The Book of 3 John

Bible Study: The Book of 3 John

1:1 The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.
1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

In 1:2 we can see that John recognizes that Gaius’ soul is prospering (in other words he is laying up treasures in heaven rather than on earth… following the ways of Jesus). John wishes him as much good health and prosperity as his soul has.

1:3 For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.
1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Brethren have reported back to John in 1:3 that Gaius is walking in the truth (John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me). Obviously Gaius is following Jesus’ teachings. In 1:4 when John refers to Gaius as his child, I believe he is referring not to his physical child, but to his spiritual family… John probably lead Gaius to salvation, then making him his child and John his father… John is very pleased that Gaius has continued to walk in the ways of Jesus.

1:5 Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;
1:6 Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:

Gaius does good for not only those he knows and is spiritual brothers with, but also shows his love and kindness to strangers… we need to recognize that only showing that we have Christ in us to those who are already saved doesn’t do any good for those that aren’t saved… we should show our love to all people… look at Christ, who prayed for his enemies while he was hanging on the cross. Jesus has given us the best example of how to live our lives… we need to walk as Jesus walked and do as he did, because this is the way we will do well, not only here on earth, but also in heaven.

1:7 Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.
1:8 We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth.

Even though you and I may not be good at preaching the word, we should accept the help others may give us in doing this so that we can do our part to get the word out and tell everybody the good news.

1:9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.

Diotrephes is the pastor of another church. John wrote him a letter, but Diotrephes, who likes to be the most knowledgeable and be in charge is unwilling to allow John to visit the church.

1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

Diotrephes speaks badly of John and his followers, probably out loud to the church congregation (something a good pastor wouldn’t do). Diotrephes won’t even receive John’s followers, Diotrephes fellow brethren, and forbids anybody in his church to receive them. If somebody doesn’t do something Diotrephes likes, he casts them out of the church… this seems like a dictatorship to me, instead of a family. To me this church sounds like it would be an unhappy one.

You know, the Bible talks a lot about doing things that are edifying to God and to the church, instead of to yourself… Diotrephes seems to only want to do things edifying to himself. Romans 14:19 also says, “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” We should try to lift other people up and help them, and not just try to make ourselves look good. Diotrephes doesn’t want John and his followers to pay the church a visit, because he is afraid he will not look as good or as smart if they do.

1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

John reminds us that we need to good, not evil. A person who does good is of God, and a person who has evil in his heart and does evil things obviously doesn’t known God… I think you have to wonder about a person who claims to be saved, and yet does evil things. Diotrephes would be an example of one of these people… just reading John’s description of the things he does or refuses to do, I have to wonder if he really accepted Jesus as his savior and Lord of his life… when you become saved, a change takes place within you… not a physical change, but a change in your heart, because the Holy Ghost will be in you, and you will want to do good things, or to change for the better for God. Don’t forget, our flesh will still sin, but our soul will not. It is human nature to sin, but there is a difference between simply sinning, and trying to be better, than to have evil in your heart and want to do evil.

1:12 Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true.
1:13 I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee:
1:14 But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.

In this epistle (letter) John has shown Gaius an example of a bad role model (diotrephes) and a good role model (Demetrius, who hath good report of all men and of the truth itself).

Having too much to write to Gaius in a letter, he tells him that he will be coming to talk to him in person. He wishes him peace, gives him greetings from friends, and tells him in the end to greet friends by name.

-JW.

The Book of 2 John

Bible Study: The book of 2 John

Note: While there is no reliable source that tells us John the apostle is the author of this book, “The elder” in verse one is traditionally thought to be John. Second John touches on a few things the book of 1 John goes into in more detail.


1:1 The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;

While some believe “the elect lady and her children” are a noble woman and her family, I think this verse is John addressing a church and the church’s congregation.


1:2 For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.


When John refers to “the truths sake” he is referring to Jesus. John 14:6 says: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Jesus tells us he is the “truth” which is obviously what John is referring to here. We also know this because we know that once we are saved, we have the Holy ghost in us, and we will never lose our salvation (“and shall be with us forever”).


1:3 Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.


Here the author is trying to bless the “elect lady” and her children, and is quick to remind us that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.


1:4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.


The author is pleased to hear that the elect lady and her children (church and congregation) are keeping God’s commandments and walking in the truth. Because Jesus is the truth, I believe that this also means to follow Jesus and the ways that he has shown us. At every step of Jesus Christ’s life he has shown us how we should live. 1Peter 2:21 tells us, “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” 1 John 2:6 says, “ He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” We know from the Bible that it is not enough to just say you believe in Jesus. A good example of this would be: If you walked around drunk all the time, and then one day went out to try and save some souls, you are probably going to run into people who have seen you stumbling around drunk, who are then not going to care what you have to say, because you’re not acting very much like Christ. People will think, “How can he be a Christian? They can’t even take care of their own life, why should I trust them to take care of my soul?” So we can see why John is so pleased to hear that this elect lady and her children are walking in the truth, and not simply claiming to be believers.


