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Category Archive: Bible - NT - 1 John

Good news - June 28, 2007
The NT uses the Greek word aggelia twice, both in 1 John (1:5; 3:11). The noun comes from the same root as euaggelion, good news, and Raymond Brown suggests that aggelia is the Johannine equivalent - meaning "good news" or...

Gnostic judaism - June 09, 2007
I suggested at the end of the last post that judaizing and gnosticizing heresies may not be so different. This opinion is supported by JB Lightfoot's analysis of the letters of Ignatius, which condemn both docetic heretics and judaizing ones,...

Cerinthus - June 09, 2007
1 John has sometimes been interpreted as a polemic against a Cerinthian heresy. This rests partly on patristic stories about John's near-encounter with Cerinthus at a bathhouse, and it implies that the opponents in 1 John are proto-gnostics who teach...

Receiving brothers - February 22, 2007
Within two verses, John accuses Diotrephes of refusing to "receive us" and refusing to "receive the brethren" (3 John 9-10). The first refers to an acknowledgement of authority; receiving "us," the elder and his co-workers, would mean listening and obeying....

In manner of God - February 22, 2007
John commends Gaius not only for receiving traveling brothers but for sending them on their way "in a manner worthy of God" (3 John 6). What does this mean? Stott is certainly right to say that they are to be...

Brother strangers - February 22, 2007
In his third epistle, John commends Gaius for his hospitality to "brothers," particularly for his hospitality to brothers who are "strangers." This simple commendation marks a social revolution in ancient history. The revolution is not John's commendation of hospitality per...

Sermon Notes, First Sunday of Lent - February 19, 2007
INTRODUCTION John is a true apostolic pastor. His letters address the universal church (1 John), a particular congregation, the "chosen Lady" (2 John), and an individual Christian, Gaius (3 John). 3 John is full of names: Gaius (v. 1), Diotrephes...

The typology of 2 John - February 15, 2007
John, the elder, addresses a "chosen Lady," warning her and her children about "deceivers" who might try to win them over. John especially wants to draw the line at table fellowship: Don't eat with the deceiver, John tells the Lady....

Fourfold truth - February 15, 2007
John uses the word "truth" four times in the opening three verses of 2 John. Truth is fourfold, stretching out to the four corners of the earth. It also seems possible to take "truth" here, at least at a secondary...

Doubts regarding Parousia? - February 15, 2007
The heretics that John attacks in his epistles are said to deny that Jesus came in the flesh. The coming is past in 1 John 4:2, but the tense is different in 2 John 7. Stott comments, "In strict grammar...

Sermon notes, Seventh Sunday After Epiphany - February 12, 2007
INTRODUCTION 2 John is written into a crisis situation. As Jesus predicted, antichrists have "gone into the world" (v. 7), deceiving those who are not on guard. John writes to warn about the deceivers, and to tell the church how...

Exhortation, Sixth Sunday after Epiphany - February 11, 2007
Each week, we kneel to confess our own sins and then go on to pray for the universal church, the nations, and the world. It's obvious why we confess our sins. We are seeking forgiveness and cleansing. We are praying...

Ask and have - February 08, 2007
John says in 1 John 5:15: "if we know he hears, we know we have. His hearing and our having are identified. As soon as God hears, we have; as soon as God hears, He gives. There is no lapse...

Into the name - February 08, 2007
We are baptized, Jesus said, into the "name" of the Triune God. John says that we also "believe into the name" (1 John 5:13). Among other things, baptism is a road sign pointing faith in the right direction, toward the...

Asking and giving - February 08, 2007
John says, "If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he will ask and he will give life" (1 John 5:16). Some commentators suggest a change of subject in the main clause: The brother "asks" but God...

Sermon outline, Sixth Sunday after Epiphany - February 05, 2007
INTRODUCTION John concludes his epistle by encouraging his reader to have confidence in prayer, but warning them about sins leading to death. These final instructions are part of his overall purpose in the letter, to confirm that the Son of...

