Presbyterian Teacher: April 2020

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Teaching Notes Book of FIRST JOHN Chapters 4 and 5

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Teaching Notes Book of FIRST JOHN Chapters 4 and 5

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Hugh Wood, Atlanta, Georgia

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Papyrus 9 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), P9, and named Oxyrhynchus papyri 402, is an early copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the First Epistle of John, dating paleographically to the early 3rd century.

Papyrus P9 was discovered by Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. Papyrus 9 is currently housed at the Houghton Library, Harvard University, Semitic Museum Inv. 3736, Cambridge (Massachusetts).

The surviving text is a fragment of one leaf containing verses 4:11-12,14-17, written in one column per page. The original codex had 16 lines per page. The text on the manuscript was written very carelessly, evidenced by the crude and irregular handwriting, and the manuscript contains some unintelligible spellings.

Papyrus 9 Book of First John

Papyrus 74 designated as P74, is a copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Acts of the Apostles and Catholic epistles with lacunae. The manuscript paleographically had been assigned to the 7th century.

Papyrus 74 Book of First John

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The first Quarantine in the USA since 1918 continues. It is Day 49.

It does look like the worst of the Quarantine will be lifting soon – at least for our State – perhaps not others.

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"The grass withers and the flower [fades], but the word of [the Lord] endures forever." Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:24-25.

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1 JOHN

Chapter 4:1-6. False Prophets

Apparently, Churches were beset by False Teachers, claiming

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit for their Doctrines. Generally. says

John, their trustworthiness could be tested by their Loyalty to

the Deity of Jesus,

Chapter 4:7-21. Love

John returns to his favorite theme, Love, the keynote of the

Epistle. He is very insistent that being Saved by the Grace of

Christ Does Not Release us from the necessity of Obeying Christ’s

Commandments. And Christ’s Chief Commandment is Love. We

Know Christ if. We Keep His Commandments, 2:3. He that says,

I Know Him, and Keeps Not His Commandments, Is a Liar, 2:4.

Whatsoever we Ask, we receive, because we Keep His Com-

mandments, 3:22. This is His Commandment, that we Love One

Another, 3:23. He that Keeps His Commandments Abides in Him,

3:24. This Commandment we have from God, that he who Loves

God Love his Brother also, 4:21. This is the Love of God, that

we Keep His Commandments, 5:3. It is told of John that, when

he Was old and too feeble to walk, he would be carried into ths.

Church, and, in speaking, would always say, “Little children,

Love One Another. It is the Lord’s Commandment”.

Chapter 5. Assurance of Eternal Life

"Know” is one of. the key Words of this Epistle. We Know that

we Know God. 2:3. We Know that we are in Him. 2:5. We Know

that when He shall Appear we shall be Like Him, 3:2. We Know

that we have Passed from Death to Life, because we Love the

Brethren, 3:14. We Know that we are of the Truth, 3:19. We

Know that God lives in us, 3:24. We Know that we live in

God, 4:13. These things have I written that you may Know that

you have Eternal Life, 5:13. We Know that God hears us, 5:15.

We Know that we ate of God, 5:19.

Many Christians are discouraged because they do not feel Sure

that they are Saved. Sometimes we hear it said that if we do

not Know we are Saved, that is a sign that we are Not Saved.

We think this is an extreme assertion. It is a mistake to identify?

Assurance with Salvation. A new-born babe scarcely Knows it

has been born, but it has. Assurance comes with Growth. We be-

lieve it is possible for a Christian's Faith to get stronger and

stronger till, to himself, at least, it reaches the Full Assurance of

Knowledge.

Eternal Life, 13, begins when a person becomes a Christian, and

Never Ends. It is a Life of Divine Quality and Endless Duration.

Assurance of it is the object of this Epistle.

The Sin unto Death, 16, probably, refers to the unpardonable

Sin spoken of by Jesus, Matt 12:31-32. See note on Heb 6:14.

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The Bible Project

The Books of First, Second and Third JOHN

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1 John 4 New International Version (NIV)

On Denying the Incarnation

4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

God’s Love and Ours

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

Footnotes:

1 John 4:6 Or spirit

1 John 5 New International Version (NIV)

Faith in the Incarnate Son of God

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the[a] Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Concluding Affirmations

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. 19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

Footnotes:

1 John 5:8 Late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. 8 And there are three that testify on earth: the (not found in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century)

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Audio Book NIV Book of First John

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New International Version (NIV)

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Hugh C. Wood, Atlanta, Georgia

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Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Teaching Notes Book of FIRST JOHN Chapters 3

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Teaching Notes Book of FIRST JOHN Chapters 3

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Hugh Wood, Atlanta, Georgia

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The first Quarantine in the USA since 1918 continues. It is Day 45.

