Down an Unfamiliar Road

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NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XXII 11/03/20

Flavel then quotes Calvinist theologian André Rivet (1572-1631), who said that the saints’ intercommunication with the Anointed One is entirely dependent on their union with Him. A tree branch absorbs sap and juice because of its merger and partnership with the trunk and roots. If you take away such harmony and there can be no communion in communication. Paul made this clear to the Corinthians: “All are yours, and you are the Anointed One’s, and the Anointed One is God’s.”^[1] It implies that all our participation in the Anointed One’s benefits depends on our close spiritual fellowship with Him.^[2]

In another place, Flavel says what delight and singular advantage must there be in the togetherness of the saints, who have a personal closeness with Jesus the Anointed One in all His graces and benefits. O, how sweet it is to have fellowship with those that have intimacy with God through Jesus the Anointed One. He has transferred graces to the saints in different measures and degrees, which they all receive from the same fountain[3] – the Anointed One.

It is satisfying and most delightful to improve spiritual communications with one another, says Flavel. Yes, the Spirit may furnish one grace or gift more eminent than another so that the weak may be assisted by the strong. As Puritan theologian Samuel Torshell (1604-1650) well observes: Athanasius of Alexandria (296-373) was prudent and active, Basil of Caesarea (329-370) was a heavenly sweet temper, preacher. Ambrose (337-397 proved resolved and serious. Chrysostom (349-407) was arduous without affection. Also, Martín Luther (1483-1546) was courageous, and Jean Calvin (1509-1564) critical and cautious.

Thus, says Flavel, everyone has their proper endowment from the Anointed One, the fountain of gifts and graces.^[4] One believer has the skill of discernment; another firmness of judgment; another zeal; another competently decisive; another caution and forethought; another open-hearted and candid; another careful and thoughtful; another cheerful and joyous. One imparts a light and another warmth. The eye cannot say to the hand; I don’t need you.^[5] And oh, how sweet would it be, says Flavel, if gifts, graces, and experiences were frequent and humbly communicated. But idle notions, earthly-mindedness, self-interest, and lack of more contact with the Anointed One have almost destroyed Christian fellowship’s well-being in the world.[6]

John Bunyan (1628-1688), an English writer and a Puritan preacher, says, another thing by which the soul’s greatness manifests and puts humanity all other creatures is God’s empathy with those He set apart as a faithful servant for Himself.^[7] That is intimacy with a person’s soul. Just like the spouse says concerning her beloved, “His desire is toward me,”^[8] and, therefore, He says again, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them.”^[9] Therefore, to “dwell in” and “walk-in” are terms that suggest an innermost closeness and bonding; as John said, “Our fellowship, truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus the Anointed One.”^[10]

And Daniel Whitby (1638-1726) mentions that a Dutch Lutheran scholar named Lubertus Esthius (1532-1571) imagined that no one could have companionship with God, who has no involvement with the Church because of location, illness, or incapacity. That may be true of participation of the visible Church, but not the invisible Church – the Anointed One’s spiritual Body. It becomes a dwelling place of God through His Spirit, participating in doctrine and ordinances with the Church founded by the Anointed One.^[11]

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1768) made some doctrinal observations that “our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus the Anointed One.” We have every reason to conclude that no degree of close camaraderie is too much for the human side of the Anointed One. The divine Logos is pleased to be in union with multitudes. Therefore, we may conclude that no degree of brotherhood and sisterhood will be too much for the Anointed One’s spiritual body – the Church.

The Anointed One is the only head of the Church, no matter how large, says Edwards. It is an example of God’s love for growing and maturing. Jesus was born into a family, but now He is the head of the family. It shows what honor and happiness God designs for those who grow-up in the Anointed One. The purpose of this particular maturity is the honor and pleasure it brings to the rest of the Body. The Anointed One’s example is planned by the Father to exemplify the benefit of advancing. We may argue, says Edwards, on how we should accomplish it because one may seem more excellent than the other.^{[12] [13]}

James McKnight (1721-1800) points out how God designed humankind to understand what everlasting life was all about. Since such a timeless continuation is with the Father, it must mean the Father’s presence. Now, since the eternal Father’s reality could not be manifested to the Apostles just by revelation – which would presuppose the existence of God, this eternal life must be that which the Word, or Son, possessed with the Father before the world came into being. It must be demonstrated before the eyes and within hearing by the Apostles. It was illustrated by His Son being born of a woman. Later, His anointing in baptism. And again, during His transfiguration on the mountain.^[14] Therefore, it is incredible that this same Apostle John, who saw, heard, and touched Him in the flesh, would see Him later immortalized in a revelation.

In a sermon by Charles Talbot (1769-1823), he believes that a personal and experimental knowledge of the Anointed One eminently outfits us to declare Him to the world. It is our work, and for this practical qualification, there can be no substitute; neither training, learning, nor natural talent can take its place. Spiritual knowledge and experience are a mighty power; without it, all is feeble. You do not go to school and earn a degree in spiritual gifts, the fruit of the spirit, or how to become an apostle. Talbot gives us the following factors involved in our growing knowledge about God and His Son, Jesus the Anointed One:

One: It implies a revelation from the Anointed One. The age for physical manifestation is in the past; the Bible takes its place. It is the Anointed One we declare – a Divine Anointed One, in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Two: It implies real and experimental knowledge of the Anointed One. We have seen Him, not with mortal eyes, but by spiritual sight, seen Him through an adapted medium, as outlined in revelation, as apprehended by faith, seen Him so we can love and trust in Him. Three: It implies appreciation. “We have handled Him with our hands,” heard with our ears, seen with our own eyes, and tested Him with our senses, and now we appreciate Him as Savior. He has saved us – we feel it, we know it. It is how we present Him to the world. We value His ability to do all things for us. He guarantees our ability to do all that is needed. Being justified by His death, He saves us by His resurrected life.

Talbot then says that a sacred and divine feeling of benevolence moves us in declaring the Anointed One to all. First, it is love. The love of the Anointed One constrains us. That love is without parallel or comparison; it was love to enemies and manifested in intense suffering. I enjoy the benefit of it; I want you to do the same. Secondly, to this, we are moved by sympathy. We see everyone, strangers, and aliens, from God’s point of view; we learn of their afflictions, disappointments, and dissatisfaction; yes, and we get to know the danger they face – we were once in the same state. We have found a great treasure; we want them to come so we can share it; we have found great joy, we want them to come along and be glad for us; we have met the Anointed One, we want them to meet Him too. And thirdly, in this, we are moved by a sense of duty. Thus, it becomes our motivation. Every servant has work to do. The Anointed One bids us preach and teach; we cannot remain silent; the Church requires the Gospel, and we must preach it; the world is perishing for lack of knowledge, and we must teach it. A wasted and desolate field lies at our feet – we must cultivate it; souls are in danger, and we must not hesitate or do nothing.

Talbot’s plea gives us a picture of the evangelistic zeal that infected the Body of the Anointed One two hundred and fifty years ago. Is it still in the Church today? Talbot then says that in our spiritual participation with the Father and the Son, they meet the believer’s needs as follows: 1) We have the Anointed One as our daily companion by faith; this meets our necessity as sinners. 2) We have a working relationship with Him in labor and honor; this meets our wants as His disciples. 3) We have familiarity with His blessings, and this satisfies our necessities in suffering. 4) We have inseparability in the things of eternity, and this meets our struggles as immortal beings.^[15]

German theologian and Church historian Augustus Neander (1789-1850) sees John resuming what he began with and now proceeds in the same form: “That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us.” Therefore, John was an eye and ear-witness of the self-revelation of that Eternal Life, which seeks to impart itself from divinity to humanity. So, hearing and accepting John’s message will lead to a divine partnership with the Light and Life by becoming one in union with God. Thus John declares what he saw, heard, and touched.

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[1] 1 Corinthians 3:22-23

[2] John Flavel: The Method of Grace, The Believer’s Union with Christ, Ch. 2, p. 32

[3] John 14:4

[4] 1 Corinthians 7:7

[5] Ibid. 12:21

[6] Flavel, John: op. cit., The Method of Grace, The Believer’s Fellowship with Christ, Ch. 8, 153

[7] Psalm 4:3

[8] Song of Solomon 7:10

[9] 2 Corinthians 6:16

[10] Bunyan, John: Bunyan’s Practical Works, Vol. 1, The Greatness of the Soul, and Unspeakableness of the Loss thereof, Doctrine First, p. 28

[11] Whitby, Daniel: On First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 456

[12] James 4:10

[13] Edwards, Jonathan, The Works of: Miscellaneous Observations on Important Theological Subjects, vol 6, p. 565

[14] Macknight, James: On First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 27

[15] Talbot, C., Biblical Illustrator, op. cit., Epistles of John, loc. cit.

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NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XXI) 11/02/20

John Owen (1616-1683) speaks of the Word’s manifestation and condition of the Jews at the time of Jesus’ appearance. They were very mean and contemptible – their leaders being called the filth of this world and full of nonsense. For the Anointed One to invite outsiders into holy Israel’s partnership to participate in their riches from the LORD was contrary to reasoning and objectionable. The Jewish leaders asked, “What benefit is it to us to have communion with them?” This same attitude bled over into the Jerusalem congregation and caused the Apostle Paul much grief.

