The third letter of John, just as short as the second letter, is written to a particular individual, Gaius.
III John 1-2, Dear Gaius
The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
John, like any friend, wishes good physical health to Gaius, and also spiritual health.
III John 3-8, Your faithfulness and hospitality
It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.
Gaius shows hospitality to strangers and is commended for this. Some of the visitors are travelers working for the gospel.
III John 9-10, Dioetrephes
I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.
Diotrephes is a false teacher. He has the desire -- so human! -- to be first, to be at the front. In this case he attempts to control the local church by gossip and bullying.
III John 11-12, Doing good
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone--and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
In opposition to Diotrephes is a good man, Demetrius. (Lloyd C. Douglas chose the character Demetrius to be the slave of the Roman centurion in his Christian novel, "The Robe".)
III John 13-14, I hope to see you
I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you.
The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.
John intends to visit soon, putting aside the need to write.
Saturday, December 3, 2016
Friday, December 2, 2016
II John, Truth and Love
We now look at a short little letter, apparently written by the apostle John. It is addressed to "the chosen lady and her children." Like much of John's writings, there is an emphasis on Truth and Love. Both this letter, and the one that follows, address the issue of hospitality to visiting ministers.
II John 1-3, To the chosen lady, in truth
The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth--and not I only, but also all who know the truth-- because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love.
Who is the lady? It is most likely a church.
As we follow the Son, we grow in Truth and Love; flowing out of that is Grace, Mercy and Peace.
II John 4-6, Love one another
It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
Or first priority as children of God is to walk in truth, loving each other.
This paragraph echoes themes of the longer first letter of John. As does the next paragraph.
II John 7-11, Deceivers
Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.
Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
This paragraph alludes to issues of hospitality. As travelers and missionaries moved throughout the Roman Empire, the Christian brothers and sisters would take them in and provide free room and board. The "lady" is being warned not to do this with the false teachers and deceivers who roam the land.
II John 12-13, I hope to see you soon
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. The children of your chosen sister send their greetings.
The "chosen sister" is probably the local church where John resides.
In this quick letter, John quickly emphasizes Truth, Love, and (related to both) a proper understanding of the identity of Jesus.
II John 1-3, To the chosen lady, in truth
The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth--and not I only, but also all who know the truth-- because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love.
Who is the lady? It is most likely a church.
As we follow the Son, we grow in Truth and Love; flowing out of that is Grace, Mercy and Peace.
II John 4-6, Love one another
It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
Or first priority as children of God is to walk in truth, loving each other.
This paragraph echoes themes of the longer first letter of John. As does the next paragraph.
II John 7-11, Deceivers
Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.
Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
This paragraph alludes to issues of hospitality. As travelers and missionaries moved throughout the Roman Empire, the Christian brothers and sisters would take them in and provide free room and board. The "lady" is being warned not to do this with the false teachers and deceivers who roam the land.
II John 12-13, I hope to see you soon
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. The children of your chosen sister send their greetings.
The "chosen sister" is probably the local church where John resides.
In this quick letter, John quickly emphasizes Truth, Love, and (related to both) a proper understanding of the identity of Jesus.
Thursday, December 1, 2016
I John 5, Life in the Son
What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? John returns to the "social test" -- how one treats others.
1 John 5: 1-4 Love of God = Obedience to Him
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
If we love God then we naturally love God's children. John cannot imagine any alternatives. Since God's commands are intended to promote that love, they are then easy to follow.
1 John 5: 5-12, And this requires belief in Jesus
Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
This is the one who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.
Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.
Water and blood most likely refer to Jesus' baptism and death? Both of these historical events were likely in conflict to Gnostic teachings of the time that Jesus was a human mortal visited by a divine spirit that arrived after baptism and left before death.
This section, in the King James Version, had the notorious Comma Johanneum, the addition of a marginal sentence which described the Trinity, claiming Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God the Father were one. (As I mention elsewhere, even Isaac Newton wrote on this addition to the text.)
1 John 5: 11-12 Eternal Life
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
In the Gospel of John, probably written prior to this, the author makes a similar statement (see John 20:31.)
1 John 5: 13-15 Our confidence before God
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.