1:5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
1:6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.


In 1:5 John is pleading with the elect lady to follow God’s commandment to love one another. John admits that this is not a new commandment, but one that we have had from the beginning. In 1:6 John tells us what love is: “that we walk after his commandments.” If we love God, we will try to do as he wants us to, and walk as he walked.


1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

John tells us in 1:7 that there are many “deceivers” that are in the world… people who would act as if they are connected to God in some way, but never confess that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior… that he was born as man and died as their sins. He tells us these people who would try to deceive us into believing they are followers of God but never accept Christ are called an “antichrist.”


1:9 tells us that whoever doesn’t abide in Christ’s teachings doesn’t have God and isn’t saved. Remember that once you are saved, your flesh will continue to sin, but your soul is clean, and will not sin… your body doesn’t go to heaven, but if you are saved, your clean soul does go to heaven.


1:10 tells us that if an antichrist comes to you, don’t bid him God speed… I think this is important: why would you bid somebody God speed, or, “May God go with you and help you with your task,” if they don’t have plans to do things for God… people who aren’t saved don’t have God in their hearts, and don’t want to do good things for God. Now that’s not to say it’s not ok to pray for the unsaved. 1:11 tells us that if you bid the antichrist God speed you then become part of his evil deeds. I'm pretty sure this is just like being the getaway driver for a bank robber...

1:12 Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.
1:13 The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen.


Because John has many things to speak to the “elect lady” he is planning on trying to meet with them instead of writing it all out on paper.


In 1:13 when he says, “The children of thy elect sister greet thee,” I believe this is also a sign that the “elect lady,” and her children refers to a church, and not an actual person. If you think about the word “elect” defined in the Websters 1828 dictionary as: “Chosen, but no inaugurated, consecrated or invested with office; as bishop elect; emperor elect; governor or mayor elect. But in the scriptures, and in theology, this word is generally used as a noun.” And also defined as, “Chosen; selected; set apart as a peculiar church and people; applied to the Israelites. Is.45,” we can see that this elect lady is probably a type of office, such as the one the pastor of a church might hold. If the elect lady and her elect sister were two churches, it would make sense that their children are the congregations of those two churches.


-JW.

New: Bible Search Added!

Check out the new Bible search that's been added to the bottom right hand side of the Bible Study, Bible Trivia, and Bible Study Video Blogs. It's pretty cool and includes a KJV Bible search, KJV with Strong's Concordance, Illustrated New Testament, Strong's Concordance, Strong's Lexicon, Christian Image search, and King James Dictionary. It's a pretty awesome tool. Check it out below or on the bottom right hand side of each of our three pages.

KJV BibleKJV w/strongIllustrated NTStrong ConcStrongs LexiconImagesKing James Dictionar

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Hebrew and Greek Alphabets

For anybody interested, here are links to the Hebrew alphabet and Greek Alphabet

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KJV vs. other versions of the Bible

Sophomore year in college I had to take a speech class. One of the assignments was to do a speech on an controversial issue. I asked my speech professor during class one day if it would be appropriate to do a speech on the differences between the KJV and other versions of the Christian bible.

Immediately there was an outburst from other students in the class. People were downright angry, and both the professor and I were surprised. She told me that it definitely sounded controversial, and that if I wanted to try it, to give it a shot. My best friend (an ex-pastor) and I then spent two weeks researching and putting together a presentation. The following post is basically the general information/speech I gave the class minus the pretty PowerPoint presentation and all of the pictures. (Please excuse any screwy formating below. Copied from a Word Document the formating got kind of screwed up. I fixed it as best I could anyhow).

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So, I’ve got to admit, I’m a little disappointed. I went into a bible bookstore the other day with my friend, (who’s an ex pastor). Now, a bible bookstore’s entire purpose is to sell bibles, and other religious material. They have an entire wall, filled, floor to ceiling, wall to wall with bibles. We went and looked at this wall of bibles, and there were all these really cool bibles with different covers. There was a duct tape bible, a metal bible with a cool metal cover, bibles with gator skin, suede, two toned bibles, everything. Now, I was getting really jazzed, I mean, I was going to buy a really cool looking bible, so I picked up the duct tape bible and started looking through it, but then I saw that it was a New American Standard bible, or NAS. I read the King James Version, so I was like, “Ok,” and I put that one back, and picked up the metal bible. But alas, it was the New Living Bible, still not KJV! We looked through bible after bible, and the only King James Version Bible’s we found were three, plain black bonded leather bibles… and bonded leather is the kind they attach to paper that falls apart after you use it a few times, as you can see, mine is well used (I held up my old torn apart bible).

