Bible Series: "Nine Little Letters"

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Author, Title, Date

 The books of 1 , 2 & 3 John are historically and traditionally attributed to the Apostle John, the Disciple Jesus loved.  The title “1 John” (read as "First John" reflects its position as the first of three epistles attributed to John in the New Testament. First John does not specifically mention an author while 2 & 3 John attribute the writing to  "the Elder."  From that the authorship is determined and assigned as all three letters to the Apostle John..  First John was written late in the first century AD, probably 96 AD..   

Purpose

First John is a strong sermon on the doctrines of God being the light and the Word of God and the epitome of love.  That is, Jesus is the light (enlightener, revealer, explanation) and Word (authority, statement, establishment) of God.  God so loved, with which He  loved the entire  world (cosmos or universal set of all humankind) that He gave His only begotten Son (Jesus the Messiah.and Christ) so that whosoever (all, anyone, everyone) who believes on Him (accepts His teachings) shall not perish (be condemned, be found guilty) but have eternal (everlasting, never ending, permanent) life.   

Audience

 All three letters were written to the dispersed believers, sometimes refered to as the Lady.   These were likely the people chosen as leaders of the church and encourages them in the light and love of the Lord.  Letters 2 & 3 John add encourages members to take a strong stance  against false doctrine.  The two issues being dealt with were specifically Gnosticism and Hospitality.  Gnosticism was in 2 John as locals were trying to add the :Knowledge" doctrines to the Christian doctrine.  Hospitality was in 3 John and was to be directed to support missionaries and other workers.   

Importance of This Letter

Chuck Swindoll writes, " The parallelisms in 1 John are striking for their simplicity: Christ vs. antichrists, light vs. darkness, truth vs. falsehood, righteousness vs. sin, love of the Father vs. love of the world, and the Spirit of God vs. the spirit of the Antichrist. While this is not a complete list, it reveals a letter that presents the world in an uncomplicated way—there is right and there is wrong, period. This emphasis by John, while striking, is not without love. It’s quite the opposite, in fact. John recognized that love comes from God, and he encouraged the believers to love one another (1 John 4:7). John’s first epistle teaches that while it is important to recognize the lines between truth and error, it must always be done in a spirit of love." 

Schedule for John's First Letter

First John is written by by one of the four earliest of the Apostles of Jesus Christ.  Andrew sought Jesus after John the Baptizer's sermon, and Adrew ran to Simon (called Peter) as the second Apostle.  Then Jesus approached the Sons of Zebedee, James and John, making John the four selected Apostle of Jesus.  

There are five chapters in the first letter John wrote calling the recipients of the letter "My Little Children."  He is not talking to them a children born to him through physical birth, but rather, by spiritual birth.  John had been exiled and imprisoned on the island of Patmos for refusing to stop preaching the word of the Gospel.  At Roman Emepor Domitian's death (95-96 AD),  John was released from Patos, hence the date for 1 John.

1 John, ( read as "First John")  2 John, 3 John, Jude and Philemon were chosen as the first five of the "Nine Little Letters" for our studies from July to December 2026. While their sizes are small, their  importance to the Gospel message is very large .  John called himself "The Disciple Jesus loved" through out his Gospel.  At the Last Supper, John is seen as the young one without a beard next to Jesus' right side (Leonardo Vinci's great Painting).  Jude was the half-brother of Jesus and Philemon was a great friend to the great Apostle, Paul.  

First John is the longest of the three Johnine letters.  While the title of the letter implies John wrote it, his name does not appear inside.  Its emphases are  love, fellowship, and correct belief about Jesus.

Christ the Advocate (1 John 2:1-14)  

Here, John switches to a more personal approach to addressing the audience. Now he calls us his little children, this is, we are part of the family – we are together in this situation with John. He says he is writing these things to us that we may not sin, but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate (vs. 2:1). He has already proven that we are not only all sinners but that we are guilty of a sinful status and a sinful performance so, there is no one without sin (Ron 3:23) nor is there anyone who does not sin (Rom 3:10). The fact that we have an Advocate in Jesus Christ is good news because we are guilty and need Him every day, maybe even every hour. Notice also that John says Jesus is fully righteous. That is important because another sinner cannot serve as an advocate. Verse 2 strengthens that stand by saying that Jesus is the propitiation for all our sins. The word propitiation is the Greek word hilasmos meaning expiator or atonement. Atonement can be seen in its syllables as “at one ment” or the curing of any separation between us and our Savior. He heals the breach caused by sin and causes us to be one with the Savior again. And here is the rest of that great news; He is the atonement for the sins of everyone in the entire world (vs. 2). A person can acknowledge that He is their Savior and received that truth, or one can deny He is their Savior and suffer the condemnation of paying for their own sin (Acts 4:12, Rev 20:15). A person can tell if he is one of His because they act (walk) the same way He acted (vs.6). The drives in your mind and heart make you want to do what He did, and you are uncomfortable doing anything else. 

