Bible Discussion Thread

INTRODUCTION TO 3 JOHN (Part 6):

So, this movement of Gnosticism is beginning to take several forms. Obviously, Diotrephes thought that he had special knowledge.

But the apostle John and his knowledge was a threat to that, especially since John said if anybody listens to us, they're of God, and if you don't listen to us, you're not of God. That's a pretty strong statement to make!

But here's a man that says that what the apostle John thinks is the truth, is not true. I have special knowledge. There are even churches today that tell their people to stay away from Paul's writings because Paul only had "limited" revelation.

They say that he didn't understand the full truth of God, but now, we have complete revelation that's given to us, a special enlightenment that's given to us that's not in the bible. But it's given to us as we pray and as we seek the Lord.

And they did the same with the apostle John. Now if they rejected the teachings of the apostle Paul and John back then, wouldn't you think that that would happen today? And the answer is yes. Many teachings from the scriptures are rejected!

VII. ABOUT THE THEME AND STYLE OF JOHN'S LETTERS:

John's main theme is the correct doctrine of the humanity of Jesus Christ. The subtheme is the assurance of salvation for genuine believers.

John presents these themes in factual statements rather than generalizations.

I John contains a series of conditional phrases describing the differences between doctrinal truth and error, as well as contrasting a genuine believer with a false one.