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The Glory of Kings: A Festschrift for James B. Jordan
Fyodor Dostoevsky
(Christian Encounters Series)
Athanasius
(Foundations of Theological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality)
The Four: A Survey of the Gospels
Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom
From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John
Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
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 this should refer to a future coming, and some have wondered if a reference to the parousia, mentioned twice specifically in the first letter (2:28; 3:2), is intended.”
Stott goes on to argue that John is referring to the incarnation, and that may be right. But the notion that John is referring to heretics who doubt the parousia is suggestive. Though Stott says that there’s no evidence of any groups that denied the parousia, 2 Peter certainly gives evidence that some were becoming restive about it as the apostolic generation drew to a close. And, as Brown points out, a reference to the parousia in verse 7 sets up for the reference to rewards and loss in verse 8.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, February 15, 2007 at 12:40 pm
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 to respond to them.
THE TEXT
“The Elder, to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth, because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever. . . .” (2 John 1-13).
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, February 12, 2007 at 8:43 am
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 for one another as we pray together. The prayer for forgiveness we’re currently using is a “we” prayers. As John says, “If anyone sees a brother sinning a sin not to death, he shall ask and he will give life to those who sin a sin not to death.” We don’t just pray in unison; we pray for one another.
But why do we pray for the world?
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, February 11, 2007 at 8:07 am
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 between request and gift. There is a time lapse between our request and the realization of the gift in our experience, but if we know He hears our prayers according to His will, we also know we have it (not will have it, but have it).
A child asks for a particular Christmas present, and the parents have already bought it. He comes out on Christmas morning, and looks around for the present he’s sure is there somewhere. That’s the way we ought to pray: Looking around at every moment for the places where God has wrapped and hidden the gifts He has already purchased for us. It’s ours, and it’s out there in the future waiting for us, and we just need to catch up to it.
Sometimes what’s lying out there in the future is not what we asked for, but if not, it’s better than what we asked for. It’s what we really wanted before we had the words to ask, before (as Lewis says in Till We Have Faces) God had put us on the cross to dig that right word out of us.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 4:26 pm
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 “name” of God. As such, baptism’s efficacy continues beyond the moment of baptism, persistently signalling that our trust must be directed to the name.
This is the genius of infant baptism: The signpost is given before faith is matured, and as faith matures baptism is always already there to nudge it in the right direction.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 4:14 pm
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 “gives life.” That’s grammatically awkward, and Stott bites the bullet to say that John is attributing a life-giving efficacy to our prayers: “under God, he who asks life for a brother may be said not just to gain it for him but actually to ‘give’ it to him.”
The righteous man, the Proverb says, is a tree of life; and the prayers of the righteous man are the fruit on that tree.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 3:39 pm
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 God has come and that He brings life (v. 20).
THE TEXT
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. . . .” (1 John 5:13-21).
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, February 5, 2007 at 7:55 am
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 witness but three witnesses tending toward one end, one conclusion. They are witnesses “toward” or “into” the one.
This could be an eschatological reference – the three are eschatologically united. Or, it could be an ecclesiological reference, similar to Paul’s comment that Moses is not “mediator of the one” (according to NT Wright’s reading of Galatians 3). Spirit, water, and blood aim at “the one,” the unified church, consisting of Jew and Gentile. This would be particularly apt if the “Spirit, water, and blood” take on a sacramental connotation in v. 8: These three witnesses conspired to produce the one.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 4:32 pm
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 the flowing blood, the sign of the sacrificial victim, showed that Jesus’ death was an atoning sacrifice for sin.”
If Jesus is just a container of Spirit, the life He has remains His alone. He has to be opened up, split and divided on the cross, in order to give the Spirit to us. Brown’s comments also suggest a neatly Trinitarian account of the atonement: Jesus had to die in order to release the Spirit His Father had poured upon Him.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 2:32 pm
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 does the church. It doesn’t grow by water only, but by water and blood, when the witness of the Spirit at the water is confirmed by the witness of the Spirit of the martyrs.
Creation comes by water. New creation comes by water and blood.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 2:18 pm
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, these three witnesses testify that Jesus is the greater Moses, leading the true Israel in a greater Exodus.
This might in turn link up with the water-blood image of John 19, which identifies Jesus as the Rock in the wilderness, struck so that Israel could have life (cf 1 John 5:12). And, in John’s gospel, Jesus deliers over His Spirit at the time of death. This is not like to be the main referent of 1 John 5, since John is talking about Jesus’ “coming,” not His death. But it’s part of the complex image that John uses.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 2:10 pm
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 Christ and Son of God? John’s answer is that faith means trusting “witnesses” (5:7-9).
THE TEXT
“This is He who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. . . .” (1 John 5:6-12).
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, January 29, 2007 at 7:54 am
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 the word “overcome.” Young men, he says, overcome the evil one, and we all overcome the world because the one in us is greater than he who is in the world. Because we are “from God” and our enemies are “from the world,” we overcome them. Four of the seven uses of the root are found here in chapter 5. John ends his epistle on a ringing note of victory.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, January 28, 2007 at 8:47 am
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 is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. . . .” (1 John 5:1-12).
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, January 22, 2007 at 7:59 am
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 not distinct persons, but only masks or roles that the one Person of God adopts at various times. This can seem like an abstract and impractical issue. How could it matter practically if the Persons are masks of one Person or actual distinct persons? But it’s not abstract. It’s very practical, and getting this right is crucial to Christian faith and Christian living.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, January 21, 2007 at 8:33 am
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 the alternative: Whoever does not love does not know God.
Suppose you examine yourself and discover that you are impatient, unkind, jealous, a braggart, arrogant, unbecoming, easily provoked, the opposite of everything that Paul says characterizes love. Suppose you feel that your love has grown lukewarm or cold? What do you do?
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, January 21, 2007 at 8:25 am
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 the listings in a Christian book catalogue or bookstore. Analyze the rhetoric of your favorite Christian political figure. Think of the conspiracy-mongering that gets mixed up with Christianity in many circles. How many dozens of Christian ministries continue to exist only because of the fear they are able to generate?
As Jesus didn’t say: You can tell a Christian by his fear.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Saturday, January 20, 2007 at 12:09 pm
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, and hid in the garden. Wrong fear drives us away from God’s presence. Right fear draws us closer; it is awed fascination with the God who is a consuming fire. It’s the fear we have when we see something so utterly fearsome that we just have to get a closer look.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Saturday, January 20, 2007 at 12:00 pm
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 Jesus is Son, 15a
C’. God abides in him, he in us, 15b
B’. God’s love for us, abiding in God, love perfected, 16-17a
A’. As He is, we are in the world, 17b
At the same time, another structure overlaps and intertwines this one:
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 at 8:29 am
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.
THE TEXT
“No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. . . .” (1 John 4:12-21).
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, January 15, 2007 at 8:41 am
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