• Title Page
• Pentateuch
• History
• Poetry
• Prophets
• Post Captivity Prophets
• Gospels, Acts
• Pauline Epistles
• General Epistles
  • Lesson 56: Hebrews
  • Lesson 57: James
  • Lesson 58: I Peter
  • Lesson 59: II Peter
  • Lesson 60: I John
  • Lesson 61: II and III John
  • Lesson 62: Jude
  • Lesson 63: The Revelation

simple answer: Live the life of obedience to God in the faith of His Son Jesus Christ and dismiss all misgivings. See, again, that this is the evidence of the abiding life in Christ (I John 3:24), and that just in the measure in which we are pleasing our Heavenly Father as Jesus did, will we receive the witness of the Holy Spirit to that fact as He did. Finally the Christian who thus lives obediently has his assurance increased in the testimony to his overcoming of temptation. He will not be carried away by false doctrines or deceived by any Antichrist (I John 4:1-6).

Third Cycle of Thought, I John 4:7-5:21

What is the third characteristic of God which John reveals (I John 4:7-8)? If, then God is love, how is fellowship to be maintained with Him (same verses)? In the working out of the thought thus suggested, that fellowship with God is to be maintained by experiencing and exercising love, let us notice (1) how His love was particularly manifested toward us (I John 4:9-10); (2) how our love towards Him should be manifested (I John 4:11-12); (3) how such love implies fellowship (I John 4:3-16); (4) how it affects our spiritual life, begetting assurance, (I John 4:17-18); (5) how its absence destroys fellowship (I John 4:19-21); (6) how that the experience and exercise of love is only another aspect of walking in the light and doing righteousness (I John 5:1-4); (7) that the basis, and in a sense, the source of this love, is faith in Christ (I John 5:5-12); (8) how many things we may thus know (I John 5:13, 15, 18-20).

II and III John

It is generally assumed by the church that the second and third epistles of John were written by the author of the first epistle bearing that name, who was as well the author of the fourth Gospel and the book of the Revelation. There have been hints of some other John known as the “presbyter” of the second century, but his existence cannot be proven. Moreover, there are strong corroborative indications of an internal character going to show identity of authorship between these two epistles and the first of the same name. But these questions of criticism, as we have said all along, hardly belong to the scope of our present work. (See the author’s work, Primers of the Faith (Fleming H. Revell Company)).