Salvation

I must handle anger better than the most religious people!

Ian Johnson May 13, 2025 0 Comments

I must live more righteously than the most religious people, the people who make a show of keeping all of the rules in their own strength. Jesus’ first example of this is that I must handle my anger better than the most religious people do, and better than the traditional interpretations of the Law of Moses prescribed. I am responsible not only for letting the Spirit control my anger, but for doing what I can, led by the Spirit, to avoid giving a brother or sister an occasion to develop a grudge against me. If I love my brother or sister, I will try to reconcile with them promptly when I know I have aroused their anger.

choosing not to forgive, God's purpose for us, Harboring anger and grudges, Restoration of our Relationships, To live in unity

anger, Holy Spirit, kingdom, Kingdom of Heaven, Kingdom of the heavens, living by the Holy Spirit, living in the Spirit, murder, offense, reconcile, reconciliation, righteousness, Scribes and Pharisees

Greatness in the Kingdom: Doing versus Breaking the Law

Ian Johnson May 7, 2025 0 Comments

If I am truly living in the Kingdom of the Heavens, living under the direction and power of the Holy Spirit, God will be fulfilling the purpose of the Law through me, the same way Jesus did during his earthly ministry. But If I use my freedom as an opportunity for my flesh, to mistreat or exploit my fellow believers, I am breaking the Law. If I bite and devour another believer, I have broken the whole Law–and I should fear being bitten and devoured myself. If I teach others that there are exceptions to the Law of Love, I am teaching others to “break” God’s commandments and am the least in the Kingdom. Whenever I let the Holy Spirit do his walking through my feet, his work through my hands and his speaking through my mouth, I am free from the Law, free to do whatever the Spirit directs. I won’t be doing what the flesh tells me to do, biting and devouring my fellows. The Spirit then fulfills the Law in me, and I am free.

God's purpose for us, Love each other, Must Trust God to Enter, Restoration of our Relationships, The Kingdom is all around us, The Kingdom of the Heavens, To live in unity

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Not Abolishing the Law But Fulfilling It

Ian Johnson May 1, 2025 0 Comments

Not the smallest piece of the Law has ever been abolished. But its summary, and its fulfillment, is its command to love my neighbor as myself. If I love myself as I should, and love others in the same way, I will fulfill the Law. But I must come to Jesus to be taught the way of love and to be given the power to love as he does. Then he will fulfill the whole Law through me, in the love he shows others through my life.

God is Love, God's Existence and Nature, Love each other, Must Trust God to Enter, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships, The Kingdom of the Heavens, To be in his image, To live in unity

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Why Reconcile Quickly–The Danger of Animosity, Bitterness, Murderous Contempt and Divine Judgment

Ian Johnson April 29, 2025 0 Comments

Jesus explains his command to go and be reconciled in the preceding two verses:, I dehumanize the objects of my anger in three steps : 1) holding onto ordinary anger long enough that, instead of me controlling it, it controls me; 2) telling myself or other people that the object of my bitterness is worthless to me, less human than I am, because of what they did; then 3) showing contempt that tears down another person’s humanity directly, by speech and action pointedly directed at them. Then, I am only a step away from murder.

choosing not to forgive, Forgive as we forgive, Love each other, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships, Sin, What is sin?

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I Can’t Control the Orbit of Saturn

Ian Johnson April 27, 2025 1 Comment

This is the report of a prayer time earlier this week in which the Holy Spirit interrogated me about how a passage in Colossians 1 that I was praying through applied to my life, as enlarged by some later meditation. God is able to take care of even of the people I worry about and other believers I’ve hurt, Reconciliation comes only from Him. Enough people have watched me tear myself apart this year with worry and self-condemnation that I knew I should make it public to reassure them that I’m still listening to God. It may also be helpful to other chronic codependent worriers who hear it.

Changed treatment of each other, choosing not to forgive, Forgive as we forgive, forgiveness and mercy, God is Love, God was never our enemy, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's sovereignty, Love each other, patience, Reconciliation, Repentance, Repentance in community, Restoration of our Relationships, To live in unity, Victory, What is sin?

