The Kingdom of the Heavens > God's purpose for us > To be in his image > Free will

Free will

Our power to make decisions that have real consequences is a part of God’s image

What I Believe–stated simply

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?

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

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.

A God who Speaks, Angels, Confession of Sin, Desire to have our own way, Events and Signs, Forgetting God, Free will, God Speaks to Us, Pride in accomplishments as our own, Prophecy, Sin, The Problem of Evil, To be in his image, To live in unity, What is sin?

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Joy in Heaven Over One Sinner Repenting: The Parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son

September 11, 2021 3 Comments

The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coins and the two lost sons, one of them the “Prodigal son,” in Luke 15 show our value to God, God’s search for us, and our returning to him, or not, in repentance, and teach why we should not be judgmental toward those who appear great “sinners.”

Changed treatment of each other, Divisions in the Church, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Free will, God's purpose for us, His Children, Leaving Our First Love, Merit, Repentance, Replacing Relationship with Morality, Salvation

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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.

A God who Speaks, An abuse of God's image, Conversation with God, Desire to have our own way, Free will, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God was never our enemy, God's purpose for us, God's rationality, God's Voice, His Friends, idolatry, Knowing good and evil, Restoration of God's Image, To fill and govern the Earth, Trusting sight over God's words, Truth and Falsehood, Ultimate reality, What is God's Word

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Matthew 5:8–Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

June 21, 2021 1 Comment

Matthew 5:6 and 5:8 speak of the state of hungering and thirsting for righteousness, which leads to purity of heart because God satisfies the hunger. The result of purity of heart is being able to to “see” God, to perceive his presence and work, even in the present time.

A God who Speaks, Free will, God's purpose for us, His Friends, Repentance, Through Jesus, To see God's glory

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The Departure of Organized Christianity from its Roots, Second through Sixth Centuries CE

December 25, 2020 1 Comment

This is an outline of the second part of my attempt to link early errors of organized Christianity to the state of the modern world–specifically, in this part, by showing the origins and entrance of specific errors before Muhammad which profoundly affected subsequent history. Links will be added as future posts are written.

A God who Speaks, Adoption, Authority Contests, Background Information, Church History, Islamic History and Secular History Interaction, Church purpose versus church growth, Complex unity, Compulsory Christianity, Discipline or Correction, Disputes about words, Disrespecting poor believers, Divisions in the Church, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Free will, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's sovereignty, God's Voice, Greed, Heresy, Historical Background, Index, Injustice and Lawsuits, Jesus the Son, Leaving Our First Love, Male and female, Marriage, Marriage and Reproduction, Merit, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Prophecy, Purpose of the Church, Quarrels, Regeneration, Religious violence and persecution, Replacing Relationship with Morality, Salvation, Sin, Sins versus sin, Site Index Page, Social control and statecraft, Son of Man, The Bible, Through the church, To be in his image, Trinity, Unity, Wars as consequences, What is God's Word, What is sin?

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Truths of the Earliest Christianity that Mutated Leading to Formation of Later Divisions

December 24, 2020 3 Comments

This is an outline of the first part of my attempt to link early errors of organized Christianity to the state of the modern world–specifically, in this part, by explaining some of the foundations of the earliest Christianity from which later errors diverged. Links will be added as future posts are written.

A God who Speaks, Adoption, Background Information, Church History, Islamic History and Secular History Interaction, Complex unity, Eternity Present, Free will, God Speaks to Us, God was never our enemy, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's sovereignty, His Children, His Friends, Historical Background, In the Church, Index, Meaning of Unity, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Prophecy, Purpose of the Church, Reconciliation, Regeneration, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, Show us the Way of Truth, Sin, Sins versus sin, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, The universal Church and local churches, Through others, Through the church, To be his ambassadors, To be in his image, Topic Index, Trinity, What is God's Word, What is sin?

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From Early Christianity to Islam and Back — 1. The Earliest Christianity

July 13, 2020 6 Comments

This post is the first in a series of six outlining a broad view of how things in the Church and the world got to be as they are now, including contributions early Christianity and Islam made to each other. This post attempts to outline the basic positions of early Christianity. Comments are invited!

A God who Speaks, Adoption, Background Information, Church purpose versus church growth, Complex unity, Conversation with God, Desire to have our own way, Emotions, Eternity Present, Free will, God Acts by Speaking, 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, God's Voice, His Children, His Friends, Historical Background, Human Rationality, Is forgiveness of sins the focus of salvation?, Jesus the Son, Knowing good and evil, Language and Speech, Logical thinking, Male and female, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Prophecy, Reconciliation, Regeneration, Rejecting God, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, Sin, Sins versus sin, Son of Man, The Bible, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, Through the church, To be his ambassadors, To be in his image, To live in unity, Trinity, Unity, What is God's Word, What is sin?

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The Human Being as a Picture of God’s Complex Unity

June 2, 2020 4 Comments

Human beings are made in God’s image, a picture of his complex unity. Body and spirit must be united to form a soul. Each of the faculties of the soul and parts of the body together form a single, unified person.

Complex unity, Emotions, Free will, God's Existence and Nature, Human Rationality, Language and Speech, Logical thinking, Meaning of Unity, To be in his image, Unity

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