1. It is difficult for us to know if the letters of John represent his comments to a single congregation or to a cluster of churches planted by the apostle. I am inclined to agree with the latter view.
2. A. E. Crouch, R. A. Crouch, and P. D. Crouch, “Silence Would Mean Betrayal,” Monday Morning ([published by the Church Vocations Unit, The Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.], March 22, 1993), 11.
3. By Johannine literature I refer to the Gospel of John and the three letters: 1, 2, and 3 John. Many scholars also include the book of Revelation in this list. That the same author penned the Gospel and the three letters seems to me beyond question.
4. The link between John the apostle and the Johannine literature is complex, but it would not serve our purposes to elaborate on it here. Elsewhere I have demonstrated that the integrity of this ancient tradition is not unreasonable. See G. M. Burge, Interpreting the Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992), 37–54.
5. Even modern literature (including films, books, and magazines) unveils the values and the culture of its users.
6. A variety of scholars have attempted to reconstruct the history of John’s church, using the documents of the New Testament. See R. E. Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple (New York: Paulist, 1979); J. L. Martyn, History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel, 2d ed. (Nashville: Abingdon, 1979); O. Cullmann, The Johannine Circle (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975). Brown’s views have been revised in his commentary The Epistles of John (AB 30; New York: Doubleday, 1982), 69–115.
7. The full text of Irenaeus is cited in G. M. Burge, Interpreting the Gospel of John, 46–50.
8. Other fictional accounts do exist, such as the third-century apocryphal Acts of John and the unusual Syriac History of John. Both of these fictionalize the life of the apostle. Some debate, however, if even Eusebius’s record is reliable. Another writer, Papias, mentions an “elder John,” and it is disputed if this is the same as John the apostle or another “John” in the ancient church.
9. It is difficult to know if we should understand that the Johannine community consisted of a single house church or a number of related fellowships under John’s direction. Given the wide distribution of Paul’s churches, I am inclined to think that the latter is correct.
10. The Fourth Gospel refers to “the Jews” sixty-four times; Matthew refers to them four times, Mark and Luke, each five times.
11. Theories abound that identify these opponents in other ways. Some have argued that they were Jews who opposed the messiahship of Jesus (like the Jewish adversaries in the Gospel of John). Others have argued that they were lapsed Jewish Christians and that the letters are continuing the polemic of the Gospel of John. For an outline of scholarly views, see Brown, The Epistles of John, 49–55.
12. See Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple; The Epistles of John, 73–86.
13. S. S. Smalley, 1,2,3 John (WBC 51; Waco, Tex.: Word, 1984), xxvii. Smalley points to numerous parallels between 1 John and the Gospel’s farewell discourse (John 14–17).
14. These two major themes have led some, such as S. Smalley, “What About 1 John?” Papers on Paul and Other New Testament Authors, ed. E. A. Livingstone (JSOT Supp. Series 3; Sheffield: JSOT, 1980), 337–43; and J. Painter, John: Witness and Theologian (London: SPCK, 1978), to speculate that John is actually opposing two different groups in his letter. But such theories today have found little acceptance. See I. H. Marshall, The Epistles of John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978), 16–17.
15. Note the strong emphasis of John 1:14 in this context. Its emphasis on an incarnational Christology suggests that it was penned in the context of the present debate.
16. Marshall, The Epistles of John, 21.
17. This is the effective rendering of pas ho proagon kai me menon en tei didachei tou Christou, as translated in the NRSV.
18. It has not been proven that Gnosticism as a formal, organized system of belief had been developed by John’s time. However, the tendencies that later flowered in the second and third centuries were certainly in place. See E. Yamauchi, Pre-Christian Gnosticism: A Survey of the Proposed Evidences (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973).
19. See Irenaeus’s Against Heresies, 3.3.4 and 3.11.1. A full record of the ancient evidence available to us on Cerinthus is conveniently supplied by Brown, The Epistles of John, Appendix 2, 766–71.
20. In fact John employs the term for liar (Gk. pseustes) seven times, but this is the only time a definite article is used. This is generally an indication that the writer has a particular individual in mind.
21. Various studies have examined the role of the Spirit in the theology of the Fourth Gospel. See G. M. Burge, The Anointed Community: The Holy Spirit in the Johannine Tradition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987).
