All of John part 2
Friday, January 15, 2010 by Thomas Ling
THE EPISTLES OF JOHN
Introduction
1 John and the Epistle to the Hebrews are the only two New Testament letters written anonymously; and in 2 and 3 John, the author merely introduces hims~1f as ‘the elder’. It is clear, however, that the three Johannine Epistles are by the same person, and there is a very strong case for saying that it is the same person as the author of John’s Gospel. The evidence of the letters themselves, and the witness of early Christians, suggest that the writer is the apostle John. He writes as an eye-witness who has personally known the Lord (1: 1-4; 4:14). He writes as a teacher with great, indeed, with apostolic authority (2:8, 17; 3:6; 4:1; 5:20, 21). He writes as a pastor, with a deep concern both to defend and confirm the faith of the church (2:1,26; 4:1-6; 2Jn. 9; 3 Jn. 4).
In the first Epistle, John sets forth three marks of a true knowledge of God and of fellowship with God. These marks are, first, righteous¬ness of life, second, brotherly love, and third, faith in Jesus as God incarnate. Such characteristics distinguish true Christians from false teachers who, for all their lofty profession and Christian language, neither believe nor obey the truth.
In 2 and 3 John, the writer deals with the problem of giving hospitality to visiting Christians. False teachers were abusing the generosity of Christian people, and some advice was needed to help Christians in dealing with the situation.
Analysis of 1 John
1:1-4 Introduction. The apostolic witness — its authority, content and aim.
1:5 – 2:27 God is light; and the test of true fellowship with Him is threefold:
1:5-2:6 (i) Confession of and cleansing from sin, and
obedience to Christ.
2:7-11 (ii) Brotherly love.
2:12-14 Digression on the church.
2:15-17 Digression on the world.
2:18-27 (iii) Confession that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
2:28 - 4:6 God is love; and the test of true sonship to Him is, as before, the threefold evidence of:
2:28-3:10 (i) Practical righteousness.
3:11-18 (ii) Brotherly love.
3:19-24 Digression on assurance.
4:1-6 (iii) Confession that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
4:7 - 5:12 God is love; and the test of our dwelling in Him, and His dwelling in us is, as before:
4:7-21 (i) Mutual love.
5:1-3 (ii) The keeping of God’s commandments.
5:4-12 (iii) Belief that Jesus is the Son of God.
5:13-21 Conclusion. Five Christian certainties.
Analysis of 2 John
1-3 Opening salutation.
4-11 Message.
12,13 Conclusion.
Analysis of 3 John
1-8 The message to Gaius.
9,10 Diotrephes condemned.
11,12 Demetrius approved.
13,14 Conclusion.
7 studies
John 1:1-2:2
1 To what unique experience in his life is the writer referring in verses 1-4? How does he describe it? Cf. Jn. 1-14. To what inestimable privilege did it lead him, and why does he want to make it known? Cf 1 Thes. 3:8,9.
2 The nature of God determines the conditions of fellowship with Him. See verses 6-10. How has He made fellowship with Himself possible for sinful man? What is His provision to enable fellowship to be maintained, and to meet failure if it should occur? If men deny in one way or another their need of this provision, what may we conclude concerning them? See verses 6, 8, 10.
Note: 1:5. ‘Light’: used in Scripture in various meanings as signifying truth, goodness, joy, safety, life; just as ‘darkness’, on the contrary denotes falsehood, evil, sorrow, peril, death. Here, ‘light’ signifies perfect truth and goodness, without any vestige of evil.
1 John 2:3-27
1 Verses 3—11. If a man claims to know God, to abide in Christ and to be in the light, what must be his attitude to (a) Christ’s word and commandment; (b) the example of Christ’s life on earth; (c) fellow-Christians?
2 Verses 18—29. Amid false teachers and defection, what three safeguards for continuance in the faith does John give? See especially verses 24—27. If a professing Christian falls away from the truth, what is proved thereby which, before the falling away, may not have been at all obvious?
