Getting To Know The Bible
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Structure:
As we have done with every New Testament letter, before we look at the details of a letter we need to examine the structure of the letter. The author of 2 John is “the elder.” This, of course, tells us nothing about who the author is. As we read this letter I think the author will become obvious. But let us wait to make the conclusion of who the author is until we have read the whole letter.
The recipients of the letter are “the chosen lady and her children.” Some think this is symbolic for a local church. I think there are two reasons why the symbolic view of the chosen lady and her children must be rejected. First, the way we interpret any form of communication is that we accept what a person says literally unless the context demands otherwise. This is also how we interpret the Bible. We take the words of the scripture literally unless the text demands otherwise. There is nothing in this text to suggest that the author is speaking figuratively. Second, interpreting the chosen lady and her children as a local church requires a denominational view of the church. Who is the chosen lady? Those who take a symbolic view would say the local church. Then who are her children? Those who accept a symbolic view would say the members of the local church. But a church is not an entity, institution, or a denomination. The church is people. The members are what make up a church. There is no church without the people. So how can we say that the lady is the church and the children are the members? Such symbolism is simply not biblical. Therefore, we need to interpret this letter as being written to a lady and her children. Many letters in the New Testament were written to individuals (Philemon, 1 & 2 Timothy) so we should not think that this letter cannot be to an individual. Notice that in the recipient section of the letter, the author speaks about truth. The author loves the recipients in the truth and all of those who have known the truth love the chosen lady and her children because the truth abides in them. We should realize that this letter is going to be about walking in truth.
The salutation is the standard greeting in New Testament times: “Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.” Paul in his letters also spoke of the grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 4 the author gives his thanksgiving: “It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.” The author is thankful and joyful because the chosen lady’s children are walking in truth, obedient to the commands of the Lord.
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December 3rd, 2006
Posted in Getting To Know The Bible
(What Did You Think?) 1 John
Introduction:
1 John is a unique book. It does not seem to be a letter because it omits all the natural characteristics of a letter. 1 John does not have an author stated, recipients, salutation, thanksgiving section, closing section, nor greeting section. No characteristics of a letter are found in 1 John. But John repeatedly calls the readers of this treatise, “my little children.” This treatise was to be read by other people, but John avoids writing in the form of the letter.
Gnosticism was a large problem for Christians toward the end of the first century. Gnostic means knowledge. The Gnostics taught that they held special divine knowledge and only through them could a person come to truly know God and be complete. John writes this letter to fight this false teaching. Thirty-two times John says the word “know.” The Gnostics claim to have knowledge, but John is going to give the readers true knowledge of God.
What We Know (1:1-10)
- Because we have heard, seen, observed, and touched the Word of Life (1-4). John begins by teaching what he had the apostles knew. They knew Jesus because they had heard him, seen him with their own eyes, observed his actions, and touched him with their hands. Jesus came in the flesh and John gives his testimony to this fact. The way to have fellowship with God was to have fellowship with the apostles and their teachings, not the teachings of the Gnostics.
Written: that your joy may be complete (1:4). Throughout this treatise, John is going to explain the reason for the points he makes. John tells them that Jesus did come in the flesh so that their joy would be complete by believing the truth.
- God is light and there is absolutely no darkness in Him (5-10). What the apostles knew what that God is light. There is no evil with God and neither can be with the followers of God. (1) If we say we have fellowship with God but walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth (1:6). (2) If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1:8). (3) If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar and the word of God is not in us (1:10). We cannot say that we are in a right relationship with God and violate God’s laws (walk in darkness). We cannot say that our sins do not affect us.
Written: that you may not sin (2:1). The purpose for telling the readers that God is light and that there is no darkness in him at all is so that we will not sin. We are not in fellowship with God if we practice sin. These things were written so that we would not sin. If we do sin, Jesus is the sacrifice of atonement for our sins.
To read more of this lesson click here.
