Description
Preview
What you get:
- Tips for teaching 1-3 John in a Bible Study
- Over 50 discussion questions WITH answers
- Atlas of 6 hi res maps that track with Apostle John
- 2 Versions: high-resolution; optimized for mobile devices
Sample map in 1-3 John Leaders Guide & Atlas
Trying to correct distorted Christian preaching
These three short lettersย of 1, 2, 3 John are the kind of letters you write when you donโt want to write letters.
Which could explain why theyโre so short.
Clearly, there was a problem that generated those letters. But John doesnโt give the problem a name. Many scholars speculate it was a heresy later called Docetism (DOE suh TISS um), though at the time it probably didnโt have a call sign other than words like โtrash,โ โcrap,โ and โhogwash,โ depending on a Christianโs vocabulary and temperament.
Bible experts base their speculation on Johnโs unusual words of warning. Nothing like this shows up anywhere in the Bible but in the writings of John. Weโll call him John since early church leaders said he was John, the disciple of Jesus.
Warnings
The warnings? John feels compelled to remind the readers of this.
Jesus was human, not a spirit ghost. โIโll tell you how you can recognize Godโs Spirit in someone. People led by Godโs Spirit will acknowledge Jesus Christ came here as a flesh and blood human beingโ (1 John 4:2).
God the Father and Jesus the Son are one, whatever that means; John doesnโt explain it. โAnyone who rejects the Son has already rejected the Father. But anyone who believes in the Son also has the Fatherโ (1 John 2:23). โEveryone who loves their Father loves his Childโ (1 John 5:2).
Believers are one with God. โAnyone who obeys God is spiritually linked to him, united. God lives in that person. Godโs Spirit and the spirit of that person become one, making decisions together. We know this because the Spirit God gave us lives inside of usโ (1 John 3:24).
Backward engineering the Bible
Bible experts backward engineer those reminders into the problems that produced them. Scholars say itโs possible people who attended the church were trying to convince others that Jesus was just a spirit being who only pretended to be human (Docetism), and that we can never live up to the example he set because weโre only humans made from clay and full of dirty deeds.
When John starts his letter, he leads with that. Essentially heโs saying, Now wait a minute, my fellow apostles and I know better because โweโve touched him with our handsโ (1 John 1:1).
You canโt touch a spirit, the mistaken folks apparently taughtโas though they would recognize a spirit if one pinched them a good one.
The warped view of Jesus seemed to produce warped behavior. Folks apparently taught that if we believe in Jesus, it doesnโt matter what we do in this world. Go ahead and lie, cheat, and steal. We canโt help it because weโre flawed humans.
John said those ideas are spiritually lethal. He taught that people are capable of goodness because Godโs Spirit lives in us.
โMy dear children, Iโm writing this to steer you away from sinโฆ Thereโs one way to tell if we really know God: we obey himโ (1 John 2:1, 3).
In addition to 1-3 John Leaders Guide & Atlas
You might consider the Ephesians Leaders Guide & Atlas
Best resource for comparing other Bible translations:ย Bible Gateway. This isnโt an ad. Itโs a recommendation from the Casual English Bible.
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