John realizes that this kind of talk might seem new or novel to us so, he says “Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment you have had from the beginning” (vs. 7). He reassures us of his truth by saying, “I am writing to you, little children because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake” (vs. 12). He writes to the fathers because they know Him, and to the young men because they are strong and know the Word of God abides in them. In every case, John addresses the abiding of God as a requirement for everyone; not church or clothes or uniform or memberships but God within us. Jesus told one of the most noted Israeli scholars of His day, “You must be born-again to see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

The Incarnate Word (1 John 1:1-4)  

As with all letters, our first duty is to determine who wrote the letter and to whom the letter was intended.  The way John begins his letter, might be better understood if we recall the experience of the Apostle Thomas after the resurrection of Jesus (John 20:24-29). When Jesus appeared to ten of the apostles, Thomas was not there. When the other apostles told him about seeing Jesus alive after His resurrection, Thomas rejected their story and told them he would not believe unless “he could see the nail prints in His hands, put his finger in the nail prints and thrust his hand into his side,” he would not believe (John 20:25).  Eight days later, Jesus appeared again, but this time, Thomas was with them (vs. 26). Jesus invited him to put his finger in the nail prints and his hand in His side. While the Scripture does not say that Thomas accepted the invitation, Verse 28 says, “And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God” (KJV). Verse 29 has Jesus’ response as, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yethave believed.” 

Now, 1 John 1:1 can be more fully understood in the context of what the disciples saw after Jesus’ resurrection. Here, John is reliving the experience of Thomas; that is, he saw and looked with his eyes, he touched the Word of Life with his hands.  In Verse 2, John says he experienced the life of Christ, and he is testifying or recounting those experiences of seeing that eternal life to us. 

John says in verse 3 that his purpose in sharing his experiences with us is so that we can join him and the millions of others in fellowship, and that that fellowship is with “the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ. It is like John is welcoming us to a club, of sorts, that’s members have this common experience, like Thomas did, of knowing the Word of Life, first hand, by seeing, and hearing, and touching, and feeling the resurrected Christ for ourselves. He realizes that we cannot have the same joy he and the other apostles had of actually living in the presence of Jesus for three years, but he hopes our joy can be completed by reading the words of his account of those many experiences (vs. 4). 

Jesus: The Light (1 John 1:5-10)  

John begins his message by recounting what he heard from Jesus directly. First, Jesus told them that “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (vs. 1). His illustration is like walking into a room with no lights and having someone turn the lights on. The light reveals the details of everything in the room. There are no secrets remaining. Before the light came, one could only guess what might be in the room. But with the light, every secret thing in the room is revealed and there is no darkness left once the shining of God’s light begins. It is all-revealing light. In verse 6, John says if one can say there is still darkness after His light shines, he is lying and the is no truth in him. Verse 7 is a transitional verse:  it starts by setting a conditional idea that if we walk in that all-revealing light, just as God Himself is that light, we have fellowship with one another. The end of verse 7, after the transition to the new topic or condition, John says the “blood of Jesus, His Son cleanes us from all sin.” So, in this  statement, John reveals that the light of God establishes unity among the believers and establishes a complete cleansing from all our sin. So, The light of God brings its believers together in solid unity and provide a full and complete cleansing from all sin - righteousness. 

So, John wants to set up two realities with the believers in Christ. First, the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin and if we say we have no sin, we are misguided or simply lying. Second, if we confess (acknowledge) our sin, Jesus is faithful to remove those sins and cleanse us from all unrighteous (vs. 9). 

In the first case, the subject is the “wearing of sin.” In the second case, the subject is the personal commission of sin. The first establishes our condition as sinners, while the second establishes that even if we could be excluded by living in the condition of sin, our personal commission of sin establishes our status as sinners. Whether we are talking about sin because of our humankind or because of our personal unholiness, we are guilty of being sinners. But also, in either case, the blood of Christ is fully capable of forgiving sin and cleaning us from either and all sin.  

The World vs. Eternal Life (1 John 2:15-29)  

In that same sense of walking the way Jesus walked, John says “Do not love the world nor the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (vs. 15). This is another measuring stick to understand where our hearts are. Write a list of the things you like and the things you do not like. If your “likes” are godly things and your “dislikes” are worldly things, there is something in you driving you toward being like Jesus. If not, you might be heading the other way! You must also measure whether doing these things is natural or forced. If God is your guide, you do these things naturally because of Him. 

Verse 16 is a universal truth, “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world” (vs. 15). Look at what Satan has used to temp Jesus? What has led to the failure of priests, pastors and political leaders? Sometimes it is not as easy as it looks.  What are the things God has created us to need? Example: When Satan tempted Jesus to turn the rocks into bread, how long had it been since Jesus had eaten? 

Verse 18 opens the discussion of the promised Antichrist. (The capital “A” is the person; the small “a” is the behavior.) Second Thessalonians 2:3-12 gives a short background of him. Revelation 13 shows him as the first beast and the false prophet as the second beast. This person, the Antichrist, will be the key leader during the Tribulation Period. He will be worshipped on the Temple Mound in Jerusalem. He will kill all who will not worship Him. The False Prophet will be the “Preacher” who exalts him. Satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet are the unholy trinity of the seven-year Tribulation Period.

John finishes with a warning that we abide in Him and He abides in us. He warns us that when He appears and takes His Church away from the earth before the Tribulation Period that we make sure we can be certain of our stand and approach Him in confidence. We certainly do not want to have to back away in shame because we refused to be called one of His.

How Great A Love (1 John 3:1-3)  

Unlike the Apostle Paul, John does not use the standard “From, To, Purpose” format in his letters. For some, this hinders a full understanding of the letter for the sake of proper interpretation. Most of the commentaries and Christian scholars agree that this first letter is written to a sizable group of churches experiencing a common problem of false doctrine finding its way into their churches. The teachers of such doctrine are sometimes labeled as “antichrists” because their false doctrines stand against the deity of Christ and church leader’s overall authority to make policy on holy living because of Christ’s holiness. Personally, I see no greater authority than the letters of those who physically walked with Jesus and were called upon to surrender their own lives for doing so. 

