& & & Teaching Notes Book of FIRST JOHN Chapters 3 & & & Hugh Wood, Atlanta, Georgia
& & & 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. & & &
"The grass withers and the flower [fades], but the word of [the Lord] endures forever." Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:24-25. & & &
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.
& & &
The Bible Project The Books of First, Second and Third JOHN & & &
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.
More
on Love and Hatred
11
For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one
another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his
brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his
brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,[b]
if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life,
because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15
Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no
murderer has eternal life residing in him.
16
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And
we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has
material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on
them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not
love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
19
This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at
rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater
than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not
condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we
ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his
command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another
as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in
them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he
gave us.
Footnotes:
1
John 3:2 Or when it is made known
1
John 3:13 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to
believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 16.
& & & Teaching Notes Book of FIRST JOHN Chapters 1 and 2 & & &
Hugh
Wood, Atlanta, Georgia
& & &
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
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.
The first
Quarantine in the USA since 1918 continues. It is Day 44.
ZOOM Church
today. Still very strange.
&
& &
"The
grass withers and the flower [fades], but the word of [the Lord] endures
forever." Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:24-25.
& & &
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.
& & &
The Bible Project
The Books of First, Second and Third JOHN
&
& &
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
The first
Quarantine in the USA since 1918 continues. It is Day 42.
I cannot
get used to ZOOM Court, yet. Did Zoom at Toastmasters. Buckhead Toastmasters. Best Evaluator, but I don't know how that can be with only a 2" x 2" broadcast.
&
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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.
Papyrus
72 (Papyrus Bodmer VII-VIII) is the designation used by textual critics of the
New Testament to describe portions of the so-called Bodmer Miscellaneous codex,
namely the letters of Jude, 1 Peter, and 2 Peter. These books seem to have been
copied by the same scribe, and the handwriting has been paleographically
assigned to the 3rd or 4th century. Although the letters of Jude (P.Bodmer VII)
and 1-2 Peter (P.Bodmer VIII) in this codex do not form a single continuous
text, scholars still tend to refer to these three texts as a single early New
Testament papyrus.
This
seems like a reference to What Jesus had told him some
37
years before, John 21:18,19. Or, it may be that Jesus had
ecently
appeared to him, 14; possibly the Quo Vadis appearance.
Peter
had a premonition that Martyrdom was at hand, 14. Reminds
us
of Paul's dying shout of Triumph, II Tim 4:6-8. “The Putting Off
of
my Tabernacle", 14, is a Beautiful Scripture name for Death.
Chapter
1:16-21. Gospel ‘Testimony Sure
It
seems that, in Peter's day, there were precursors of our
modern
critics, who were calling the Story of Jesus and His
Mighty
Works а set of Cunningly Devised Fables, 16. But Peter
had
Seen With His Own Eyes, and he KNEW that what he told
about
Jesus was TRUE. Over a period of three years he had seen
Jesus,
with a word, Heal Multitudes of Sick People. He had seen
Him
Walk on Water, and with a word Still the Storm. He had
seen
Him Transfigured. Three times he saw Him Raise the Dead.
He
Saw Jesus Alive after Crucifixion. And, after Pentecost, Peter
himself,
In Jesus’ Name, did multitudes of Mighty Miracles, Acts
5:15,
and even Raised Dorcas from the Dead, Acts 9:40.
All
this, confirmed in marvelous detail in Old Testament
prophecies
of the Coming Messiah, 1:19-21, see also pages 306-319,
gave
Peter Full Assurance, and Made him Ready for approaching
‘Martyrdom.
He Knew that, for him, the Door Of Glory was about
to
open into the immediate presence of his Beloved Lord, never
more
to leave.
Chapter
2. Church Apostasy
The
Coming of False Teachers is spoken of again and again
in
the New Testament. Jesus warned of Ravening Wolves who
Would
come to the Church in Sheep’s Clothing, Matt 7:15, and
Lead
Many Astray, Matt 24:11. Paul warned of Grievous Wolves
who
would arise in the Church, Speaking Perverse Things, Acts
20:29.30.
Again Paul Predicted that, before the Second Coming of
the
Lord, there would be, in the Church, a Falling Away of
Appalling
Magnitude and Satanic Nature, II Thes 2:1-12. Again
Paul
Foretold the rise to Church Leadership of Ungodly Men,
Traitors
and Hypocrites, who, with a Form of Godliness, would
fill
the Church With Doctrines oi Devils, I Tim 4:1-3; II Tim 321-9.
Jude
seems to have been written mainly to Warn of an Ominous
and
Deadly Trend toward Apostasy which, in his own day, he
saw
rising in the Church, Jude 4-19. And, in Rev. 17, John gives
a
detailed description of the Full-Grown Harlot Church.
Peter,
in his First Epistle, wrote to encourage the Church to
bear
up under Persecution from Without. Here, in this Second
Epistle,
it is to Caution the Church to Guard against Corruption
from
Within.
He
warns of Coming Apostasy, when Leaders in the Church, for
money
considerations, would permit Licentiousness and general
Wrong-Doing.
He speaks of it as being in the future, 2:1. Yet
some
of the language implies that False Teachers were already at
work
within the Church.
He
speaks of their Destructive Heresies, 1: their Pernicious Ways,
2;
their Covetousness, 3; their Walking in Lust, 10; Brute Beasts,
12;
Eyes full of Adultery, 14; Servants of Corruption, 19.
Note:
these expressions are used as referring, not to the World,
but
to Leaders Within the Church.
