1 John Fellowship Chapel Fall 2013

Transcription

1 9/1/13 through 9/29/13 SESSIONS 1 5 SESSION 1: BACKGROUND Framework for New Testament times: The Incarnation versus pagan notions of God man nature revelation justice ultimate purpose The alternative to biblical revelation: " That Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hope and fears, his loves and beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of Man s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruin all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy that rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul s habitation henceforth be safely built. Bertrand Russell, A Free Man s Religion (1903) essay in Mysticism and Logic (1917) pg The Apostle John: Uniqueness and closeness to Jesus (John 3) [discussion here on relativism due to parents' questions about their teenagers' friends] SESSION 2: John's uniqueness and closeness to Jesus (review) Excursus to answer a question raised by a mother of teenagers: ETHICS "ought"/"should" (on what basis? subjective feeling = opinion ==> no objective evil? can't be lived out! ==> totalitarian imposed ethics EPISTEMOLOGY how do I know something is true including what you are telling me? subjective feeling = opinion ==> all conversation is merely autobiography, including your ideas about relativism METAPHYSICS what is reality? C/c or C/B? John's answer: John 1:1 14 1

2 Participation in the Upper Room Discourse (John 14 16) Removal of Judas (13:1 11, 18 19) "Know me" vocabulary (14:6 20) Triune nature of God Implications for knowing the Father through knowing the Son Flow of Revelation Prayer in Jesus' name [discussion here of essence and subordination within the Trinity with application to some current socio political controversies] "Keep my commandments/word" vocabulary (14:21 24) "Loving Christ" vocabulary "Truth" vocabulary (14:25 26; 16:7 14) [important discussion here on difference between what the Bible means by "truth" and what contemporary culture views as "truth"] Implications for indwelling of the Holy Spirit Nature of Revelation SESSION 3: Trinity structure implicit in John's writings to clarify his use of "in me" 7 Basic elements of the Trinity Creature analog to the Trinity in space, matter, and time Creature analogy to the Trinity in human nature, person, and personality Continued study of John's vocabulary "Loving" Christ vocabulary (analogy with OT "love Yahweh with all your heart and soul" understood with aid of Suzerainty Vassal Treaties "love Pharaoh") 2

3 "Truth" vocabulary. John 14:26; 16:7 Idea of "truth" is personal and more involved that how "truth" is thought of in our secular culture. Laws of logic based upon the essence of God unlike baseless idea of our secular culture. Objective truth and ethical norms based upon the essence of God unlike subjective, "Gallup Poll" statistic of subjective human opinions. SESSION 4: Review the Trinity Time > history > Inductive reasoning as a gift of God Review John's meaning of "truth": biblical concept of truth vs humanist concept of truth "Abiding" vocabulary (15:1 10) "abide" [Greek meno] salvation or sanctification? [this discussion is fundamental to deciding whether 1 John consists of tests of salvation or tests of sanctification] salvation: Ps 80; Jer 2:21; 5:10 11; 12:10 11; Ezk 15:1 8; 17:1 24 (corporate Israel but never 100% regenerated so these passages refer to Israel's in land occupation, not a soteriological state, the nation's "sanctification" not its "salvation" at the Exodus) sanctification: John 15:2,6 vocabulary comes from the Upper Room Discourse after Judas is dismissed so all are believers addressed with this vocabulary Vine = Messiah, not Israel as a nation, so not speaking of a "mixed group" of believers and unbelievers. All the branches are "in" the Messiah. At issue is how He treats them. 1st branch: "lift up", not "take away," in order to become fruitful Structure of a real vineyard owned by a member of this local church. 2nd branch: "pruning"; "already clean...abide (imperative given to believers); "takes away" or "lift up" 15:2b kathairo was standard word for pruning and its adjective cognate katharos is used for believers in 15:3) 1 3rd branch: "throw away" (severe discipline unto sickness and death as in 1Cor 11:27 30) 1 For this research I am indebted to Dr. Robert Dean, Jr., "Abiding in Christ: A Dispensational Theology of the Spiritual Life (Part 1 of 3)," Chafer Seminary Theological Journal, VII (Jan Mar 2001) 1. 3

4 Session 5: Does John ever write of belief that is false profession? Look at his gospel. John stresses the object of believe, what one believes "into", not the subjective intensity or emotional depth of belief. John 3:18 "pisteuo eis" is an "either or" regarding the object of the belief either belief in the Son of God or not John 2:23 24 "believed in His name;" (some argue that they believed falsely because they were just responding to the signs that Jesus did, but that assertion disregards how John reports that believing in the signs is equivalent to believing in His name because the signs reveal His nature see John 20:30 31). But belief in Christ for salvation doesn't qualify one for a deep relationship unless it is followed by growth. John 7:31 "He won't do more than this man will He?" (me = expects a negative answer) John 8 passage who believed and who didn't? John 8:30 32 who are "they"??? John 8:12 13 show that Jesus was primarily arguing with the Pharisees. 8:30 32 are addressed to those within the crowd who had believing while Jesus was talking with the Pharisees. 8:33 59 switches back to the general argumentation between Jesus and the Pharisees. Interruption due to (1) a class participant who raised the question about promises of the Word being casually quoted to her when she was facing death from cancer which necessitated a diversionary excursus to review the Faith Rest technique in applying Scripture; and (2) a visitor who asked if John's phrase "of God" was talking about election in eternity past which necessitated a review of Bible study method in interpreting Scripture. A. Issue of Application of Scripture to our lives. (pruning of grapevines deliberately causes "stress" on the vine to stimulate better fruit production analogy to Christ and His Body] Need for a "framework approach" to the Bible so we don't take promises out of historic context Faith Rest drill and strategic envelopment 1 Cor 10:13 and its picture from Deut 8 Corinthian Jews not limited to their present experience because of their memory of their history and God's acts in that history; discussion of military reliance upon history of war (B. H. Liddell Hart, Strategy) to supplement limited personal experience. B. Issue of Interpretation of Scripture. Systematic theology level issue involving the Calvinist/Arminian controversy. How do we understand how God "causes" things to happen while preserving human responsibility. Need to understand "causation" as God works in only an analogous sense to how "causation" works on the human level. 4

5 Both Calvinism and Arminianism distinguish between Faith and Assurance, the Calvinist because unless one perseveres to the end of his life, his faith can't be viewed as genuine and can't therefore be offer genuine assurance; the Arminian because he can't say he won't lose his salvation. Exegetical level issue: what about John? Need to go to the text to answer the question of how John uses the expression "of God" not just relying upon a theological system. John 3:18 21 basis of condemnation = rejection of Jesus Christ ==> they didn't believe Moses. John 1:1 7 John the Baptizer was an Old Testament prophet to appeal to the Jews to accept Jesus as Messiah John 5:45 word for "trust" not pisteuo the usual word for faith in John's writings John is looking at the divide within the Jewish community over Jesus' identity; not focusing on election in eternity past. 5