It is nothing more than Jewish converts becoming spreaders of troubles, reproaches, scorns, and all manner of evils, says Owen. To prevent or remove these and other concerns, John informs everyone that the Jews and Gentiles can get along in harmony despite all the disadvantages. The world needs to see this in action, so it would be considered a very honorable, glorious, and desirable thing. For “truly,” says John, “our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus the Anointed One.”^[1]

Owen continues this theme, expounding on the fact that the Anointed One’s presence is promised and will continue with the celebration of the gifts He supplies to those appointed for His service. For He told his Apostles to “Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I told you to do, don’t worry, I am with you always, even to the furthest stretches of the globe.”^[2] That’s because, says Owen, the tabernacle of God dwells within them and among His people.^[3] After all, the Anointed One made His promise clear: “Where two or three gather in His Name, He is there in their midst.”^[4] And this promised presence of the Anointed One consists of giving them intimate communion with Himself. By all these things, John gives a particular meaning to special reverence and regard for faith, whereby the Apostle’s reputation is yet farther made respectable.^[5]

Nathaniel Hardy (1618-1670) reveals that in his day, there was a generation of men in the Roman Catholic Church who claim to be the Society of Jesus. They accepted this as their peculiar idea, mentioned by John here in verse three, that the friendship we have with the Father we also have with His Son Jesus the Anointed One. In fact, rather than their being branches of the true vine, they are Antichrist branches. One day, says Hardy, Jesus will give them little thanks for this arrogant assumption of His name while they stand in opposition to His truth. The real privilege of having an alliance with Jesus the Anointed One is not limited to one believers’ order but applicable to every Christian.

Scriptures describe this teamwork we have with the Anointed One in various ways, says Hardy. We read of the Head and the bodily members and their participation with each other, thereby receiving sense and motion. We note the branches and Root, which contributes its sap and nutrition. Then come the building and the Foundation which sustains it. Furthermore, we see Husband and wife, bride and Groom, who are ready to be united forever. These represent Christians in union with the Anointed One, who shared Himself with all His values and virtues. Indeed, as the Apostle tells us: It pleased the Father, to be in Jesus in all His fullness, not just for our Lord, but for us, that we, as the John the Evangelist declared, we receive His grace and more grace to the fullest.^[6]

After what William Burkitt (1662-1703) said about John’s words back in verse one, he now follows up with what he hears John saying here: We declare to you those things of the Anointed One which we saw and heard, and what we know by sight and listening you are to receive from our testimony; and our design and purpose are sincerely this, that you may have fellowship, and be united in communion with us, and not with false teachers, and by your togetherness with us may partake of the same faith and grace, and all spiritual benefits and privileges which the Anointed One purchased for us; and you will have no reason to repent of your coming into our association and companionship. Therefore, all who sincerely embraced the Gospel’s doctrine have friendship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus the Anointed One, and with each other.^[7] We draw strength, courage, and comfort from our solidarity with the Father and His Son, and each other. It forms a triune relationship.

George Swinnock (1627-1673), a fiery Puritan preacher and nonconformist writer, tells us that next to closeness with God, there is no harmony like being of one mind and one accord. The world ignorantly refers to their mob of drunken, swearing, and riotous pitiful gangs as “good fellows.” The prince of darkness is the head of their league, but the unity of saints is togetherness with God; He is the foundation of their union. That’s John’s main point here in verse three. What form of familiarity can in any respect compare with theirs who have companionship, not only with fellow Christians but even with God himself, the fountain and ocean of all honor and excellence! Oh, how happy is that company which has His constant presence.^[8]

Then Swinnock goes on to say that John both desired and endeavored that others might be not almost, but altogether as he is. None are more spiritually covetous to make proselytes than the true Israelites. As the wall which receives heat from the sun reflects it on those who pass by, so he wishes that they were partakers of the same grace, that they may be intimately acquainted with the Father, and Jesus the Anointed One His Son. Like a bee, to spread the Good News, they go from Scriptural flower to flower, then carry all the spiritual sweet pollen home to their spiritual hive, so the resulting honey can be offered to every unbeliever they meet.  

Contrast this with contentiousness of sin – “a little leaven permeates the whole lump.”^[9] Some say that those who have the plague of sinful tendencies are very desirous of infecting others. On the other hand – so is grace, like oil spreading, the gracious desire to go to a countless company of angels with a numerous company of saints.^{[10] [11]}

John Flavel (1628-1691), an English Presbyterian clergyman, Puritan, and author, warns not to be misled into thinking that where it says: “He was made flesh,” there was a mutation of the Godhead into human flesh. Instead, it came about, “not by changing what He was, but by assuming what He was not.” As Augustine well expresses it: When the scripture says, “He was made sin,”^[12] and “made a curse,”^[13] it did not turn Him into sin, or into a curse; no more should we think here the Godhead was turned into human flesh and lost its being and nature just because it says He was made flesh. It is the sum of the declaration. That claim is [“that the Word was made flesh,”] is strongly confirmed. He “dwelt among us,” and we saw His glory. It was no illusion, but a very real and unquestionable fact. John clearly says, “pitched His tent” or “set up His Tabernacle” within us. And we are eyewitnesses of it.^[14]

Flavel goes on to say we are to win souls to the Anointed One, and through love, to bring them to faith. Practical holiness is a very lovely, attractive, and considerate thing. Pagans called moral virtue a bouquet that can change the heart to win influence with humanity’s souls. How much more we could say, that if it were visible to the human eye, for all to see and adore it, and fall in love with it; how much more we can say of true holiness, made visible in the lives of saints! It makes the souls of humankind cling to the persons in whom it is prophesied of the Jews when they will be called (which will be a time of great holiness), “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you because we have heard that God is with you.’”[15]

So much of God already appears in humankind, drawing out excellence. And this is the Apostle’s argument about having kinship with each other. What is there about a person’s idea of God’s family that caused them to invite men and women to join them in communion with God? Truly, our closeness is with the Father and with His Son, the Anointed One Jesus. Who would choose anything else but to keep company with those who maintain fellowship with God every day? Visible holiness effectively influences other people’s respect for a believer, either as a combination of things working in acquaintance with the Word or as a single instrument.^[16]      

In commenting on verse three, Flavel says in another writing, it signifies an alliance or being copartners with people who have a mutual interest in the same enjoyment, being partakers of the Anointed One.^[17] As such, the saints are called the companions, consorts, and colleagues of the Anointed One.^[18] It is not only in respect to His undertaking of our mortality, investing us with immortality but with special reference and respect to the anointing and fruit of the Holy Spirit. These are things believers are partakers of with Him and through Him.

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[1] Owen, John: Of Communion with God, Vol 3, Part 1, Ch. 1, p. 9

[2] Matthew 28:20

[3] Revelation 21:3

[4] Matthew 18:19-20

[5] Owen, John: Introduction to the Worship of God, Vol. 4, Question 8, p. 29

[6] Hardy, Nathaniel: On First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 95

[7] Burkitt, William: On First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 754

[8] Swinnock, George: The Christian Man’s Calling, Vol. 2, Part. III, Sec. I, pp. 341-342

[9] 1 Corinthians 5:6

[10] Swinnock, George: op. cit., Vol. 3, Heaven and Hell Epitomized, Ch. 5, p. 264

[11] Ibid., Ch. 19, p. 374

[12] 2 Corinthians 5:21

[13] Galatians 3:13

[14] Flavel, John: op. cit., The Fountain of Life, Sermon 5, Our Christ’s Wonderful Person, p. 63

[15] Zechariah 8:23

[16] Flavel, John: The Fountain of Life, Sermon 42, Christ’s Advent to Judgment, p. 544

[17] Hebrews 3:14

[18] Psalm 45:7

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What do you think of when you hear someone say they feel content? We know that contentment feels like it’s hard to come by these days. In many ways, life’s challenges have become more complicated even though we live in a time where answers and connections can be found at our fingertips. So, what separates those individuals who feel content and satisfied from those who don’t? According to several scientific studies, mindset plays a large role.

Stephen J. Bronner, writer and journalist says we should know about what contented people think: Contented people practice self-acceptance. They aren’t always trying to be someone they are not. What you see is what you get! They don’t downgrade themselves to look humble, but they also do not make claims about themselves they know are false.

People who are contented have a goal of pursuing long-term contentment rather than attempting to be instantly gratified. Why get involved with people or situations just to look friendly for the moment? Backing out or breaking up then becomes much harder because of the fear of hurt and wounded emotions. Why join a group doing something you really don’t enjoy just to keep from being thought of as haughty?

Contented individuals embrace all their emotions. It means you take the good with the bad. Being content is more than simply feeling pleasure and avoiding pain, it is about having experiences that are meaningful and valuable, including emotions that you think are the right ones to have at the time. Don’t bottle up your emotions if you want to experience contentment.

Another thing about contented people is that they feel their life has meaning. When you find more meaning in life, you become more contented, whereas if you don’t have purpose in life and are searching for it unsuccessfully, you will feel much more stressed out. Start with this question: “Why did I get up this morning?” Was it just to exist for another day or did you have a purpose for getting out of bed, getting dressed, and taking on the challenges of the day, whether at work or at home? Furthermore, is what you do at work or at home meaningful to others? Would they be missing something if you were not in their lives? Contentment comes by knowing that another person was made happy by your presence, behavior, words, or deeds.

