New Testament, Synoptic problem, Order of Gospels, why were the Gospels written. The Baptism of Jesus, why is John so different, why study the Gospels in parallel. Finished the background section.  Begins the discussion on the Reliability of the Bible.  What do we mean by Reliability?

Here is week 4 of the 16 week course on the Bible.

Summary of Documentary Hypothesis,  Evidence for Authorship of Moses, Why is the authorship of Moses rejected, Alfred Wegener, rejection of the supernatural,  Daniel and prophecy
New Testament, Types of Book, Chronology and order

Links:

http://www.consider.org/Classes/Bible…
http://www.consider.org/Classes/Bible…
http://biblehub.com

Here is week 3 of the 16 week course on the Bible.

After some delay,  here is the second week of the 16 week course on the Bible.

This begins a 16 week study on the Bible, How we got it and why we can trust it.

It has been some time since I posted on 1 John.  This has been because we switched from summaries of the class to videos, and the first video is finally ready.

Study

John began his summary starting with how we should love one another, a key error of those who left. Now he moves to their other key error, their rejection of Jesus.

To love God is to Love Jesus (5:1)

Chapter 5

1 – Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah[1] has been born from God, and everyone who loves the parent also loves the child.

– John now expands on the other key error of those who left: their denial of Jesus.

– He starts by linking this to the last section on love.

• Here with some comments on obeying.

– The parent here is the Father, and the Child is Jesus.

• To love one is to love the other.

To love God is to keep his commandments (5:2-3)

2 – This is how we know that we love God’s children: we love God and keep his commandments.

This is how we know

– Not completely clear what “this” refers to

• • could look back to previous verse (KJV, NAS)
  • could look forward to later part of this verse (NIV)
  • The later seems to be the best

– Again (see 2:1-11) John equates Loving = Obey for God which = loving God’s children

3a – For this demonstrates our love for God: We keep his commandments,

– In 2:3 John equated knowing God with obeying God.

– Here knowing it replace with loving.

To be born of God is to overcome the world (5:4-5)

3b-4 – and his commandments are not difficult because everyone who is born from God has overcome the world. Our faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

his commandments are not difficult

– John goes on to assure us that this is not a difficult request.

has overcome the world

– It is not difficult because we have overcome the world

– The biggest battle is the battle for salvation

Our faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

– Our faith is key

– If we really believe in God, and in Jesus, and that he died for our sins can we really sin?

1. 1. To sin is to deny God, his love, his power.

 

5 – Who overcomes the world? Is it not the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

– John emphasizes this point by repeating this as a question.

– This is a particularly strong rhetorical device as it forces the reader to provide the answer themselves.

– The key of our faith is belief in Jesus.

1. 1. Jesus as Son of God, has the power of God which overcomes the power in the World.

– The Testimony about Jesus (5:6-)

a. This Man Jesus (5:6)

6 – This man, Jesus the Messiah,[2] is the one who came by water and blood—not with water only, but with water and with blood. The Spirit is the one who verifies this, because the Spirit is the truth.

This man, Jesus the Messiah

– John expands on this, once again alluding to those who left.

– Again equates Jesus with the Messiah.

is the one who came by water and blood

– Several understandings of water and blood have been suggested

1. 1. Baptism and death
   2. Baptism and Lord Supper
   3. Water and Blood that flowed from his pierced side (John 19:34)

– Best seem to be first Baptism and Death

not with water only, but with water and with blood

– This probably emphasizes a difference with those who left

– Gnosticism did not believe that the Messiah went to the Cross.

a. That the Messiah left Jesus, or that Simon was mistake for Jesus

b. This is what Cerinthus, and opponent of John believed.

– This is important because it goes to the core of John’s argument

a. God’s love is shown in that he sent his Son to die for our sins

b. Gnostic teach undercuts that because Messiah did not die

c. It also goes to the core of atonement which required God’s Son to die as a payment for sin. No death no payment.

The Spirit is the one who verifies this, because the Spirit is the truth.

– This is not just John saying this.

– The Holy Spirit, also testifies of this

verifies this

1. 1. This is present tense, not past, The spirit testifies to us,
   2. in our prayers and through God’s word.