December 3rd, 2006
Posted in Getting To Know The Bible
(What Did You Think?) 2 Peter
Introduction
As we have with all of the New Testament letters, we need to begin by looking at the structure of the writing. Peter declares that he is the author of this letter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. The letter is written “to those who have obtained a faith of equal privilege with ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Peter’s first letter was written to the “pilgrims of the dispersion.” Peter’s second letter has a broader audience, written to all Christians. In verse 2 Peter gives his salutation to these Christians: “May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Peter then neglects to offer a section of thanksgiving. I believe this indicates the author has a pressing need to get on with the point of the letter and feels compelled to omit the cordial parts of the letter. This is also seen in the fact that Peter also omits a closing and omits a greeting at the end of the letter. Verse 3 sets the theme of the letter:
“For His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” Quite simply, God has provided everything we need for life and godliness. Life and godliness comes through the knowledge of God. Peter is going to write about what the Christians need to know for life and godliness.
Know Your Salvation (1:4-11)
God has given us all we need so that we can share in His divine nature. Notice that Peter does not say that we are sharing in his divine being, but that we are becoming like God. We are escaping the corruption of the world by not acting like the world. But our faith and our salvation is just the start of our sharing with God. Therefore, we are to make every effort to add goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love to our faith. Peter is emphasizing how these characteristics must be part of our character. “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:8). Peter says we must have these qualities and we must be growing in these qualities. Otherwise, we will be found useless and unfruitful. Further, Peter calls the person who lacks these things “blind,” “shortsighted,” and “forgetful.” Do not forget the cleansing from sins that Christ did for us. Do not be blind to the fact that God has given you a great salvation. Do not be blind to the fact that more is required for salvation than just faith. Goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly affection, and love must be ours and increasing to keep our calling and election sure (1:10).
To read more of this lesson click here.
November 19th, 2006
Posted in Getting To Know The Bible
(What Did You Think?) 1 Peter
Introduction:
As with all of our lessons in the New Testament, we will begin our study of Peter’s first letter by examining its structure. First, the author of this letter and his rank is revealed. “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.” Second, the recipients of this letters are recorded. Many versions reorder this sentence a number of ways, but the literally, word for word translation is: “To the elect pilgrims of the dispersion.” Many versions move the word “chosen” to the end of verse 1 so that verse 2 becomes a description about how we are chosen. A great example of this movement is found in the NASU: “To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood.” This is simply not how the original text records Peter’s words. The ESV seems to be the most literal translation of the text: “To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” Finally, Peter’s salutation to the chosen pilgrims of the dispersion: “May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”
Verses 3-5 contain the thanksgiving section as Peter offers praise to God who has brought numerous blessings through his mercy. Peter says we have been born to a living hope of an imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance reserved in heaven. This section of thanksgiving leads us into the body of Peter’s letter. Peter is going to write about three important topics: salvation, submission, and suffering.
Salvation (1:6-2:12)
Peter says that the elect of the dispersion are able to rejoice in their inheritance even though they are suffering for a little while. Peter ties suffering to the perfecting of faith toward salvation. In verse 7 Peter says that what they were suffering was the testing of the genuineness of their faith bringing about the salvation of their souls (verse 10).
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November 12th, 2006
Posted in Getting To Know The Bible
(What Did You Think?) James
Structure of James
We begin our study of the letter from James by looking at the structure of the letter. First, we expect the author to state his name and rank. “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:1). Which James is the author of this letter? We read about James the apostle being killed by Herod in Acts 12, so we cannot believe he is the author. The other notable James in the scriptures is James, the brother of Jesus, who had notable influence in the early church (Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18; Galatians 2:9). What is amazing is that James does not refer to himself in his rank as “the brother of Jesus.” James just calls himself a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. But James was an important person in the early church and as a brother of Jesus. The recipients are described as “the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.” This letter is written to the Jewish Christians who were dispersed throughout the Roman Empire. This seems to be a reference to the Christians who had to flee Jerusalem in the persecution ignited by the Jews and led by Saul. “On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:2). “Those who had been scattered as a result of the persecution that started because of Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message to no one except Jews” (Acts 11:19). James’ salutation is a simple, “Greetings.” A section of thanksgiving is missing, but I do not think this is unusual simply because James is writing to such a broad audience. Therefore, verses 2-3 should give us an indication about the purpose of James’ letter.