Here, John tells us of the greatness of the Father’s message giving us the title of Children of God (vs. 1). John sternly applied the same term to us even more strongly in his Gospel at verses 1:10-13. There he says specifically, “10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” There is no stronger stand for us being God’s children than these statements. 

And John is certainly correct in saying that the world does not know us (or certainly does not understand us) in the culture of the world today. They ask, “Why, what kind of people would prefer being eaten by wild beasts, drawn and quartered in an arena or burned alive at a Caesar’s party instead of simply renouncing their stand for Jesus Christ?” Nevertheless, He calls us His children, and we openly claim the title even though we have little idea what that means. Verse 2 says that we do not know what that means nor what we shall be when He returns for us, but we do know we should not let our hearts be troubled because He is certainly coming back for us and we shall be like Him. We hold and keep ourselves pure for Him because He said He is making a place for us and will return, we will become like Him and He will take us to where He is (John 14:1-6).

Sin & Lawlessness (1 John 3:4-12)  

In these verses, John addresses the relationship between sin and lawlessness. He starts with the statement that everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness (vs. 4). Most of us would agree that goes without saying. Any members of these churches with Jewish backgrounds have spent their entire lives knowing that violating the Ten Commandments or the hundreds of derivative laws, defined sin and at the same time defined lawlessness. 

Now, he tells us we ought to know and understand the mission the Father gave to the Son. John says, “You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin” (vs. 5). It probably surprises no one that in Christ there is no sin, but read John’s application of that knowledge, “No one who abides in Him sins.  Ho one who sins has seen Him or knows Him” (vs. 6). Initially, it appears he is making a very legalistic statement saying that if you ever sin after you claim Christ, you clearly have no part in Him. It is not a statement of absolute truth as much as it is a measuring stick for us to determining where we stand with Christ. Before we were born again, sin was nearly automatic, and it had little impact on us.  But once we became a part of Christ, once we became a child of the King, all things were made new (2 Cor 5:17). Now, we have the Holy Spirit in us Who communicates the dangers of sin and influences us away from it. 

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In Verse 6, John introduces the term “abides in Him.” This depicts a coexistence between God and man. The Holy Spirit is the downpayment for our salvation (2 Cor 5:5). In other words, God gives us the indwelling Holy Spirit until He calls us to Himself. God indwells us, communicates with us, keeps from “practicing sin.” We can still be tempted, we will even sin, but “practicing sin” is repeating sin over and over and being able to live in it. Anyone who can practice sin has not had an experience with God. This is what “measuring stick” means. You can measure your relationship with God by measuring how you feel about even the slightest sin. If you can shrug it off and not have to deal with it, you need to reassess that rebirth experience and make it right.

World Hates the Brethren (1 John 3:13-22)  

Here, John writes to advise Christians of the fact that people who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, people who get their values for living life from what they see around them are not going to be happy associating with you. He says the people of the world will hate you. All Christians know the struggles of living without Christ and the great relief they felt when they finally surrendered to Him. It is simple: Jesus designed us to have eternal life with Him. If we are not inside that life, we feel uncomfortable and do things to take our minds off the constant pain we feel. People who have not experienced the rebirth continue to live in that uncomfortable, dissatisfying life as their daily routine. When they see us and the joy we have in knowing we will live forever with Jesus, they are angry because we found “that peace that passes all understanding” Paul talks about in Philippians 4:7. No one likes to admit they are wrong and to admit error in something so important is devastating for the lost person. 

But we can get joy and belief reinforcement out of the anger of this world. If the world hates us, we are obviously showing Christ in our daily walk. The life nonbelievers live is only available in the present. We have already left that world spiritually, and when the Lord comes for us, we will leave it physically. The people who do not have Christ have to survive in this world for the rest of life and are doomed to a far worse life in the punishments of Hell. The enemy prevents them from understanding that truth, so they will always be angry if you bring it up. 

But John tells us the truth in verse 16.  Those who abide in Jesus know His love for us in that He laid down His life for us even while we were still sinning (Rom 5:8). Satan has given nothing to the lost person except the lack of satisfaction of this life and the promise of eternity in Hell for the next life. Verse 17 tells us one way we can approach the lost person to get his attention without hate. We can share some of the things God has given us to help them make their lives more tolerable. By doing this, they will eventually ask us what makes life so much better for us. Then we can share Christ, and they can experience that life too.

New Commandment (1 John 3:23-24)  

All of us have heard and know that the mission or assignment God gave to Jesus Christ on Earth was to “seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). 1 John 3:23 reiterates that same commandment for us. John says, “His commandment is that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.”  This is how Jesus answered that question when He was asked which commandment is the greatest. He said, “37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matt 22:37-40). Loving the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul certainly sounds like “believing the Lord died and was raised from the grave and confessing the Lord with your mouth” to be saved (Rom 10:9-10, KJV). We love those around us because we love Him. Jesus told Nicodemus, one of the most dedicated and learned pharisees of His time that you must be born again in order to enter Heaven (John 3:3 & 7). Now this was a man who had risen to the top levels in the Jerusalem Sanhedrin, the highest religious counsel in all of Judaism.  He was highly educated and led Jewish religious people all over the world. But Jesus said to him, “If you are not Born Again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Most people would ask, “Well, if a man like Nicodemus cannot make to Heaven, what hope do I have?” The answer is easy, “10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Just like I said in the earlier quote, that sentence is from Romans 10:10. Jesus knew that Nicodemus had done many great works, but Jesus also knew that salvation does not come from what we do, it comes from where our hearts are. Paul puts it like this, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” (Eph 2:8, KJV).

