Don't Love the World 12 I'm writing to you, dear children, because your sins are forgiven through Christ.

13 I'm writing to you, fathers, because you know Christ who has existed from the beginning.

I'm writing to you, young people, because you have won the victory over the evil one.

14 I've written to you, children, because you know the Father.

I've written to you, fathers, because you know Christ, who has existed from the beginning.

I've written to you, young people, because you are strong and God's word lives in you. You have won the victory over the evil one.

15 Don't love the world and what it offers. Those who love the world don't have the Father's love in them. 16 Not everything that the world offers-physical gratification, greed, and extravagant lifestyles-comes from the Father. It comes from the world, and 17 the world and its evil desires are passing away. But the person who does what God wants lives forever.

Live in Christ 18 Children, it's the end of time. You've heard that an antichrist is coming. Certainly, many antichrists are already here. That's how we know it's the end of time. 19 They left us. However, they were never really part of us. If they had been, they would have stayed with us. But by leaving they made it clear that none of them were part of us.

20 The Holy One has anointed you, so all of you have knowledge. 21 I'm writing to you because you know the truth, not because you don't know the truth. You know that no lie ever comes from the truth.

22 Who is a liar? Who else but the person who rejects Yeshua as the Messiah? The person who rejects the Father and the Son is an antichrist. 23 Everyone who rejects the Son doesn't have the Father either. The person who acknowledges the Son also has the Father. 24 Make sure that the message you heard from the beginning lives in you. If that message lives in you, you will also live in the Son and in the Father. 25 Christ has given us the promise of eternal life.

26 I'm writing to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 The anointing you received from Christ lives in you. You don't need anyone to teach you something else. Instead, Christ's anointing teaches you about everything. His anointing is true and contains no lie. So live in Christ as he taught you to do.

We Are God's Children 28 Now, dear children, live in Christ. Then, when he appears we will have confidence, and when he comes we won't turn from him in shame. 29 If you know that Christ has God's approval, you also know that everyone who does what God approves of has been born from God.

3 1 Consider this: The Father has given us his love. He loves us so much that we are actually called God's dear children. And that's what we are. For this reason the world doesn't recognize us, and it didn't recognize him either. 2 Dear friends, now we are God's children. What we will be isn't completely clear yet. We do know that when Christ appears we will be like him because we will see him as he is. 3 So all people who have this confidence in Christ keep themselves pure, as Christ is pure.

4 Those who live sinful lives are disobeying God. Sin is disobedience. 5 You know that Christ appeared in order to take away our sins. He isn't sinful. 6 Those who live in Christ don't go on sinning. Those who go on sinning haven't seen or known Christ.

7 Dear children, don't let anyone deceive you. Whoever does what God approves of has God's approval as Christ has God's approval. 8 The person who lives a sinful life belongs to the devil, because the devil has been committing sin since the beginning. The reason that the Son of God appeared was to destroy what the devil does. 9 Those who have been born from God don't live sinful lives. What God has said lives in them, and they can't live sinful lives. They have been born from God. 10 This is the way God's children are distinguished from the devil's children. Everyone who doesn't do what is right or love other believers isn't God's child.

Love One Another 11 The message that you have heard from the beginning is to love each other. 12 Don't be like Cain. He was a child of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain murder his brother? Because the things Cain did were evil and the things his brother did had God's approval. 13 Brothers and sisters, don't be surprised if the world hates you.

14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love other believers. The person who doesn't grow in love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates another believer is a murderer, and you know that a murderer doesn't have eternal life.

16 We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave his life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers. 17 Now, suppose a person has enough to live on and notices another believer in need. How can God's love be in that person if he doesn't bother to help the other believer? 18 Dear children, we must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words.

19 This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and how we will be reassured in his presence. 20 Whenever our conscience condemns us, we will be reassured that God is greater than our conscience and knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our conscience doesn't condemn us, we can boldly look to God 22 and receive from him anything we ask. We receive it because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 This is his commandment: to believe in his Son, the one named Yeshua Christ, and to love each other as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey Christ's commandments live in God, and God lives in them. We know that he lives in us because he has given us the Spirit.

Test People Who Say They Have God's Spirit 4 1 Dear friends, don't believe all people who say that they have the Spirit. Instead, test them. See whether the spirit they have is from God, because there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is how you can recognize God's Spirit: Every person who declares that Yeshua Christ has come as a human has the Spirit that is from God. 3 But every person who doesn't declare that Yeshua Christ has come as a human has a spirit that isn't from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that you have heard is coming. That spirit is already in the world.

4 Dear children, you belong to God. So you have won the victory over these people, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 These people belong to the world. That's why they speak the thoughts of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We belong to God. The person who knows God listens to us. Whoever doesn't belong to God doesn't listen to us. That's how we can tell the Spirit of truth from the spirit of lies.

God's Love Lives in His People 7 Dear friends, we must love each other because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God. 8 The person who doesn't love doesn't know God, because God is love. 9 God has shown us his love by sending his only Son into the world so that we could have life through him. 10 This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the payment for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if this is the way God loved us, we must also love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 We know that we live in him and he lives in us because he has given us his Spirit.