Being content with who you are does not mean overlooking or excusing your weak points or things in which you need to make improvements. Remember, you are connected to the people and world around you. Just walking down, the street with a smile on your face may influence someone else to smile. Being courteous to another person my have a ripple effect of their being courteous to others.

Psychologist Mike Hedrick tells us that instead of trying to seek happiness, we should aim for the more manageable goal of contentment. I think this is something we would all do well to wrap our heads around because constant happiness, as it stands, is fleeting. It’s a momentary thing that lasts for a day, at most, before everyday stress starts flooding back into the picture.

Contentment, on the other hand, is the feeling of being okay with the way things stand. It’s being comfortable with life—not ecstatic happiness but also not sadness or anger. The first thing someone should do to seek contentment is to analyze of their situation and express gratitude. Being thankful for the things you have can help you understand that things aren’t nearly as bad as you sometimes make them out to be. It can give you the realization that, although things could be better, they are manageable for the time being.

That said, there may still be some itch inside you for things to be better, for you to be more content, and that’s ok. It’s perfectly normal. The thing to do in that case is to make a plan for the things you want. Contentment is something we could all use. Keeping these things in mind will help to ease the pulling you feel in your chest for things to be better. So, feel free to go about it in any way you choose but expressing gratitude and doing the work to get to where you want to be are easily the best ways of finding that contentment that you’re looking for. 

Then Miriam Ujberg explains that contentment is one of those buzz words that we usually hear linked with any discussion around ‘the good life.’ It is referred to either directly or indirectly in most of the scales listed on Authentic Happiness. But is contentment an attitude that we choose to bring to our lives or is it an effect of our well-lived lives? Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatté describe iceberg beliefs, deeply held beliefs about who we are and how we believe the world should operate that “float” beneath the surface of our consciousness. Do our iceberg beliefs dissolve once we find contentment, or do we need to remove those iceberg beliefs in order to find contentment?

But there is another side to contentment. Positive emotion researcher Barb Frederickson suggests that fear elicits a desire to escape, anger the eagerness to attack, disgust the ambition to expel, guilt the eagerness to make amends, shame the wish to disappear, sadness the inclination to withdraw… all specific action tendencies associated with certain negative emotions. If I were to ask you to feel these emotions in your body, each of them would encourage a real action, some sort of ‘doing.’ This idea of emotion leading to action is what we are most familiar with. Because actions are seen and observed by others, they are viewed as the essence of our contribution as human beings. On the other hand, an emotion or state like contentment elicits inaction; something more foreign in our Western minds. In other words, being content while you watch a house going up in flames because it’s not yours.

But what does God’s holy Word have to say about contentment? It tells us to keep our lives free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”[1] Then the Apostle Paul testifies he learned that in whatever situation he is to be content. He knew how it felt to be brought low, and how to prosper. In any and every circumstance, he learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.[2]

Paul also told young Timothy there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.[3] The Apostle goes on to tell the Corinthians, for the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.[4]

In other words, every morning when you wake up thank God for the food you have to eat, the clothes you have to wear, the roof over your head, your mode of transportation, your job or normal daily activities, and for life, health, and strength to get you through the day. These are gifts, everything else that comes your way is like a cherry on top of an ice-cream sundae. Contentment begins with knowing that at the end of the day your faith, hope, love, trust, faithfulness, and all the fruit of the spirit in your life will be better and stronger than they were when the day began. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

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[1] Hebrews 13:5

[2] Philippians 4:11-12

[3] 1 Timothy 6:6-8

[4] 2 Corinthians 12:10

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DON’T BUTT HEADS WITH GOD’S PLANS YOUR LIFE

This is a short story but it packs an enormous message.

George Voss had a massive stroke while only in his 40’s. He now lives in a nursing home, confined to his bed for life, he is unable to use his arms, hands, legs or feet. He cannot feed himself or even lift his head without assistance. His vision is greatly impaired, and he struggles to communicate.

Many people in George’s condition would be consumed by self-pity and despair. But by God’s grace he has chosen to be a blessing instead.

From his nursing home bedroom, George has become a missionary who has provided goats for needy families in Zambia for the last seven years. He began asking friends and relatives to purchase a goat for $25. The goats are given to Zambian grandmothers raising children whose parents died from AIDS.

George is passionate about his mission. Any visitor who shows up in George’s room is a prospect. “People come through the door,” he said, “I pray for them, and they give me money for goats.”

Chad McCallum, director of mobilization for The Wesleyan Church’s Global Partners, recently met George and bought a goat. Chad said, “I was privileged to be in the presence of one who had a great purpose in life, even in the face of great challenge. George’s love for Jesus and for people was crystal clear.”

Today, pictures of grateful grandmothers, children, and their goats cover the walls of George’s room. His “herd” of goats has grown to over a thousand.

I hope you have been thinking: “What would I have done if I was George?” But that is not possible nor necessary. There are other things that make it difficult for us to become a physically active part of such a ministry. Yet, that is no excuse. We read in God’s Word where it says, “Whoever is generous to those in need lends to the Lord, and He will repay them for their giving.”[1] It doesn’t say how much or how often. Having a heart that is willing to do something is all God’s asks for.

Our Lord Jesus put it another way, He said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”[2] Then our Master stated, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”[3] This does not specify that giving must be in the form of money, but it includes time, effort, ideas, planning, and directing.

But the Apostle John put it most strongly. He let it be known that  if anyone has something to offer and sees their fellowman in need, yet closes their heart against them, how can God’s love be living in them?[4] God will only ask of us what He knows we are able to give. He doesn’t count giving by quantity, but by quality. One spoken word, one act of kindness, one helping hand can make a big difference on someone else’s life. It isn’t George who owns those thousand goats, that’s God’s property. That’s why our heavenly Father is using them to let George’s light shine a continent away from his bed in the nursing home. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

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[1] Proverbs 19:17

[2] Mattthew 5:16

[3] Luke 6:38

[4] 1 John 3:17

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NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XX) 10/30/20

COMMENTARY

Caius, Presbyter of Rome (circa 230-296 AD), speaks about how John’s fellow-disciples and bishops pleaded with the Apostle to write a Gospel. So, John said to them, “Fast with me for the space of three days, and let each of us share whatever God brings to our remembrance.” On the same night, the Spirit told the Apostle Andrew that John should narrate everything in his name as they called them to mind. Caius says that no matter what they read in other Gospels; they found no difference in the faith of believers. That’s because everything harmonizes under one majestic Spirit, which concerns the Lord’s nativity, His passion, His resurrection, His conversation with His disciples, and His twofold advent – the first in the humiliation of rejection, which is now past, and the second in the glory of royal power, which is yet in the future.

What struck Caius as marvelous is that John remembers these different things so consistently in his Epistles, saying, “What we have seen with our eyes, and heard with our ears, and our hands have handled, that have we written.” In doing so, he professes not only to be an eye-witness but also the hearer. Besides that, the historian of all the wondrous facts concerning the Lord in their order.^[1] And early church scholar Hilary of Arles (401-440 AD) notes that our communion in the unity of our faith here on earth is the start of our eternal fellowship with God in heaven.^[2]

Andreas Osiander (600-700) has an interesting perspective on what John says about seeing the Living Word in human flesh. Still, it was not just the Living Word, it was also Eternal Life who appeared to them, so they are witnesses that it existed. We all gain from this proclamation, says Andreas, the right to share this experience with others. The one who joins our community also has a bond with the Father and the Son, Jesus the Anointed One. And since we share in the same companionship down here, we will all rejoice together, in that we are united with God eternally.^[3]

Bede the Venerable (672-735), an English Benedictine monk, demonstrates to us what degree interpretation of God’s Work changed from the earlier scholars. He tells us that the Apostle John shows quite clearly that those who want to have fellowship with God must, first of all, be joined to the church and there learn that faith and blessed with its sacraments, which the disciples indeed received during the time of the Anointed One being here on earth. Nor do those who believe the Apostle’s testimony belong any less to the Lord than those who put their trust in Him when they heard Him preaching in the flesh, although there might be some distinction in the quality of the works of faith which they perform.^[4]

It is disconcerting that the words “grace,” “faith,” “the Cross,” and “the Anointed One alone” the source of salvation were no longer prominent in medieval preaching. It certainly set the stage for the debacle in the Roman Catholic Church during the ensuing middle-ages. This Gospel message revived in the 1500-1600 AD Protestant Reformation era and continued into the 1700-1800 AD Wesleyan Revival period. Then again, the Pentecostal preachers of the late 1800s and early 1900s focused the spotlight on these critical factors in the message of salvation. Sadly, these doctrines have fallen out of fashion in modern-day preaching. May God, through His Spirit, bring them back to prominence once again to the glory of His Son.

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) responds to the question of whether or not the Anointed One should have demonstrated His Resurrection’s truth by proofs other than appearing to the disciples? Some say that it would seem that the Anointed One did not need to verify the validity of His Resurrection by showing Himself to the disciples. So, what is the answer?

Aquinas recalls Ambrose the Bishop of Milan (340-397), said, “Away with arguments, where faith is required.”[5] Faith alone is necessary regarding the Resurrection. Therefore, proofs and testimonies are out of place here. On the contrary, says Aquinas, we are told by Luke that the Anointed One appeared to His disciples “for forty days by many proofs, speaking of the Kingdom of God.”^[6]

Aquinas goes on to say that the word “proof” is susceptible to a twofold meaning. Sometimes, it is employed to designate any sort “of reason in confirmation of what is a matter of doubt.” Sometimes, it means a sensible sign used to manifest the truth. Looking at the word “proof” in the first sense, if the Anointed One did demonstrate His resurrection to the disciples by proofs, such argumentative explanations would be grounded on principles. With these principles being unknown by the disciples, what could be demonstrated to them? Nothing can be understood if there is nothing to know.

