To live in unity

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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Introduction: The Question of Confession

Ian Johnson July 27, 2021 6 Comments

Confession of sin is expression of our full agreement with God about the evil within us that produces acts of disobedience. It is NOT the recitation of a detailed list of wrong acts, which we admit we did but for which we deflect responsibility to God or others. True confession is the beginning of reconciliation and restoration.

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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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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Introduction: The Question of Confession

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

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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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