THE EPISTLES OF JOHN

      Their Message and Relevance for Today

      New Covenant Commentary

      Copyright © 2019 Samuel M. Ngewa. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

      A New Covenant Commentary

      Cascade Books

      An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

      199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

      Eugene, OR 97401

      www.wipfandstock.com

      paperback isbn: 978-1-60899-862-3

      hardcover isbn: 978-1-4982-8751-7

      ebook isbn: 978-1-4982-4118-2

      Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

      Names: Ngewa, Samuel M., author.

      Title: The epistles of John : their message and relevance for today : a new covenant commentary / Samuel M. Ngewa.

      Description: Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2019 | Series: New Covenant Commentary | Includes bibliographical references and index.

      Identifiers: isbn 978-1-60899-862-3 (paperback) | isbn 978-1-4982-8751-7 (hardcover) | isbn 978-1-4982-4118-2 (ebook)

      Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Epistles of John—Commentaries.

      Classification: BS2805.3 2019 (print) | BS2805.3 (ebook)

      Manufactured in the U.S.A. October 23, 2019

      NCCS | New Covenant Commentary Series

      The New Covenant Commentary Series (NCCS) is designed for ministers and students who require a commentary that interacts with the text and context of each New Testament book and pays specific attention to the impact of the text upon the faith and praxis of contemporary faith communities.

      The NCCS has a number of distinguishing features. First, the contributors come from a diverse array of backgrounds in regards to their Christian denominations and countries of origin. Unlike many commentary series that tout themselves as international the NCCS can truly boast of a genuinely international cast of contributors with authors drawn from every continent of the world (except Antarctica) including countries such as the United States, Puerto Rico, Australia, the United Kingdom, Kenya, India, Singapore, and Korea. We intend the NCCS to engage in the task of biblical interpretation and theological reflection from the perspective of the global church. Second, the volumes in this series are not verse-by-verse commentaries, but they focus on larger units of text in order to explicate and interpret the story in the text as opposed to some often atomistic approaches. Third, a further aim of these volumes is to provide an occasion for authors to reflect on how the New Testament impacts the life, faith, ministry, and witness of the New Covenant Community today. This occurs periodically under the heading of “Fusing the Horizons and Forming the Community.” Here authors provide windows into community formation (how the text shapes the mission and character of the believing community) and ministerial formation (how the text shapes the ministry of Christian leaders).

      It is our hope that these volumes will represent serious engagements with the New Testament writings, done in the context of faith, in service of the church, and for the glorification of God.

      Dedicated to all the preachers, teachers, and students

      of the word of God,

      whose genuine desire is to pass on true doctrine and purity of life,

      both to their generation and others to come

      Outline

      Some Matters of Introduction

      Authorship

      Date and Place of Writing

      The Historical Context

      Form/Genre and Purpose

      First Epistle of John

      Reliable Testimony and Its Goal (1:1–4)

      Inescapable Fact and Its Implication (1:5–10)

      The Intended Goal—Not to Sin (2:1–6)

      The Ageless Commandment—Old Yet New (2:7–17)

      Love Toward a Brother or Sister

      Love Toward the Father

      The Present Enemy (2:18–27)

      Our Status and Obligation as Children of God (2:28—3:10)

      Love, a Distinctive Characteristic of a Believer (3:11–18)

      The Commandment of Love

      Examples of Love—Negative and Positive

      The Practice of Love

      The Wonderful Confidence (3:19–24)

      The Clear Demarcation (4:1–6)

      The Triangle of Love (4:7–21)

      Vertical Love

      Response Love

      Horizontal Love

      Mystery of This Love

      Summary

      The Final Test (5:1–5)

      The Undisputable Evidence (5:6–12)

      The Ultimate Reward—Eternal Life (5:13–21)

      Second Epistle of John

      Translation

      Commentary

      Third Epistle of John

      Translation

      Commentary

      Gaius (vv. 1–8)

      Diotrephes (vv. 9–11)

      Demetrius (v. 12)

      Concluding Remarks and Greetings (vv. 13–15)

      Summary and Conclusion

      Preface

On September 1, 2017, the Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya, David Maraga, prefaced the decision of the Supreme Court of which he chaired with the words, “The greatness of any nation lies in its fidelity to the constitution and adherence to the rule of law and above all the fear of God.”1 He then went on to tell the nation (Kenya), and the world, that the presidential election held in Kenya on August 8, 2017, was not conducted according to the rules and so was to be repeated. Nullification of elections at that level is rare,2 but for Chief Justice Maraga and the majority of his team of judges, their