Salvation

God’s Working with Us is Not About Our Present, Temporary Happiness or Comfort

Ian Johnson June 16, 2021 11 Comments

To enter God’s kingdom, moment by moment, I must repent of my claims of ownership of my own life. Instead, I must be willing to do things His way, even if it is His will that I crash and burn in this world. He is reality. His unseen Kingdom will one day be seen, and it will eventually be obvious to everyone that His reward is more real than anything in this world.

A God who Speaks, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's rationality, God's sovereignty, Immanence, Must Trust God to Enter, Promises, Repentance, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, The Kingdom of the Heavens, To see God's glory, Transcendence, Ultimate reality, What is God's Word

ask whatever you wish, Enoch, faith, God, pleasing God, Reality, the kingdom, trust, Trusting God, trusting in myself, who owns me

Repentance and Salvation: What is Repentance?

Ian Johnson June 11, 2021 6 Comments

Salvation cannot happen without repentance. But this repentance isn’t remorse, it is changing my mind, turning from my own works and my other idols and turning to the true God. It is never really present without a change in the way I live. But my new way of life does not come from me, but from God who has prepared it for me and lives it through me.

Changed treatment of each other, Desire to have our own way, Is forgiveness of sins the focus of salvation?, Merit, Reconciliation, Repentance, Repentance versus Remorse, Salvation, Sins versus sin, Trusting sight over God's words, What is sin?

change my mind, Change of course, change of mind, doing it my way, empty things, idols, remorse, repentance, worthless things

Repentance, Changed Way of Life, and John’s Baptism

Ian Johnson June 9, 2021 7 Comments

Both John the Baptist and Jesus preached that repentance is required now, because God’s kingdom is now all around us. But the focus of that required repentance was right treatment of each other, not religious works.

Changed treatment of each other, Repentance, Repentance in community

Repentance–Definition of Terms

Ian Johnson June 6, 2021 7 Comments

“Repentance” is a decision to change one’s outlook and way of life and leads to changed behavior. It is NOT the same as remorse, regret, contrition, guilt, shame, or feeling sorry for the consequences of an act.

Merit, Repentance, Repentance versus Remorse

contrition, definition of repentance, feeling sorry, guilt, remorse, repent, repentance, shame

The “Winning” Faction may be Heretical

Ian Johnson May 31, 2021 2 Comments

Because the truth remains true even if no one believes it, it does not depend on human power relationships. Therefore, it is not safe to label people “heretics” because they disagree with us concerning doctrines that were imposed on our ancestors by right of conquest or that disagree with teachings honored by political leadership or majorities today.

A God who Speaks, Authority Contests, Church purpose versus church growth, Denominationalism, Divisions in the Church, God Speaks to Us, God's Voice, Heresy, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Peril of Seeking Power, Personality cults, Truth and Falsehood, Victory

Falsehood, heresy, Political determination, Right Doctrine, Right of conquest, Truth

The Problem with Sodom

Ian Johnson May 5, 2021 6 Comments

The problem with Sodom was its arrogant indifference to the poor and vulnerable, as shown by the violent hate crime it attempted to commit against two visiting angels. This arose, in turn, from its affluence and its sensual focus. All of these problems characterize the modern world, including the Church (where they lead to often-violent divisions). The traditional Christian interpretation of the Sodom story prevents us from seeing this.

An abuse of God's image, Christianity and Social Evils, Church purpose versus church growth, Desire to have our own way, Desire to have our own way, Disrespecting poor believers, Divisions in the Church, God's sovereignty, Greed, Historical Background, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Racism, Rejecting God, Sin, To be in his image, Trusting sight over God's words, What is sin?

2 Peter 2, affluence, arrogance, Deuteronomy, Ezekiel 16:49-50, False believers, False prophets, false teachers, Gibeah, Gomorrah, indifference, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jude, poverty, Prophets, rejection of the good, Sodom, unbelief

Brief Introduction to the Politicization of Christianity and its Consequences (Outline)

Ian Johnson April 2, 2021 1 Comment

Introductory installment in a brief summary of a “big picture” overview of Western religious and political history, starting with Jesus and moving to the present. Overall thesis: Much of world history has been caused by the illegitimate politicization of Christianity.

Background Information, Church History, Islamic History and Secular History Interaction, Compulsory Christianity, Historical Background, Index, Islam and Christianity, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Sins versus sin, Social control and statecraft, Topic Index, What Christianity borrowed from Islam, What Islam borrowed from Christianity

Christianity, Errors, Islam, Muhammad, Politicization, Politics, power, Statcraft, war

A Poem and a Hymn About Futility, Death and Hope

Ian Johnson January 18, 2021 1 Comment

I am posting a new poem I recently wrote, the most complete text I am able to find of an old Isaac Watts hymn, and some related scriptures, all on the subjects of death and the futility of “success” in this life. God is our only hope.

Background Information, Eternity, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Personal Background, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, Victory

Death, Futile, futility, hope, Hope in God, hymn, Ian Johnson, Isaac Watts, O God Our Help in Ages Past, poetry, resurrection

About Jesus in the Earliest Christianity

Ian Johnson December 28, 2020 1 Comment

This post is a detailed index of what the earliest Christian churches appear to have understood, this time about the Person of Jesus. Most of these ideas were later distorted, leading to divisions in the Church and historical consequences in the world. Further links to this outline will be added as new articles are written.

A God who Speaks, Church History, Islamic History and Secular History Interaction, Eternity, 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 sovereignty, Immanence, Index, Jesus the Son, Reconciliation, Salvation, Show us the Way of Truth, Son of Man, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, Through Jesus, To see God's glory, Topic Index, Transcendence, Trinity, Victory, What is God's Word

Death, eternal, Eternity, God, History, Incarnation, Jesus, One with God, Person of Jesus, restoration, resurrection, Son of God, Sovereign over time, Will of God, Word of God

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

Ian Johnson 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?

Christian Divisions, Fifth Century Christianity, Fourth Century Christianity, Hellenistic Phiolosophy, heresy, Heresy hunting, Index, Just War Theory, Monotheism, Roman Law, Roman Law and Jurisprudence, Roman Religion, Rome, Second Century Christianity, Sixth Century Christianity, Syncretism, Third Century Christianity

God’s Working with Us is Not About Our Present, Temporary Happiness or Comfort

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Repentance and Salvation: What is Repentance?

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Repentance, Changed Way of Life, and John’s Baptism

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Repentance–Definition of Terms

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The “Winning” Faction may be Heretical

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Brief Introduction to the Politicization of Christianity and its Consequences (Outline)

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A Poem and a Hymn About Futility, Death and Hope

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About Jesus in the Earliest Christianity

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

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Salvation

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