Took wife to the ZOOM Doctor today. Still very strange. Phone calls. ZOOM Meetings. Heard of the first ZOOM Trial in Georgia. Walked the dog in the deep woods listening to 8th Century Gregorian Chants. 432Hz. Quite and amazing experience actually.

Having to learn to just turn it all over to the TriPartate God and ask for Him to work out His will in my life.

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"The grass withers and the flower [fades], but the word of [the Lord] endures forever." Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:24-25.

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Chapter 3:1-12. Righteousness

Here are some very strong statements about Sin. Whoever

Sins Knows Not Christ, 6. He that does Sin is of the Devil, 8.

Whoever is Begotten of God Cannot Sin. 9. Yet, John had just

said, If we say that we have No Sin we deceive ourselves. 1:8.

If we say that we have Not Sìnned we make God a Liar, 1:10.

How explain these paradoxical statements? There is a difference

between Sins of Weakness and Wilfull Habitual Sin. It is largely a

matter of the Inner Nature. An Eagle may dip its wings in the

mud, and yet be an Eagle. A Righteous man may have Sins of

Weakness. and yet Be a Righteous Man. John may have had in

mind certain heretic teachers, like Jezebel, Rev 2:20, who. while

claiming superior Fellowship with God, were at the same time

wallowing in the Filth of Immorality.

Chapter 3:13-24. love

The dominant note of this Epistle is Love. We should Love

One Another, 3:11. He that Loves Not his Brother is Not of

God, 3:10. We know that we have passed out of Death into Life

because we Love the Brethren, 3:14. He that Loves Not abides

in Death, 3:14. Whoever Hates his Brother is a Murderer, 3:15.

Let us Love One Another, 4:7. Every one that Loves “is begotten

of God, and Knows God, 4:7. Love is of God. 4:7. We ought to

Love One Another, 4:11. God is Love, 4:16. He that Abides in

Love Abides in God, 4:17. If we Love One Another God Abides

in us, 4:12. Perfect Love Casts Out Fear. 4:18. We Love because

He ﬁrst Loved Us, 4:19. If a man say, I Love God, and Hates his

Brother, He Is a Liar, 4:20. He that Loves Not his Brother whom

he has seen, How can he Love God Whom he has Not Seen? 4:20.

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The Bible Project
The Books of First, Second and Third JOHN

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1 John 3 New International Version (NIV)

3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Teaching Notes Book of FIRST JOHN Chapters 1 and 2

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Teaching Notes Book of FIRST JOHN Chapters 1 and 2

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Hugh Wood, Atlanta, Georgia

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Papyrus 9 Book of First John

Papyrus 74 Book of First John

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The first Quarantine in the USA since 1918 continues. It is Day 44.

ZOOM Church today. Still very strange.

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"The grass withers and the flower [fades], but the word of [the Lord] endures forever." Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:24-25.

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1 JOHN

Jesus is the Son of God

Those who Follow Him Must Live Righteously

If We are His We Will Love One Another

This Epistle, like the Epistle to the Hebrews, names neither

its Author, nor the Persons to whom it is addressed, though it is

very personal, as appears from the frequent use Of “I“ and “You".

From the beginning it has been recognized as a Circular Letter

of the Apostle John to the Churches around Ephesus, “to empha-

size the Main Essentials of the Gospel, and to warn against in-

cipient Heresies which later produced a Corrupt and Paganized

Form of Christianity.

According to long received tradition, John made Jerusaiem his

headquarters, caring for Jesus‘ Mother till her death, and. after

the destruction of Jerusalem, made his residence at Ephesus.

which by the close “oi the Apostolic generation had become the

Geographic and Numerical Center of Christian Population. Here

John lived to great age, and wrote his Gospel, his Three Epistles.

and Book of Revelation. Among his pupils were Polycarp, Papias,

and Ignatius, who became, respectively, bishops of Smyrna, Hier-

apolis, and Antioch.

Background of The Epistle

Christianity had been in the world some sixty or seventy years,

and in many parts of the Roman Empire had become an important

religion and a powerful inﬂuence. Naturally there came to be

all sorts of efforts to amalgamate the Gospel with prevailing

philösophies and systems of thought.

A form of Gnosticism which was disrupting the Churches in

John’s day taught that there is in human nature an irreconcil-

able principle of Dualism: that Spirit and Body are two separate

entities: that Sin resided in the Flesh only: that the Spirit could

have its raptures, and the Body could do as it pleased: that lofty

mental mystical Piety was entirely consistent with voluptuous

sensual life. They denied the Incarnation, that God had in Christ

actually become Flesh, and maintained that Christ was a Phantom,

a Man in Appearance Only.

In Ephesus a man named Cerinthus was “leader of this cult.

He claimed for himself inner mystic experiences and exalted

knowledge of God, but was a Voluptuary. Throughout this Epistle

it seems that John must have had these heretics in mind, in in-

sisting that Jesus was the Actual, Material, Authentic Manifesta-

tion of God in the Flesh, and that Genuine Knowledge of God

must result in Moral Transformation.