14 We have seen and testify to the fact that the Father sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God lives in those who declare that Yeshua is the Son of God, and they live in God. 16 We have known and believed that God loves us. God is love. Those who live in God's love live in God, and God lives in them.

17 God's love has reached its goal in us. So we look ahead with confidence to the day of judgment. While we are in this world, we are exactly like him with regard to love. 18 No fear exists where his love is. Rather, perfect love gets rid of fear, because fear involves punishment. The person who lives in fear doesn't have perfect love.

19 We love because God loved us first. 20 Whoever says, "I love God," but hates another believer is a liar. People who don't love other believers, whom they have seen, can't love God, whom they have not seen. 21 Christ has given us this commandment: The person who loves God must also love other believers.

Those Who Believe in Jesus Are God's Children 5 1 Everyone who believes that Yeshua is the Messiah has been born from God. Everyone who loves the Father also loves his children. 2 We know that we love God's children when we love God by obeying his commandments. 3 To love God means that we obey his commandments. Obeying his commandments isn't difficult 4 because everyone who has been born from God has won the victory over the world. Our faith is what wins the victory over the world. 5 Who wins the victory over the world? Isn't it the person who believes that Yeshua is the Son of God?

6 This Son of God is Yeshua Christ, who came by water and blood. He didn't come with water only, but with water and with blood. The Spirit is the one who verifies this, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 There are three witnesses:a 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood. These three witnesses agree.

9 We accept human testimony. God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony that he has given about his Son. 10 Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony of God in them. Those who don't believe God have made God a liar. They haven't believed the testimony that God has given about his Son.

11 This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is found in his Son. 12 The person who has the Son has this life. The person who doesn't have the Son of God doesn't have this life.

Conclusion 13 I've written this to those who believe in the Son of God so that they will know that they have eternal life.

14 We are confident that God listens to us if we ask for anything that has his approval. 15 We know that he listens to our requests. So we know that we already have what we ask him for.

16 If you see another believer committing a sin that doesn't lead to death, you should pray that God would give that person life. This is true for those who commit sins that don't lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I'm not telling you to pray about that. 17 Every kind of wrongdoing is sin, yet there are sins that don't lead to death.

18 We know that those who have been born from God don't go on sinning. Rather, the Son of God protects them, and the evil one can't harm them.

19 We know that we are from God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

20 We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we know the real God. We are in the one who is real, his Son Yeshua Christ. This Yeshua Christ is the real God and eternal life.

21 Dear children, guard yourselves from false gods.

a 5:7 Four very late manuscripts add verses 7b-8a: "in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. These three witnesses agree. And there are three witnesses on earth:"

Introduction to 2 JOHN.

This tiny letter-the shortest book in the Bible-may have been intended as a preface to 1 John. In a time when Christian leaders were frequently persecuted, its author chooses to name no names.

Whoever he was, he must have been well-known to its recipients, since he calls himself "the church leader" and assumes they will recognize him. Tradition identifies him with the apostle John. Whether John or one of his followers, the writer shares the fourth Gospel's emphasis on truth and love.

He addresses his remarks to "the chosen lady and her children," and in verse 5 he calls the recipient "dear lady." He closes by saying, "The children of your chosen sister greet you." The "lady" and her "sister" were probably leaders of house churches, which in New Testament times were sometimes headed by women (see, for example, references to the church in Cenchrea where Phoebe was a deacon [Romans 16:1], and to the church in Laodicea that met in Nympha's house [Colossians 4:15]).

The letter's two main points are just as crucial today as they were nearly two thousand years ago. First, Christians must love one another by living as Christ commanded. Second, Christians must firmly reject supposed Christian teachers who do not teach what Christ taught.

The author develops these ideas more fully in the theological essay we call 1 John.

Key Names of God in 2 John Father Son of God Messiah, Christ 2 JOHN.

1.

Greeting 1 1 From the church leader.a To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love because we share the truth. I'm not the only one who loves you. Everyone who knows the truth also loves you. 2 We love you because of the truth which lives in us and will be with us forever.

3 Good will,b mercy, and peace will be with us. They come from God the Father and from Yeshua Christ, who in truth and love is the Father's Son.

Living in the Truth 4 I was very happy to find some of your children living in the truth as the Father has commanded us. 5 Dear lady, I'm now requesting that we continue to love each other. It's not as though I'm writing to give you a new commandment. Rather, from the beginning we were commanded to love each other. 6 Love means that we live by doing what he commands. We were commanded to live in love, and you have heard this from the beginning.

Reject Teachers Who Don't Teach What Christ Taught 7 Many people who deceive others have gone into the world. They refuse to declare that Yeshua Christ came in flesh and blood. This is the mark of a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Be careful that you don't destroy what we've worked for, but that you receive your full reward.

9 Everyone who doesn't continue to teach what Christ taught doesn't have God. The person who continues to teach what Christ taught has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and doesn't bring these teachings, don't take him into your home or even greet him. 11 Whoever greets him shares the evil things he's doing.