Theme: Faith
“My brothers, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (1:2-3). At first reading, we would probably think that James is going to spend this letter talking about trials. But as we read the letter we see that James is going to talk about faith. James is going to talk about the character of faith and the purpose of faith in our lives. The first half of chapter 1 is about the testing of faith.
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October 22nd, 2006
Posted in Getting To Know The Bible
(What Did You Think?) Hebrews
Introduction
As we first approach the book of Hebrews we have the right tendency to think that this is not a letter. There is no author listed. There are no recipients named. There is not a salutation. Nothing about the beginning of this writing suggests that it is a letter. We must jump to the end of this writing to realize that this is actually a letter. At the end of chapter 13 we see what we would expect at the end of a letter. Hebrews has a closing and a greeting. In fact, the greeting and closing help narrow down the possibilities of who the author may be. Verse 24 suggests that the author of the letter spends much time or lives in Italy. Also, verse 23 suggests that the writer was not imprisoned with Timothy.
But, to me, the greater question why did the author not write this letter in a standard manner? It does not matter who wrote the letter? The greater question is why remain anonymous. Why not list the recipients? Why not open the letter in typical format so people would know who the letter is written to and who the letter is from? We do not have the answers to these questions. But it is important to see that this letter is very different than normal first century letters. The author remains anonymous for a reason. Perhaps he was endangered for writing and could not reveal himself. The recipients are not revealed, perhaps for their safety as well. Since this letter seems to have been written just before the fall of Jerusalem, it may be that the silence is due to the Jewish persecution escalated against the Christians during that time. This would also be the same time frame when Nero blamed the Christians for the burning of Rome, igniting a persecution of Christians in Rome. Whatever the case may be, it seems that there was a purpose for departing from the nature form of first century letters.
The first two verses declare the thesis of the letter. Since the author chose to omit the declaration of who the author is, who the recipients are, and the salutation, we must assume that the writing dives into the body of the letter. The first two verses speak about superiority and superiority is the theme of the letter. The writer begins with a comparison between the way things were and the way things are now.
Long ago > Many times & many ways > God spoke through prophets > God spoke to fathers
Now > One time (implied) > God spoke through His Son > God spoke to us
In the first sentence the writer shows four ways there is superiority. God spoke to the fathers, but God speaks to us. God spoke in many different ways and different times, but now God speaks only one way. God spoke through the mouth of the prophets, but now through His Son. The things that happened long ago are not as good as what is being experienced now. The first sentence tells us that the writer will spend the letter describing the superiority of Christ.
To read more of this lesson click here.
October 15th, 2006
Posted in Getting To Know The Bible
(What Did You Think?) Philemon
Introductory Remarks:
Paul’s letter to Philemon is another personal letter of Paul that has been preserved through time. It is an unusual letter in the fact that it is not a theological treatise, instructing an evangelist or congregation about proper worship and service to God. Rather, this is a personal letter about a particular problem. So let us read the letter to see why the letter was written.
Paul identifies himself differently in this letter to Philemon than all the other letters Paul wrote. In all of the other letters Paul calls himself either an apostle or a servant. In this letter Paul calls himself a prisoner of Jesus Christ. But this is not the only letter that Paul wrote from prison. I think Paul refers to himself as a prisoner to remind Philemon of his condition and to begin to lay the groundwork in this letter as to why he needs Onesimus. Notice also that Paul is not the only author, but Timothy is with Paul and this letter also comes from him.