3 Verses 15-17. With what two arguments does John support the commandment of verse 15? How may this commandment be reconciled with Jn. 3:16?
Notes
1 Verse 7.Cf.Jn.13:34,35; 15:I2.
2 Verse 8. John calls the old commandment new, both because Jesus Christ, by His teaching and living, has invested the old idea with a richer and deeper meaning, and because experimental Christianity is always new in kind or character.
3 Verse 15. ‘The world’ here it denotes human society as an ordered whole, considered both apart from, and in opposition to, God.
1 John 2:28—3:10
We enter today upon the second section of the Epistle (see Analysis).
1 2:28 - 3:3. The apostle, having begun in verse 29 to show that the test of sonship is righteousness of life, is carried away by the marvel of the new birth into a rapturous outburst of wonder and joy. Whence comes our sonship? How does the world regard it? What will be its future glory? How should this affect us now? Cf Col. 3:4,5.
2 3:4-9. These verses resume and expand the truth of 2:29. What five reasons are given to show that sinning is utterly incompatible with being a child of God?
Notes
1 2:28. This verse gives clear proof that John, no less than Paul and
Peter, believed in the Lord’s second coming. See also 3:2; 4:17.
2 2:29. ‘Born of him’: the first reference to sonship in this letter.
3 3:6,9. These verses do not mean that a Christian is incapable of
sinning, nor that one sin is proof of an unregenerate nature, but
that it is impossible for a true child of God to persist in habitual
sin.
1 John3:11-4:6
1 3:11-18. By what various arguments does John show, in verses ii—i~, that mutual love is the essential mark of the children of God and that hatred is inadmissible? After what manner should we love? See verses 16-18 and cf. Jn. 15:12; Eph. 5: 1,2.
2 3:19—24. A digression on the subject of assurance before God. The apostle first considers the case of a Christian whose heart condemns him. How is such a person to be reassured? See verses 19, 20. Cf Heb. 6:9,10. Next the apostle considers the case of a Christian whose heart does not condemn him, because he is practising all the characteristics of a truly Christian life-obedience, love and faith. What blessings does this man enjoy? See verses 21-24.
3 What two tests are given here by which to know whether a prophet is, or is not, speaking by the Spirit of God? See especially 4: 2 and 6; see also Note 2 below.
Notes
1 3:14. Cf. Jn. 5:24. This gives the practical test whether a professed faith in Christ is genuine. Cf. Gal 5:6b; Jas. 2~ 15—17.
2 4:6. ‘We are of God’: the pronoun ‘we’ in the first half of this verse refers primarily, as in 1: 1-3, to John as representing the apostles, while not excluding those who, following after them, base their teaching upon the apostolic foundation.
1 John4:7-5:3
We now begin the third section of the Epistle (see Analysis).
1 4:7—10. What arguments are used in verses 7 and 8 to show that true Christians must love one another? In verses 9 and 10 the apostle speaks of the manifestation of God’s love in Christ. How does he describe the gift? What does he say of its purpose? By what means was this purpose achieved, and for whom did God do this?
2 4:11—18. The apostle goes over the same ground as before, but at a higher level. How does he here describe the Christian’s relationship to God? How does he show that no higher or closer relationship can be conceived? Out of the depths of that relationship, the believer bears his testimony through the Spirit (verses 13—16; cf. Jn.15: 26, 27).
3 4:19— 5:3. In view of Mt. 22:36,37 why does not the apostle say in verse 11,‘Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love God’? Why does John say, ‘We ought also to love one another’?
What other test of our love for God is also mentioned?
Notes
1 4:17,18. ‘Because as he is …’: cf. Jn. 3:35 with 16:27. Those who are loved of the Father need not look forward with dread. If we are still afraid, the remedy is to concentrate more upon the love of God shown in the cross and the resurrection.
2 5:1. Faith in Jesus as the Christ implies receiving Him as such, and to receive Him is to be born of God (Jn. I: 12, 13).