22. Many of us need at least to acknowledge that much of our heritage is dependent on traditional interpretations of the Scriptures. Decisions about worship, lifestyle, and even music are often driven by tradition. I once spent three years living in Scotland among conservative Scottish Baptists, and though they intensely denied that their world was anchored in anything other than the Bible, still, centuries-old Scottish tradition molded what they perceived to be “Christian.” The same is true of American evangelicalism. I now worship among evangelicals with a Swedish heritage (Evangelical Covenant), and tradition there—theological tradition—is tangible and authoritative.
23. See 1 Peter 5:1; Eusebius’s citation of Papias in his Church History, 3.39.4.
24. Marshall, Epistles, 42–48.
25. Brown, Epistles, 14–35, and particularly Appendix 1, charts 1–2, pp. 755–59.
26. Brown’s parallels are given in Appendix 1, chart 2. Such lists are commonly found in most commentaries. See A. E. Brooke, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Johannine Epistles (ICC; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1912), i-ix; J. Stott, The Epistles of John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 18–19.
27. I have shown the credibility of this tradition elsewhere, G. M. Burge, Interpreting the Gospel of John, 37–54.
28. These dates generally turn on linking the Johannine writings with the early fathers, namely, Ignatius and Polycarp.
29. J. A. T. Robinson once argued convincingly that a priori there is nothing in the New Testament that requires that any of its writings be dated after A.D. 70. See his Redating the New Testament (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1976).
30. This is the view defended by Brown, Epistles, 29–30.
31. This pattern can be easily traced among Paul’s letters, where early Christians developed their own unique epistolary style. “Grace and peace” were typically Pauline styles (cf. Gal. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:1).
32. Marshall, on the other hand, points out the close relation between the author and the readers, and the occasional reference to a specific situation (2:19) shows that the author is writing for a specific group so that “the writing is in effect a letter” (The Epistles of John, 99).
33. W. G. Kümmel, Introduction to the New Testament (Nashville: Abingdon, 1975), 437.
34. Some early medieval scholars attempted to find seven parts, but this has found little modern support.
35. Marshall, The Epistles of John, 26.
36. R. Law, The Tests of Life: A Study of the First Epistle of St. John (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1909). For a helpful chart examining the various ways 1 John can be divided, see R. Brown, Epistles, Appendix 1, chart 5, page 764. Law’s divisions are: 1:5–2:28; 2:29–4:6; 4:7–5:13.
37. Brooke, Epistles.
38. E. Malatesta, The Epistles of St. John: Greek Text and English Translation Schematically Arranged (Rome: Gregorian University, 1973).
39. P. R. Jones, “A Structural Analysis of 1 John,” RevExp 67 (1970): 433–44.
40. M. M. Thompson, 1–3 John (IVPNTC; Downer’s Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1992).
41. R. Schnackenburg, Die Johanniesbriefe (Freiberg: Herder, 1965). These theories are outlined by Marshall, The Epistles of John, 22–25, and Brown, Epistles, 116–29.
42. A. Feuillet, “Étude structurale de la première épître de Saint Jean,” in H. Baltensweiler and B. Reicke, eds., Neues Testament und Geschichte, Festschrift für O. Cullmann (Zürich, 1972), available in English as “The Structure of First John: Comparison with the Fourth Gospel,” BTB 3 (1973): 194–216.
43. See similarly Brown, Epistles, 124.
44. As the commentary will note, however, they follow a structure well known to Hellenistic authors.
1. This, incidentally, suggests that the Gospel in its completed form was written prior to 1 John and that the present verses are a reflection on the earlier Johannine prologue.
2. The text would then read, “The one who was in the beginning, whom we have heard and seen with our own eyes….”
3. Brown, The Epistles of John, 154.
4. Ibid. Brown cites examples in John 3:6; 6:39; 17:2, 7, 24; and 1 John 5:4. Typically see John 6:37, “All that the Father gives to me will come to me….”
5. See also John 11:25 and 14:6, where Jesus says that he is life. The NIV supports this interpretation by printing “Word” with a capital W in verse 1.
6. Some ancient texts read “your joy” instead of “our joy.” Evidence for this alternate reading is considerable (hence its appearance in the NIV footnote), and the similarity of the two words in Greek (humon, hemon) makes a scribal confusion understandable. The alternate reading may have been influenced by the appearance of “your joy” in John 15:11 and 16:24.
7. G. Barna, What Americans Believe: An Annual Survey of Values and Religious Views in the United States (Ventura, Calif.: Regal, 1991), 174.