A) So I asked my friend, “Rick, why are there no cool looking King James Bibles?” And he told me, “Most people today hate the King James Bible.” I didn’t understand this, which is what prompted me to do this speech today. Today I’m going to tell you my personal reasons for reading and using the KJV rather than other versions. By giving this speech I in no way mean to offend any person. I’m not saying my bible is better or yours is better, I am only giving my personal reasons.

2) Ok, so first I’d like to start off looking at why most people don’t like the King James Version:

1A) People say “It’s too hard to understand.” Let's have a look.

A) Matthew 8:29 KJV vs. Matthew 8:29 NAS

Matthew 8:29 KJV

“And, behold, they cried out, saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come to hither to torment us before the time?”

Matthew 8:29 NAS

“And behold, they cried out, saying, what do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

- As we can see, most words in this passage (blue) are the same, and very few are changed. Those that are changed are not too difficult to understand. Let’s take a look at another passage:

B) Luke 4:4 KJV vs. Luke 4:4 NAS

Luke 4:4 KJV

“And Jesus answered him saying, “It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

Luke 4:4 NAS

“And Jesus answered him, “It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone.”

- Again, most words here are the same, the only thing that the NAS has changed from the King James, is that they have taken out the words “But by every word of God,” from the end of the passage. Ok, let’s take a look at one more passage.

C) Isaiah 7:14 KJV vs. Isaiah 7:14 RSV (Revised Standard Version)

Isaiah 7:14 KJV

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Isaiah 7:14 RSV (Revised Standard Version)

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold a young woman shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel.”

- Here I have compared Isaiah 7:14 between the King James (on the top) and the RSV, or Revised Standard Version, rather than the NAS. All words (blue) are the same with the exception that “Virgin,” has been changed to “Young Woman.” We know that Young Women and Virgins are not the same. Here they are not changing words to be more easily understood, because most if not all of us should know what a virgin is.

3) Why most people don’t like the King James Version:

1B) People say, “I don’t like the Thee’s and the Thou’s.”

A) Well, let’s take a look at that briefly:

- Thee, Thou, and Ye equal You. Therefore, Thou shalt not steal equals You shalt not steal. But wait, here’s something cool! Thee and Thou, which start with a T are singular, meaning only one person, and Ye, which starts with a Y is plural, meaning more than one person. So if you are standing in a group of friends and I point to you and say Thou shalt not steal! I could be talking to the whole group, but because I used the word “Thou” I just made it personal and I’m just talking to you. If you are standing in a group of friends and I point to you and say “Ye shalt not steal,” I’m talking to the entire group, which is one cool thing that the King James Version does.

4) Why most people don’t like the King James Version:

1C) People say, “My translation is better than the King James because the words are newer.”

A) According to the KJVonlyissue.com, a website that is actually against the use of the King James Version: “In fact there are instances where the use of Archaic words are more accurate than what our modern English allows.” For example: In the KJV, shambles means marketplace. Today marketplace means something different to us. The newer versions of the KJV just say marketplace.

5) Why most people don’t like the King James Version:

1D) People say “Have you ever tried to teach a five year old on a King James? They won’t understand!”

A) Well, personally, I haven’t tried to teach a child on the King James Version bible, but:

- Before 1901 there were no new Translations so

- The King James Version was the only version people had to teach their children on, and:

- My best friend taught and saved his 4 year old daughter on the King James Version

6) Why most people don’t like the King James Version:

1E) People say “It’s just another translation isn’t it?”

A) Actually it isn’t, and here’s why:

- The King James Bible, and newer translations, are translated from: TWO Different manuscripts!

B) Lets take a look and compare these two separate manuscripts:

- After the bible was compiled, each church copied the bible WORD FOR

WORD

- 95% of the copies matched each other WORD FOR WORD

- Those 95% that matched word for word were called the Textus Receptus, or Received Text.

- The 5% text that did not match word for word was called the Critical

Text. (Pie Graph shown here).

- The Textus Receptus (or the 95% text): AGREED with each other (or

matched the texts contained within)

- The Critical Text (or the 5% text): Not only DISAGREED with the

Textus Receptus (95% Text), but also:

- DISAGREED with it’s two main texts (The Vaticanus and Sinaticus)

contained within.

a) Now the bible says, “God is not the author of confusion,” (1 Corinthians 14:33), which means that he will not write one thing and mean another.

b) It also means that God WILL NOT contradict himself, as the Critical text (5% Text) does.

C) Lets take a look at the Critical text (5% text that disagrees):

- The Critical text disagrees with itself over 3,000 times in the Gospels

alone.