– This is the foundation of our faith.

– Some argue that this refers to the spirit coming on Jesus at his baptism.

1. 1. It does fit theologically
   2. Main problem is present tense.
      1. Present tense does not exclude this,

b. The three witnesses (5:7-8)

7 – For there are three witnesses[1]— 8the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and these three are one.

– Textual issue

1. Evidence very clear
   1. Does not appear in Latin until 4^th century and then is written in margins
   2. Does not appear in Greek until 16^th century.
   3. They are not quoted by any early church father, even when the trinity was being discussed.
   4. May have been written as a gloss (comment) in Latin mss which was later mistaken for a correction and included in the text such that it became common.
   5. When Erasmus created the first two versions of his attempt to create a scholarly version Greek text is was not in any mss he had so he did not include. But a mss was then created that did have it, and Erasmus included it. Erasmus’ work eventually became the basis for the KJV.
2. While this removes a clear reference to the Trinity, it is important to know that the Trinity does not depend on this verse.
3. This textual issue affects how we understand this passage, but has no effect on the overall teaching of the Bible.

– John now combines the three the Spirit the water and the blood into a single testimony.

– i.e., they are in agreement and cannot be separated as the critics try to do.

– Again some scholar claim water and blood refer to sacraments.

1. a. But this does not really match body and blood.

c. God’s Testimony (5:9-12)

9 – If we accept human testimony, God’s testimony is greater, because it is the testimony of God and because he has testified about his Son.

– John started this letter with a strong statement of his eyewitness testimony.

– As he comes to the close he emphasizes God’s testimony, which is even greater

a. Both greater trustworthiness and significance

– It is greater trustworthiness: because God, by his very nature cannot lie.

– It is greater significance: because it is about his Son

God’s testimony

– What is this testimony – Three possibilities

a. (1) The three just mentioned: Spirit, water and blood

• i. Flows from previous
• ii. Problem with change in tense 6-8 are present here is perfect
• iii. John 5:31-40 lists several testimonies of Jesus (John the Baptist, his works, Scripture and God) which seem distinct.
• iv. None of these are major objections.

b. (2) That God’s testimony is the inner witness of the spirit.

c. (3) That God’s testimony is unspecified by John.

d. I believe the first would be the best.

 

Questions and Discussion

If you have question or comments about the class, feel free to send me an email at elgin@hushbeck.com and be sure to put “Epistles of John” in the header.

See here for references and more background on the class.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: International Standard Version^®. Copyright © 1996-2008 by The ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission. www.isv.org

Note: Some places I have modify the text from the ISV version. Passages that I have modified have been noted with and * by the verse number and the ISV text is included in a footnote.

Footnotes:

[1] 5:1 Or Christ
[2] 5:6 Or Christ
[3] 5:7 Other mss. read witnesses in heaven—the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. ⁸And there are three witnesses on earth—

 

Study

John now begins a summary starting with a summary of the key points in this section but then moving into a summary of the letter. Such summaries are very helpful in making sure that our understanding of the key points in this letter, line up with John’s intent.

g. Summary: Love leads to perfection (4:11-5:12)

i. The significance of God’s Love (4:11-12)

11 – Dear friends, if this is the way God loved us, we must also love one another.

– John now begins his summary where he started this section – love one another. He starts by taking God’s example of love and applies it to us. This is more than just an example, it is an obligation. Note that this is not a command to love God, but to love others.

 

12 – No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

– It is likely that some of those who left, were claiming visions of God. Here John is pointing out that this is not possible, and that if we really want to experience God we do so, not through mystical visions, but by serving others.

his love is perfected in us.

– Lit: the love of him (ἡ ἀγάπη αὐτοῦ ) It is not completely clear what John means here. This could refer to: Our love of God; God’s Love for us; or the type of love God has. The context here would seem to support either 1 or 3.

– True Christianity is not to be found in retreating from the world in prayer, but working in the world through love and service.

 

ii. How we know we abide in him (4:13-15)

13 – This is how we know that we abide in him and he in us: he has given us his Spirit.

– This here refers to in the living out of our faith in the service of others. There is a dual point being made here. First, that we can know our personal relationship to God. Second, we can test the relationship of others. Do they live the love of Christ?