8. Ibid., 212.
9. See further, G. Burge, Who Are God’s People in the Middle East? What Christians Are Not Being Told About Israel and the Palestinians (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993).
10. D. Bonhoeffer, Christ the Center (New York: Harper and Row, 1960).
11. J. Wallis, Agenda for a Biblical People (New York: Harper and Row, 1984).
12. S. Grenz, Revisioning Evangelical Theology: A Fresh Agenda for the 21st Century (Downer’s Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1993).
13. Ibid., 155.
1. The text of the NIV is confusing at this point. The phrase, “This old command is the message you have heard,” also appears in 2:7, but in this case the Greek word is not angelia but logos, “word, communication.” The NRSV translates 2:7, “the old commandment is the word that you have heard.” Angelia appears only twice in 1 John—1:5 and 3:11.
2. For further details about the organization of the letter, see the introduction, pp. 41–45.
3. It is interesting to compare the verse that follows the prologue in the Gospel of John (John 1:19) with 1 John 1:5. Just as the vocabulary of the two prologues match, so too 1 John 1:5 (“this is the message [angelia]”) echoes John 1:19 (“this is the testimony [martyria]”). Similarly, just as 1 John 1:5 is drawn from the epistolary prologue, so too John 1:19 is drawn from John 1:6. See Brown, Epistles of John, 225.
4. A simple and well-known chiasmus in the Gospels is: A The Sabbath / B is made for man / B′ not man /A′ for the Sabbath. The term chiasmus comes from the Greek letter chi (written Χ), which is made when the AB/B’A’ is written on two lines and the corresponding letters are connected.
5. The Greek word John employs here, angelia, appears nowhere else in the New Testament except in 1 John 3:11. It is related to apangelein (“announce, proclaim”) in 1:2–3. But since John never uses the usual word for “gospel” (Gk. euangelion), it may be that angelia is a synonym.
6. The popularity of light imagery for this period is also evidenced at Qumran, where followers were called the “sons of light” and light/darkness metaphors were commonly used to describe the world. See 1QS 1:9–10; 5:19–20.
7. C. H. Dodd, Johannine Epistles, 18.
8. Ibid., 19; see further, R. Bultmann, Johannine Epistles, 16.
9. S. Smalley, 1,2,3 John, 22.
10. The phrase “doing the truth” appears in the Old Testament twice: 2 Chronicles 31:20 and Nehemiah 9:33.
11. Scholars debate whether John’s notion of truth is essentially Greek (that is, adherence to some esoteric, heavenly reality) or Hebrew (the saving revelation of God on earth). I have chosen the latter but acknowledge that John’s opponents may well be operating with the former.
12. Bultmann, Johannine Epistles, 20. Bultmann also argued (wrongly, I think) that the phrase disturbs the poetic balance of the ean clauses. There is no manuscript evidence for Bultmann’s suggestion.
13. This has been suggested by many commentators. See particularly E. Käsemann, The Testament of Jesus According to John 17 (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1968).
14. See further Brown’s reflections on the Spirit and exegesis in the Johannine community, The Epistles of John, 226–28.
15. M. B. Eddy, Science and Health (Boston: Trustees under the Will of Mary Baker Eddy, 1906), ch. 2, 23:1–6.
16. Ibid., ch. 10, sec. xxxii. p. 339 (lines 28–32).
17. I have often thought that the theological system worked out in Christian Science comes quite near to that in ancient Gnosticism.
18. One deacon took me into the hall one night and gave me a detailed tour of the Masonic rituals and religious (or cultic) artifacts. There is no doubt in my mind that this was a religious setting for my congregants.
19. T. Muck, ed., Sins of the Body: Ministry in a Sexual Society (Dallas: Word, 1989).
1. A formula is used to make explicit that John is citing his opponents, ean eipomen hoti … (see vv. 6, 8, 10). I prefer to translate these in direct discourse in order to place the citation in high relief.
2. Brooke, Johannine Epistles, 17.
3. The Greek construction here, heautous planomen, rather than the simple verb planometha, is emphatic.
4. I. H. Marshall, The Epistles of John, 113.
5. For the practice of confession in the Bible, see Lev. 16:21; Ps. 32:5; Prov. 28:13; Dan. 9:20; Matt. 3:6; Acts 19:18.
6. The NIV translation, “in our lives,” conveys the correct sense of the passage but disguises the Johannine language.
7. S. Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 34.
8. Technically, teknion is a diminutive form of teknon.
9. First John 2:1b introduces the sixth and final “if” clause, balancing out the three pairs found in 1:6/7, 1:8/9, and 1:10/2:1b.