In the Gospel of John, probably written prior to this, the author makes a similar statement (see John 20:31.) John insists on confidence in approaching God, simply due to the actions and identity of Jesus.
1 John 5: 16-17 Sin and death
If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
The concept of "sin that leads to death" is a strange one. Given the context, it presumably is a strong decision or statement of consistent disbelief in Jesus's identification as savior?
In verse 16, the literal interpretation is "he should pray and he will give him life." Stott suggests it is the person praying who saves the life of another.
In verses 16-17 we have an example of the effectiveness of praying described earlier in verses 13-15.
1 John 5: 18-21, Summary
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true--even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
The letter is summarized here -- spiritual birth leads to childhood in God's family and movement away from the sinful fabric of the World. This letter is cyclical, repeating and retracing ideas about purity, love, identification with Christ vs. identification with the world.
Then the book ends with a brief instruction about idolatry! (Why does the book end this way?)
1 John 5: 1-4 Love of God = Obedience to Him
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
If we love God then we naturally love God's children. John cannot imagine any alternatives. Since God's commands are intended to promote that love, they are then easy to follow.
1 John 5: 5-12, And this requires belief in Jesus
Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
This is the one who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.
Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.
Water and blood most likely refer to Jesus' baptism and death? Both of these historical events were likely in conflict to Gnostic teachings of the time that Jesus was a human mortal visited by a divine spirit that arrived after baptism and left before death.
This section, in the King James Version, had the notorious Comma Johanneum, the addition of a marginal sentence which described the Trinity, claiming Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God the Father were one. (As I mention elsewhere, even Isaac Newton wrote on this addition to the text.)
1 John 5: 11-12 Eternal Life
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
In the Gospel of John, probably written prior to this, the author makes a similar statement (see John 20:31.)
1 John 5: 13-15 Our confidence before God
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.
In the Gospel of John, probably written prior to this, the author makes a similar statement (see John 20:31.) John insists on confidence in approaching God, simply due to the actions and identity of Jesus.
1 John 5: 16-17 Sin and death
If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
The concept of "sin that leads to death" is a strange one. Given the context, it presumably is a strong decision or statement of consistent disbelief in Jesus's identification as savior?
In verse 16, the literal interpretation is "he should pray and he will give him life." Stott suggests it is the person praying who saves the life of another.
In verses 16-17 we have an example of the effectiveness of praying described earlier in verses 13-15.
1 John 5: 18-21, Summary
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true--even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
The letter is summarized here -- spiritual birth leads to childhood in God's family and movement away from the sinful fabric of the World. This letter is cyclical, repeating and retracing ideas about purity, love, identification with Christ vs. identification with the world.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
I John 4, God is Love
The social test for identification as a Christian is, "Do you love others." Here John describes the doctrinal test.
1 John 4: 1-3, Recognizing the spirits of truth & falsehood (the doctrinal test)
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
This the doctrinal test: does one acknowledge that Jesus came (historically) in the flesh?
1 John 4: 4-6, The world's falsehood
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
The system opposed to God has a natural falsehood; the follower of God has insights to truth (through the Spirit) that the world does not understand.
1 John 4: 7-12, Acting on truth -- love
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Ultimately John returns to our love and compassion for others. Followers of God will mirror his love. So we display God by our love for each other.
What does it mean, "God is Love"?
What does it mean, "his love is made complete in us."
1 John 4: 13-16a A summary: God lives in us and we rely on his love
We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
The spiritual test: love. Stott calls this the "high water mark" of the letter.
1 John 4: 16b-21 Perfect love
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
God's love is compared with our love.
How can we love God and hate the one ("brother") made in his image? Stott says that love for God and men is al part of a single command.
1 John 4: 1-3, Recognizing the spirits of truth & falsehood (the doctrinal test)
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
This the doctrinal test: does one acknowledge that Jesus came (historically) in the flesh?
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
The system opposed to God has a natural falsehood; the follower of God has insights to truth (through the Spirit) that the world does not understand.
1 John 4: 7-12, Acting on truth -- love
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Ultimately John returns to our love and compassion for others. Followers of God will mirror his love. So we display God by our love for each other.