And if they were aware of such principles, says Aquinas, they would not go beyond human reason. Consequently, it would not be sufficient for establishing faith in the Resurrection, which is beyond human logic. We must assume principles which are relevant to the outcome, according to the Apostle Peter.^[7] But it was from the authority of the Sacred Scriptures that He proved to them the truth of His Resurrection, which source is the basis of faith when Jesus said: “All things must be fulfilled concerning Me, written in the Law, the prophets, and the Psalms.”^{[8] [9]}

Walter Hilton (1340-1395) says that we are to consistently believe this image John’s words form in our conscience as a witness for the full forsaking of sin and a proper surrendering of our will to holy living through Faith. Paul has these words of encouragement: The unbiassed live by faith.[10] That is, those that are made right with God by faith in the work of the Anointed One on the cross will find it to be sufficient for salvation and also to heavenly peace. As Paul says: Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.[11] We that are made righteous and reformed through faith in the Anointed One have peace and accord made between God and us, notwithstanding our bodies’ sinful tendencies. For though this reforming is internal, and is not visible in this life, nevertheless whosoever steadfastly believes it, and is careful to shape their life accordingly, and does not turn again to deadly sin, surely when the hour of death comes and the soul departs, they will find that what the Scriptures say is true.

How may a person find out whether they have a reformed soul, asks Hilton? If you want to know if your soul is transformed into the image of God or not, you may resolve that by searching your conscience and finding out what your will wants, that will tell you what your main goals in life are. If it turns away from all manner of deadly sin, you will not end up unwittingly or unwilfully breaking God’s commandments. Anything you may have done inappropriately in the past that is contrary to His bidding, you must humbly confess and repent with the full intention of never doing it again. Then, says Hilton, by faith, your soul will be reformed to the likeness of God.^[12]

James Arminius (1560-1609) sees here a beneficial promise. For the good of the Church, God placed it in union with the Anointed One. An indwelling of the Spirit is promised, which is not in danger of termination by the restrictions of one’s lifespan but will continue forever. When this short life ends, it will resume in heaven. About this, the Apostle says, “It is my desire to finish this life to one day be with the Anointed One.” the Anointed One says, “Father, I want those You gave me to be with me where I am going to be.”^[13] Here is the Gospel’s goal, says John, “That our fellowship may be with the Father and the Son” in which everlasting communion exists. In another place, he gives the same reason in these words, “But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Anointed One: and that, believing, you might have life through His name.”^{[14] [15]}

Arminius goes on to note that it says, “The Son dearest of the Father.”^[16] In other words, those made aware of the intimate knowledge of His secrets, John “have declared,” that by openly manifesting the Word existing with the Father, “Has been seen and heard.”^[17] But it is irreverent to suppose that these things relate only to being informed. No! “The things which the apostles saw and heard they have declared,” that the Church “might have communion with the Father and the Son.” But excellence is placed in this communion. The wisdom which the apostles received through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, who “searches the deep things of God,” has been declared by them “in words which the same Holy Spirit teaches.”^[18] But this wisdom belongs to those who are filled and full of the Holy Spirit.^[19]

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[1] Fragments of Caius, Canon Muratorianus, Against the Heresy of Artemon: The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 5, p. 1219

[2] Hilary of Arles: On 1-3 John, Bray, G. (Ed.), op. cit., p. 168

[3] Andreas: Bray, G. (Ed.), op. cit., 1-3 John, p. 168

[4] Bede the Venerable: Bray, G. (Ed.), op. cit., 1-3 John, p. 168

[5] Ambrose, De Fide Ad Gratianum Augustum Libri Quinque, (Exposition of the Christian Faith), Bk. I, Ch. XIII, §84

[6] Acts of the Apostles 1:3

[7] 1 Peter 5:1

[8] Luke 24:44

[9] Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica, Vol. 5, The Treatise on the Incarnation, The Third Part, Question 55, Of the Manifestation of the Resurrection, pp. 746-748

[10] See Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11

[11] Romans 5:1

[12] Hilton, Walter: The Scale of Perfection, op. cit., Part 3, Second Book, pp. 125-126

[13] John 17:24

[14] Ibid. 20:31

[15] Arminius, James: Orations, Vol. 1, op. cit., Oration 3, p. 86

[16] John 1:18

[17] Ibid. 3:32

[18] 1 Corinthians 2:18

[19] Ibid. 2:6-15

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XIX) 10/29/20

Paul W. Hoon (1910-2000) says that the invitation of the Gospel is to start living the everlasting life now. The Greek adjective alōnios meaning, “without end, never to cease, everlasting” is John’s way of saying what the other Gospel writers do when they use such phrases as “enter into the kingdom of heaven,” “being saved,” “inheriting everlasting life.” And in the Apostle Paul’s writings, it is expressed as being “in [Christ] the Anointed One.”

We should not let the adjective “everlasting” mislead us. It does not mean a future life, but as constant and characteristic as the life the Anointed One lived. Hoon goes on to say that everlasting life is not some future immortality promising the richest gifts Christianity has to offer. It defines the true measure of quality rather than quantity.^[1] In other words, what we already have in the Anointed One will continue after death in a pure, expanded, when we join our Lord in eternity in a more glorious fashion since we leave all the sorrows of the flesh behind.

Daniel C. Snaddon (1915-2009) states that most commentators believe that the “L” in life should be capitalized, making Life to mean the Lord. He was manifested or revealed. “Eternal Life” is a title given to the Anointed One. John says, “He was with the Father, but was “manifested to us.”^[2] We see this in the New Life Translation: “Christ Who is Life was shown to us.”

Warren W. Wiersbe (1929-2019), American pastor, Bible teacher, conference speaker, and prolific writer of Christian Literature and theological works, reminds us that real life is not a playground but a battleground.[3] For the Apostle John, it went from just hearing about Jesus to meeting Him and experiencing a personal encounter with Him. It was not something John discovered reading a book nor listening to stories about the Prophet from Galilee. John met Jesus face to face; He watched Him live and studied His words and actions. No one could convince John that Jesus was not real. But it was not the Apostles’ physical nearness to Jesus the Anointed One that made him and his fellow disciples what they were. It was their spiritual nearness.

So, John does not have any advantage over a person today who believes and asks Jesus for forgiveness. The Apostles committed themselves to Him as their Savior and their Lord. Jesus the Anointed One was real and exciting to John and his colleagues because they trusted Him. By having confidence in the Anointed One, they received the promise of everlasting life. The same principle applies to us today.[4] As we see in John’s testimony, Jesus came to be a mediator. But not as Moses, who was given the Law and passed it on to the Israelites, but to be the One through whom God and humanity find familiarity with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As Stephen S. Smalley (1931-2018) explains it: “Christian fellowship is not the sentimental and superficial attachment of a random collection of individuals, but the profoundly mutual relationship of those who remain ‘in Christ’ and therefore belong to each other.”^[5]

D. Edmond Hiebert (1928-1995) points out that the phrase, “We have seen” declares that this incarnate Life was the object of intelligible, abiding perception on the part of the Apostles. They perceived His true identity, again viewed as having an ongoing impact. It further connects their experience with a double present activity because John witnessed what he was proclaiming to his readers. It all involves “communication” in that it involves communicating the infallible truth.^[6]

Current Bible scholar Bruce B. Barton (1954-) also addresses how and why John wrote this marvelous letter. He says that at the beginning of 2^nd and 3^rd John, this author identified himself as “the elder.” This title probably pointed to John’s position as the oldest living apostle and chief leader among the churches in the Roman province of Asia (otherwise known as Asia Minor). Also, since John was the oldest to survive, they called him an elder because of his status. It is made clear in First John by the way he addressed the believers as his “dear children.”^[7]

However, some scholars think this “elder” refers to a different John based on a quotation from Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor (A.D. 100–140). Papias’ comment, transmitted through Eusebius via Irenaeus, says: “If anywhere one came my way who had been a follower of the elders, I would inquire about the words of the elders—what Andrew and Peter had said, or what Thomas or James or John or Matthew or any other of the Lord’s disciples had said; and I would inquire about the things which Aristion and the elder John, the Lord’s disciples, say.” Several significant commentators have argued for an elder or presbyter John in Asia Minor, who was different from the apostle John. However, Irenaeus, in “Against Heresies and the Muratorian Fragment” (both from the end of the second century), assigns First John to the Apostle John.

Later, Burton points out that in Hebrew, “the word” was an agent of creation,[8] the source of God’s message to His people through the prophets,[9] God’s Law, and His standard of holiness.[10] The Greeks used “the word” to refer to a person’s thoughts or reason for a person’s speech expressing their opinions. Here we can see an illustration of the written Law and the Living Word.