10. The word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament except here and in the Fourth Gospel. Its meaning and history have all the trappings of a mystery novel. See R. E. Brown, “The Paraclete in the Fourth Gospel,” NTS 12 (1966–67): 113–32, and G. Burge, The Anointed Community: The Holy Spirit in the Johannine Tradition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 3–31.
11. Translators will use the word “propitiation” to convey this meaning.
12. Translators will use the word “expiation” to convey this meaning. See the RSV.
13. See L. Morris, Apostolic Preaching of the Cross (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965); D. Hill, Greek Words and Hebrew Meanings (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1967).
14. The NIV has added to the Greek text, “the sins of the whole world.”
15. L. Gilkey, The Shantung Compound (San Francisco: Harper, 1966).
16. S. Lawhead’s trilogy includes Paradise War (1991), The Silver Hand (1992), and The Endless Knot (1993). Each is published by Lion Publishers in Batavia, Illinois.
17. S. Howatch, Glittering Images (New York: Ballantine, 1987).
18. To what extent, I wonder, is this rejection linked to the Protestant rejection of the Catholic mass and confessional?
1. The second and third citations even share a parallel grammatical structure. Each citation is introduced with the same participle, ho logon, “whoever says,” which the NIV has translated three different ways.
2. This is the function of Greek perfect tense verbs in this construct.
3. The present tense of “obey his commands” demands this interpretation of obedience as an ongoing daily activity.
4. R. Brown, The Epistles of John, 252.
5. Cf. the use of the verb to describe Jesus’ watchful care over his disciples in John 17:12.
6. John does this also in 1 John 3:16, when he uses the sacrificial life of Jesus as a model for sacrificial service for others.
7. The NIV translates this word as “dear friends,” but this misses the power of John’s endearing language.
8. This command to love characterized an exhortation throughout Christian communities. See Rom. 12:14; 13:8–10; Eph. 5:2; James 2:8; 1 Peter 2:17).
9. Of course, John would affirm that loving people outside the church is required as well. Jesus loved his enemies. However, John’s interest is specialized in the present verses. He is addressing an inner-church struggle and the attitudes that have evolved within it.
10. “Hating” is a present participle in Greek, suggesting an ongoing activity.
11. Greek scribes often preferred seeing the reference to light and moved the pronoun in the sentence so that it would be nearer its antecedent. The sense is that if you are in the light, it is harder to stumble because your sight is excellent.
12. S. Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 62.
13. Stephen Brown, speaking at Wheaton College Chapel, September 8, 1993.
14. This is the title of John MacArthur’s book on the subject, in which he challenges church teachings that neglect obedience as they affirm grace. See page 108.
15. For further examples of this pattern of control, see R. Enroth, Churches That Abuse (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992).
16. J. MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus. What Does Jesus Mean When He Says, “Follow Me?” (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), 16.
1. Stott, The Epistles of John, 95
2. The NIV translation obscures this difference making all six verbs present tense. The NRSV distinguishes them with “I am writing to you” and “I write to you.”
3. See Brown, The Epistles of John, 298–300.
4. See also 2:28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21.
5. So Marshall, The Epistles of John, 139.
6. Stott, The Epistles of John, 98.
7. S. Smalley, 1, 2, 3, John, 80.
8. Ibid., 83.
9. Stott, The Epistles of John, 100.
10. G. Delling, “ἀλαζών, ἀλαζονεία,” TDNT, 1:226–27.
11. The construction should be viewed as an objective genitive.
12. Brown, The Epistles of John, 212.
13. Stott, The Epistles of John, 101.
14. In the original case, McCorvey argued for an abortion on the basis that she had been raped. This was not true.
15. J. Ellul, The New Demons (New York: Seabury, 1975).
16. C. Henry, Twilight of a Great Civilization. The Drift Toward Neo-Paganism (Westchester, Ill.: Crossway, 1988).
17. D. Wells, God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 88.
1. The term antichrist appears only in the Johannine letters (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7). This may refer to a single person or more likely it refers to a disposition of hostility to the things of Christ and a denial of his sonship. As such ‘the spirit of antichrist’ could describe many opponents of the church.
