In our last installment, Peter tried to answer the question: why hasn’t the world ended? Why hasn’t Jesus returned? Where’s the end-time that you promised us? Peter’s answer was, basically, “screw you guys! God has decided to give you guys more time to repent. Don’t tell me anything, He sets the time frame. I don’t know how well that answer was received, however. since 2 Peter ends at that point. However, I am guessing that it wasn’t taken well. Who would like being blamed for delaying the coming of the lord?
Perhaps there’s more follow-up on this in:
The First Epistle of John
Chapter 1
God provides everlasting life. He is full of light and never darkness. Everyone sins: if you say you do not, you are deceiving yourself. Pretty much boilerplate stuff.Chapter 2
John covers a lot of ground in this chapter. Right off the bat, he hints that this is going to be a condescending chapter, by referring to the recipients as “my little children.” And then continues to refer to the reader as “little children” throughout the entire chapter. Is this some type of term of affection within the church? Or do the church elders look out on their congregation and see them as little children? As inferiors? That would fall in-line with the other apostles, especially Peter (who stated that directly) or Paul, who only hinted at it.
John does not believe that a person’s words alone are an indication of a person’s true nature. Instead, it is a combination of words and acts. In this instance, it is someone who says they know Jesus and follows Jesus’s commandments. The person has to dispell hate from their heart: if that person hates their brother they are still of darkness, no matter how many times they might say they know the light.
And finally, watch for people who would deceive you. God and Jesus are one: you cannot know the one without knowing the other. Anyone who says differently is not teaching the truth.
Up next: Be excellent to each other
New installments of The New Testament In Review will be posted each Tuesday and Thursday. The new posts will always be on my blog, http://biffster.org. The entire series is accessible via http://biffster.org/ntir. If you are one of my Facebook friends, you can get an advance preview on my Facebook page. You can also follow me (@biffster) on Twitter to be alerted to new posts.