- The Critical text makes over 6,000 CHANGES from the Textus

Receptus (95% Text).

- Changes made in the Critical Text include: omitted words, whole omitted verses, changed words, and changes in doctrine (Doctrine being something that is agreed upon and taught by the people).

- Also: 12 ENTIRE VERSES are LEFT OUT of the last chapter of Mark 16 in most bibles translated from the Critical Text (5%)

D) Ok, let’s take a look at the Textus Receptus or (95% text that agrees) briefly:

- Every Text within the Textus Receptus (95%) AGREES with each

other.

- Graph of different bibles translated from the Textus Receptus (95% AGREES Text) and bible translated from the Critical Text (5% DISAGREES Text)

Translated from the Textus Receptus (95% text) (AGREES)

(KJV) Authorized King James Version

•William Tyndale Bible (English)

•Coverdale 1533 (English)

•Valera 1602 (Spanish)

•Matthew’s (English)

• The Great Bible (English)

Translated from the Critical Text (5%) (DISAGREES)

•(ASV) American Standard Version

•(ESV) English Standard Version

•(NASV) New American Standard Bible

•(NIV) New International Version

•(NKJV) New King James Version

•(NLV) New Living Translation

• Amplified Bible

Holman Christian Standard Bible

•New Life Version

• The Living Bible

•Young’s Literal Translation

• The Message Bible

New International Reader’s Version

•The Vaticanus

• The Sinaticus

- Lets take a look at a few changes in Doctrine:

a) Here (below) we see that same verse we first compared, Matthew 8:29, between the KJV and NAS versions (KJV being translated from the Textus Receptus and NAS being translated from the Critical Text). Where I showed you what was the same before, I will now show you what is different (red):

Matthew 8:29 KJV (95%)

“And, behold, they cried out, saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come to hither to torment us before the time?”

Matthew 8:29 NAS (5%)

“And behold, they cried out, saying, what do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

a1) Here the NAS version takes out JESUS, suggesting that Jesus IS NOT the son of God. This is only one verse out of hundreds where “Jesus” is changed to “You,” or “Son of God,” is changed to “Son of man.” There is a book called "The Eye Opener" that contains page after page after page of changes in doctrine such as this one.

b) Below is the second verse we compared before, Luke 4:4, with the KJV on top and the NAS on the bottom.

Luke 4:4 KJV (95%)

“And Jesus answered him saying, “It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

Luke 4:4 NAS (5%)

“And Jesus answered him, “It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone.”

b1) “By taking out, “But by every word of God,” the NAS just changed the ENTIRE meaning of this passage. We know Man can not live by bread alone… both verses say that. The KJV tells you what he CAN live by (but by every word of God).

c) Finally, let’s compare Isaiah 7:14 again (below).

Isaiah 7:14 KJV (95%)

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Isaiah 7:14 RSV (Revised Standard Version) (5%)

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold a young woman shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Here the only thing that the RSV (translated from the Critical Text) has changed is they have changed “Virgin,” to “Young Woman.” By doing this the RSV attacks the doctrine that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Christ. Now young women have children all the time and are not Virgins. The KJV says “Virgin,” because it means Virgin. This passage talks about waiting for a sign. If a young woman giving birth was the sign God was going to send, it wouldn’t be much of a sign, because we’d be getting the same sign over and over again every day. This is why the word was translated to Virgin rather than Young Woman. The original word that was translated actually had three different meanings: Virgin, Young Woman, and Damsel. By looking at the context, we know that the KJV translated it correctly to Virgin. There are also other verses where Mary talks about never having known a man, meaning she never had sexual relations with a man. This also tells us that the original word was translated correctly to “Virgin.”

- So now we come to the point where we have to ask ourselves: How did we get TWO Separate transcripts, where one is flawed?

a) Here’s what happened: One of the original transcripts from the Textus Receptus made it’s way to a monastery in Alexandria Egypt

b) A man named Origen decided to Edit the Bible, to HIS BELEIFS

c) Origen and 10 other people edited the transcripts

d) Those transcripts found their way to the trash heap in the monastery, where they were later found and used for modern translations of the bible today.

- By the way: Origen was later DISOWNED by the church for heresy, or teaching false doctrine.

7) Ok, let’s review:

A) Although there are many words in the KJV not widely used today, the KJV is usually just as easy to understand as other translations, IF YOU TRY

B) Before 1901 there were no other (full) bible translations, so KJV was the ONLY version people taught their children on

C) The King James Bible and other bibles ARE NOT the same

D) The KJV and other translations are translated from TWO different texts

E) The transcripts used for the Critical Text (5% Text) DISAGREE WITH

EACH OTHER, and the Majority Text (95% Text)

F) The Critical Text (5% Text) was EDITED OVER 10 TIMES by 10 different