Farewell 12 I have a lot to write to you. I would prefer not to write a letter. Instead, I hope to visit and talk things over with you personally. Then we will be completely filled with joy.

13 The children of your chosen sister greet you.

a 1 Or "pastor," or "elder."

b 3 Or "Grace."

Introduction to 3 JOHN.

Though 1, 2, and 3 John all come from the same author ("the church leader"), only 3 John is a personal letter written to one individual, Gaius. The short letter also mentions two other Christian leaders by name: Diotrephes, who opposes the church leader, and Demetrius, who supports him.

The letter's author may have been the apostle John or one of his followers. Its recipient, Gaius, can't be identified. Though someone named Gaius is mentioned several times in the New Testament (Acts 19:29 and 20:4; Romans 16:23; 1 Corinthians 1:14), Gaius was a common name in the first-century Roman Empire, and there's no reason to think this Gaius is the same as any of the others.

The church leader is writing to Gaius in order to introduce Demetrius, who may have delivered the three documents now called 1, 2, and 3 John in one packet. Just as you have previously shown hospitality to traveling Christian teachers, says the church leader, now please welcome Demetrius. Don't be like that power-hungry troublemaker Diotrephes, who won't have anything to do with my emissaries.

When we read 3 John, we can see that division among Christians is nothing new. In 2 John, the church leader briefly outlines a way to reconciliation through love, truth, and obedience to Jesus. In 1 John, he goes into more depth about what Christian love looks like in practice. Read the three books in reverse order, as Gaius probably did, and reflect on the meaning of love in your life and in the life of your church.

Key Names of God in 3 John Messiah, Christ 3 JOHN.

1.

Greeting 1 1 From the church leader.a To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love because we share the truth.

Encouragement for Gaius 2 Dear friend, I know that you are spiritually well. I pray that you're doing well in every other way and that you're healthy. 3 I was very happy when some believers came and told us that you are living according to the truth. 4 Nothing makes me happier than to hear that my children are living according to the truth.

5 Dear friend, you are showing your faith in whatever you do for other believers, especially when they're your guests. 6 These believers have told the congregation about your love. You will do well to support them on their trip in a way that proves you belong to God. 7 After all, they went on their trip to serve the one named Christ, and they didn't accept any help from the people to whom they went. 8 We must support believers who go on trips like this so that we can work together with them in spreading the truth.

Criticism of Diotrephes 9 I wrote a letter to the congregation. But Diotrephes, who loves to be in charge, won't accept us. 10 For this reason, when I come I will bring up what he's doing. He's not satisfied with saying malicious things about us. He also refuses to accept the believers we send as guests. He even tries to stop others who want to accept them and attempts to throw those people out of the congregation.

Praise for Demetrius 11 Dear friend, never imitate evil, but imitate good. The person who does good is from God. The person who does evil has never seen God.

12 Everyone, including the truth itself, says good things about Demetrius. We also say good things about him, and you know that what we say is true.

Farewell 13 I have a lot to write to you. However, I would rather not write. 14 I hope to visit you very soon. Then we can talk things over personally.

15 Peace be with you! Your friends here send you their greetings. Greet each of our friends by name.

a 1 Or "pastor," or "elder."

Introduction to JUDE.

Jude calls himself a "brother of James." The name Jude, with its variations Judah and Judas, was common in Bible times. Jesus had two disciples by this name: Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him, and Judas, son (or brother) of James (Luke 6:13-16; Acts 1:13). He also had a brother named Judas, as well as brothers named James, Joseph, and Simon (Matthew 13:55). Most likely this little book was written by Jesus' brother.

Jude's short letter has a lot in common with 2 Peter. Perhaps they were written at about the same time, responding to similar conditions. Jude does not spend much time describing the theology of the false teachers. They use God's kindness-grace-as an excuse to sin, and they deny Jesus. Those are such basic errors that no more need be said. Jude describes their bad behavior, however, in detail. They are sexual libertines. They "contaminate their bodies with sin, reject the Lord's authority, and insult his glory" (Jude 8). They insult what they don't understand. They imitate the first murderer, Cain. They use their religion to make a profit. They come for communion as if they were believers in good standing. They are selfish, faultfinding, arrogant flatterers. They ridicule God. Unsurprisingly, they cause division wherever they go.

Who are these people? Nobody knows. Jude sounds like he's writing to fellow Jewish Christians-he mentions stories and characters from the Old Testament and the Jewish Apocrypha-but he gives no hints as to who is troubling them. The Gospels and the New Testament Letters are full of warnings against false prophets and false teachers of all sorts, obviously a major problem in the early church. Jude suggests a novel approach to dealing with them.

Should the false teachers be banished? Fined? Shunned? Punished? Jude doesn't say. Instead, he focuses on faithful believers. Grow in faith, he tells them. Pray. Remain in God's love. Look for Christ's mercy. And, while you're at it, show mercy. Be merciful to doubters, people who may be swayed by false teachers. Be merciful even to people whose lives are clearly sinful. You don't need to worry: "God can guard you so that you don't fall and so that you can be full of joy as you stand in his glorious presence without fault" (24).

Key Names of God in Jude Spirit Savior Father Christ Lord JUDE.

1.