Universal Epistles of John 1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd John

Transcription

1 Universal Epistles of John 1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd John Synthesis of the New Testament Arturo Pérez Arthur_Pink@hotmail.com

2 Contents Epistles of John Introduction historical background Main Subject of the Epistles of John Author; Date and Place of writing Recipients and Main Purpose for each one Contents of each epistle Summary of each epistle Landmarks of each epistle Key concepts Important Doctrines Well Known Passages

3 Main Subject of 1 st John A call to examine yourself under the light of the fundamentals of the faith: sound doctrine, obedience, and love to help believers who have been attacked by false teachers, to have joy, hoilness and assurance in Jesus Christ Fundamentals of the faith: (to discern False from Truth) True faith in Jesus (sound doctrine) (1Jn.1:1-4) Obedience to His commandments (1Jn.1:6; 2:4,6) Love to God and to our brethren (1Jn.3:23, 24). Defense against false teachers: 2:18; 4:1 To help believers to experience: Joy (1:4) Holiness (2:1) Assurance (trust) (5:13)

4 Main Subject of 2 nd John Fundamentals of faith Adherence to the truth (sound doctrine) (2Jn.4) Adherence to love (2Jn.5) Adherence to obedience (2Jn.6). And the appropriate use of hospitality A call to the fundamentals of the faith and to an appropriate use of the Christian hospitality. We are not called to a universal acceptance of anyone claiming to be a believer. Your love must have discernment. Hospitality and kindness should focus in those who adhere to the fundamentals of faith. (2John 1:9-11) Otherwise, Christian would be helping false teachers Sound doctrine shoud serve as a proof of a genuine Christianity and as the base of separation between those who verbally say to be Christians, and those who truely are (2Jn.10,11; comp. Rom. 16:17; Gal. 1:8,9; 2 Ts. 3:6,14; Tit. 3:10).

5 Main Subject of 3 rd John Commending the right use of Christian hospitality and condemning the lack of a right use of it. 2&3 John speak of a common subject: hospitality. But from different perspectives: 2 nd John condemns those who are hosting false teachers. 3 rd John condemns those who are NOT hosting the servants of God. Good example of Gaius (1-8) Bad example of Diotrephes (9-10) Good testimony of Demetrius (11-12)

6 Recipients and Purpose of 1 st John Recipients None of these letters give us a hint of who their recipients are. It is of a general accpetance that they were sent to the churches in Asia Minor in which John exercised his ministry. Purpose of 1 John False teachers (gnosticism) were threatening the sound doctrine and the life of these Christians that John loved. These Christians had been impacted by the false teaching and they had lost their trust and certainty of their faith; they had lost their joy; and they were confused because of these false teachers. Therefore, John reenforces 3 purposes he says he wrote this letter for: Joy. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. (1:4); Holiness. I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin (2:1); Assurance. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. (5:13).

7 Recipients and Purpose of 2 nd John Recipients 2 John. The same of 1st John. Churches in Asia Minor. Purpose of 2 John Besides reinforcing to keep on the fundamentals of faith (sound doctrine, love and obedience), John wrote to warn them on how to exercise their duty of being hospitable, with discernment, and not receiving any false teacher at home.

8 Recipients and Purpose of 3 rd John Recipient of 3 John. GAIUS an individual of one of the churches of Asia Minor. Purpose of 3 John. To give a written testimony of the good example of hospitality shown by Gaius as a worthy representative of the gospel of Jesus Christ. (3Jn. 6 8) And to condemn the sinful behavior of Diotrephes who refused to host those faithful missionaries who needed a temporary housing (3Jn. 10).