Last, John gives us a way we can tell if we are abiding in Jesus. He says, “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him” (vs. 24). The only way we can keep His commandments is to live in Him as He lives in us. That motivation come from the heart, not the mind. That is, we do what we ought because He lives in us, not because we determine so.

Are Spirits from God? (1 John 4:1-3)  

John drills right in on a potential danger on teaching the depth of God ‘s love for us and our responses. Namely, it is the danger that our love might influence the attitude we have toward trusting the sources for teaching those around us. That is, we tend to trust more as we love more. The danger is that there is hateful evil lurking around the perimeter of trust-worthy love who is “walking about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). It appears that John is describing such an issue behind the scenes of this letter. So, he starts with a strong caution against quickly believing any spirit who approaches us. He offers a simple test to apply before trusting such a spirit. He says, “2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world” (vss. 2-3). 

The test seems quite straight forward, especially when we recall that inside us already dwells the Holy Spirit of God from the instant of our conversion (2 Cor 1:22). So, the first indication we will have to warn us of pending danger is the uneasiness of that Spirit within us. Our response has to be to take a close look at the source of the teaching we are receiving to see where they stand on Jesus Christ coming in the flesh from God. If they will not accept that basic concept, we cannot receive their teaching on any topic. If they can commit to that doctrine, John says they we can hear their teaching. 

Consider for a second what John is saying here. To eliminate the danger of accepting the teaching of a false teacher, we must determine where the person’s heart stands on the doctrine of the origin of Jesus Christ. If they can confess that Jesus was with and came from the Creator, he is worthy to present data to us. If he is unable to express that belief, we are to refuse information or teaching from him nor allow him to spread his false teaching to others around us. John associates these false teachers with the antichrists we have been warned to allude (2 Thess 2:3-12).  

We Have Overcome Them (1 John 4:4-6)  

Here John speaks of the unlimited power of the Spirit-Filled Christian (“those who are from God”), to stand up against the power of those evil spirits. He calls on us to simply know and acknowledge that the Spirit of God within us is greater than the spirit of Satan standing against us. This fact is not something to be trivialized or used for testing, rather, this fact is to be known and used with high confidence when we, or those we love, are confronted by the evil armies of Satan. 

He continues that these evil spirits are from “the world” and therefore have great influence over those who are also from the world.  In other words, the false teachers (and antichrists) have great influence over those who come from the same place from which they came. And many of these people are in positions of leadership within the world. It is reasonable to understand that when unholy teachers address unholy students, that the results will be unholy as well. 

To the contrary, Verse 6 summarizes that we are from God, and Satan knows God listens to us, and he knows that those who are not from God will not listen to us. This makes it easy for Satan to determine whom he can use to accomplish his objectives. But it also provides a great measure for us to know whom we can trust and whom we cannot trust to move our objectives forward.  Many of the rules that govern how we do business and whom we can hire, were made by unenlightened people. Frequently, unenlightened people with hiring authority will hire the unenlightened because of the general truth of personal interaction, namely, “people like people who are like them.” So, the unenlightened will seldom cause the enlightened to be hired. And to farther frustrate that situation, not all enlightened people will perform at the level at which they are equipped to perform. You have heard it said, “Some are so heavenly minded, they are of no earthly good.” 

John ends his discussion observing that this is also how we can determine the spirit of truth versus the spirit error. From time to time, we have to judge whom we will call friends and who we will not. Judging the spirits, whether holy or earthly, is extremely important to personal success.

God is Love (1 John 4:7-14)  

In John 4:7-14, John wants to begin by defining this word we have been using for the previous two slides. The verse states, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” First, there are three primary Greek words for love in the New Testament: agape, eros and phileo. Phileo is a brotherly love, like Philadelphia, called the city of brotherly love. Eros is the erotic form of love, like desire and passion. Agape is the affectionate, benevolent, charitable love described in 1 Corinthians 12:4-8, “4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails.”  This is the kind of love used in these paragraphs from 1 John 4. It certainly sets lofty goals for the child of God to maintain. 

With that background of the meaning of the word, imagine John’s admonition that we be like that for one another because that is the way God is. Further, if we can love in those ways, it shows that we know Him and are like Him. If we cannot love like that, we do not know Him (vs. 8). But look at verse 9: This was the way God demonstrated His love to us: He sent His only Son into the world that we might live through Him. Not life as we know it, but the sinless life that He purchased for us with His blood (vs. 10). John made the statement in verse 11, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Verse 12 takes that life and love and says that no one has seen God at any time, but if we can love others with that agape love, we can show the world that He lives in us and through us, His love can be completed or fulfilled. And here is how we can know we abide in Him just as described here, that He has given us His Spirit and through that Spirit we have seen and can testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world (vss. 13-14). The challenge of how we can love with that same intensity is answered next. Briefly, we let His love shine through us.