2. Some interpreters have sought to soften the problem, noting that John does not write “the last hour” but rather leaves the phrase without a definite article. This suggests that John had in mind an era of time (it is “a last hour”), not a specific period when Christ returns.
3. Cited in Marshall, The Epistles of John, 149ff., who in turn gives credit to F. F. Bruce’s 1970 commentary for the full reference. See J. H. Newman, “Waiting for Christ,” in Parochial and Plain Sermons (London: n.p., 1896), 241.
4. Ibid., 149–50.
5. The NIV adds the word “truth” in verse 20, “and all of you know [the truth].” The Greek text simply says, “and you have an anointing from the holy one and you know everything (panta).” If we follow some manuscripts and spell panta as pantes, it becomes the subject of the verb, “and all (pantes) of you know.” It seems best to take the first option, giving the verb an object.
6. W. Grundmann, “χρίω, κτλ.,” TDNT, 9:579–80; I. H. Marshall and C. H. Dodd are similarly inclined.
7. N. Howe and B. Strauss, Thirteenth Generation: Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail (New York: Vintage, 1993), 99.
8. Ibid., 108.
9. J. Walvoord, Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991), 48. The extent of this fantastic interest is hard to imagine. I have been interviewed by Christian TV and radio programs whose sole interest is to determine if the current array of politics in the Middle East, particularly the Palestinian Peace Accords, fulfills prophecy and is a sign of the end.
10. See G. Burge, The Anointed Community: The Holy Spirit in the Johannine Tradition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 137–43.
11. T. Smail, Reflected Glory: The Spirit in Christ and Christians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975).
12. Ibid., 45.
1. Brown, The Epistles of John, 379ff.
2. Ibid., 418ff. On p. 419 Brown also shows how these verses can be arranged into an inverted parallelism or chiasmus.
3. These words (Gk. kai nun, teknia) serve as a common signal beginning a new section (John 17:5; 1 John 2:1, 12). Because John’s flow of thought is not obvious, commentators often prefer to break the paragraph at 2:29 or 3:1. This division is supported by Marshall, Brooke, Schnackenburg, Stott, Bultmann, M. Meye Thompson, and Bruce.
4. Some critics have sought to question the authenticity of this passage because it is one of the few places where John indulges in futurist eschatology. John 5:25–30, however, supports the same eschatological outlook.
5. Parousia occurs only here in the Johannine literature, but it is a common term used by Paul (1 Cor. 15:23; 1 Thess. 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 2 Thess. 2:1; etc.).
6. Thompson, 1–3 John, 85.
7. Stott, The Epistles of John, 118.
8. Marshall, The Epistles of John, 170–71.
9. Ibid., 171; Bultmann, Johannine Epistles, 48; Westcott, The Epistles of John: The Greek Text with Notes and Addenda, 3d ed (1892; repr. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1966), 96.
10. Brown gathers impressive evidence in defense of the NIV reading, The Epistles of John, 392.
11. On the notion of seeing Christ or God in heaven, see Matthew 5:8; John 17:24; 1 Corinthians 13:12; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 12:14.
12. Stott, The Epistles of John, 121.
13. Ibid., 122.
14. Technically, the term law does not appear in verse 4.
15. John’s use of the word “seed” could refer to the life God gives or even his word. It is likely that it may refer to the Holy Spirit, which, as John has insisted, is the exclusive endowment of the believer (cf. 1 John 2:20, 27).
16. Another tense, the aorist (a type of past tense), indicates individual or singular action in certain forms. In 2:1 John uses the aorist (“But if anybody does sin”) to say: “If someone commits a sin, Christ is our advocate.”
17. See Smalley, 1, 2, 3, John, 159ff.
18. There are a number of solutions to this problem of sinlessness in 1 John, and the subject has received extensive scholarly attention. I have given only the barest outline. For an extensive survey, see Brown, The Epistles of John, 412–17.
19. Marshall, The Epistles of John, 181–82.
1. First John 3:11 likewise begins with hoti, meaning “for” or “because,” making the subject of this verse grammatically dependent on 3:10.
2. See Brown, The Epistles of John, 468.
3. Ibid.
4. Each exhortation employs a Greek hina clause.
5. Brown, The Epistles of John, 442–44.
6. In some medieval Jewish writings, Cain is the offspring of the union of Eve and Satan, though this is not a first-century tradition.