Christ, Christology, Colossians 1, Creator, cross, darkness, Death, doctrine, God's wisdom, God's sovereignty, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom, model prayer, my wisdom, prayer, qualified, reconcile, reconciliation, rescue, Trusting God, worry, worrying

Failure to reconcile an offense “quickly” — debtor’s prison awaits!

Ian Johnson April 24, 2025 0 Comments

When I have offended another believer, I must seek reconciliation quickly, before they have had time to form a final judgment against me and form a grudge. I must not procrastinate. Once a grudge forms, I will be imprisoned outside of their lives, unable to give or receive the things God wants to give us through each other, unless and until God intervenes to change their heart toward me.

choosing not to forgive, Divisions in the Church, Forgive as we forgive, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Love each other, Restoration of our Relationships, What is sin?

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Notice of Open, Confessed and Uncorrectable Hypocrisy

Ian Johnson April 14, 2025 0 Comments

I will now, in my own heart, become a hypocrite because others in authority say I should. I must overlook the continued existence of a justified grudge another believer holds against me and return to ordinary service in the church. But I will not cover up my hypocrisy. I hereby declare my hypocrisy openly.

choosing not to forgive, Divisions in the Church, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Pride in accomplishments as our own, Quarrels, Repentance in community, What is sin?

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The Four Types of Reconciliation

Ian Johnson March 30, 2025 0 Comments

Link: The Four Types of Reconciliation read as a YouTube video. 1. God’s Reconciliation toward Me This aspect of reconciliation is almost identical to the Atonement. From the beginning, God loved me so much that he gave his unique Son Jesus, who was one with him from eternity, to provide for forgiveness of my sin, give me true life, and…
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Changed treatment of each other, God was never our enemy, Reconciliation, Repentance, Repentance in community, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships

Being reconciled to each other, Being reconciled to God, Body of Christ, Head of the Body, Jesus Christ, reconcile, Reconciliaton, Unity

Commentaries Discussing the Command to Go and Be Reconciled

Ian Johnson March 3, 2025 2 Comments

In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus gives what appears to be a simple command, though one that is almost never obeyed: before I may offer worship to God before other people, I must see that any offenses which I am aware that others hold against me are being reconciled and have been reconciled at least to some degree. This post quotes and discusses commentaries on this passage and its subject.

Changed treatment of each other, choosing not to forgive, Divisions in the Church, Forgive as we forgive, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Love each other, Repentance, Restoration of our Relationships, What is sin?

Albert Barnes, Charles Spurgeon, commentary, enmity, forgiveness, Giving, Grant Osborn, hate, importance of reconciliation, John Wesley, Love, Matthew 5:23-24, Matthew Henry, offended, offender, offense, priority, urgency of reconciliation, Worship

The Command to “Go” and “Be Reconciled” — Part 2, The “Then”

Ian Johnson March 1, 2025 0 Comments

Link: The Command to Go and Be Reconciled–Part 2, the “Then,” read as a YouTube video. As I said in Part 1, Jesus’ command to go and be reconciled is stated in Matthew 5:23-24, which is a single conditional sentence even though it is divided into two verses in modern Bibles: [Reference Link: Matthew 5:23-24 (WEB)], The part of this…
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Forgive as we forgive, Reconciliation, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships

Body of Christ, Church, God as an idol, importance of reconciliation, Jesus, offense, priority of reconciliation, reconcile, reconciled, reconciliation

I must handle anger better than the most religious people!

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Greatness in the Kingdom: Doing versus Breaking the Law

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Not Abolishing the Law But Fulfilling It

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Why Reconcile Quickly–The Danger of Animosity, Bitterness, Murderous Contempt and Divine Judgment

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I Can’t Control the Orbit of Saturn

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Failure to reconcile an offense “quickly” — debtor’s prison awaits!

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Notice of Open, Confessed and Uncorrectable Hypocrisy

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The Four Types of Reconciliation

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Commentaries Discussing the Command to Go and Be Reconciled

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The Command to “Go” and “Be Reconciled” — Part 2, The “Then”

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