As a Greek philosophical term, logos was the rational principle governing the universe. For both Jews and Greeks, the term logos signified beginnings. Jesus the Anointed One, the logos, is from the beginning because He is God.[11] John’s use of logos is a good title for God’s Son, who, with the Father and the Spirit, created the universe and then came to earth to be the perfect expression of the Godhead to humanity. Jesus, the logos, reveals God’s mind to human beings. Jesus the Anointed One, the logos, is the image of the invisible God,[12] the express image of God’s substance,[13] the revealer of God, and the reality of God.^[14]

Karen H. Jobes (1968-) notes that John reiterates that “we have seen” (perfect tense) and “testify” (present tense) to the Life that appeared. Not only did John see the Life; not only does he give witness to it, but he proclaims that testimony to his readers, specifically that “the eternal Life, which was with the Father … has appeared to us” in the person of Jesus the Anointed One.[15]

Bruce G. Schuchard makes an excellent point by noting that many saw Jesus while He was here on earth. Many were eyewitnesses. However, only a few of the eyewitnesses of the life and times of Jesus later became disciples of the cross. Only a few became His eyewitnesses so that others might know that their seeing Him was neither visionary nor imaginary. They saw Him with their own eyes. They handled Him, the flesh-and-blood Son of God, with their own hands.^[16] It is apparent that although Jesus died on behalf of every human being, only those who choose to believe in Him will inherit everlasting life. We wish we could win the whole world today for the Anointed One, but if the Son of God did not see the world as a whole come to Him then, we should not be surprised if many of them do not follow Him today.

1:3a That’s why John can now tell those he is writing to, “We are speaking to you about what we have seen and heard because we want you to have solidarity with us. The fellowship we share is with God the Father and His Son Jesus the Anointed One.

EXPOSITION

Was this some new idea that the Apostle John thought up on his own? Did he have some momentary astounding revelation? I doubt it. He was echoing the words of the Psalmist said a thousand years earlier: “His chosen one replies, ‘I will reveal the everlasting purposes of God, for the Lord has said to me, “You are my Son. It is your Coronation Day. Today I am giving you your glory.’”^[17] Furthermore, John was doing what the Psalmist promised to do: “I will tell my people about you. I will praise you in the great assembly.”^[18] So John says, I have seen the One who is KING of kings and LORD of lords. But even more, John heard the Master Himself say to His Father in heaven, “I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”^[19]

So, what was John’s purpose in sharing his testimony to those in the churches to whom he was writing? He makes it very clear to join him in fellowship to enjoy the communion they will share with God, the Father, and His Son, the Anointed One. While John primarily wrote to the congregations, the Apostle Paul’s message for the Gentile worshippers at Ephesus was the same. It is the church the Apostle John pastored up until his death. He told them this secret truth: by hearing the Good News, those not Jews will share with the Jews in God’s blessings for His people. They are part of the same body, and they share in the promises God made through the Anointed One, Jesus.^[20]

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[1] Hoon, Paul W., The Interpreter’s Bible, op. cit., p. 219

[2] Snaddon, Daniel C., First John, op. cit. loc. cit.

[3] Wiersbe, Warren W: Be Real (1 John): Turning from Hypocrisy to Truth (The BE Series Commentary) David C Cook. Kindle Edition, p. 19

[4] Ibid, p. 22

[5] Smalley, Stephen S: Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 51, 1, 2, 3 John, Word Books, Waco, Texas, 1984, p. 12

[6] Hiebert, D. Edmond: 1 John, Bibliotheca Sacra, April-June 1988, pp. 205-206

[7] 1 John 2:1, 18, 28; 3:7; 5:21

[8] See Psalm 33:6

[9] Hosea 1:2

[10] Psalm 119:11

[11] Genesis 1:1

[12] Colossians 1:15

[13] Hebrews 1:3

[14] Bruce B. Burton, Life Application Bible, op. cit., pp. 2-3, 14-15

[15] Jobes, Karen H., 1, 2, and 3 John, op. cit., p. 53

[16] Schuchard, Bruce G., op. cit., p. 84

[17] Psalm 2:7 – The Living Bible (TLB)

[18] Ibid. 22:22

[19] John 17:26

[20] Ephesians 3:6

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XVIII) 10/28/20

1:2:  John continues, we saw Him ourselves, so now we can tell others about Him!

EXPOSITION

Here, John follows the commission given by Jesus to him and the others: “You will tell people about me too because you have been with me from the beginning.”^[1]  Then John goes on, … So now I want to tell you about Him. The One that was shown to us eternally existed with God the Father. John can confidently base this on what was said about Jesus: “The only one who has ascended ever into heaven is the one who first came down from heaven—the Son of man.”^[2] And I’m sure John could not forget what Jesus said that he heard with his ears: “I know Him because I am from Him. He is the one who sent me.”^[3] Therefore, Jesus was able to pray: “And this is eternal life: that people can know You, the only true God, and that they can know the Savior, the Son of man, the One You sent.”^[4]

COMMENTARY

John James Lias (1834-1923) disagrees with the KJV’s rendition of this verse (repeated in the NIV), where it reads: “For the Life was manifested, and we have seen it.” Lias says that the word “it” should not be here.^[5] The New English Translation agrees by rendering it: “And the Life was revealed, and we testify and announce to you. . .” John saw more than an “it,” he saw a person in the flesh, he heard Jesus speak, and he sat beside in at the last supper. However, it is possible to use “it” when referring to “the Life” as a regular noun instead of a proper noun; it is permissible. From my perspective, John spoke about Life as a Living Life in the person of Jesus the Anointed One.

John Owen (1616-1683) reports an inexpressible delight between the Father and the Son in John’s exaltation. “I was,” he says, “daily His delight, always rejoicing before Him.”[6] But this delight of the Father and Son is not predicated on any perfection of virtues in each person. They are the object of God’s salvation plan for the whole world by Him, who is His power and wisdom unto that end. This counsel of peace was initially between Yahweh and the Branch,^[7] or the Father and the Son — He was to be incarnate. Because of that, He was “foreordained before the foundation of the world.”^[8] Namely, to be a Savior and a Deliverer, by whom all God’s plans became a reality. It was done by His will, agreeing with the Father’s will.

And such a foundation, says Owen, was laid down for the salvation of the Church. It resulted from the counsels of God — between the Father and the Son – in which it is said, “everlasting life was promised before the world was formed.”[9] Although God gave His promise to Abraham after Adam’s fall, yet there was much preparation of grace and everlasting life in these counsels of God. His unchangeable purpose of communicating them to us came with the promise of God’s faithfulness. “God, that cannot lie promised before the world began.”[10] There was everlasting life with the Father – that is, in His counsel treasured up in the Anointed One, and in Him afterward manifested in us. And, to show the stability of this purpose and counsel of God made infallible by His actual promise and becoming effective through “grace,” is said to be “given to us in the Anointed One Jesus before the world began.”^{[11] [12]}

Puritan preacher and scholar Nathanael Hardy (1618-1670) makes this astute comment: We need not look for a Preface in John’s epistle since it not only begins with an inauguration, but an introduction that has no starting part; a text to which a Prologue would be needless, because it is a preface, and yet such an introduction as may be called a book. In reference to this epistle, it is a volume well worth our most earnest study and examination.^[13]

Johann Huther says that everything the believer possesses in the Anointed One is not mentioned here in the opening. It is only of the Anointed One Himself; and, besides, to the Apostle John not merely a subjective, but also an objective conception is proved by later in 5:11. It is more significant since the relative twofold clause contains a confirmation of all that the Apostle John has said up until now. In other words, we cannot have a single virtue, attribute, or characteristic of the Anointed One apart from having all of Him in our lives. You cannot have the “Life of Jesus” without the “Love of Jesus.”^[14]

Erich Haupt (1841-1926), a German Lutheran theologian, gives us a somewhat academic insight into what John says in verse two. He explains that here John talks about this Logos of Life but adds no more information on who or what it is. Instead, he talks about how he, and the other Apostles, were able to hear, see, and touch the source of that Life. However, in His Gospel, John is quite clear about where the Logos of Life came from and His divine origin. It would be one thing if the Apostle John were expressing his thoughts or speculations about the subject, but what he says comes as a direct message from God through His anointing Spirit.

It is true that in John’s Gospel, the Apostle depicts the influences and energies of the Logos, says Haupt, but it is in such a manner as to exhibit His person in richer light and define that person more precisely. The critical factor that both writings display this Logos of Life in human form. For becoming human was, in fact, the only means of the manifestation, and a medium which had no eternal extension; for, when the Lord glorified Himself, He remained indeed a man. The flesh, whose lusts are a weakness, was penetrated and swallowed up by the power of the Spirit that pervaded it. In John’s Epistle, the subject is the life-giving energy of the Lord. Here the first verse indicates that it was seen explicitly in the risen Savior, who was no longer “flesh and blood” but “appeared” to be so by all witnesses. As such, “appeared” is the most adequate and relevant expression.[15]

Frederick B. Meyer (1847-1929) says that as the aged Apostle began to write, he recalled his first happy experiences with the Savior. He heard the voice, saw the person, touched the very body in which Deity had His home. It was too marvelous a bliss to be enjoyed alone, and John tells us that we may enter into the same close partnership with the Father and the Son. But no impurity or insincerity is permissible to those who enter that fellowship. Our one aim should be to maintain such a walk with God that the union with God may be unimpaired. If there are still sins of ignorance, the blood of Jesus will continue to remove them. Sin differs from sins, as the root of the fruit. God does not only forgive, but He also cleanses. He is faithful to His promises and just to His Son. Notice the “ifs” of these verses;^[16] they are the building blocks of the blessed life.^[17]

Greville P. Lewis (1891-1976) asks the question, “Who are these eye-witnesses referred to as ‘we’ here in verse two?”^[18] The same John, the last living Apostle of the original twelve,^[19] wrote the fourth Gospel and wrote this letter. Besides the twelve, there were the women – Martha, Mary, Mary Magdalene, and others. Also, Jesus had many acquaintances such as Lazarus, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, the owners of the colt, and the Upper Room, in addition to the seventy-two He sent out as missionaries. Let’s not forget the 120 who were in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost. Then there were the thousands that Jesus fed, healed, and raised from the dead.