Three into the one - February 01, 2007
Brown makes the interesting observation that the phrase at the end of 1 John 5:8 is not "the three are one" but "the three are into one" (Greek, eis to hen). Spirit, water, and blood are not quite a united...

Outpoured Spirit - February 01, 2007
Raymond Brown helpfully observes, "For the Christian the life-giving moment of the Spirit was not simply the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus in the form of a dove, but the Spirit flowing from within Jesus after his death. And...

New Creation - February 01, 2007
Spirit and water are the agents of the first creation. Jesus doesn't come that way. He doesn't come by water only. Neither did renewal under the law. Cleansing came by water baths and also by shedding and distributing blood. Neither...

Three witnesses - February 01, 2007
John appeals to three witnesses in 1 John 5:6-8: Spirit, water, blood. These are all witnesses at the Exodus - the Spirit-cloud that leads Israel through the wilderness, the water of the sea, the blood of Passover. Among other things,...

Sermon notes, Fifth Sunday After Epiphany - January 29, 2007
INTRODUCTION John says that believing in Jesus the Christ is a sign of being born of God (5:1) and that those who believe in Jesus as Son of God overcome the world (5:4-5). How do we know that Jesus is...

Eucharistic meditation, Fourth Sunday of Epiphany - January 28, 2007
1 John 5:5: whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. John uses the root of the word "victory" (nik-) seven times in this letter. Mostly, it's buried in...

Sermon Outline, Fourth Sunday After Epiphany - January 22, 2007
INTRODUCTION John's entire message depends on Jesus being the Son of God, the child "begotten" from the eternal Father. Those who believe, love; and those who love and believe overcome the world (v. 5). THE TEXT "Whoever believes that Jesus...

Eucharistic meditation, Third Sunday after Epiphany - January 21, 2007
1 John 4:18: Perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. One of the earliest Trinitarian heresies is called "modalism." It taught that the "persons" of the Trinity are...

Exhortation, Third Sunday After Epiphany - January 21, 2007
Love is a necessary expression of new life and knowledge of God. If we are born of God and know God, we will love one another, and this love must be expressed in our actual behavior. John is blunt about...

You shall know them by their fear - January 20, 2007
Stott notes that 1 John 4:19 indicates that the church's great characteristic is love, not fear. That is, it should be. Is it? Hardly. Read the next piece of direct mail you get from a Christian advocacy group. Look at...

Fear and fear - January 20, 2007
Perfect love casts out fear, John says. But the Bible repeatedly exhorts us to fear God. There's fear, then there's fear. How do we tell the difference? The difference is in the direction our fear moves us. Adam feared God,...

Chiasm in 1 John 4 - January 17, 2007
1 John 4:12-17 is organized as a chiasm: A. No one beheld God, 12a B. Mutual love, God abides, love perfected, 12b C. Abiding in God, He in us, 13 D. Bear witness to the Savior, 14 D'. Confessing that...

Sermon Notes, Third Sunday After Epiphany - January 15, 2007
INTRODUCTION God is unseen, John says (v. 12). How then can the world know Him? John places the burden of showing God on us: The world knows the God who is love through the love we have for one another....

Eucharistic meditation, Second Sunday after Epiphany - January 14, 2007
1 John 4:9: By this the love of God is manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God,...

Exhortation, Second Sunday After Epiphany - January 14, 2007
Love is blind, we like to say. John says the opposite. John teaches that we need to test and discern and judge the spirits and prophets. Discernment means keeping your eyes open. Discernment means not believing everything that you hear,...

Knowledge and Love - January 09, 2007
1 John 4:8 says that the one who does not love does not know God because God is love. This might be legitimately read as: God is love; knowing God therefore necessarily involves knowing love; therefore, the one who does...

Savior of the World - January 09, 2007
The Son is sent to be savior of the world (1 John 4:14). And it's only as the only-begotten Son that He can be Savior. This is true in the usual sense that Jesus is the "contact point" between God...

Only begotten - January 09, 2007
John uses the phrase "only begotten" (monogenes) four times in his gospel (1:14, 18; 3:15, 18). (I'm assuming here the controversial point that the phrase does mean "only begotten.") He uses it only once in his first epistle: God's love...

