The Fool Who Would Be Holy > A God who Speaks > God Speaks to Us

God Speaks to Us

The ways in which God has always spoken to people

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

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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Eli, the High Priest, Talking when Action was Required

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.

A God who Speaks, Desire to have our own way, Desire to have our own way, God Acts by Speaking, God's Voice, Prophecy, Refusing to hear, Repentance, Repentance versus Remorse, Sin, What is sin?

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Postscript: “Sin” Words: Lexical Definitions

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.

God Speaks to Us, Linguistic Background Words and Phrases, Sin, The Bible, What is God's Word, What is sin?

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

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

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?

A God who Speaks, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's sovereignty, Prophecy, The Kingdom of the Heavens, To live in unity, To see God's glory, Ultimate reality, Uncategorized, Victory, What is God's Word

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Repentance in Jesus’ Early Message, Matthew 4:17-22 and Mark 1:14-20

July 22, 2021 2 Comments

Jesus’ early preaching was that his hearers must repent. because the Kingdom had already arrived and was “at hand”–standing right in front of them, in his person. Therefore, they were to repent–change their behavior–and believe the good news (Gospel) he was preaching to them.

A God who Speaks, Changed treatment of each other, Repentance, Salvation, The Kingdom of the Heavens, Through Jesus

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Unrepentance and the Judgment Spoken Against Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum in Matthew 11:20-24

July 18, 2021 1 Comment

When Jesus unfavorably compared the unrepentance of the Galilean towns where he had preached to the repentance Tyre, Sidon and Sodom would have shown to the same preaching. the repentance of which he spoke clearly included behavioral change.

A God who Speaks, An abuse of God's image, Changed treatment of each other, Refusing to hear, Repentance, Sin, Through Jesus, Uncategorized, What is sin?

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The “Curses” on Adam, Eve and the Serpent: Are Vexed Gender Relations, Meaningless Hard Work and Economic Oppression God’s Will?

July 16, 2021 2 Comments

God did not curse Adam and Eve when they sinned. He told them what the mostly natural evil consequences of their decision to live apart from him would be. In doing this, he did NOT decree any of these evil consequences as things as a part of his perfect will. Sexual and class inequalities are evil consequences of sin, not God’s will.

A God who Speaks, Complex unity, Desire to have our own way, Emotions, Free will, God Speaks to Us, God's purpose for us, Human Rationality, Knowing good and evil, Male and female, Marriage and Reproduction, Rejecting God, Sin, To be in his image, Uncategorized, What is sin?

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Adam and Eve–Idolatry in the Fall

July 11, 2021 10 Comments

When the first humans, who already knew all good, chose to disobey God and experience evil, they initiated every kind of idolatry known to later generations. This included worship of created things, of themselves, their own wisdom and their own desires, of their bodies, and, most importantly, of a false picture of the true God as miserly and hostile toward us.

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Repentance of the Ninevites and Unrepentance of Israel in Matthew 12:41

June 28, 2021 2 Comments

Jesus contrasted the Jewish leaders, who refused to hear his words, with the Ninevites who repented at the preaching of Jonah and put away their bloodshed and violence.

A God who Speaks, Changed treatment of each other, God is Love, God's sovereignty, Prophecy, Refusing to hear, Repentance, Repentance in community, Sin, Through Jesus, What is sin?

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