The recipients of this letter are Philemon, Apphia, Archippus, and the church that meets in Philemon’s house. Many of the scholars believe that Apphia is Philemon’s wife and that Archippus is Philemon’s son. These assumptions are possible. But it is just as possible that these are important people in the church that meets at Philemon’s house. Let us not pass over the statement that the church was meeting in a person’s home. We read about Archippus in Colossians 4:17: “Tell Archippus, ‘Pay attention to the ministry you have received in the Lord, so that you can accomplish it.’” If this is the same person, then we believe the church in Colosse met in Philemon’s home. It is possible that Archippus was the evangelist for the Colossian church. I think we are right to make this connection because we also read about Onesimus in Colossians 4:8.
The opening salutation is the common introduction that Paul gives in his letters. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Verses 4-7 continue the traditional format of a first century letter with a section of thanksgiving. Paul offers thanks to God because of the faith and love he has toward Jesus and toward all the saints. Paul says that he has personally experienced the refreshing that Philemon offers through his love.
To read more of this lesson click here.
October 1st, 2006
Posted in Getting To Know The Bible
(What Did You Think?) Titus
Introduction:
Typically, Paul begins his letters with simply the author and rank: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ.” This was the usual way a letter would be written in the first century. However, in his letter to Titus, Paul gives an extended discourse that lasts through verse 3.
“Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, and has in His own time revealed His message in the proclamation that I was entrusted with by the command of God our Savior” (Titus 1:1-3).
Paul asserts the authority of his apostolic message with this introduction. Paul is an apostle who was entrusted with a message of the promise of eternal life to the elect of God. Paul’s message of the knowledge of the truth is being given to the elect in the hope of attaining eternal life.
Titus is the recipient of this letter (vs. 4). Recall that Paul also called Timothy his true child in the faith. Verse 4 concludes with the common salutation that we have read in most of Paul’s letters: “Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.” The minor difference is that Paul calls Christ Jesus our Savior rather than our Lord.
The next section that ought to appear in a common first century letter is the thanksgiving section. However, the thanksgiving section is lacking in this letter. This omission suggests Paul urgency to begin to speak about the purpose of his writing. It is not to suggest that Paul is not thankful to God for Titus. Rather, Paul feels compelled to move into the urgent purpose of the letter.
To read more of this lesson click here.
September 10th, 2006
Posted in Getting To Know The Bible
(What Did You Think?) 2 Timothy
Introduction:
The typical first century letter began by stating the author and rank, the recipients of the letter, and an opening salutation. Because of this structure we are able to learn that Paul is the author of this letter to Timothy. Paul gives a slightly different salutation than his previous letters, but the same salutation found in 1 Timothy: “Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” The next section we would expect to read in this letter is an offering of thanksgiving. While 1 Timothy was lacking this section of thanksgiving, Paul’s second letter to Timothy does contain a section of thanksgiving in verses 3-7. Paul is thankful for Timothy’s faith that was instilled in him from his mother and grandmother from the beginning. We need to stop here for a moment and note that this is important. We have the ability to transmit our faith to a degree. Obviously, every person is a free moral agent and cannot be made to have faith. But we can teach our children through our actions and decisions that the Lord is the priority. Too often we transmit that school is the most important, or work, money, sports, or other things are more important. The sincerity of the faith will be seen by our children. They will see how important God truly is in our lives.
To read more of this lesson click here.
August 20th, 2006
Posted in Getting To Know The Bible
(What Did You Think?) 1 Timothy
Introduction:
The typical first century letter began by stating the author and rank, the recipients of the letter, and an opening salutation. Because of this structure we are able to learn that Paul is the author of this letter to Timothy. This is the first letter we have encountered in our studies that is addressed to an individual person rather than a group of Christians or churches. Paul gives a slightly different salutation: “Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” The notable difference is the addition of the word “mercy.” The next section we would expect to read in this letter is an offering of thanksgiving. We do read a statement of thanksgiving in 1:12, but it is not the same as Paul’s other letters. Paul typically gives thanks to God because of the faith and actions of the recipients. But we do not read this in this letter. Rather, Paul seems to get to the heart of the reason for writing to Timothy.
To read more of this lesson click here.
August 13th, 2006
Posted in Getting To Know The Bible
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