Like a marathon runner who sees that the end is in sight, we too can now say we are almost at the finishing line of reading through the Bible even as we enter week 49 now. And we have such a treat for this week as we look at the 3 letter of John – 1, 2, 3 John.
Even though these are most commonly believed to be written by the disciple John, the same one who wrote the gospel of John, there is also an outside chance that these were written by another John, known as “the elder”.
The first letter is more of a collection of key thoughts by the writer. This covers a number of key topics vital to the life of a believer:
- Light and darkness (these cannot co-exist)
- Sin and forgiveness
- Love and hatred (these cannot co-exist)
- Being from God and not from God
- God’s love
- Jesus is the incarnate son of God
The second letter was a general letter to the church with warnings to stay away from those who are against Christ (or antichrist) and who are there to deceive the believers. The church is encouraged to hold on to the truth and not be swayed.
The third letter was written specifically to an individual in the church praising him for his hospitality towards the believers encouraging him to keep up with the good work.
Weekly Summary
John the elder ensures the early church fully understands the incarnate nature of God and grasps His love and forgiveness which cannot co-exist with hatred or darkness.
Weekly Reading Plan
And now here is the weekly plan for you to read through this section.
Don’t forget to use the template I shared previously to help you on this journey. Also, check out my resources page where I explain this template a little more.
Digging Deeper
If you want to dig deeper here are some of my suggestions:
- Pick themes from the text such as “light” or “love” and trace it through the Bible using online bible searches.
- Use the above schedule to read through all of the text
- Optional (if you want to really read through the Bible in a year): Read Psalm 145-147.
And that is it for week 49!
Happy Bible Learning!
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