God Speaks to Us

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.

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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.

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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

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The Prophets Nathan and Gad Deal With King David in His Sins

Ian Johnson November 26, 2021 2 Comments

On both of the occasions when David is said to have sinned in his administration as king, God sent prophets to correct him. God corrected David’s great sin, the one involving Bathsheba and Uriah, by sending the prophet Nathan to confront him. By contrast, in the matter of the census David recognized he had sinned and asked God’s forgiveness as soon as the census was completed. The prophet Gad was sent to him not to bring him to repentance, but to give him a choice of public consequences for not honoring God in the census and instructions concerning how to rectify his error. David repented and was forgiven of both sins, but the first one nevertheless had severe long-term consequences.

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Repent, turn again, turn away from your wickedness, in Acts 3:19

Ian Johnson October 31, 2021 1 Comment

When Peter preached that the people should “repent,” he explained that meant that they were to “turn away from their wickedness” and so, in their behavior, “listen” to Jesus. Jesus did not come to entertain us or to offer advice, but to turn us away from our own way to obedience to him.

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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.

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Eli, the High Priest, Talking when Action was Required

Ian Johnson September 26, 2021 2 Comments

True repentance would have required high priest Eli to act to remove his sons Hophni and Phinehas from office. Hophni and Phinehas were using God and their offices as a magical charm and using others, as many in the Church do today. The people also learned to do these things from their example. Instead of removing them, Eli just nagged them, and he and all Israel paid the penalty.

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Postscript: “Sin” Words: Lexical Definitions

Ian Johnson August 21, 2021 7 Comments

The New Testament uses a number of different words to describe sin, its causes and its effects, in the context of confession, repentance and forgiveness. These words are not synonyms, and distinguishing them is important to understanding many of the contexts in which they are used.

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Repentance, Confession and the Textual Variant in James 5:16

Ian Johnson August 9, 2021 3 Comments

James 5:16 occurs in a context dealing with sick Christians and healing. In that context, it teaches that we are to agree with each other about the character flaws in our lives that lead to discrete sins, and pray for each other that these flaws–and the whole person–will be healed. This sensible reading is supported by the Byzantine New Testament text tradition, which is to be preferred for this verse.

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Of Assyria, Egypt, and God’s Sovereignty in My Life

Ian Johnson July 24, 2021 0 Comments

The continued existence of ethnic Coptic and Assyrian Christian minorities in Egypt and the Middle East demonstrates God’s faithfulness and the possibility of a literal fulfillment of Isaiah 19:23-25. If God can preserve these ethnic groups across two millennia of persecution in order to fulfill a prophecy, can he possibly need my “help” doing anything in my own life?

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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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The Prophets Nathan and Gad Deal With King David in His Sins

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Repent, turn again, turn away from your wickedness, in Acts 3:19

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

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Eli, the High Priest, Talking when Action was Required

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Postscript: “Sin” Words: Lexical Definitions

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Repentance, Confession and the Textual Variant in James 5:16

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Of Assyria, Egypt, and God’s Sovereignty in My Life

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