God in Us; We in Him (1 John 4:15-21)  

This part of 1 John 4 reveals the secret of how we can love with the same love Jesus did. In the simplest, most straight forward way possible, we can love like Jesus did by letting Jesus do the work. The concept of being possessed by a Being who has the power to do things through us is somewhat foreign to most of us. But it is in the idea of God’s living in us that solves the equation of how we can do the impossible as Christians. Let us read more about the idea of “abiding.” 

The Greek word for abide is meno. It means to take up permanent residency somewhere but not just living there.  It means occupying every corner of that place. It is like being possessed by an evil being only the Spirit is a benevolent possessor rather than a dominant one. For example, when Satan possesses a person, he destroys that person. When the Holy Spirit possesses someone, He empowers and multiplies that person. As far as being changed by His possession of us, consider Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” Or like that old song, “Thanks to Calvary.” Recall the converted man returned to the place where they used to live, and his little boy ran and hid behind the door. The singer would than sing, “Son, no need to hide, you’ve got a new daddy, now. Thanks to Calvary, we don’t live here anymore.”  The changes were pervasive. I was so obviously different that people could not believe I was the same person. I remember in March of 1974, I no longer wanted to go to some of the places I used to go, drink the same things I used to drink, say some of the words I used to say. I had become a new creation, and astonishingly enough, I did not do the changing. Rather, it was done by something that changed in me.

It was God taking up residence in me and some of me had to change to make that dwelling place home for my Lord. Notice in verse 16 that the abiding or indwelling is mutual, that is, “I abide in Him as He abides in me.” Just like God said He could not see the gross sins of Israel through the blood of the innocent lamb on the Day of Atonement, God cannot see my sin through the blood of His Son dwelling in me. That is why we can no longer be the way we were. It just is not there!

Faith Overcomes the World (1 John 5:1-4)

Theologically speaking, it is not difficult to see that John wants to drive home the point that a person’s relationship with God is the determining factor in where that person will spend eternity. John documented this fact in the early chapters of his Gospel at John 3. There Jesus is visited by Nicodemus, an extremely well-educated Jewish leader. Nicodemus intended to learn from Jesus and determine why mostly all Jewish and Roman leaders were upset and angry with Jesus to the point of planning His death. He opens saying that he knew Jesus must have been a teacher sent from God because no one could do the things Jesus was doing unless he were sent from God.

Jesus, on the other hand, was commissioned by the Father to come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19;10). So, Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). Nicodemus was a man who had given his entire life to the study of the Jewish Scriptures and explaining them to other learners. Now, he is being told by this new rabbi (teacher) that he had to do something more to enter Heaven. Men of his stature were not used to being told they needed more to be close with God. Nicodemus challenged Jesus’ knowledge of the birth experience and especially how impossible it was for a man his size to reenter his mother to be born again. It is clear that the two men were not speaking in the same context. Jesus was speaking spiritually and Nicodemus was speaking physically. Similar conversations take place every minute of every day in every city of the world, but how the conversation ends holds the eternal life of the inquirer in its balance.

Verse 5:1, simply says that anyone who believes that “Jesus is the Christ is born of God; the promised Messiah, has experienced the rebirth Jesus was explaining earlier. John’s Gospel does not document the second birth of Nicodemus here, but the fact he and Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus after His crucifixion provides that evidence. In verses 2-4, John talks of the results of this rebirth experience. A reborn person keeps God’s commandments; not because he must, but because the Spirit inside leads him. Note also, the reborn find no burden in doing it.

Believers by Water & Blood (1 John 5:5-12)  

John asks the question, “Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:5). He seems to be returning to that explanation He was giving to Nicodemus so many years earlier. Once again, John emphasizes that the rebirth in Jesus Christ provides the power to overcome the trails and tribulations of this world. Notice he mentions that Jesus was One who came by water and blood. He reemphasizes even again by saying, “This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood” (vs. 6). If we identify the water with the water of the placenta and the blood with the blood of the cross, the messages of Jesus and John are very easily understood. The water of the placenta is the first birth and causes a physical human to be born. But the blood is the blood of Jesus’ cross which allowed the second birth, or rebirth, to take place. In the evangelistic context, if a person is born once, they will die twice: once in the physical death and a second in a spiritual – separation from God for all eternity. But if a person is born twice, they will only die once. Jesus asked Martha at her brother’s death, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25). Jesus was explaining to Martha that there is no such thing as death for those who are born-again. He finishes verse 6 assuring us that the Spirit Himself provides the testimony of this fact. And that truth causes the testimonies of the Spirit, the water and the blood to coincide regarding the future for all believers. 

God continues that while we might be reassured by humans concerning these facts, the reassurance from God is even more certain. He says, “If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son” (vss. 9-10). Then John summarizes this doctrine clearly this way, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  The rebirth delivers life!

Certainty of Eternal Life (1 John 5:13-17)  

Verses 13-15 are three of the most encouraging verses regarding our lives in Christ. The beginning of the verse is obvious as he says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God.” So, he penned these words to fellow believers, so they might know beyond any doubt that they have eternal life through their belief that Jesus Christ is God’s Son and that He died, was buried and was resurrected (see Rom 10:9-10). Eternal life in Jesus Christ, then, is a settled issue. John said it was the reason he wrote this area of 1 John. 