1 John 5:4-21
1. The apostle has already given a warning against the subtle attraction of the world (see 2: 15—17). Now he reveals how the world may be conquered. Who does he say will overcome the world, and by what means? See verses 4—6; see also Note 1 below.
2 A faith that can effect such great results must be well attested. What fivefold witness is given in verses 7—1l, and what marvellous fact does the witness attest?
3 Verses 13—20. There are here five great certainties concerning which John says ‘We know’. What are they? Are you building your life upon this foundation?
Notes
1 Verse 6. This verse probably refers to our Lord’s baptism and death, and not to Jn.19:34. He came not only to call us to repentance by the Witness of His baptism, but also to wash away our sins with His blood. The two sacraments of the Christian church are the standing memorials of these things.
2 Verses 9 and 10. God has spoken to man in Jesus with the utmost clarity and finality. He that believes has an inward witness: he that believes not snakes God a liar.
3 Verse 16. ‘A mortal sin’: i.e., the deliberate, purposeful choice of darkness in preference to light.
4 Verse 21. ‘Idols’: anyone professing to worship God, but who denies that Jesus is the Son of God, is worshipping a false God. ‘Be on your guard against all such idols’ is John’s final word.
2 and 3 John
1 Compare the tests of a true Christian found in 2 John with those given in a John.
2 Consider the three men mentioned in 3 John, all professing Christians. What does the apostle praise in Gaius? What faults does he find in Diotrephes? What threefold witness does he give in praise of Demetrius?
3 What dangers arise from listening to false teachers? What is John’s answer to the claims of ‘advanced thought’? See Note 3.
Notes
1 2 Jn.2. Cf. NEB, ‘whom I love in truth … for the sake of the truth’.
2 2 Jn.4. ‘Following the truth …‘: i.e., living true Christian lives in
obedience to the command which we have received from the Father.
3 2 Jn.9. ‘Goes ahead’: i.e., claims a knowledge superior to God’s revelation.
4 3 Jn.5. Cf. Heb. 13:2.
Introduction
1 John and the Epistle to the Hebrews are the only two New Testament letters written anonymously; and in 2 and 3 John, the author merely introduces hims~1f as ‘the elder’. It is clear, however, that the three Johannine Epistles are by the same person, and there is a very strong case for saying that it is the same person as the author of John’s Gospel. The evidence of the letters themselves, and the witness of early Christians, suggest that the writer is the apostle John. He writes as an eye-witness who has personally known the Lord (1: 1-4; 4:14). He writes as a teacher with great, indeed, with apostolic authority (2:8, 17; 3:6; 4:1; 5:20, 21). He writes as a pastor, with a deep concern both to defend and confirm the faith of the church (2:1,26; 4:1-6; 2Jn. 9; 3 Jn. 4).
In the first Epistle, John sets forth three marks of a true knowledge of God and of fellowship with God. These marks are, first, righteous¬ness of life, second, brotherly love, and third, faith in Jesus as God incarnate. Such characteristics distinguish true Christians from false teachers who, for all their lofty profession and Christian language, neither believe nor obey the truth.
In 2 and 3 John, the writer deals with the problem of giving hospitality to visiting Christians. False teachers were abusing the generosity of Christian people, and some advice was needed to help Christians in dealing with the situation.
Analysis of 1 John
1:1-4 Introduction. The apostolic witness — its authority, content and aim.
1:5 – 2:27 God is light; and the test of true fellowship with Him is threefold:
1:5-2:6 (i) Confession of and cleansing from sin, and
obedience to Christ.
2:7-11 (ii) Brotherly love.
2:12-14 Digression on the church.
2:15-17 Digression on the world.
2:18-27 (iii) Confession that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
2:28 - 4:6 God is love; and the test of true sonship to Him is, as before, the threefold evidence of:
2:28-3:10 (i) Practical righteousness.
3:11-18 (ii) Brotherly love.
3:19-24 Digression on assurance.