9 Review about Epistles of John Church s tradition testifies Apostle John is the author John was an elderly man and last Apostle alive at the moment he wrote his epistles (85 A.D.). Gnostics (Knowledge) Docetism (δοκέω to seem) Neoplatonism (spirit / body) My little children 1Jn.2:1,18,28 The Elder 2Jo1:1; 2Jo1:1 Not mentioning Dometian s persecution (95 A.D.) Gnosticism end of 1st century He was serving actively in the churches of Asia Minor (based in Ephesus) Recipients Churches in Asia Minor

10 - 5 BC 1 AD * Jesus Birth Visit to the temple Age of 12 JESUS Public Ministry Historical Period covered in Acts Apostolic ministry especially of Paul James Colos. Galat. Phm Matth 1&2Tes Eph. Luke 1&2Co Phil. Acts Annas Rom. 1&2Ti High Priests: Joseph Caiaphas Ananias Mark Titus 1&2Pe Jude HEBR Herod Alejandrino the Albino Great Fado Cuadratus Festus Florus 37 4 ac Archelaus Judea: A Roman Province under Prefects Felix Jewish Ethnarch Judea Coponius; Valerius Gratus; Pilate (26-36) Marcelus Procurators War & Samaria Herod Antipas Tetrarch Galilee & Perea King King Herod Agrippa II Herod Phillip Tetrarch Ituraea and Trachonitis Herod Agrippa Destruction of Jerusalem 1-2-3J John John banished to Patmos Revel. Jerusalem occupied by Tenth Logian Nerva (Octavian) AUGUSTUS Co-regency TIBERIUS Caligula CLAUDIUS NERO 1 st Christian Persecution Vespasian Titus Domitian 2nd Christian Persecution Trajan 3rd Christian Persecution

11 Chronological Timeframe Period of time DATE Event Publishing Initiation 6 B.C. al 30 A.D. Expansion 30 AD to 60 AD 6 BC. 4 BC. 27 AD 30 AD 34 AD 45 AD AD 48 AD 52 AD 54 AD 55 AD 56 AD Birth of Jesus Death of Herod the Great. Jesus is baptized Jesus is crucified Paul s Conversion Paul s First Trip Jerusalem s Council James (45) Galatians (49) 1&2 Thessalonians (50) 1Corinthians (55) 2Corinthians (56) 58 AD 60 AD Two years of imprisionment for Paul in Jerusalem and Caessarea Romans (58) Mark (60) Consolidation AD AD AD AD AD 68 AD Trip of Paul to Rome Imprisionment in Rome Paul s release in Rome Second imprisonment in Rome Colossians & Philemon; Ephesians (61); Philipians (62) 1 Timothy & Titus (64) Matthew ; Luke & Acts (65) ; 1 Peter (65) Hebrews (65); 2 Timothy (66) 2 Peter (67) Jude (68) 70 AD Jerusalem s Destruction 85 AD 95 AD 1 John (85); 2,3John (90) John (90) Revelation (95)

12 Contents of 1 st John A call to examine yourself under the light of the fundamentals of the faith: sound doctrine, obedience, and love to help believers who have been attacked by false teachers, to have joy (1:4), hoilness (2:1) and assurance in Jesus Christ (5:13) 1:1-10 Life and light 2:1-14 Love for fellow-christians 2:15-17 Do not love the world 2:18-29 Warning against the antichrists 3:1-24 Righteousness and love 4:1-6 Test the spirits 4:7-21 The Love of God 5:1-21 Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