Lewis is not bashful in saying that modern preachers and teachers, like the Apostle John and his colleagues, must respond to the Anointed One’s call to be His witnesses in our age.^[20] Our job is not to air our opinions or give good advice from the pulpit, let alone convince people that we are brilliant preachers! Trying cleverly to preach to impress our audience and declare the Anointed One as extraordinarily loving must not be our primary goal. Our task is to be witnesses to the Anointed One and His Gospel resulting from our experiences. It is a way to convince our listeners that this Messiah is the living Savior of all humanity.^[21] Let the words of Charles Wesley (1707-1788) in his hymn, “Thy faithfulness, Lord each moment we find,”^[22] become ours:

            “The mercy I feel, to others I shew:

            I set to my seal that Jesus is true:

            Ye all may find favor who come at His call;

            O come to my Savior! His grace is for all.”^[23]

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[1] John 15:27

[2] Ibid. 3:13 (cf. 16:28)

[3] Ibid. 7:29

[4] Ibid. 17:3

[5] Lias, John James, Epistle of John Exposition, op. cit., p. 18

[6] Proverbs 8:30

[7] Zechariah 6:13

[8] 1 Peter 1:20

[9] Titus 1:2

[10] Numbers 23:19; Hebrews 6:18

[11] 2 Timothy 1:9

[12] Owen, John: Christologia, A Declaration of the Glorious Mystery of the Person of Christ, Ch. 4, pp. 71-72

[13] Hardy, N., The First General Epistle of St. John the Apostle, Unfolded and applied, James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, Edinburgh; 1865,pp. 16–17

[14] Luther, Johann: Handbook on Epistles of John, op. cit., p. 476

[15] Haupt, Erich: The First Epistle of St. John: A Contribution to Biblical Theology, (W. B. Pope, Trans.) T&T Clark Edinburgh, 1879, pp. 12–13

[16] Also see 1 John 2:1

[17] Meyer, Frederick B: Through the Bible Commentary, First Epistle of John, loc. cit., StudyLight

[18] Lewis, Greville P., The Johannine Epistles, Epworth Preacher’s Commentaries, The Epworth Press, London, 1961, p. 8

[19] Greville says that John the son of Zebedee had already died. The John who wrote this Epistle was known as John the Elder.

[20] Acts of the Apostles 1:8

[21] 2 Corinthians 4:5

[22] Wesley, Charles, 1741

[23] Lewis, Greville P., Epworth Preacher’s Commentary, First Epistle of John, op. cit., pp. 10-11

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XVII) 10/27/20

English Anglican Bible scholar John Trapp (1601-1669) asks, “What is surer than sight?”^[1] And seeing the Messiah was denied many kings and prophets.^[2] Having seen the Anointed One in the flesh was one of the three things that St. Augustine wished, yet Paul set no such high price upon it than his spiritual sight.^[3] But, as he says here, the Apostle John was one of the blessed ones given that honor and privilege.^[4] Yet, says John, we will not be left out because one day, we will all see Him as He is.^[5]

John Owen (1616-1683) was by common consent the most significant Puritan theologian of his day. Many would bracket him with Jonathan Edwards as one of the greatest Reformed theologians of all time. What the Apostle John said here was the Apostles’ testimony concerning the Anointed One when He dwelt among them in the days of His incarnation. They saw “His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”^[6] Divine magnificence was manifest in Him, and in Him, they saw the splendor of the Father. So, the same Apostle witnesses again, who recorded this testimony: “For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us.”^[7] In the Son incarnate, eternal life initially in and with the Father was demonstrated in us.^[8]

Anglican Biblical scholar and theologian Bishop Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1901) speaks of “life” in the present and the future.  It is already; spoken of as “everlasting life” to distinguish it from everyday life, life in the sense of time under which humans exist and succeed. Proof of such life phenomena may be “death.”^[9] But “everlasting life” is beyond the limitations of time: it belongs to the being of God and finds its fulfillment in the transforming vision of the Son seen as He is.^[10] For us now, therefore, it is spoken of as both present and future. The “life everlasting” is essentially present, so far as it is the potential present completion in humanity.^[11] Possession of life becomes a matter of actual knowledge in light of the ever-present fear of death.^[12] However, this thought of the current reality of’ his version of eternal life is characteristic of John and peculiar to him.^{[13] [14]}

Philip Mauro (1859-1952) points out that the incarnate Word and the written Word are both “living.” Of the many declarations which the Bible makes concerning the Word of God, none is more significant, and indeed none is of greater importance to dying humanity, than the statement that the Word of God is a LIVING WORD. In Philippians, we have the expression, “The Word of Life.”^[15] The same phrase occurs here in verse one. It is used of Jesus the Anointed One, the Incarnate Word,^[16] whereas in Philippians, speaks of the Written Word.

As referred to in Scripture, says Mauro, the Written Word and the Incarnate Word are not always clearly distinguished. Bible writers say the same things of the Written and Incarnate Word and the same characteristics. The fundamental resemblance lies in the fact that each is the revealer or visible expression of the Invisible God. As the written or spoken Word expresses, to communicate to another, the invisible and inaccessible thought, so Jesus the Anointed One as the Incarnate Word, and the Holy Scriptures as the Written Word, express and share knowledge of the invisible and inaccessible God. “He that has seen Me has seen the Father.” “Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.”^{[17] [18]}

Rudolf Bultmann (1883-1976) says that John is speaking here of the Anointed One in a prophetic sense. Therefore, the pre-existent Logos is not what John speaks of here, but its “manifestation” and “incarnation.” It was the object of what was heard, seen, and touched, and thus the origin of the message John brought. Everything the Apostles witnessed while they were with the Messiah was not the Logos uncovered but manifested in human form.^[19]

Think of it this way, Bultmann says, when it says in Genesis, “And God said,” that was the Logos – the Word. Even though the Word started creating the universe, it’s hard to see “the Word” unless it is made visible. It would be like John saying, “You remember at the beginning when God said, “Let there be light?” well, I proclaim to you that we’ve seen that Word and that Light in the flesh. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of the Living God!

Ian Howard Marshall (1914-2015) put it this way: Here, we have the incredible potential of Christian thought: “He who existed from limitless eternity has entered time and space and taken up residence here on earth.”^[20]  He goes on to say: Through a historical event, God channeled His life to us, an event that John says is verified by people who saw it.^[21] Another Bible commentator adds a thought for us to consider. Although the Christian message is the means of bringing everlasting life, it was of supreme importance to the writer to clarify beyond all possibility of misunderstanding that God revealed the life to which it bears witness in the historical person of Jesus. It is why he now includes this slightly misplaced parenthesis, which interrupts his line of thought. Its very awkwardness calls attention to its importance: The life God gives He revealed historically in Jesus.^[22]

We are not to just observe that life. God meant it as a way of our joining in union with Him in everyday life.  As Donald W. Burdick (1917-1996) puts it: “He is not only the living Word, the source of life, but He is life itself.”^[23]For instance, if someone asks you, “May I hitch a ride with you for lunch?” The answer, “Sure, Jesus only takes up one seat, so I have plenty of room for you.” Question: “Are you going to the game tonight?”  Answer: “You know, Jesus and I haven’t talked that over yet, but as soon as we do, I’ll let you know.” Question: “Do you plan to stay late tonight and get some more work done?” Answer: “Yes, I plan to stay, but I won’t be alone.” “Oh, who’s staying with you?” “My best friend.  His name is Jesus.” Are you getting the point now? I hope so!  After all, didn’t Jesus say: “I came to give life, a life that is fuller than just existing.”^[24]

Dutch Bible scholar Simon J. Kistemaker (1930-2017), Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary, takes issue with many translators who do not consider the literal Greek in the opening clause that reads, “And the Life appeared.” He points out that this conjunction conveys an affirmative intent we can translate as “indeed.” The Amplified Bible renders the verse as follows: “And the Life [an aspect of His being] was manifested.” Furthermore, John also wants to emphasize the meaning of “life,” so he placed the article “the” in front of the word “Life.” In other words, Jesus was not just “life,” but He was “the Life.”^[25]

American Reformed Christian theologian James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000) notes that the most crucial thing John says in these opening verses is that Christianity is Christ. Without the Anointed One, there would be no Christianity, for Christianity began by God’s revelation of Himself in Jesus and continues by the authoritative testimony of the Apostles and others to that revelation. So, it stands to reason that without the Anointed One, there would be no Christianity in the world today.^[26]

Ravi Zacharias (1946-2020), an Indian-born Canadian-American Christian defender, tells us that Paul Tillich, the noted existentialist theologian, traveled to Asia to hold conferences with various Buddhist thinkers. He was studying the significance of religious leaders to the movements they had engendered. Tillich asked a simple question. “What if by some fluke, the Buddha had never lived and turned out to be some fabrication? What would be the implications for Buddhism?” Mind you, Tillich was concerned with the indispensability of the Buddha – not his authenticity.