4:1-6 (iii) Confession that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
4:7 - 5:12 God is love; and the test of our dwelling in Him, and His dwelling in us is, as before:
4:7-21 (i) Mutual love.
5:1-3 (ii) The keeping of God’s commandments.
5:4-12 (iii) Belief that Jesus is the Son of God.
5:13-21 Conclusion. Five Christian certainties.
Analysis of 2 John
1-3 Opening salutation.
4-11 Message.
12,13 Conclusion.
Analysis of 3 John
1-8 The message to Gaius.
9,10 Diotrephes condemned.
11,12 Demetrius approved.
13,14 Conclusion.
7 studies
John 1:1-2:2
1 To what unique experience in his life is the writer referring in verses 1-4? How does he describe it? Cf. Jn. 1-14. To what inestimable privilege did it lead him, and why does he want to make it known? Cf 1 Thes. 3:8,9.
2 The nature of God determines the conditions of fellowship with Him. See verses 6-10. How has He made fellowship with Himself possible for sinful man? What is His provision to enable fellowship to be maintained, and to meet failure if it should occur? If men deny in one way or another their need of this provision, what may we conclude concerning them? See verses 6, 8, 10.
Note: 1:5. ‘Light’: used in Scripture in various meanings as signifying truth, goodness, joy, safety, life; just as ‘darkness’, on the contrary denotes falsehood, evil, sorrow, peril, death. Here, ‘light’ signifies perfect truth and goodness, without any vestige of evil.
1 John 2:3-27
1 Verses 3—11. If a man claims to know God, to abide in Christ and to be in the light, what must be his attitude to (a) Christ’s word and commandment; (b) the example of Christ’s life on earth; (c) fellow-Christians?
2 Verses 18—29. Amid false teachers and defection, what three safeguards for continuance in the faith does John give? See especially verses 24—27. If a professing Christian falls away from the truth, what is proved thereby which, before the falling away, may not have been at all obvious?
3 Verses 15-17. With what two arguments does John support the commandment of verse 15? How may this commandment be reconciled with Jn. 3:16?
Notes
1 Verse 7.Cf.Jn.13:34,35; 15:I2.
2 Verse 8. John calls the old commandment new, both because Jesus Christ, by His teaching and living, has invested the old idea with a richer and deeper meaning, and because experimental Christianity is always new in kind or character.
3 Verse 15. ‘The world’ here it denotes human society as an ordered whole, considered both apart from, and in opposition to, God.
1 John 2:28—3:10
We enter today upon the second section of the Epistle (see Analysis).
1 2:28 - 3:3. The apostle, having begun in verse 29 to show that the test of sonship is righteousness of life, is carried away by the marvel of the new birth into a rapturous outburst of wonder and joy. Whence comes our sonship? How does the world regard it? What will be its future glory? How should this affect us now? Cf Col. 3:4,5.
2 3:4-9. These verses resume and expand the truth of 2:29. What five reasons are given to show that sinning is utterly incompatible with being a child of God?
Notes
1 2:28. This verse gives clear proof that John, no less than Paul and
Peter, believed in the Lord’s second coming. See also 3:2; 4:17.
2 2:29. ‘Born of him’: the first reference to sonship in this letter.
3 3:6,9. These verses do not mean that a Christian is incapable of
sinning, nor that one sin is proof of an unregenerate nature, but
that it is impossible for a true child of God to persist in habitual
sin.
1 John3:11-4:6
1 3:11-18. By what various arguments does John show, in verses ii—i~, that mutual love is the essential mark of the children of God and that hatred is inadmissible? After what manner should we love? See verses 16-18 and cf. Jn. 15:12; Eph. 5: 1,2.
2 3:19—24. A digression on the subject of assurance before God. The apostle first considers the case of a Christian whose heart condemns him. How is such a person to be reassured? See verses 19, 20. Cf Heb. 6:9,10. Next the apostle considers the case of a Christian whose heart does not condemn him, because he is practising all the characteristics of a truly Christian life-obedience, love and faith. What blessings does this man enjoy? See verses 21-24.