7. The Greek text does not refer specifically to Jesus in verse 16; rather, it uses the emphatic pronoun ekeinos (“that person”). But throughout 1 John, this is how the author refers to Christ (cf. 2:6; 3:3, 5, 7; 4:17). Thus the NIV rightly interprets and expands the verse.
8. The Greek text actually refers to closing our “bowels” (KJV) or intestines (splanchna), meaning the seat of emotions—much like we use the word “heart” today.
9. I stress “ought” here because John’s Greek sentence employs this strong verb (opheilo) in verse 16.
10. Westcott, as cited by Stott, The Epistles of John, 143.
11. Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 193.
12. Ibid. Smalley cites C. Maurer, “τίθημι,” TDNT, 8: 155–56; J. Jeremias, “παῑς θεοῠ,” TDNT, 5:708–10; idem, “ποιμήν, κτλ.,” TDNT, 6:496.
13. If the manuscript evidence tells us anything, it indicates that scribal questions were in abundance concerning these verses (particularly vv. 19–20). Textual variations abound. Commentators have struggled to organize John’s meaning.
14. Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 199–200. The reference to “truth” serves as a literary link with the foregoing.
15. This interpretation of “in this” is the one taken by most commentators, although in many cases the Greek expression en touto points to what follows rather than to what precedes.
16. Marshall, The Epistles of John, 198. Such repunctuation for the sake of clarity, interestingly, is exactly what so many of the ancient scribes were doing when they edited the text.
17. This translation requires that the second hoti in the sentence be read not as “because” or “that” but as a relative pronoun connected with the following ean. The third hoti clause introduces a causal clause.
18. Meye Thompson, 1–3 John, 109.
19. Marshall, The Epistles of John, 201.
20. The inherent Trinitarian framework in Johannine theology is evident here.
21. Adelphos (“brother”) occurs eighteen times in the letters; adelphe (“sister”) occurs once (2 John 13).
22. Christianity Today, March 6 and June 19, 1995.
23. See Wayne L. Gordon with Randall Frame, Real Hope in Chicago (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995).
24. Smalley, The Epistles of John, 199, and most commentators list six points that John makes to reassure the believer. I have distilled the three most significant; the others can be subsumed under these three.
25. On the subject of confident prayer in 3:22, see comments on 1 John 5:13–15.
1. It seems clear that 4:1–6 is a self-contained unit. Note its frequent use of pneuma (7 times) and the abrupt change of subject in 4:7.
2. Stott, The Epistles of John, 153.
3. There is considerable debate concerning how we should understand this verse. See Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 222–23; Brown, The Epistles of John, 492–93. Some view this verse as evidence of a dispute with Cerinthus’s claim that Christ descended on Jesus at his baptism and thus translate it, “Whoever confesses Jesus as the Christ come in the flesh.” Others keep “Jesus” and “Christ” together [so the NIV], making the doctrine of the incarnation central and taking “Jesus Christ” as the preexistent Lord who becomes flesh. Here the stress is on the creedal fact of incarnation. Still others (e.g., Smalley, Brown) view the entire phrase as confessional and descriptive, “Whoever confesses Jesus Christ incarnate,” emphasizing his personhood and its mode of existence.
4. The perfect tense of the verb “has come in the flesh” betrays John’s emphasis on the continued significance of this incarnation right up to the present; see Smalley, The Epistles of John, 222–23.
5. Some ancient manuscripts expand the verse by adding “Jesus who came in the flesh,” in order to harmonize it with verse 2.
6. Smalley, The Epistles of John, 224.
7. Marshall, The Epistles of John, 208, n.12.
8. Paul employs this same strategy in 1 Corinthians 14:29, where the words of prophets must be tested by the discernment of the church.
9. See “End-Times Prediction Draws Strong Following,” Christianity Today (June 1994), 46–47.
10. See “Educator Quits Over Grant to Muslims,” Christianity Today (June 1994), 65.
11. Dr. Ray Anderson, professor of theology.
12. The church had been built on the site of an old house used for decades for Satanic rituals. And before that the site had been an ancient Indian cemetery. Are these things important? As an example of how far this discussion and its pastoral dimensions have gone, a whole branch of literature on this sort of phenomenon, called “territorial spirits,” has evolved. See Peter Wagner, ed., Territorial Spirits: Insights on Strategic-Level Spiritual Warfare from Nineteen Christian Leaders (Chichester, Eng.: Sovereign World, 1991).
