All Episodes
Displaying 31 - 60 of 108 in total
Episode 31: In the world, but not of it
As we’ve seen, John commands his readers to not “love the world.” As I read those words, I imagine him thinking back to Jesus’ final words to his disciples in the Uppe...
Episode 32: Here today, gone tomorrow
When we read John’s letters, we should imagine him as an elderly man, someone who had seen more of the Christian movement than any man alive. He is probably near the e...
Episode 33: The antichrist and the final chapter
John seems to think we’re in the last chapter of the grand story leading up to the return of Jesus. That chapter includes the coming of the “antichrist.” But what does...
Episode 34: Liar, liar
It’s not until near the end of chapter 2 of 1 John that the apostle explicitly says that some people have left the community, though the hints are there throughout. Ce...
Episode 35: Jesus, in the flesh
As mentioned in the previous episode, John seems to call the people who left the community liars, because they reject the truth about Jesus. What truth about Jesus did...
Episode 36: Staying put
Jesus had a lot to say in the Upper Room, on his final night with his disciples before his arrest and crucifixion. There is much in John’s letters to suggest that the ...
Episode 37: Nothing to learn?
As someone who has been a professor for decades, I’m a little troubled when John says to his readers “you do not need anyone to teach you” (1 John 2:27). And I can eas...
Episode 39: Born again?
When Nicodemus the Pharisee came to Jesus, he was confused by Jesus’ talk about being “born again” (John 3:3). As Christians today, we may find the language unremarkab...
Episode 38: Naked and unashamed
The stories of Genesis 2 and 3 suggest that shame came into the world with the consciousness of sin. Is it possible that any of us could stand before Jesus without sha...
Episode 40: A family resemblance
The consequence of being born again, by the initiative of God, is that we are therefore God’s children. And just as we sometimes talk easily about being “born again,” ...
Episode 41: Living into hope
What is hope? In this episode, we go back to the story of Abraham in Genesis 22 to illustrate the nature of what the Bible means by hope. Then we return to 1 John, whe...
Episode 42: You're not the boss of me
One way of thinking about sin is that it’s breaking God’s law. But the apostle John adds that “sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). As we’ll explore in this episode, he’s...
Episode 43: Sin is inevitable. Or not...
One of the puzzles for interpreters of 1 John is the way in which he seems to say in one place that Christians still sin, but in another place seems to say that Christ...
Episode 44: Just right
The previous episode described the ways translators have solved the puzzle of what seems at first glance to be a contradiction in 1 John. In this episode, I’ll use the...
Episode 45: Sin: An origin story
As a writer, John likes to work with stark contrasts like light versus darkness, truth versus lies, and sin versus righteousness. In chapter 3, he adds another: God ve...
Episode 47: My brother's keeper?
In earlier verses, John has already alluded to the story of Adam, Eve, and the serpent in the Garden of Eden. In continuing to speak about sin, John now turns briefly ...
Episode 46: Whose child are you?
In previous episodes, we’ve explored how what it means to be born again, and John’s fondness for stark contrasts. In 1 John 3:9-10, there is not only the contrast betw...
Episode 48: It's murder
Given his fondness for stark contrasts like light versus darkness, John’s language can sometimes sound a little extreme. People who hate their brothers and sisters, he...
Episode 49: I'll know it when I see it
Love is one of John’s central themes. But he doesn’t quite define it the way a philosopher might. Rather, he points to Jesus as an example of what true love looks like...
Episode 50: A matter of life and death?
I confess to worrying a little about how people might use John’s black-and-white language. In a world as polarized as ours, there’s always the temptation to self-right...
Episode 51: God is greater than your heart
As Jesus did before him, John has made love a central mark of discipleship, a way of knowing who is truly a child of God. As we saw in an earlier episode, he held up J...
Episode 52: Name it and claim it?
Various versions of the so-called prosperity gospel assume a dangerous and unbiblical theology, taking verses out of context and treating them as divine promises that ...
Episode 53: The Spirit of love
Although the word “spirit” appears almost 400 times in the New Testament, it doesn’t appear in 1 John until the end of chapter 3—and it will play a significant role in...
Episode 54: Don’t believe everything you hear
In some ways, John’s world may have been a bit less complex than ours; he didn’t live in an age of information technology in which we are bombarded by differing opinio...
Episode 55: A litmus test
At the opening of chapter 4, John advises his readers to beware of false claims to have a word from God and wisely “test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”...
Episode 56: The gospel requires a body
Nobody knows for certain what the secessionists—the people who left John’s community over a theological dispute—believed and taught. But many scholars believe it was p...
Episode 57: I have overcome the world
Jesus’ last words to his disciples in the Upper Room, before he turned to pray to his Father, were “Take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He had already...
Episode 58: Same language, different worlds
You’ve probably heard the expression: as a Christian, it’s possible to talk the talk without walking the walk. Something similar may have been true in John’s community...
Episode 59: The ears to hear
Everyone in John’s community had heard the gospel; they all knew what John had taught. But some, unfortunately, only heard what they wanted to hear. This is another of...
Episode 60: Don’t crush the competition
As mentioned in a previous episode, Jesus told his disciples that he had “overcome” the world, and John told his readers that they had “overcome” the trouble stirred u...