You Repent, You Will All Perish,” the Parable of the Spared Fig Tree, and the problem of evil in Luke 13:1-9

Ian Johnson September 19, 2021 2 Comments

In Luke 13:1-9, Jesus answers the “problem of evil” by pointing at his questioners’–and everyone’s–sin, pointing out that death and suffering come as a result of sin, not of being a greater or lesser sinner, and calling for repentance.

Changed treatment of each other, Death of Members, forgiveness and mercy, God is Love, God's Existence and Nature, God's rationality, Greed, Religious violence and persecution, Repentance, The Problem of Evil

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What I Believe–stated simply

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The Implications of Jesus’ Humanity, Revisited

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Paul’s Mourning over those who have Not Repented, 2 Corinthians 12:21

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Godly sorrow and repentance which leads to salvation, 2 Corinthians 7:8-10

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Self-righteousness, idolatry of self, repentance and an unrepentant heart in Romans 2

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Burning Cultural Bridges? Repentance and Paul in Athens, Acts 17:22-31

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Repentance and Earthly Consequences: the Consequences of David’s Sins–including Jesus

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God Rejected King Saul, But Declared King David a Man After His Own Heart. Didn’t God Get this Backwards?

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The Pharaoh who played “let’s make a deal” with God

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“Unless You Repent, You Will All Perish,” the Parable of the Spared Fig Tree, and the problem of evil in Luke 13:1-9

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God’s Existence and Nature

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