– The spirit also reveals himself in our service to others.

14 – We have seen for ourselves and can testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

– John return to the opening of the letter: as statement of his personal witness.

– Here the focus is on Jesus as the savior of the world. God’s love was not limited to Christians. Our love is, likewise for the world. Gnostic had secret teachings for the few, We have service to all.

– Given the context, it is likely that the “We” refers to the Church as a whole, rather than just the apostles, as in the opening.

– Can we say this today? Have you seen the work of Christ in your life? It is the Holy Spirit that testifies to us.

 

15 – God abides in the one who acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, and he abides in God.

– John again return to the concept of abiding, and thus these three verses are in the form of a chiasmus, the focus of which is on our testimony.

Abide – v13

Testify – v14

Abide – v15

that Jesus is the Son of God

– An emphasis on the human side of Jesus.

 

The results of abiding in God (4:16-18)

16 – We have come to know and rely on[1] the love that God has for us. God is love, and the person who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

And rely on (πεπιστεύκαμεν)

– Believe – trust – perfect tense indicates lasting conviction

the love that God has for us

– Lit the love which has the God in us. (τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν ἔχει ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἡμῖν) This would seem to indicate that the love here includes the love of the Cross and the gift of the Holy Spirit

God is love

– John is giving us a logical argument here. Since God is Love (also v 8) therefore to abide in love is to abide in God. Abiding in love is a result of abiding in God. Scholars debate whether or not this is Love of God, or love for one another. John makes no real distinction, to do one is to do the other. It is a demonstration and source of comfort for relationship with Christ

 

17 – This is how love has been perfected among us: we will have confidence on the day of judgment because, during our time in this world, we are just like him.

– The perfection of God’s love leads to confidence. Do you have confidence about Judgment day?

during our time in this world, we are just like him

– Some claim a contradiction with 3:2. While a superficial reading can lead to a contradiction, as usual context is very important. The context here is Judgment Day. What is critical to judgment? Sin. Give this, how are we like him? We are sinless because of his love, and that is why we can have confidence.

 

18 – There is no fear where love exists[2]. Rather, perfect love banishes fear, for fear involves punishment, and the person who lives in fear has not been perfected in love.

– Because of this, there is no fear. After all, what do we have to fear of Judgment day? Nothing! We have been washed clean but the blood of the lamb. We abide in the perfect love of God. We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

– How does this line up with verse like Phil 2:12

And so, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I am absent, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling

That we do not fear judgment day does not mean we lose our respect for God position.

has not been perfected in love

– This is not necessarily referring to those who are lost. It means that God’s love needs to be perfected in them.

 

To love God is to Love one another (4:19-21)

19 – We love[3] because God[4] first loved us.

– Our love for God is not grounded in a threat of punishment. It is a response to the love that God has already shown us. It is grounded in gratitude, not fear.

 

20 – Whoever says, “I love God,” but hates his brother is a liar. The one who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love the God whom he has not seen.

– John returns again to the claims of those who left, but here he is making a larger point. We cannot see God, but we can see our brother. So while we might not really be able to tell if someone loves God, we can tell if someone loves his brother.

– This works both ways. Sometimes is it easier to love God, because we do not see him. Sometimes it is easier to love people because we do see them. True love covers both.

 

21 – And this is the commandment that we have from him: the person who loves God must also love his brother.

– This is more than just a guideline, this is a commandment. In John 13:34 Jesus said,

I’m giving you a new commandment…to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

– John started his summary with how we should Love, which was one the key errors of those who left. Why do you think John has stressed this point so often?

 

If you have question or comments about the class, feel free to send me an email at elgin@hushbeck.com and be sure to put “Epistles of John” in the header.

See here for references and more background on the class.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: International Standard Version^®. Copyright © 1996-2008 by The ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission. www.isv.org

Note: Some places I have modify the text from the ISV version. Passages that I have modified have been noted with and * by the verse number and the ISV text is included in a footnote.

Footnotes:

[1] 4:16 Lit. believe in
[2] 4:18 Lit. in love
[3] 4:19 Other mss. read love him; still other mss. read love God
[4] 4:19 Lit. he