Now verses 14-15 picks up on a separate topic, and that has to do with prayer. John says that we can be confident in the presence of God that if we ask anything which is in His will, He hears our prayer and will honor that request for us.  And that is the primary rub in the statement, that is, we will have it if it is in His will. Each of us is on this earth to complete a set of purposes God requires of us. And, like all the saints of God who have gone before us, God will not allow us to transition from here to Heaven before we have finished those things. If our prayer prevents or hinders the purposes God assigned to us for this life, He simply will not honor the request. That does not mean, however, that God cannot work an alternative response to your prayer which accomplishes what you prayed while still honoring God’s will. 

Verses 16 and 17 speak to one of those difficult passages of the Bible. He starts by saying that we should pray for every fellow believer we find practicing a sin which is not unto death. John says the request you make of the Lord will be honored if it is not against His will for anyone. That prayer will be answered even to the point of giving life to that person. First question is what is “a sin unto death.” This is difficult because the same Greek word is used for physical and spiritual death (Thanatos). The only sin to spiritual death is refusing the Gospel of Christ. Only Hell awaits the person who dies without Christ. For life, the Greek zoe is for spiritual life and bios for physical life. The Greek word in verse 16 is zoe. Does “sin unto death” mean we can lose our physical or spiritual life? Ask Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) or see what Jesus said in Mark 3:28-29. 

No Sin for the Reborn (1 John 5:18-21)  

The lead sentence in verse 18 is questionable for most (It just doesn’t feel right!). We know there is literally no one who can live a sinless life. The question of how the perfection of “no one who is born of God sins” could pass the test of common sense for anyone who lives a minute as a child of God. The answer is in the meaning of the verb, “sins” (Greek hamartanei versus hamartánō). The first word is the actual verb used in the Greek text. The second is the commonly used verb as in Strong’s number 264. Strongs lists the root Greek word rather than the actual word used. In this case, the difference is in the verb ending “ei.” This forces the difference between committing sin and having a regular habit or dedication of committing the sin. The English Standard Version (ESV) and New Living Translation (NLT) chang the KJV word from “sinneth not” to “does not keep on sinning” or “do not make a practice of sinning,” respectively. In application, this meaning that while a born-again person may sin (in fact, 1 John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”).  The born-again person cannot tolerate living inside, having a habit or repetitively committing that sin. ESV says, “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him” and captures the full meaning of the change the indwelling Spirit of God makes.

Verse 19 shows another contrast. John says that we are of God, but the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. We have been changed. Our “want to’s” have been changed. The born-again is not trying to play “holier than thou,” he or she is just a different person than before and it shows (2 Cor 5:17). John knows that as he lived the fisherman’s life out on the water with Andrew, Peter and James. You can only imagine the language they used out there in their two boats. Those of us who have lived the unregenerate life as adults have experience. But God came into us and we are different than before. Verse 5:20 captures a lot of the change of the “before” and “after” associated with John’s experience and that same experience he saw in the Apostles around him. Somehow, I started getting more joy out of “The King is Coming” than “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.”

Author, Title, Date

 The books of 1 , 2 & 3 John are historically and traditionally attributed to the Apostle John, the Disciple Jesus loved.  The title “1 John” reflects its position as the first of three epistles attributed to John in the New Testament. First John does not specifically mention an author whil 2 & 3 John attribute the writing to  "the Elder."  From that the authorship is determined and assigned as all three letters to the Apostle John..  First John was written late in the first century AD.   

Purpose

1 John is a strong sermon on the doctrines of God being the light of the world and the epitome of love.  That is, Jesus is the light and love of the world.  2 John centers on the teaching against Gnosticism and 3 John is written on church disciple and unity.

Audience

All three letters were written to the dispersed believers, sometimes refered to as the Lady.   These were likely the people chosen as leaders of the church and encourages them in the light and love of the Lord.  Letters 2 & 3 John add encourages members to take a strong stance  against false doctrine.  The two issues being dealt with were specifically Gnosticism and Hospitality.  Gnosticism was in 2 John as locals were trying to add the :Knowledge" doctrines to the Christian doctrine.  Hospitality was in 3 John and was to be directed to support missionaries and other workers.  

Importance of This Letter

The Christian movement was believed by the Jewish religious leaders to be doomed to failure as soon as they murdered Jesus of Nazareth.  Acts 9 tells us that Saul of Tarsus was permitted by the Sanhedrin to expand his geographical area for persecuting Christians outside Judea and into Asia.  Saul was converted on the way to Damascus of Syria and became known as Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ.  The hope that Christianity offered was far superior to the persecutions of the Jews and Romans on the Christians, and served to strengthen believers for the thousands who faced death for their beliefs. 

Schedule for Jude's Letter

Jude is written by one of Jesus' four half brothers and at least two half sisters.  They are listed as James, Joseph (also called Joses), Simon, and Judas (Jude), along with at least two unnamed sisters (Matthew 13:55-56; Mark 6:3) .  The Letter of Jude is written to warn believers about false teachers and divine judgement.   

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Author, Title, Date

 The books of 1 , 2 & 3 John are historically and traditionally attributed to the Apostle John, the Disciple Jesus loved.  The title “3 John” reflects its position as the third of three epistles attributed to John in the New Testament. First John does not specifically mention an author whil 2 & 3 John attribute the writing to  "the Elder."  From that the authorship is determined and assigned as all three letters to the Apostle John..  Third  John was written in 96-99 AD.   

Purpose

First John is a strong sermon on the doctrines of God being the light of the world and the epitome of love.  That is, Jesus is the light and love of the world.  Second John centers on the teaching against Gnosticism and Third John is written on church disciple and unity.  John adds to that a admonistion to support the needs of missionairies in terms of fellowship and housing.