Loving discernment, discerning love - January 09, 2007
Commentators sometimes suggest that 1 John 4:1-6 marks a rupture in John's argument. 3:23 speaks of love as a commandment of God, but there is no mention of love in 4:1-6, which discusses testing the spirits and the warfare between...

Sermon notes, Second Sunday After Epiphany - January 08, 2007
INTRODUCTION John frequently exhorts his readers to love one another (2:10; 3:10, 11, 23), and speaks of God's love for us (3:1). Here, he connects these two loves inseparably. The noun or verb "love" is used 27 times (3 x...

Chiasm in 1 John 4 - January 01, 2007
The first 6 verses of 1 John 4 are organized in a roughly chiastic pattern: A. Test spirits, v 1 B. Confession, vv 2-3 C. From God/the world, vv 3b-4a D. We overcome them, v 4b C'. From God/from world,...

Sermon outline, First Sunday After Epiphany - January 01, 2007
INTRODUCTION As Jesus predicted, false prophets arose in the first century, misleading many believers (Matthew 24:24; 1 John 4:1). Christians have to be on guard; not everyone who claims to speak for God does speak for God. But how can...

Exhortation - November 26, 2006
Sacrifice is built into human life. It's unavoidable. Even though we don't slaughter animals in worship, sacrifice still happens every day. We either sacrifice other people, or we offer ourselves in sacrifice for them. That's what John is saying when...

Exhortation - November 12, 2006
We live out the Christian life, John says, between appearances of Christ. He appeared first to remove sin and to loose us from the works of the devil, and He appears again as judge and to transform us into His...

Sermon outline - November 06, 2006
INTRODUCTION The world is divided into two great families. On the one hand, there are those who are "called children of God" (3:1), while on the other hand are the "children of the devil" (3:10). The main distinguishing mark is...

Eucharistic meditation - November 05, 2006
1 John 2:20: You have an anointing from the Holy One. As I said in the sermon, John uses the word "anointing" to refer to the Spirit. We are led into truth, and enabled to persevere in the truth, because...

Exhortation - November 05, 2006
"You have no need for anyone to teach you," John writes, since "His anointing teaches you about all things." Whatever this means, it certainly doesn't mean that Christians don't need any teachers. That would make John's statement contradictory, since he's...

Coming soon? - November 05, 2006
It is almost universally believed among evangelicals that Jesus is coming soon. This conviction is obvious among those who think that Jacques Chirac or Vladimir Putin might be the Antichrist. But even evangelicals saner eschatologies cling to the belief that...

Sermon outline - October 31, 2006
INTRODUCTION John's readers are in danger of being misled, and John writes to warn them about false teachers and deceivers. John is confident that his "little children" will be delivered from the deceivers because they have an "anointing" from God....

Eucharistic meditation - October 22, 2006
1 John 2:15-16: Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. When John talks about "the world," he's talking, as we've seen, about...

Exhortation - October 22, 2006
Cultures have traditionally been rivers (Z. Bauman). The current carries everyone along in the same direction, whether or not they like where they're going. When someone asks, "Why are we going this way?" it's a sufficient answer to say, "We...

Sermon outline - October 16, 2006
This overlaps considerably with previous posts. INTRODUCTION According to John's description, the world is formed by various "lusts" or desires, and by "pride" and "boasting." We can respond faithfully to the world only when we discern the desires that shape...

Pride of life - October 15, 2006
Augustine describes "pride of life" in part as follows: "The temptation is to wish to be feared or loved by people for no reason other than the joy derived from such power, which is no joy at all. It is...

Eucharistic meditation - October 15, 2006
1 John 2:15: If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. As we've seen this morning, John poses a stark either/or choice. Our lives are directed by our loves; what we love determines what...

Exhortation - October 15, 2006
John says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world," and we immediately scurry around to find rationalizations and escape routes. Is John saying that cigarettes and beer and symphony orchestras and dancing and watching movies and...

