God’s purpose for us

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

Ian Johnson 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?

Christian Teachings, doctrine, Earliest Christianity, evangelism, Holy Spirit, Index, Jesus, Monotheism, pacifism, social order, war

Prophets (New Testament)

Ian Johnson November 29, 2020 3 Comments

Prophets tell forth God’s words to an individual, church or situation, giving God’s perspective which is not plainly visible without God’s illumination. The purpose of prophecy is to edify the Church. Prediction of the future is not the essence of prophecy. Many great preachers were likely prophets, though not recognized as such. This function is still important to the Body, and therefore still present in it.

A God who Speaks, God Acts by Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's purpose for us, God's Voice, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Prophecy, Through the church, To be his ambassadors, What is God's Word

correction, encouragement, guidance, illumination, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophets, Speak forth, Speaking Forth, warning

Mutual Submission is the Key

Ian Johnson November 8, 2020 2 Comments

Unity in the church arises, not from submission to a power structure, but from mutual submission to each other, seeking each other’s good above our own, in submission to Christ.

A God who Speaks, Desire to have our own way, God Speaks to Us, In the Church, Meaning of Unity, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Reconciliation, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships, Through others, Through the church, To live in unity

Body, Body of Christ, counting each other more important than ourselves, Equal, equality, equality of members, humility, Love, mutual benefit, mutual submission, power, submission, submit

Authority, Submission and Oneness

Ian Johnson November 5, 2020 1 Comment

Authority and submission are important to the unity of the Church. But it does not operate based on a human chain of command. It operates based on respect for leaders under a common head.

A God who Speaks, Authority Contests, Church purpose versus church growth, Divisions in the Church, God Speaks to Us, In the Church, Meaning of Unity, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, The universal Church and local churches, Through others, To live in unity

authority, chain of command, Church, Church leadership, heirarchy, in charge, leaders, mutual submission, oneness, submission, Unity

False Believers and Divisive Persons in Jude

Ian Johnson August 23, 2020 3 Comments

Jude’s description of divisive persons in the church points to false believers who try to look like us but have infiltrated the church for their own advantage, to serve their own greed and lusts. They are dead trees, and dead trees bear no fruit. In dealing with them, we need to contend for the truth and resist contending against them personally.

Authority Contests, Desire to have our own way, Desire to have our own way, Disrespecting poor believers, Divisions in the Church, Greed, Heresy, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Peril of Seeking Power, Rejecting God, To live in unity

The Real Issue with False Teachers is their Hidden Motivations

Ian Johnson August 12, 2020 4 Comments

Like Balaam, false teachers do their work stealthily motivated by greed. They do not openly deny the Lordship of Christ, but deceptively proclaim teachings that permit us to retain our own independence, greed or lust, to seek first our own pleasure, and still, they say, please God. They teach these things not necessarily because they believe them, but to obtain our following and our money.

Desire to have our own way, Disputes about words, Greed, Heresy, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Peril of Seeking Power, Replacing Relationship with Morality, To live in unity

2 Peter 2, Divisions in the Church, divisive teachers, divisiveness, false teachers, false teachings, freedom, Heresies, Jesis is Lord, Lordship, slavery

Divisions and Factions in 1 Corinthians 11

Ian Johnson August 3, 2020 3 Comments

Factions, “hereseis,” as used in 1 Corinthians 11:19, clearly does not refer to divisions caused by false teachers. Instead, in that context, it refers to divisions caused by neglect and humiliation of poor believers and by the formation of personality cults.

Disrespecting poor believers, Divisions in the Church, Greed, Heresy, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Personality cults, To live in unity

1 Corinthians 1, 1 Corinthians 11, Disrespect for poor believers, Divisions, Divisions in the Church, Heresies, personalities, personality cult, schismata, schisms, Segregation of the poor

The Meanings and Occurrences of the Underlying Words for “Heresy”

Ian Johnson August 2, 2020 3 Comments

The words “heretic” and “heresy” in English New Testament translations are actually transliterations of Greek words that primarily denote division or divisiveness. They are used with those primary meanings in Acts. They did not come to secondarily connote teaching,teachers or doctrines disapproved by a church organization until the late second century. Tha authors of the New Testament did not know of this later technical meaning.

Compulsory Christianity, Divisions in the Church, Heresy, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Peril of Seeking Power, Social control and statecraft, To live in unity

Against Heresies, Constantine, conversion of Constantine, definition of heresy, definition of heretic, Definitions, division, divisive person, false teaching, heresy, heretic, Iranaeus, technical term, term of art, Theodosius

Heresy is Division in the Church

Ian Johnson August 1, 2020 4 Comments

Heresy is properly defined as divisiveness, not merely believing a false doctrine. Heretics are divisive people. Those who state doctrines with which I disagree, but do so without insisting on division because of my belief, are not heretics. Thus calls for mutual understanding and patience.

Church purpose versus church growth, Desire to have our own way, Divisions in the Church, Greed, Heresy, His Friends, In the Church, Meaning of Unity, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Sins versus sin, Social control and statecraft, To live in unity

Church History, Church unity, definition of heresy, division, divisive people, divisiveness, doctrinal disagreements, doctrine, heresy, heretic, heretical, Our Oneness in Christ, Unity

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

Ian Johnson 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?

Christian history, Christianity, Christianity and Islam, doctrine, Early Christianity, History of Christianity, New Testament, New Testament Christianity

Prophets (New Testament)

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Mutual Submission is the Key

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Authority, Submission and Oneness

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False Believers and Divisive Persons in Jude

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The Real Issue with False Teachers is their Hidden Motivations

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Divisions and Factions in 1 Corinthians 11

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The Meanings and Occurrences of the Underlying Words for “Heresy”

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Heresy is Division in the Church

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

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God’s purpose for us

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