Audience

First John is a strong sermon on the doctrines of God being the light of the world and the epitome of love.  That is, Jesus is the light and love of the world.  2 John centers on the teaching against Gnosticism and 3 John is written on church disciple and unity. 

Importance of This Letter

The Christian movement was believed by the Jewish religious leaders to be doomed to failure as soon as they murdered Jesus of Nazareth.  Acts 9 tells us that Saul of Tarsus was permitted by the Sanhedrin to expand his geographical area for persecuting Christians outside Judea and into Asia.  Saul was converted on the way to Damascus of Syria and became known as Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ.  The hope that Christianity offered was far superior to the persecution of the Jews and Romans, and provided for strong belief for the thousands who faced death for their beliefs.

Schedule for Jude's Letter

Jude is written by one of Jesus' four half brothers and at least two half sisters.  They are listed as James, Joseph (also called Joses), Simon, and Judas (Jude), along with at least two unnamed sisters (Matthew 13:55-56; Mark 6:3) .  The Letter of Jude is written to warn believers about false teachers and divine judgement.   

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Author, Title, Date

Jude self identifies as author of this book, along with 2 Peter, he wrote sometime between 65 & 80 AD.   2 Peter's potential writing period finished about 12 years earlier than Jude's potential writing period.   Like 1 & 2 Peter, "Jude" identifies the title of the letter and the author of the letter.   

Purpose

Jude, like  2 Peter provides serious warnings against false teachers, their deceptive practices and the moral decay taking place in the early church.  These warnings of severe persecution by the Roman Empire against the Christian Church come along with the internal church issues facing Jude.    

Audience

Jude's let ter was written to the dispersed believers just like 1 Peter.  These were likely the people in the dozens of churches Paul had planted and many missionaries encouraged and trained through the years.  These were mostly Gentile believers rather than Jewish believers.  Jude tries to stay away from quoting Jewish traditions and ritual observance.

Importance of This Letter

Jude is written by one of Jesus' four half brothers and at least two half sisters.  They are listed as James, Joseph (also called Joses), Simon, and Judas (Jude), along with at least two unnamed sisters (Matthew 13:55-56; Mark 6:3) .  The Letter of Jude is written to warn believers about false teachers and divine judgement.   

Schedule for Jude's Letter

Jude is written by one of Jesus' four half brothers and at least two half sisters.  They are listed as James, Joseph (also called Joses), Simon, and Judas (Jude), along with at least two unnamed sisters (Matthew 13:55-56; Mark 6:3) .  The Letter of Jude is written to warn believers about false teachers and divine judgement.   

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Division (Jude 17-23)

And now for the contribution of the half brother of the One called Christ, Jude. With 1 Peter probably written around 64 AD and 2 Peter in about 66 AD, Jude came shortly thereafter in 67 AD. A stunning feature of Jude is that it is strikingly similar to both 2 Peter 1 and 2. It is almost as if they collaborated on the letter, but certainly they did not. I have not read of collaboration. 

Jude addresses the same situation as Peter saw and characterizes it in terms of a division of people. Jude references the words of the apostles of Jesus Christ beforehand (vs. 17). They described how, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts” (vs. 18). Jude recognizes these at the ones who cause divisions, are worldly minded and devoid of the Holy Spirit of God. So, Jude is identifying this first set of people as those without the Spirit, so these are the lost. This part of Jude (vss. 18-19) match very well with the language of 2 Peter 2. It is the description of how the lost were behaving in those days. 

In verse 20, he offers the obvious dichotomy by starting, “But you, beloved.” The “But you” sets the opposite side or strikingly different type of people than he was addressing in verse 18-19. We have seen enough in the last three verses to understand those as the ones “building themselves up in their most holy faith,” “praying in the Holy Spirit,” “keeping themselves in the love of God and waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ” are those who are the blessed ones. This corresponds more closely with 2 Peter 1. 

Jude is important that it offers a second glimpse at the blessings and the curses through a second set of the eyes. The apparent surface of the blessings and curses vary little. The blessing come because of our obedience to the commandments of God and the curses come through the apparent disobedience of God’s commandments. In the Peter case or the Jude case, there are clear differentiations between the blessings and the curses as there are clear differentiations between the stated desires of God. It is never like God forces us to guess whether He is pleased or displeased. We hear the words of the Lord and have ample opportunity to do as He suggested, or not.

Author, Title, Date

The apostle Paul was the author of this personal letter to Philemon: Christ follower and slave owner of the runaway slave, Onisemus.   The date of the letter was during Paul's imprisonment in Rome between 60 - 61 AD.

Purpose

The purpose of the letter to Philemon was clear and announced at Verses 10-14 as he explains "10 I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, 11 who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. 12 I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, 13 whom I wished to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel; 14 but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will (Phile 10-14, NASB95).  .  

Philemon is the name of the person to whom Paul wrote this letter.  He was a great friend to Paul and had run-away slave named Onesimus.  When Onesimus ran away from Philemon, he aligned with Paul and commited his life to Jesus Christ.  When Paul wrote this letter to Philemon, he called Onsesimus his child and asked  Philemon to forigive him, pardon him and restore him to continue working for Paul's ministry from prison.  