Sociological notes on 1 John 2:15-17 - October 12, 2006
1) The relationship between the world (KOSMOS) and desire is complex. Verse 16 indicates that desires and boastfulness make up the contents of the world – the desire of flesh, eyes, and boastfulness of life constitute the "all that is...

Knowing the "From the Begining" - October 12, 2006
1 John 2:13-14 twice says that groups within the church "know the one from the beginning." That is a perfectly fine way to translate it, but the Greek has TON AP' ARXES, "the from the beginning." To whom is this...

Overcoming the world - October 12, 2006
The sequence from 1 John 2:14-15 seems abrupt: John moves from addressing children, fathers, and young men to the warning not to love the world. But there is a link between the "overcoming" in 2:14 to the "world" in 2:15....

Structure of 1 John 2:18-29 - October 10, 2006
The latter part of chapter 2 is chiastically arranged: A. Children, antichrists coming, they went out, 2:18-19 B. You have an anointing, knowledge, 2:20 C. I have written, truth/lie, 2:21 D. Antichrist is liar, denies Son and Father, 2:22 E....

Sermon Outline - October 09, 2006
With lots of help from Gary Burge's NIV Application Commentary.... INTRODUCTION The world around us seems to solid and permanent. We can hardly imagine what life would be like without well-stocked grocery shelves, autumn elections, air travel, electricity, running water,...

Exhortation - October 08, 2006
We Americans like to pretend we are self-made men and women. We don't need nobody's help, don't tread on me, we'll go it alone if only they'll leave us alone. My life, my body, my person are mine and mine...

Knowing that we know - October 07, 2006
John's statements about "knowing that we know" (1 John 2:3) have been the historical basis for the practical syllogism: 1. All who keep the commandments may be assured God's favor. 2. I am keeping the commandments. 3. Therefore, I am...

Sermon Outline - October 02, 2006
INTRODUCTION John insists that talking that's not backed up by walking is a form of lying (1:6). He returns to a similar point here: True knowledge of God is evident in obedience to His commandments (2:3), and the one who...

Exhortation - October 01, 2006
When John first talks about sin, he connects it to fellowship and walking in the light. He does not say, "If we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us, and as a result we have fellowship with...

Humilation and Exaltation - September 28, 2006
Theologians normally treat the incarnation-to-burial of Jesus as the humiliation of the Son; resurrection-to-ascension exaltation. That's correct, but there are other angles too. God hid His face behind a veil from the time of Moses to the incarnation. This is...

Structural and other notes on 1 John 1:5-2:11 - September 25, 2006
A few scattered notes on this section of John's first epistle. 1) There is a repeated emphasis on the contrast between word and action, word and walk. Three times John uses the clause "if we say that" (1:6, 8, 10),...

Exhortation - September 24, 2006
At the beginning of his epistle, John emphasizes the eyewitness testimony of the apostles. They preach about things that they have seen and heard with their own ears and eyes, things they have touched. Since we haven't done any of...

Life in Common - September 21, 2006
The purpose of the proclamation of the Word of Life, John says, is to extend the fellowship of the apostles to include others; and this means to include others within the community – the sharing of things, and particularly the...

A few notes on 1 John 1 - September 21, 2006
1) This is a oddly rambling opening to a letter. It starts with a relative pronoun, and doesn't get to a finite verb until verse 3. Plus, it leaves a number of things initially unexplained. "That which" – what does...

Sermon Outline - September 18, 2006
INTRODUCTION John begins his first epistle where he begins his gospel, announcing the incarnation of the Word who was from the beginning. Through this incarnation, John and his readers have fellowship with the Father and Son. THE TEXT "That which...

Darkness in 1 John - September 11, 2006
John uses the word "darkness" seven times in his first epistle. Assuming that he uses the imagery in the same way he does in the gospel, I surmise that the light/dark language of 1 John is about the conflicts of...

Sermon outline - September 11, 2006
INTRODUCTION The main conflict of the early church was not with Greek philosophy or Roman power, but with those Jews who refused to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah and the Judaizers within the church who wanted to bring Gentiles under the...

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