It
is a sorry picture. Even within the Apostolic generation the
World
and the Devil had succeeded in making heavy onslaughts
on—the
Purity of the Church. And, even now, in our own en
lightened
age, the Gospel of Christ, in its original beauty and
simplicity
and Purity, in many sections of the Church, still is
buried
and hid from view by the rubbish of forms and doctrines
heaped
upon the Church, through the ages, by the World and
the
Devil.
It is
a terrible Sin to Corrupt the Church. All the Ungodly shall
be
Destroyed. This is an unceasing note of Scripture. But One of
the
worst of Sins is, in the Name of Christ, to Foist Lies upon
the
Church in substitution for Christian Truth. Let those who do
it
take warning from what happened to the Fallen Angels, 4, and
to
the world of Noah’s time, 5, and to Sodom and Gomorrah, 6.
Chapter
3. Delay of ¡he Lord's Coming
Jesus
had said things which might have been construed to
imply
His Return in that generation, Matt
16:28; 24:34. The
Apostles
used expressions which indicated His Near Appearance,
Rom 13:12; Heb 10:25; Jas 5:8; Rev 1:3.
Yet
Jesus hinted that His Return might be After a Long Time.
Matt
25:19; and suggested that it would be Wise to prepare for
3
Delay, Matt 25:4. Paul expressly stated<that it would not be
Thes
2:2-3. Peter in the present.
Until
After the Apostasy
This
chapter, hints that it might, in human expectation, be in the
thousand years to a day, 8. God does not count
proportion of time
as
man does. With God a thousand years are as yesterday,
Psa
90:4. He will keep His promise according to His Own chron
ology.
These passages put together seem to
indicate that God
designed
that each successive generation should live in constant
expectation
of the Lord’s Coming.
What
bearing should all this, after 2000 years of Delay. have
on
our thought about the Lord’s Coming? Should we abandon
hope?
NEVER. At least, His Coming is 2000 years nearer than it
was.
The night is far spent. Day may be nearer than we think.
Who
knows but what the Lord’s Train, at long last, may, even
now,
be whistling for the Grand Central Station, with Angels
ready
to shout, All Aboard? Or airplaines? maybe.
One
of the subjects ridiculed by False Teachers mentioned in
Chapter
2 is the Lord’s Second Coming, 323,4. But the Lord Will
Come,
3:10. And it will be a day of Destruction for the Ungodly,
3:7,
like the Flood in the days of Noah. Next time it will be by
Fire.
This is very plainly stated, 3:10. Whether by Explosion, or by
Collision
with some other heavenly body, we do not know. Both
of
these things, astronomers tell us, do happen. There are such
as “Novae",
new stars, which appear suddenly,
grow
things
rapidly brighter, then slowly wane, then disappear. The Earth
is
now one of these, or rather a fragment of one, once thrown.“
off
from the sun a burning mass. When God’s plans are ready,
it
may, by explosion from within, or by collision with some other
heavenly
body, again flare into a seething mass of flame.
But,
from it all, God’s People will be delivered, and for them
there
will be a New Heavens and New Earth, 313,14.
In
closing, Peter mentions Epistles of Paul, 15, and classes
them
as Scripture, 16. And, as in his First Epistle Peter spoke of
the
Word of God as being the Source of Birth, I Pet 1:23, and the
Means
of Growth, I Pet 2:2, for the Christian, so, in this Epistle
foretelling
Apostasy in the Church, Peter insists that Knowledge
of
Christ through His Word will help us make our calling .and
election
Sure. 1:2,4,10; and that the way for the Church to combat
Apostasy,
and Keep itself Pure and Free from Worldly
Corruption,
is to Hold Fast to the Word of God as given by the
Prophets
and Apostles, 1:19; 3:2.
& & &
2 Peter
The Bible Project
& & &
2
Peter 2 New International Version (NIV)
False
Teachers and Their Destruction
2
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be
false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies,
even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on
themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of
truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with
fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and
their destruction has not been sleeping.
4
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,[a]
putting them in chains of darkness[b] to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not
spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but
protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he
condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made
them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued
Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless
8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in
his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so,
then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the
unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. 10 This is especially true
of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh[c] and despise authority.
Bold
and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; 11 yet
even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on
such beings when bringing judgment on them from[d] the Lord. 12 But these
people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning
animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like
animals they too will perish.
13
They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of
pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes,
reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.[e] 14 With eyes full of
adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts
in greed—an accursed brood! 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off
to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer,[f] who loved the wages of wickedness.
16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without
speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
17
These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest
darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by
appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just
escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they
themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has
mastered them.” 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome,
they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have
been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have
known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on
to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”[g]
and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
Footnotes:
2
Peter 2:4 Greek Tartarus
2
Peter 2:4 Some manuscripts in gloomy dungeons
2
Peter 2:10 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the
sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit;
also in verse 18.
2
Peter 2:11 Many manuscripts beings in the presence of
2
Peter 2:13 Some manuscripts in their love feasts
2
Peter 2:15 Greek Bosor
2
Peter 2:22 Prov. 26:11
2
Peter 3 New International Version (NIV)
The
Day of the Lord
3
Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them
as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the
words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord
and Savior through your apostles.
3
Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come,
scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this
‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it
has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long
ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of
water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged
and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved
for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a
thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
9 The Lord is not slow in
keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with
you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with
a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything
done in it will be laid bare.[a]
11
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you
to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day
of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of
the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
13 But in keeping
with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where
righteousness dwells.
14
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort
to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our
Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you
with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his
letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things
that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as
they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17
Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so
that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your
secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Footnotes:
2
Peter 3:10 Some manuscripts be burned up
2
Peter 3:12 Or as you wait eagerly for the day of God to come
