Conservative Friends Bible Study of 1 John #08 Chapter 3 Verse 11 - Chapter 4 Verses 1-6

Ohio Yearly Meeting's Podcast

In this podcast on 1 John 3:11-4:6 , Henry does a great deal of looking at the Greek of this epistle, exploring both the original and variant meanings of the especially significant words. Many, but not all of those words are below.

Chapter 3

Verse 11

Henry has mentioned in previous sessions, the meaning of these related Greek words,

• “angelia”: message
• “euangelion”: gospel /good news
• “epangelion”: promise
• “angelos”: messenger

Verse 12
“Dikaios”: upright/righteous. Often in the gospels, when it is used, it has the meaning “upright in God’s eyes.”

Verse 13
If we are doing what God says to do, frequently we will be hated by the world.

Verse 14
There are two basic Greek words which are translated into English as “life”:

1. bios: Can mean livelihood/the way one earns money.
2. zoe: Life in the sense of being alive, especially spiritual and eternal life.

Verse 15
The Greek word, “adelphos” (brother) is inclusive and includes both men and women. When the Greek refers specifically to women, it uses the word, “adelphe”. It was very unusual in the Roman world to call someone a brother, when they were not related. As a result, it became notable in the Roman world that Christians were so connected to each other that they called each other, “brother.”

Verse 18
As has been mentioned before, the term “dear children” is an endearing term.

Verse 23
The Greek word, “pisteuo”, (often frequently translated into English as “believe”) means “to trust/put one’s trust in something”.

Chapter 4

Verse 1
The false prophets John mentions in this verse are likely those who “went out from us” (1 John 2:19) who, in all probability, were docetists (and likely the predecessors of the Gnostics). These people believed that Jesus was not both completely God and completely man, but instead, He was instead almost entirely God, but in a human covering that was a miniscule amount human.

Verses 2-6
One of the very different understandings of early Friends from most other believers relates to the phrase Jesus Christ has come “in the flesh” in 1 John 4;2. Most other believers see that verse referring to the historical Jesus as having come “in the flesh” into the world.

However, early Friends understood that phrase (of 1 John 4:2) “in the flesh” to mean something very different: Jesus had come in our flesh . . . in the believer’s flesh, as Colossians 1:27 also says it, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Finally, there is a brief reading and discussion of 1 John 4:3-6 as Henry looks ahead to session #9.
The Quote in our introduction is from Undaunted zeal: the letters of Margaret Fell. Edited by Elsa F. Glines. Richmond IN, Friends United Pr, 2003.

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