Audience

The audience for the letter (epistle) to Philemon is Phileman.  It contains a plea from Paul to the owner of a runaway slave named Onisemus.  He had become very useful for supporting Paul while in prison, but Paul did not want to use him until he reconciled his staus as a criminal  with his owner, Philemon

Importance of This Letter

Paul decided to send Onisemus  back to Philemon to reconcil his criminal status as a runaway slave.  The letter contains Paul's plea for Philemon to release Onesimus, forgive his offense against him, pardon his crime and return him to continue his very important service to Paul in the Roman prison.  

Schedule for Paul's Letter to Philemon

Philemon is the name of the person to whom Paul wrote this letter.  He was a great friend to Paul and had run-away slave named Onesimus.  When Onesimus ran away from Philemon, he aligned with Paul and commited his life to Jesus Christ.  When Paul wrote this letter to Philemon, he called Onsesimus his child and asked  Philemon to forigive him, pardon him and restore him to continue working for Paul's ministry from prison.  

Understand the Context (Plm 1-25)

Philemon is one of those short but strong letters of the New Testament. There is little doubt about the author of the letter being Paul. And little controversy over the place or date of its writing during Paul’s house arrest in Rome between 61-62 AD. The controversy about the relationships between Philemon, Apphia and Archippus have little to do with understanding the message of the book for us. The known information regarding the members of this house church provide assurance that Paul loved the leaders of this church and provided the leadership needed to cause them to be a flourishing church over the following decades.

What we can look for in the next several paragraphs on Philemon and his house church is Paul’s elaboration of his strong feelings for Philemon and his church. We will see the strong love Paul has for presenting the Gospel and helping those, like Onesimus, to get the support they need for growing in the Lord as equal members in a society of believers in Jesus Christ. And last, we will see Paul’s letter address several final thoughts and mentions of people who have helped Philemon and his house church and/or Paul reach more people for Jesus Christ.   

Sent (Plm 8-12)

Paul gets directly to the point here; he is ready to boldly ask Philemon for a favor. He says he believes he could direct the favor to be done but would rather ask than command. In verse 9, Paul says it is because of the mutual love they have for each other that he can ask this favor. Paul reminds Philemon that he is an old man and a prisoner for the sake of the Lord. 

So, verse 10 contains the actual request. Paul appeals to Philemon to show kindness to his SON. Onesimus. The words Paul used to share this opening statement with Philemon reveals there has been a change in the circumstances surrounding the relationship between Philemon, Onesimus and himself. Because of that change, Paul can refer to Onesimus as “his child.” Before this time, Onesimus was a thief and runaway slave. But instead of referring to him as the criminal he once was, Paul referred to him as the son he had become. (How’s that for “all things have become new” (2 Cor 5:17)?)

In verse 11, Paul acknowledges that Onesimus has been of very little value to Philemon or anyone else because of his attitudes and his performance history. He adds that Onesimus’ new birth has given to them a person of great value to Philemon and Paul, as well. In verse 12, Paul sacrifices his need to have Onesimus work for him by returning him to his rightful owner, Philemon. Paul has to admit, however, that Onesimus is no longer an ordinary slave in Paul’s mind. In fact, as he turns Onesimus over to Philemon, he is also sending his own heart 

As A Brother (Plm 13-16) 

Paul is clear with Philemon from the onset that he would much rather have kept Onesimus with him than to return him. Nevertheless, Paul knows that there are accounts to be made right before Onesimus could be released to work for him again. Onesimus had an owner he had wronged, money he had stolen and relationships he had not honored. These things had to be reconciled. 

So, Paul correctly tells Philemon that he would do nothing more with Onesimus until Philemon decided what was right from his perspective. Onesimus belonged to Philemon, and Paul could not bring himself to take him from Philemon without Philemon deciding on that action for himself. In fact, it seemed to Paul, it might be that Philemon had lost Onesimus for a short period to get him back as a much improved person (product) forever. 

Paul added, this Onesimus that he was now sending to Philemon is not the man he once was. He is no longer the worthless heather he once was, but now he is a brother in the faith and especially to Paul as his spiritual father. So, the man Paul returned to Philemon may be much more than the slave Philemon lost. “This man who belongs to you, Philemon, is far beyond that; he is now our brother under the blood of Jesus Christ. This man who left as worthless as he could possibly be has returned as your brother in the faith and mine” (Plm 16). 

So Welcome Him (Plm 17-21)

Paul continues that, if Philemon feels any value to the relationship he had with Paul, would he welcome Onesimus back as a brother. That is, would you welcome him back as if you were welcoming me? (Plm 17). Further, Paul writes to Philemon, “If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me” (Plm 18, NLT). 

Now, verse 19 is a very interesting verse! In the New Living Translation, it comes out with the whole verse being uppercase; attesting to its intended power. Paul repeats that if Onesimus owes Philemon anything, he has written in his own hand that he will repay it. But then Paul brings forward a reminder from the past. He says, “And, I won’t even mention that you owe me your very soul!” (Plm 19). 

With these words, Paul changes his request of Philemon into an opportunity for Philemon to repay Paul for a past favor that may have involved Philemon’s own soul. Knowing the impact of these words, Paul assures Philemon that he heard him correctly. “Yes, my brother, please do me this favor for the Lord’s sake. Give me this encouragement in Christ” (Plm 20). In the closing verse (Plm 21), Paul assures Philemon of his every confidence as he writes to him that he will grant Paul’s request and go even further. It almost sounds like one of “offers one cannot refuse.’