Chapter 1:1-4 The Incarnation

God became Flesh, in Human Form. 21 times in this Epistle

Jesus is called The Son of God.1'2 times God is spoken of as The

Father. Thus the Deity- of Jesus, the Father and Son relation of

God and Jesus, is a special emphasis of the Epistle.

John was Jesus' most intimate earthly Friend. For three years

John accompanied Jesus ín His journeys over Palestine, minis

tering to Him day and night, as Jesus wrought His Mighty Mir

acles. At the Last Supper, John leaned on Jesus” bosom, as Jesus

talked of His approaching Cruciﬁxion.

To John, Jesus was no Phantom, or Dream, or mere Vision; but

a Real Person, the Embodiment of Life, Eternal Life, 2.

And John wrote this Epistle that others might share his feeling

of Fellowship, Companionship, and Joy, in Christ and in the

Father, and with one another, 3,4.

Chapter 1:5-10. God is Light

That is the “way” John‘s Gospel starts: the Word of God . . .

the Light of Men, John 1: 1,4. Jesus had Said, I am the Light of

the world, John 8:12.

Light stands for God's Realm of Truth, Righteousness, Purity,

Joy, Ineﬁable Glory. Darkness stands for this World of Error,

Evil, Ignorance, Wickedness, and Abode of the Lost;

In a more real and literal sense, Light may be an attribute of

God beyond the understanding of ﬂeshly eyes. God Clothes Him

self with Light, Psa 104:2. God dwells in Light Unapproachable,

I Tim 6:16. Father of Lights is one of God’s names, Jas 1:17.

Jesus’ Garments, at His Transﬁguration, became glistering White,

Mark 9:3. The Angel at Jesus' Resurrection was White as Snow,

Matt 28:3. The two who accompanied Jesus in His Ascension were

in White, Acts 1:10. In the vision in Rev 1:14-16, Jesus’ Head and

Hair were White as Snow. See further on Rev 3:4.

Chapter 2:1-17. Walking in the Light

Walking with God does not mean that we are Without Sin. We

have Sinned in the past. and we still have Sin in our nature.

It is by virtue, Not of our Sinlessness, but of Christ’s Death for

our Sin, that we have our Companionship with God. The moment

we are conscious of any Sinful Act, if that moment, in genuine

penitence and humility, we confess it, our Companionship with

”God may remain unbroken. The Saintliest of “men invariably

have been deeply conscious of their own Sinfulness.

One” of the conditions of having our Sins Forgiven is that we

Keep His Commandments, 1—6. Yet Sin is «itself the Failure to

Keep His Commandments. This is one of John’s paradoxes. See

further on 3:1-12.

1 John Chapter 2:18-29. The Anti-Christ

The word “Anti-Christ" is mentioned in 2:18,22; 4:3; II Jn 7.

It occurs nowhere else in the Bible. It is commonly identiﬁed

with the Man of Sin. II Thess 2, and the Beast of Rev 13. But the

Bible itself does not make the identiﬁcation. The language im-

plies that John’s readers had been taught to expect an Anti-

Christ in connection with the closing days of the Christian Era,

18. However, John applies the word, not to One Person, but to

the whole group of Anti-Christian Teachers, 2:18; 4:3. The New

Testament idea seems to be that the Spirit of Anti-Christ would

arise in Christendom, manifesting itself in many ways, both.

Within the Church and Without, ﬁnally culminating in One Per-

son, or an Institution, or Both.

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The Bible Project

The Books of First, Second and Third JOHN

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1 John 1 New International Version (NIV)

The Incarnation of the Word of Life

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete.

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Footnotes:

1 John 1:4 Some manuscripts your

1 John 1:7 Or every

1 John 2 New International Version (NIV)

2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister[b] is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister[c] lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

Reasons for Writing

12 I am writing to you, dear children,

because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

13 I am writing to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.

I am writing to you, young men,

because you have overcome the evil one.

14 I write to you, dear children,

because you know the Father.

I write to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men,

because you are strong,

and the word of God lives in you,

and you have overcome the evil one.

On Not Loving the World

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[d] is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

Warnings Against Denying the Son

18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.[e] 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.

26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

God’s Children and Sin

28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

Footnotes:

1 John 2:5 Or word, God’s love

1 John 2:9 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in verse 11; and in 3:15, 17; 4:20; 5:16.

1 John 2:10 The Greek word for brother and sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in 3:10; 4:20, 21.

1 John 2:15 Or world, the Father’s love

1 John 2:20 Some manuscripts and you know all things

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Audio Book NIV Book of First John

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New International Version (NIV)

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Hugh C. Wood, Atlanta, Georgia

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END