What does it mean, "God is Love"?
What does it mean, "his love is made complete in us."
1 John 4: 13-16a A summary: God lives in us and we rely on his love
We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
The spiritual test: love. Stott calls this the "high water mark" of the letter.
1 John 4: 16b-21 Perfect love
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
God's love is compared with our love.
How can we love God and hate the one ("brother") made in his image? Stott says that love for God and men is al part of a single command.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
I John 3, Children of God
The apostle John says that we are children of God and are very different from the world.
Commentator John Stott says this passage is a continuation from 2:28. The section I John 2:28-3:10 discuss the moral test: righteousness, obedience to God. It compares righteousness to knowledge.
1 John 3: 1-3 Children of God
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
The opening Greek words translated here "How great" mean literally, "of what country!" A modern usage might be "Out of this world is the love ..."
How will we be like him? Physically? Will we have the same physical body he has? John does not know what we will be like, after this new appearance of Jesus, but is content to wait for this change.
1 John 3: 4-6 Children of God don't continue in sin
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
How is sin defined? (Is this helpful?) What appearance is being discussed here?
Do we continue in sin? What does that mean?
This chapter has an emphasis on "appearances" -- Jesus did appear; he will appear again; we will have a certain appearance.... Even the World has a certain appearance.
1 John 3: 7-10, We follow our true father
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
Why did Jesus first appear?
Verse 9, "No one who is born of God continues in sin..." is intended to be reassuring. Sin is against God's nature and therefore against the nature of the Christian. One cannot "pretend" about sin -- one cannot commit sin with actions but say (as the gnostics did) that one's heart could remain pure.
1 John 3: 11-18 Our actions are tested by love
This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.
Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
This passage covers the social test: love.
There are two models here: Cain and Jesus. (Similar to Adam and Jesus in Paul's letter to the Romans.)
1 John 3: 19-24 God in our hearts
This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
How do our hears condemn us? Is the condemnation legitimate, accurate?
Do these paragraphs conflict?
What is the meaning of verses 19-20?
Answers to prayer are emphasized again here. What are the requirements?
Commentator John Stott says this passage is a continuation from 2:28. The section I John 2:28-3:10 discuss the moral test: righteousness, obedience to God. It compares righteousness to knowledge.
1 John 3: 1-3 Children of God
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
The opening Greek words translated here "How great" mean literally, "of what country!" A modern usage might be "Out of this world is the love ..."
How will we be like him? Physically? Will we have the same physical body he has? John does not know what we will be like, after this new appearance of Jesus, but is content to wait for this change.
1 John 3: 4-6 Children of God don't continue in sin
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
How is sin defined? (Is this helpful?) What appearance is being discussed here?
Do we continue in sin? What does that mean?
This chapter has an emphasis on "appearances" -- Jesus did appear; he will appear again; we will have a certain appearance.... Even the World has a certain appearance.
1 John 3: 7-10, We follow our true father
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
Why did Jesus first appear?
Verse 9, "No one who is born of God continues in sin..." is intended to be reassuring. Sin is against God's nature and therefore against the nature of the Christian. One cannot "pretend" about sin -- one cannot commit sin with actions but say (as the gnostics did) that one's heart could remain pure.
1 John 3: 11-18 Our actions are tested by love
This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.
Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
This passage covers the social test: love.
There are two models here: Cain and Jesus. (Similar to Adam and Jesus in Paul's letter to the Romans.)
1 John 3: 19-24 God in our hearts
This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
How do our hears condemn us? Is the condemnation legitimate, accurate?
Do these paragraphs conflict?
What is the meaning of verses 19-20?
Answers to prayer are emphasized again here. What are the requirements?
Monday, November 28, 2016
I John 2, Overcomers
John has just written that we all have "forgiveness from sin" offered by Jesus.
1 John 2:1-2 The Atonement for sins
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
The title, "Righteous One" fits the theme of this book. The writer of this letter will put all the emphasis on Jesus's righteousness. Note the present tense in the sentence, "He is the atoning sacrifice". Why present tense?
Verse 2 mentions two groups for whom Christ was (is!) the sacrifice. Who are they? What does it mean, "of the whole world"?