13. Jacques Ellul, The New Demons (New York: Seabury, 1975).
14. D. Wells, No Place for Truth: Or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993).
15. L. Newbigin, Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986).
1. I have chosen to keep this section together even though it is longer than other units in the commentary. It should be seen as a literary whole; moreover, it repeats and reinforces similar themes again and again.
2. Dodd, The Epistles of John, 95. This has led some critics to suggest a rearrangement for this section.
3. Marshall, The Epistles of John, 211.
4. The Greek word used here is agapetoi (2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1, 7, 11).
5. Smalley, The Epistles of John, 239.
6. This revelation takes place “among us.” The Greek en hemin can mean “in us,” or even “to us” in some cases. Since this revealed love affects directly who we are as we love one another, John may be intending the full force of en, meaning that this love has “impacted each one of us.”
7. In verse 9 the NIV translates the Greek word monogenes as “one and only,” while the NIV note gives “only begotten” as an alternative. The word is used in Greek literature only for children; in the LXX it translates the Hebrew word for “only” or “single.” The suggestion “only begotten” understands the latter half of the word as derived from the Greek verb gennao (“to give birth”). This is incorrect. Rather, the word would derive from genos, meaning “type” or “kind.”
8. The zao/zoe word group occurs fifty-four times in Johannine literature.
9. See Luke 18:13; Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 9:5; 1 John 2:2; 4:10.
10. Greek en touto. Brown cites John 16:30; 1 John 3:10, 19 as precedents in Johannine grammar for such a clause as pointing back to what precedes. Other interpreters have seen this phrase pointing forward to the subsequent hina or hoti clauses.
11. C. H. Dodd, as cited in Thompson, 1–3 John, 126.
12. Note that verse 17b introduces a hina clause, indicating result.
13. It occurs nine times in the Fourth Gospel.
14. Law, The Tests of Life, 280.
15. Manuscripts indicate the scribal concern to reconcile this verse with 3:2.
16. Curiously, the word “liar” (Gk pseustes) is a favorite Johannine term. Of ten New Testament uses, John employs seven: two in the Fourth Gospel (8:44, 55) and five in 1 John (1:10; 2:4, 22; 4:20; 5:10). This word underscores the intensity of the struggle within the community for its very life.
17. The Greek words for “father” and “child” do not occur; thus, the passage is not referring to God as Father. Hence the NRSV helpfully translates “parent” and “child.”
18. The debate in John about the direction of the phrase en touto has already appeared in 4:17.
19. Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 268.
20. Stott, The Epistles of John, 174.
21. For that matter, many modern rulers in the Middle East assume such absolute tyrannical authority based on these old assumptions of power in Arab culture. Consider the rule of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, King Assad in Syria, and the modern royal families in the Persian Gulf countries.
1. Words springing from the Greek martyreo (“to witness, testify”) appear in 5:6, 7, 9 (4x), 10 (3x), and 11. This is about 60 percent of all appearances in John’s letters.
2. This view can be found in Luther and Calvin and in sacramental interpreters of John such as O. Cullmann.
3. The view, however, that “blood” cannot refer to the Eucharist in the Johannine literature is mistaken. This is the case in John 6:52–58.
4. This view was supported by Augustine and today has a number of supporters (e.g., Grayston, Kysar, M. Thompson).
5. Note too that John reverses the order of the terms from John 19:34.
6. This view is supported by Tertullian, Stott, Marshall, and Bruce.
7. Brown, The Epistles of John, 594–99; Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 278–80.
8. Some commentators believe that “the water and the blood” now joined to the Spirit in verse 8 refer to the sacraments, particularly since the verb “testify” is present. It is best, however, to give “water and blood” the same meaning as that found in verse 6.
9. A footnote in the NIV notes that at 5:7–8 the Latin Vulgate and some very late (post-sixteenth century) Greek manuscripts add that three witnesses also testify in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. This is a late scribal addition, placed, no doubt, in the margin. It does not appear among early church fathers, who combed the New Testament looking for Trinitarian references. It should therefore be given no consideration in any interpretation of 1 John 5.
10. Stott, The Epistles of John, 181.
11. Unless in John 5:37 Jesus is referring to God’s voice given at baptism (see 5:37b).
12. The NIV omits translating the first Greek word in verse 9, “if” (Gk. ei). The use of this word here does not imply doubt but certainty, as if to say, “Since we accept….”
13. For a full summary of the controversy, see the introduction.
14. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.3.4.
