Refusing to hear

Burning Cultural Bridges? Repentance and Paul in Athens, Acts 17:22-31

Ian Johnson February 20, 2022 1 Comment

Paul’s speech to the rulers of Athens in the Areopagus was a long exercise in deliberate irony, first building and then promptly burning cultural bridges. Paul did this to show them the folly of their deliberate ignorance of the true God.

A God who Speaks, Desire to have our own way, Eternity, Forgetting God, God Acts by Speaking, God is Love, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, idolatry, Immanence, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Repentance, Sin, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, Truth and Falsehood, What is sin?

Areopagus, Athens, Christianity, cross-cultural evangelism, cultural bridges, Epicurean, evangelism, Greek philosophies, Greek religion, Idolatry, idols, Paul, repentance, sermon, Stoic, trial, unknown god, willful ignorance

Repentance and Earthly Consequences: the Consequences of David’s Sins–including Jesus

Ian Johnson December 22, 2021 2 Comments

Though God forgave David his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah, this sin had a traceable chain of earthly consequences which extends to the present and which includes the death of Christ on the cross.

Consequences, Discipline or Correction, forgiveness and mercy, God Never Stopped Speaking, God's sovereignty, Prophecy, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Repentance, Repentance versus Remorse, Sin, The Problem of Evil, Through his enemies, Trusting sight over God's words

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God Rejected King Saul, But Declared King David a Man After His Own Heart. Didn’t God Get this Backwards?

Ian Johnson November 14, 2021 7 Comments

God rejected King Saul, a bungler who made a few mistakes trying to do God’s will, his own way. But he accepted King David, a rapist and murderer, forgave him two unforgivable sins, promised him an eternal kingdom, called him a man after his own heart–and put him in Jesus’ lineage! Didn’t God get this backwards? NO!!

Confession and Repentance, Desire to have our own way, forgiveness and mercy, God is Love, God's Existence and Nature, God's rationality, Leaving Our First Love, Peril of Seeking Power, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Repentance, Repentance versus Remorse, Sin, Sins versus sin, Social control and statecraft, The Problem of Evil, Trusting sight over God's words, What is sin?

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Repent, turn again, turn away from your wickedness, in Acts 3:19

Ian Johnson October 31, 2021 1 Comment

When Peter preached that the people should “repent,” he explained that meant that they were to “turn away from their wickedness” and so, in their behavior, “listen” to Jesus. Jesus did not come to entertain us or to offer advice, but to turn us away from our own way to obedience to him.

A God who Speaks, God Acts by Speaking, Prophecy, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Repentance, Through Jesus

God's Word, Jesus, obedience, obey, Prophecy, Prophet, repent, repentance, turn

The Pharaoh who played “let’s make a deal” with God

Ian Johnson October 10, 2021 1 Comment

When God sent Moses to deliver his people from Egypt, the Pharaoh who ruled Egypt responded to some of the plagues with false repentance. That is, he tried to “make a deal” with God, and even admitted that he was in the wrong, only to renege on his agreements as soon as God removed the plague. With each “deal” on which he reneged, his heart became more hardened. But this is always what happens when, out of fear or remorse, we try to “make a deal” with God rather than obey him.

A God who Speaks, Events and Signs, God Acts by Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's sovereignty, idolatry, Omnipresence, Refusing to hear, Repentance versus Remorse, The Invisible God's Self-Existence

Egypt, Exodus, false repentance, God hears, hard heart, hardened heart, hardness of heart, Moses, negotiating with God, Pharaoh, plagues, remorse, repentance

Repentance in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Luke 16:19-31

Ian Johnson October 3, 2021 1 Comment

Like the rich man who ignored the needs of poor Lazarus in the parable, those who self-indulgently use their wealth and are indifferent to the needs of the poor need to repent. But, because they are accustomed to ignoring God, most have rendered themselves incapable of repentance–even if someone rises from the dead to warn them (as Jesus did).

Changed treatment of each other, Leaving Our First Love, Refusing to hear, Repentance, Sin, What is sin?

abuse of wealth, God's Word, Hades, Hell, indifference, Lazarus, parables, parables of Jesus, Poor, repentance, Rich man and Lazarus, self-indulgence, the Law and the Prophets

Eli, the High Priest, Talking when Action was Required

Ian Johnson September 26, 2021 2 Comments

True repentance would have required high priest Eli to act to remove his sons Hophni and Phinehas from office. Hophni and Phinehas were using God and their offices as a magical charm and using others, as many in the Church do today. The people also learned to do these things from their example. Instead of removing them, Eli just nagged them, and he and all Israel paid the penalty.

A God who Speaks, Desire to have our own way, Desire to have our own way, God Acts by Speaking, God's Voice, Prophecy, Refusing to hear, Repentance, Repentance versus Remorse, Sin, What is sin?

Eli, false religion, God as an idol, magical charm, nagging, remorse, repentance, Samuel, true repentance, using God, using people

Unrepentance and the Judgment Spoken Against Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum in Matthew 11:20-24

Ian Johnson July 18, 2021 1 Comment

When Jesus unfavorably compared the unrepentance of the Galilean towns where he had preached to the repentance Tyre, Sidon and Sodom would have shown to the same preaching. the repentance of which he spoke clearly included behavioral change.

A God who Speaks, An abuse of God's image, Changed treatment of each other, Refusing to hear, Repentance, Sin, Through Jesus, Uncategorized, What is sin?

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Repentance of the Ninevites and Unrepentance of Israel in Matthew 12:41

Ian Johnson June 28, 2021 2 Comments

Jesus contrasted the Jewish leaders, who refused to hear his words, with the Ninevites who repented at the preaching of Jonah and put away their bloodshed and violence.

A God who Speaks, Changed treatment of each other, God is Love, God's sovereignty, Prophecy, Refusing to hear, Repentance, Repentance in community, Sin, Through Jesus, What is sin?

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Burning Cultural Bridges? Repentance and Paul in Athens, Acts 17:22-31

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Repentance and Earthly Consequences: the Consequences of David’s Sins–including Jesus

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God Rejected King Saul, But Declared King David a Man After His Own Heart. Didn’t God Get this Backwards?

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Repent, turn again, turn away from your wickedness, in Acts 3:19

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The Pharaoh who played “let’s make a deal” with God

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Repentance in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Luke 16:19-31

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Eli, the High Priest, Talking when Action was Required

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Unrepentance and the Judgment Spoken Against Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum in Matthew 11:20-24

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Repentance of the Ninevites and Unrepentance of Israel in Matthew 12:41

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Refusing to hear

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