1 John 2:3-6, Disciples and liars
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him.
This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
The phrase "we know" appears about 40 times in the book. It involves two different verbs: ginoskomen and eidenai. The first means "to perceive" and is the root (I think) of "gnosticism" and "knowledge". The second means "to know as a fact".
1 John 2:7-11, Light is represented by love
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
This command ("love your brothers/sisters") is both old and new. Why? (What makes the command new?)
Now begin a series of tests of Christian consistency. John Stott (Stott, p. 94) calls them the doctrinal, moral, and social tests. The moral test is, "Are you obedient to God?" The social test is "Do you love others?"
The Greek "ho legon" is translated "he who says". It appears in verses 2:4, 6, 9. The NIV translates these differently, "The man who says", "whoever claims", and "anyone who claims".
1 John 2:12-14, Overcomers
I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.
I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
Three different populations are addressed here, repeated twice. Who do they represent? Is this three levels of maturity?
1 John 2:15-17, Lovers of the World
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
The world (Greek kosmos) is under the control of Satan (see I John 4:4 and 5:19.) The world (or universe) is the object of God's every action.
What is the "pride of life"? What does it mean to "love the World"? Aren't there some things in the world which we should love?
The Christian overcomes the world "through faith in Christ". How?
1 John 2: 18-23 The antichrists
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
But it wasn't the last hour! Is "antichrist" plural or singular? Who is he (are they)?
What is the effect of denying the Son? What is the effect of acknowledging both?
The word "anointing" (Greek: "chrisma") sometimes represented as an initiation. The Gnostics apparently had an initiation into the secret knowledge. The Christians also have an initiation. What is it?
1 John 2: 24-25 Prepare for his coming -- Remaining in Christ?
See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us--even eternal life.
Must one endure to be saved? Or is endurance a characteristic of salvation?
1 John 2: 26-29, Prepare for his coming
I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him.
And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
Why are we to continue in him? What will be the reactions at his coming? Moral conduct is linked to his appearance.
The book seems to end here -- and then start over with chapter 3?
For further thought: In what ways has "the World" infiltrated the Church? Careful – this question is a lot harder than it appears! Infiltration, by its very nature, will be subtle and hard to recognize.
1 John 2:1-2 The Atonement for sins
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
The title, "Righteous One" fits the theme of this book. The writer of this letter will put all the emphasis on Jesus's righteousness. Note the present tense in the sentence, "He is the atoning sacrifice". Why present tense?
Verse 2 mentions two groups for whom Christ was (is!) the sacrifice. Who are they? What does it mean, "of the whole world"?
1 John 2:3-6, Disciples and liars
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him.
This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
The phrase "we know" appears about 40 times in the book. It involves two different verbs: ginoskomen and eidenai. The first means "to perceive" and is the root (I think) of "gnosticism" and "knowledge". The second means "to know as a fact".
I find the last sentence difficult. What if I don't always walk as Jesus did? (And what of those who seem to walk like Jesus but are not Christians?)
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
This command ("love your brothers/sisters") is both old and new. Why? (What makes the command new?)
Now begin a series of tests of Christian consistency. John Stott (Stott, p. 94) calls them the doctrinal, moral, and social tests. The moral test is, "Are you obedient to God?" The social test is "Do you love others?"
The Greek "ho legon" is translated "he who says". It appears in verses 2:4, 6, 9. The NIV translates these differently, "The man who says", "whoever claims", and "anyone who claims".
1 John 2:12-14, Overcomers
I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.
I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
Three different populations are addressed here, repeated twice. Who do they represent? Is this three levels of maturity?
1 John 2:15-17, Lovers of the World
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
The world (Greek kosmos) is under the control of Satan (see I John 4:4 and 5:19.) The world (or universe) is the object of God's every action.
What is the "pride of life"? What does it mean to "love the World"? Aren't there some things in the world which we should love?
The Christian overcomes the world "through faith in Christ". How?
1 John 2: 18-23 The antichrists
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
But it wasn't the last hour! Is "antichrist" plural or singular? Who is he (are they)?
What is the effect of denying the Son? What is the effect of acknowledging both?