15. A local sponsor was The Greater Minneapolis/St. Paul Council of Churches. The PCUSA contributed $65,000. Additional funding came from the American Baptist Church, the United Church of Christ, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, and the United Methodist Church.
16. Thomas Oden, Agenda for Theology: Recovering Christian Roots (New York: Harper & Row, 1979), 1–2.
17. D. Wells, God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994).
18. Ibid., 206.
1. To examine frequency of usage rather than merely asking how many times John uses a word in a given book, we can study a ratio of uses (occurrences against, say, 1000 words) to compare with other books. For oida, for instance, it is less interesting to know how many times it occurs in John than it is to know how frequently a book may use a word group in its vocabulary compared with other books. Ginosko occurs 222 times in the New Testament. But here we ask who uses it, how often, and where. For example, while most New Testament books average 1.5 uses of ginosko per thousand words, the highest books are John (3.14), 2 John (3.6), and 1 John (10.2). The same is true for oida. Its highest ratios of use are found in John (4.6), 1 John (6.1), and 1 Thessalonians (7.7). These are double the New Testament average!
2. Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 290.
3. The adjective is separated from its noun for emphasis, hina eidete hoti zoen echete aionion.
4. Law, Tests of Life, 301.
5. This is evident in the many places Jesus says, “He who has ears, let him hear!” (ho exhon ota akoueto, e.g., Matt. 11:15; 13:9).
6. I. H. Marshall, The Epistles of John, 245.
7. In the Greek text the subject of “will give” in verse 16 is ambiguous (Gk. “and he/she will give him/her life”). The NIV is right in supplying God as the subject, making his life-giving act a response to prayer.
8. The Greek word pas in verse 18 (translated “anyone” in NIV) emphasizes there are no exceptions to John’s rule.
9. Stott, The Epistles of John, 191, remarks how the Greek perfect participle “indicates that the new birth, far from being a transient phase of religious experience, has an abiding result.”
10. There is a debate about the interpretation of “the one who was born of God.” Some have argued that it refers to reborn believers (who keep others safe through their prayers). Many others see this as a reference to Jesus Christ.
11. William D. Hendricks, Exit Interviews: Revealing Stories of Why People Are Leaving the Church (Chicago: Moody, 1993).
12. P. Yancy, Disappointment with God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), 44–46.
13. Ibid., 157.
1. Recall that all of the earliest commentaries on John were from Gnostic writers. See the introduction, pp. 17–46.
2. On the history of the Johannine community, see R. Brown, Community of the Beloved Disciple (1979) and The Epistles of John, 103–15. See Brown’s bibliography on pp. 140–44.
3. John uses the Greek word tekna frequently for his followers (see 1 John 3:1, 2, 10; 5:2; 2 John 1:1, etc.).
4. This formula, “grace, mercy and peace,” occurs in the New Testament in 1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2; Jude 2. “Mercy and peace” was a Jewish blessing (2ApocBar 78:2; cf. Gal. 6:16), to which the Christians added the Greek term “grace.” See Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 321.
5. It was common in ancient letters to report some joy at news concerning the recipient (see Eph. 1:15; Phil. 1:3; Col. 1:3; 2 Thess. 1:3; 2 Tim. 1:3; 3 John 3).
6. Marshall, The Epistles of John, 65; Stott, The Epistles of John, 205.
7. The Greek verb in verse 7, exelthon, is in the aorist, meaning that the event happened some time ago.
8. The Greek proagon can also mean “advanced” and is likely an appeal to the heretics’ elitist attitudes.
9. Stott, The Epistles of John, 211–12.
10. Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 333; cf. Brown, The Epistles of John, 692–93.
11. The Greek literally says “mouth to mouth!” (cf. Num. 12:8).
12. Stott, The Epistles of John, 213.
13. Brown, The Epistles of John, 693.
1. Second John has 245 words; 3 John has 219 words. By comparison Philemon has 355 words and Jude 457 words. The present letter is short enough to fit onto a single sheet of papyrus.
2. The name Diotrephes is not common, but it does appear in Greek literature in the period.
3. Evidence for this appears in Ignatius (see Philad. 7).
4. See Brown, The Epistles of John, 734, for this view.
5. For a survey of Oral Roberts’ life and how this verse played a pivotal role, see David Harrell, Oral Roberts: An American Life (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana Univ. Press, 1985), 65–66.
6. On the evidence for Paul’s painful visit (not recorded in Acts), see any of the major introductions on the Corinthian correspondence.