The scholars did not hesitate to answer. If the Buddha was a myth, they said it did not matter at all. Why? Because we judge Buddhism as an abstract philosophy—as a system of living. Whether its concepts originated with the Buddha is irrelevant. As an idea, I think the Buddha himself would have concurred. Knowing that his death was imminent, he implored his followers not to focus on him but to remember his teachings. Not his life, but his way of life was to be attended to and propagated. Could we treat Christianity the same way? Absolutely not! No Christ, no Christianity.

---

[1] See Luke 1:2

[2] Ibid. 10:24

[3] 2 Corinthians 5:16

[4] John Trapp: A Commentary or Exposition upon all the Epistles and the Revelation of John the Divine, Printed by John Bellamy at the Sign of the three golden Lions in Cornhill, 1647, p. 465

[5] 1 John 3:2

[6] John 1:2

[7] 1 John 1:14

[8] John Owen: Vol. 2, Christologia, op. cit., Ch, 5, pp. 95-96; 106

[9] 1 John 3:14; cf. verse sixteen

[10] 1 John 3:2; John 14:23ff

[11] John 3:36, 5:24; 6:47, 54; 20:31; See 1 John 5:12

[12] 1 John 5:13; cf. 1 John 3:15

[13] Galatians 2:20

[14] Brooke F. Westcott: The Epistles of St. John, The Greek Text with Notes and Essays, MacMillan and Co., 1886, p. 217

[15] Philippians 2:16

[16] John 1:14

[17] John 14:9, 11

[18] R. A. Torrey: Life in the Word by Philip Mauro, Ch. 7, pp. 125-126

[19] Bultmann, Rudolf: Epistles of John, op. cit., p. 9

[20] Gary M. Burge, op. cit., p. 53

[21] Ibid. p. 54

[22] Ian Howard Marshall, op. cit., p. 103

[23] The Epistles of John, Donald W. Burdick, Everyman’s Bible Commentary, Moody Press, Chicago, 1970, p. 19

[24] Ibid. 10:10

[25] Simon J. Kistemaker: New Testament Commentary, Exposition of the Epistle of James and the Epistles of John, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1986, p. 236

[26] James Montgomery Boice: The Epistles of John. An Expositional Commentary, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 1979, p. 21

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XVII) 10/27/20

English Anglican Bible scholar John Trapp (1601-1669) asks, “What is surer than sight?”^[1] And seeing the Messiah was denied many kings and prophets.^[2] Having seen the Anointed One in the flesh was one of the three things that St. Augustine wished, yet Paul set no such high price upon it than his spiritual sight.^[3] But, as he says here, the Apostle John was one of the blessed ones given that honor and privilege.^[4] Yet, says John, we will not be left out because one day, we will all see Him as He is.^[5]

John Owen (1616-1683) was by common consent the most significant Puritan theologian of his day. Many would bracket him with Jonathan Edwards as one of the greatest Reformed theologians of all time. What the Apostle John said here was the Apostles’ testimony concerning the Anointed One when He dwelt among them in the days of His incarnation. They saw “His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”^[6] Divine magnificence was manifest in Him, and in Him, they saw the splendor of the Father. So, the same Apostle witnesses again, who recorded this testimony: “For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us.”^[7] In the Son incarnate, eternal life initially in and with the Father was demonstrated in us.^[8]

Anglican Biblical scholar and theologian Bishop Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1901) speaks of “life” in the present and the future.  It is already; spoken of as “everlasting life” to distinguish it from everyday life, life in the sense of time under which humans exist and succeed. Proof of such life phenomena may be “death.”^[9] But “everlasting life” is beyond the limitations of time: it belongs to the being of God and finds its fulfillment in the transforming vision of the Son seen as He is.^[10] For us now, therefore, it is spoken of as both present and future. The “life everlasting” is essentially present, so far as it is the potential present completion in humanity.^[11] Possession of life becomes a matter of actual knowledge in light of the ever-present fear of death.^[12] However, this thought of the current reality of’ his version of eternal life is characteristic of John and peculiar to him.^{[13] [14]}

Philip Mauro (1859-1952) points out that the incarnate Word and the written Word are both “living.” Of the many declarations which the Bible makes concerning the Word of God, none is more significant, and indeed none is of greater importance to dying humanity, than the statement that the Word of God is a LIVING WORD. In Philippians, we have the expression, “The Word of Life.”^[15] The same phrase occurs here in verse one. It is used of Jesus the Anointed One, the Incarnate Word,^[16] whereas in Philippians, speaks of the Written Word.

As referred to in Scripture, says Mauro, the Written Word and the Incarnate Word are not always clearly distinguished. Bible writers say the same things of the Written and Incarnate Word and the same characteristics. The fundamental resemblance lies in the fact that each is the revealer or visible expression of the Invisible God. As the written or spoken Word expresses, to communicate to another, the invisible and inaccessible thought, so Jesus the Anointed One as the Incarnate Word, and the Holy Scriptures as the Written Word, express and share knowledge of the invisible and inaccessible God. “He that has seen Me has seen the Father.” “Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.”^{[17] [18]}

Rudolf Bultmann (1883-1976) says that John is speaking here of the Anointed One in a prophetic sense. Therefore, the pre-existent Logos is not what John speaks of here, but its “manifestation” and “incarnation.” It was the object of what was heard, seen, and touched, and thus the origin of the message John brought. Everything the Apostles witnessed while they were with the Messiah was not the Logos uncovered but manifested in human form.^[19]

Think of it this way, Bultmann says, when it says in Genesis, “And God said,” that was the Logos – the Word. Even though the Word started creating the universe, it’s hard to see “the Word” unless it is made visible. It would be like John saying, “You remember at the beginning when God said, “Let there be light?” well, I proclaim to you that we’ve seen that Word and that Light in the flesh. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of the Living God!

Ian Howard Marshall (1914-2015) put it this way: Here, we have the incredible potential of Christian thought: “He who existed from limitless eternity has entered time and space and taken up residence here on earth.”^[20]  He goes on to say: Through a historical event, God channeled His life to us, an event that John says is verified by people who saw it.^[21] Another Bible commentator adds a thought for us to consider. Although the Christian message is the means of bringing everlasting life, it was of supreme importance to the writer to clarify beyond all possibility of misunderstanding that God revealed the life to which it bears witness in the historical person of Jesus. It is why he now includes this slightly misplaced parenthesis, which interrupts his line of thought. Its very awkwardness calls attention to its importance: The life God gives He revealed historically in Jesus.^[22]

We are not to just observe that life. God meant it as a way of our joining in union with Him in everyday life.  As Donald W. Burdick (1917-1996) puts it: “He is not only the living Word, the source of life, but He is life itself.”^[23]For instance, if someone asks you, “May I hitch a ride with you for lunch?” The answer, “Sure, Jesus only takes up one seat, so I have plenty of room for you.” Question: “Are you going to the game tonight?”  Answer: “You know, Jesus and I haven’t talked that over yet, but as soon as we do, I’ll let you know.” Question: “Do you plan to stay late tonight and get some more work done?” Answer: “Yes, I plan to stay, but I won’t be alone.” “Oh, who’s staying with you?” “My best friend.  His name is Jesus.” Are you getting the point now? I hope so!  After all, didn’t Jesus say: “I came to give life, a life that is fuller than just existing.”^[24]

Dutch Bible scholar Simon J. Kistemaker (1930-2017), Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary, takes issue with many translators who do not consider the literal Greek in the opening clause that reads, “And the Life appeared.” He points out that this conjunction conveys an affirmative intent we can translate as “indeed.” The Amplified Bible renders the verse as follows: “And the Life [an aspect of His being] was manifested.” Furthermore, John also wants to emphasize the meaning of “life,” so he placed the article “the” in front of the word “Life.” In other words, Jesus was not just “life,” but He was “the Life.”^[25]

American Reformed Christian theologian James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000) notes that the most crucial thing John says in these opening verses is that Christianity is Christ. Without the Anointed One, there would be no Christianity, for Christianity began by God’s revelation of Himself in Jesus and continues by the authoritative testimony of the Apostles and others to that revelation. So, it stands to reason that without the Anointed One, there would be no Christianity in the world today.^[26]

Ravi Zacharias (1946-2020), an Indian-born Canadian-American Christian defender, tells us that Paul Tillich, the noted existentialist theologian, traveled to Asia to hold conferences with various Buddhist thinkers. He was studying the significance of religious leaders to the movements they had engendered. Tillich asked a simple question. “What if by some fluke, the Buddha had never lived and turned out to be some fabrication? What would be the implications for Buddhism?” Mind you, Tillich was concerned with the indispensability of the Buddha – not his authenticity.

The scholars did not hesitate to answer. If the Buddha was a myth, they said it did not matter at all. Why? Because we judge Buddhism as an abstract philosophy—as a system of living. Whether its concepts originated with the Buddha is irrelevant. As an idea, I think the Buddha himself would have concurred. Knowing that his death was imminent, he implored his followers not to focus on him but to remember his teachings. Not his life, but his way of life was to be attended to and propagated. Could we treat Christianity the same way? Absolutely not! No Christ, no Christianity.