The word "anointing" (Greek: "chrisma") sometimes represented as an initiation. The Gnostics apparently had an initiation into the secret knowledge. The Christians also have an initiation. What is it?
1 John 2: 24-25 Prepare for his coming -- Remaining in Christ?
See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us--even eternal life.
Must one endure to be saved? Or is endurance a characteristic of salvation?
1 John 2: 26-29, Prepare for his coming
I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him.
And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
Why are we to continue in him? What will be the reactions at his coming? Moral conduct is linked to his appearance.
The book seems to end here -- and then start over with chapter 3?
For further thought: In what ways has "the World" infiltrated the Church? Careful – this question is a lot harder than it appears! Infiltration, by its very nature, will be subtle and hard to recognize.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
The First Epistle of John
Towards the end of the New Testament appear three letters apparently written by the apostle John, author of the fourth gospel. The first is not long (105 verses); the other two are much shorter.
The first letter is a general pastoral letter, concerned about the growth of people in a church. (The other two letters are addressed to individuals. II John is addressed to an unknown "lady chosen by God", possibly a single individual, possibly a more general address to the Church personified. III John is addressed to Gaius, "my dear friend." Both of these letters address the issue of hospitality to visiting ministers.)
The theme of the first letter of John is that True Christianity has three parts:
I John includes Hebrew parallelisms. In this book there are sharp contrasts: antichrists/Christ, light/darkness, purity/sin. At each turn, the reader is presented with only two options; everything is black or white. The World is an important topic in this book, as is true Christian fellowship.
Like the book of Hebrews, the teaching is cyclical (or spiral), returning to the same concepts again and again. Like the book of Hebrews, there is no named author or reader; like the book of Hebrews the concern is of believers, those already committed to following Jesus.
(The book contains 105 verses, could be memorized in 15 weeks at a verse a day.)
I have, as a reference, a nice commentary by John Stott, The Letters of John, from InterVarsity Press, 1988. (At this time, used copies are available from Amazon for 99 cents.)
Wikipedia, of course, covers I John, II John and III John, and also has an overview of the three Johannine epistles.
The first letter is a general pastoral letter, concerned about the growth of people in a church. (The other two letters are addressed to individuals. II John is addressed to an unknown "lady chosen by God", possibly a single individual, possibly a more general address to the Church personified. III John is addressed to Gaius, "my dear friend." Both of these letters address the issue of hospitality to visiting ministers.)
The theme of the first letter of John is that True Christianity has three parts:
- Belief that Jesus came in the flesh;
- Obedience to God;
- Love for others.
I John includes Hebrew parallelisms. In this book there are sharp contrasts: antichrists/Christ, light/darkness, purity/sin. At each turn, the reader is presented with only two options; everything is black or white. The World is an important topic in this book, as is true Christian fellowship.
Like the book of Hebrews, the teaching is cyclical (or spiral), returning to the same concepts again and again. Like the book of Hebrews, there is no named author or reader; like the book of Hebrews the concern is of believers, those already committed to following Jesus.
(The book contains 105 verses, could be memorized in 15 weeks at a verse a day.)
I have, as a reference, a nice commentary by John Stott, The Letters of John, from InterVarsity Press, 1988. (At this time, used copies are available from Amazon for 99 cents.)
Other online resources for I John
There is a nice summary of I John at OverviewBible.com. Summaries of the second and third letters are here and here. The Bible Project now has a nice video summary here.)
Wikipedia, of course, covers I John, II John and III John, and also has an overview of the three Johannine epistles.
The Comma
There is a fairly notorious medieval corruption of Scripture in I John 5: 7-8, where presumably a scribe elaborated on the concept of the Trinity in the margins of an ancient text and the elaboration crept into medieval translations. An account of this insertion is given here on the evangelical Christian website of Bible.org. Appearing in the King James translation of the Bible, this added sentence has been removed and footnoted in more modern translations. This medieval corruption of Scripture was noted by Erasmus, who refused to put it into his New Testament translation of Greek. As a mathematician, I will point out that Sir Isaac Newton (!!) wrote a paper, An Historical Account of Two Corruptions of Scripture, on this very problem.
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