3 What two tests are given here by which to know whether a prophet is, or is not, speaking by the Spirit of God? See especially 4: 2 and 6; see also Note 2 below.
Notes
1 3:14. Cf. Jn. 5:24. This gives the practical test whether a professed faith in Christ is genuine. Cf. Gal 5:6b; Jas. 2~ 15—17.
2 4:6. ‘We are of God’: the pronoun ‘we’ in the first half of this verse refers primarily, as in 1: 1-3, to John as representing the apostles, while not excluding those who, following after them, base their teaching upon the apostolic foundation.
1 John4:7-5:3
We now begin the third section of the Epistle (see Analysis).
1 4:7—10. What arguments are used in verses 7 and 8 to show that true Christians must love one another? In verses 9 and 10 the apostle speaks of the manifestation of God’s love in Christ. How does he describe the gift? What does he say of its purpose? By what means was this purpose achieved, and for whom did God do this?
2 4:11—18. The apostle goes over the same ground as before, but at a higher level. How does he here describe the Christian’s relationship to God? How does he show that no higher or closer relationship can be conceived? Out of the depths of that relationship, the believer bears his testimony through the Spirit (verses 13—16; cf. Jn.15: 26, 27).
3 4:19— 5:3. In view of Mt. 22:36,37 why does not the apostle say in verse 11,‘Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love God’? Why does John say, ‘We ought also to love one another’?
What other test of our love for God is also mentioned?
Notes
1 4:17,18. ‘Because as he is …’: cf. Jn. 3:35 with 16:27. Those who are loved of the Father need not look forward with dread. If we are still afraid, the remedy is to concentrate more upon the love of God shown in the cross and the resurrection.
2 5:1. Faith in Jesus as the Christ implies receiving Him as such, and to receive Him is to be born of God (Jn. I: 12, 13).
1 John 5:4-21
1. The apostle has already given a warning against the subtle attraction of the world (see 2: 15—17). Now he reveals how the world may be conquered. Who does he say will overcome the world, and by what means? See verses 4—6; see also Note 1 below.
2 A faith that can effect such great results must be well attested. What fivefold witness is given in verses 7—1l, and what marvellous fact does the witness attest?
3 Verses 13—20. There are here five great certainties concerning which John says ‘We know’. What are they? Are you building your life upon this foundation?
Notes
1 Verse 6. This verse probably refers to our Lord’s baptism and death, and not to Jn.19:34. He came not only to call us to repentance by the Witness of His baptism, but also to wash away our sins with His blood. The two sacraments of the Christian church are the standing memorials of these things.
2 Verses 9 and 10. God has spoken to man in Jesus with the utmost clarity and finality. He that believes has an inward witness: he that believes not snakes God a liar.
3 Verse 16. ‘A mortal sin’: i.e., the deliberate, purposeful choice of darkness in preference to light.
4 Verse 21. ‘Idols’: anyone professing to worship God, but who denies that Jesus is the Son of God, is worshipping a false God. ‘Be on your guard against all such idols’ is John’s final word.
2 and 3 John
1 Compare the tests of a true Christian found in 2 John with those given in a John.
2 Consider the three men mentioned in 3 John, all professing Christians. What does the apostle praise in Gaius? What faults does he find in Diotrephes? What threefold witness does he give in praise of Demetrius?
3 What dangers arise from listening to false teachers? What is John’s answer to the claims of ‘advanced thought’? See Note 3.
Notes
1 2 Jn.2. Cf. NEB, ‘whom I love in truth … for the sake of the truth’.
2 2 Jn.4. ‘Following the truth …‘: i.e., living true Christian lives in
obedience to the command which we have received from the Father.
3 2 Jn.9. ‘Goes ahead’: i.e., claims a knowledge superior to God’s revelation.
4 3 Jn.5. Cf. Heb. 13:2.