---

[1] See Luke 1:2

[2] Ibid. 10:24

[3] 2 Corinthians 5:16

[4] John Trapp: A Commentary or Exposition upon all the Epistles and the Revelation of John the Divine, Printed by John Bellamy at the Sign of the three golden Lions in Cornhill, 1647, p. 465

[5] 1 John 3:2

[6] John 1:2

[7] 1 John 1:14

[8] John Owen: Vol. 2, Christologia, op. cit., Ch, 5, pp. 95-96; 106

[9] 1 John 3:14; cf. verse sixteen

[10] 1 John 3:2; John 14:23ff

[11] John 3:36, 5:24; 6:47, 54; 20:31; See 1 John 5:12

[12] 1 John 5:13; cf. 1 John 3:15

[13] Galatians 2:20

[14] Brooke F. Westcott: The Epistles of St. John, The Greek Text with Notes and Essays, MacMillan and Co., 1886, p. 217

[15] Philippians 2:16

[16] John 1:14

[17] John 14:9, 11

[18] R. A. Torrey: Life in the Word by Philip Mauro, Ch. 7, pp. 125-126

[19] Bultmann, Rudolf: Epistles of John, op. cit., p. 9

[20] Gary M. Burge, op. cit., p. 53

[21] Ibid. p. 54

[22] Ian Howard Marshall, op. cit., p. 103

[23] The Epistles of John, Donald W. Burdick, Everyman’s Bible Commentary, Moody Press, Chicago, 1970, p. 19

[24] Ibid. 10:10

[25] Simon J. Kistemaker: New Testament Commentary, Exposition of the Epistle of James and the Epistles of John, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1986, p. 236

[26] James Montgomery Boice: The Epistles of John. An Expositional Commentary, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 1979, p. 21

• 

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XVI) 10/26/20

Another current Bible scholar John W. (Jack) Carter (1951-),^[1] sees the Apostle John defending the preeminence of his Gospel as opposed to a so-called “good news” that the church was hearing from the false preachers. Noting his relationship with the truth, John makes it clear that his theology is derived from first-hand knowledge of Jesus the Anointed One and was taught by Him directly. Unlike the heretics creating chaos in the church by preaching a message of their creation, John can prove that he bases his true-faith presentation upon a personal relationship with Jesus. He heard, saw, observed, and touched Jesus. 

John reminds the church that Jesus is not a myth. He is one who could be engaged in a face-to-face conversation.[2]  Greville Priestley Lewis (1891-1976) already said that for John to have any credibility to make such claims about “The Word,” he must be an “eye-witness.” As in any court of law, when calling a witness, they are to “declare” not what somebody else told them, but what they heard and saw for themselves. Otherwise, it is considered hearsay.^[3]

David Jackman (1973) says that John’s mention of “from the beginning” is not from creation, but the incarnation what John focused on because it was of his most significant interest. There is also a subtle suggestion that John is saying that He, who is the incarnation, was there at creation. The Word that spoke everything into existence is now the Living eternal Word in human form. There can be no separation between the two. There has never been a time when the Word was not, nor will there ever be a time when the Word is not. They converged at just the right moment in time, foreordained by the Father.^[4]

The idea of the logos in Greek thought harks back at least to the 6th-century BC when philosopher Heraclitus discerned in the cosmic process a logos like that of humans’ reasoning power. Later, the Stoic philosophers who followed the thinker Zeno of Citium (4th–3rd century BC), defining the logos as an active rational and spiritual principle that permeated all reality. They called the logos providence, nature, god, and the universe’s soul, composed of many influential logoi (plural) in the universal logos. Philo Judaeus (Philo of Alexandria), a 1st-century AD Jewish philosopher, taught that the logos was the intermediary between God and the cosmos, being both the agent of creation and the agent through which the human mind can apprehend and comprehend God. According to Philo and the Middle Platonists (philosophers who interpreted in religious terms the teachings of Plato), the logos was both inherent in the world and, at the same time, the transcendent divine mind.

It is as if John said to everyone, “This Logos you have been talking about and writing about for centuries – well, we have heard Him, seen Him, studied Him, and touched Him. Now, let me now tell you about Him.” I like the way Guzik puts it:  What John wrote of is not the beginning of this world, nor is it the beginning of creation. It is the beginning revealed in Genesis 1 and John 1:1. Before there was anything, this beginning existed, to begin with when all that existed was God and in God.^[5]

1:2a     John says it this way, Yes, the One who is the Life was shown to us … 

EXPOSITION

It appears that John did not want any reader of his letter to entertain any doubts that he didn’t know who he was talking about. And as far as Jesus is the Anointed One who revealed spiritual life, John remembers what he said in his Gospel: “Eternal life is in him, and this life gives light to all mankind.”^[6] And our Lord made that truth personally known to Martha, the sister of Lazarus when He assured her that “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Me will have life even if they die.”^[7]

The Apostle Paul told Timothy that it is quite true that the way to live a godly life is not an easy matter. The answer lies in the Anointed One, who came to earth as a human, was proven spotless and pure in His spirit, served by angels, preached among the nations, accepted by people everywhere, and received up again to His glory in heaven.^[8] And later, Paul wrote Timothy and told him, and now the coming of our Savior, the Anointed One, Jesus, is revealed to us. He destroyed death and showed us the way to have life. Yes, through the Good News, Jesus showed us the way to have life everlasting.^[9] The same is true of those who talk about being a Christian because, as an infant, they were baptized, went to church, and participated in all the church’s rites, rituals, and ceremonies. However, true believers can talk about a personal relationship as a result of what they heard, experienced, and felt in their hearts.

But Jesus telling others about His mission was not enough. He told His disciples that after He sent the Comforter – the Holy Spirit, He would also be a witness to who Jesus was. However, they must also go out and testify that they were with Him from the beginning and are His witnesses. Jesus was no secret agent who was supposed to remain undercover during His mission here on earth. In that case, He would have died mysteriously in some underground dungeon, not openly on a cross not too far from Jerusalem’s market square.^[10] To back up his first letter to the elders among the scattered Messianic Jews, Peter told them that he also was an elder and a witness to the Anointed One’s sufferings and will share in His glory when He again is revealed to the whole world.^[11]

COMMENTARY

Clement of Alexandria (150-216) tells us about the manifestation to signify that the Eternal Life always existed, without beginning.[12] And Andreas (600-700) feels that John says this regarding the close union of the Word with the flesh. Or perhaps he says this concerning the resurrection, considering how it was made known to the apostles by Thomas’s action. That proved that Christ rose again with the same flesh in which he was crucified.[13]

That’s why Didymus the Blind (313-398) noted an essential difference between seeing and contemplating. What a person sees can be shared with others, which is not always possible with things we envision in our minds. There are many things foreseen by our imagination but cannot be expressed in words because they are indescribably formed in our vision. In this verse, let us note that those who are bearing witness are not validating the life of Jesus but making themselves more believable by their witnessing.[14]

James Arminius (1560-1609), theologian and minister of the Dutch Reformed Church,  opposed the strict Calvinist teaching on predestination. So, in response, he fashioned a theological system known later as “Arminianism.” Arminius received a theological professorship at Leiden, Germany, which he held until his death. For Arminius, the Apostle John’s theology offers God in Christ as an object of our sight and knowledge. It shines with such clearness, splendor, and plainness that we can behold Him as in a mirror. Thus, by the glory of the Lord, we are transformed by the Spirit into the same image from glory to glory.^[15]

In comparison with this brightness and glory, which was so unmatched and surpassing, says Arminius, the Law itself is said not to have been either bright or glorious: For it “had no glory in this respect, there was an even brighter glory.”^[16] It is true because that glory is “the wisdom of God kept secret from the beginning of the world.”^[17] This great mystery is overwhelming and unfathomable, yet, exhibited in the Anointed One, Jesus. He was “made manifest” with such brilliant clearness that we saw God in human form.^[18] It was for no other reason than it could never have happened without Him becoming a human. His incarnation had one purpose. As John says, “that the eternal life with the Father, and the Word of Life from the beginning with God, might be heard with our ears, seen with our eyes, and handled with our hands.”^[19]

---

[1] University professor (retired). University of Memphis, State University of New York, UNC Charlotte and Publisher & Editor, American Journal of Biblical Theology

[2] Carter, Dr. John W. (Jack). 1,2,3, John & Jude: Holding to the Truth in Love (The Disciple’s Bible Commentary Book 48) (pp. 8-9). The American Journal of Biblical Theology.  Hayesville, NC. Kindle Edition.

[3] Lewis, Greville P., Epworth Preacher’s Commentaries, The Johannine Epistles, The Epworth Press, London, 1961, p. 10

[4] Galatians 4:4

[5] Ibid.

[6] John 1:4

[7] John 11:25 – New Century Version (NCV)

[8] 1 Timothy 3:16

[9] 2Timothy 1:10

[10] John 15:27

[11] 1 Peter 5:1

[12] Clement of Alexandria: Commentary on First Epistle of John, op. cit., p. 1161

[13] Andreas: Bray, G. (Ed.), op. cit., 1-3 John, pp. 167–168

[14] Didymus the Blind, Bray, G. (Ed.)., op. cit., p. 167

[15] 1 Corinthians 3:18

[16] 2 Corinthians 3:8

[17] 1 Corinthians 2:7. Romans 16:25

[18] 1 Timothy 3:16

[19] The Works of James Arminius, Vol. 1, Oration 2, p. 56