New Testament 101: 1, 2 and 3 John

[This week, Pastor Beryl addresses the three short letters from John in a single post.]

1 John:

John wants Christian believers to know that when we tell God about our sins, God will forgive us and take them away (1:9).

The true test of faith is love for each other (3: 1124).  Because God is love, his people must be like him (4: 1-21).  For a complete victory over sin, we must not only love others, but we must believe that Jesus, the Son of God, is truly Christ and that his death for us was real (5: 1-12).  Remember:

The Word that give life was from the beginning, and is the one
our message is about  (1: 1a)

A Quick Look at This Letter

1.The Word that Gives Life (1: 1-4)  
2. God is Light and Christ our Example (1:5-2:6)
3. The New Commandment (2: 7-17)   
4. The Enemies of Christ and God’s Children (2:18-3:10)
5. God’s Love and Our Love (3:11-4:21)
6.Victory Over the World (5: 1-21)

2 John:

John writes again about the importance of love in a Christian’s life.  He points out that truth and love must go together.  We must also believe that Christ was truly human and we must love each other.

A Quick Look at This Letter

1. Greetings and Prayer (1-3)
2. Truth and Love (4-11)
3. Final Greetings (12, 13)

3 John:

In this letter the writer reminds Christian readers that they should help support those who go to other parts of the world to tell others about the Lord.  The letter is written to an important church member called Gaius, who had been very helpful to Christians wo traveled around and preached the good news.

A Quick Look at This Letter

1. Greetings to Gaius (1-4)
2. The Importance of Working Together (5-12)
3. Final Greetings (13-15)