13 A call to examine yourself under the light of the fundamentals of the faith: sound doctrine, obedience, and love to help believers who have been attacked by false teachers, to have joy (1:4), holiness (2:1) and assurance in Jesus Christ (5:13) I. The Fundamental Proofs of Genuine Christianity (1:1 2:17) A. Doctrinal Proofs 1. Biblical vision about Christ (1:1-4) 2. Biblical vision about sin (1:5-2:2) II. The Fundamental Proofs of Genuine Christianity (2:18-3:24) A. Doctrinal Proofs (2nd part) 1. Antichrists go out from Church (2:18-27) 2. Antichrists deny the faith(2:22-25) 3. Antichrists deceit people (26,27) III. The Fundamental Proofs of Genuine Christianity (4:1-21) A. Doctrinal Proofs (3rd part) 1. Demonic source of false teaching (1-3) 2. Necessity of the sound doctrine (4-6) spiral 1 spiral 2 spiral 3 B. MORAL Proofs 1. Biblical vision on obedience 2:3-6) 2. Biblical vision on love (2:7-17) a. The love God loves (2:7-11) b. The love God hates (2:12-17) B. MORAL Proofs (2nd part) 1. Purifying Hope (2:28-3:3) 2. Incompatibility with sin (4-24) a. Pre-requisit to be righteous (3:4-10) b. Pre-reqiusit to love (3:11-24) B. MORAL Proofs(3rd part) 1. Loving character of God (4:7-10) 2. Requirement to love each other (4:11-21) IV. The Fundamental Proofs of Genuine Christianity (5:1-21) A. Triumphant Life in Christ (5:1-5) spiral 4 B. God s testimony for Christ (5:6-12) C. Certainty Because of Christ (13-21) 1. Certainty of the eternal life (5:13) 2. Certainty of answered prayers (5:14-17) 3. Certainty of the voctory ober sin and Satan (18-21)

14 Content / Summary of 2 nd John 2 nd John condemns those who are hosting false teachers. vv. 1-3 vv. 4-6 vv I. The Base of Christian Hospitality II. The Behavior of the Christian Hospitality III. The Limits of the Christian Hospitality vv IV. The Blessings of the Christian Hospitality A call to the fundamentals of the faith and to an appropriate use of the Christian hospitality.

15 Content / Summary of 3 rd John 2 nd John condemns those who are hosting false teachers. 3 rd John condemns those who are NOT hosting the servants of God. vv. 1-8 vv vv I. The Commandments Regarding to Christian Hospitality II. The Commandments Regarding to a Violation to Christian Hospitality III. The Conclusion Regarding to Christian Hospitality Commending the right use of Christian hospitality and condemning the lack of a right use of it.

16 Landmarks Key Concepts 1 John Repetition, repetition, repetition He goes over and over on key terms such as: light, truth, to believe, love and righteousness, but he mention those by interchanging emphasis. Simplicity in each sentence. For Greek students, these are easier letters to read, because of the simplicity and clarity of John s sentences and syntax. 1John is written with a warm tone, lovely, as a father speaking an friendly conversation with his children. 1 John is also pastoral, written from the heart of a pastor with some concerns about his flock. He speaks about basic and essential concepts on the faith. There is a great similarity between 1 John and the Gospel of John on vocabulary: Father, Son, Spirit, beginning, Word (Logos), παρακλητος (Parakletos Comforter or Advocate), believe, life, eternal, love, to abide, to keep, commandment, truly, to know, to have, to be born, to testify, light, darkness, world, sin, devil. 2 & 3 John 2&3 John represents in the NT the nearest model of what was supposed to be a letter in the contemporary Greek-Roman world, because those letters were sent to individuals. These two letters are the shortest letters in the NT, and each one of them have around 300 Greek words. Each one of these epistles fits one papyrus leaf. (3 John 13).

17 Landmarks Important Doctrines 1John Christology is used to refute the error. Emphasis in Christ incarnation and His redemption based on His blood. 1Jn.1:7 Parácleto (advocate or comforter) (1Jn.2:1). This is an interesting term to learn that Jesus Christ intercedes for us because he is the propitiation for our sins. Confession of sins (1Jn.1:5-10). To hate worldliness (1Jn.1:15-17). Now we are children of God (1Jn.3:1-3). 2 & 3 de John Christian hospitality and the good exercise of it.

18 Landmarks Well Known Texts 1John 1Jn.1:9 Confessing our sins 1Jn.2:1 But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1Jn.2:4 Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 1Jn.2:6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. 1Jn.2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. 1Jn.3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1Jn.3:8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil 1Jn.3:18 let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 1Jn.4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1Jn.4:19 We love because he first loved us. 1Jn.5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. 1Jn.5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 1Jn 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. 2 & 3 de John 2Jn.10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 3Jn.11 Beloved, do not imitate the bad, but the good. The one doing good is of God; but the one doing bad has not seen God.