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Tag: gospels

3 Letters from the Apostle John
The world cannot think of John without a picture of a young man next to JESUS who wrote,“God so loved the world…”

Or Christians perhaps recall the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John on Patmos with little consideration of his age or the path of the Apostle leading him to this isolated Greek island.

Three intimate letters to believers
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The A.D. 90's - the END of an era 
— JOHN's Apostolic love and truth for fidelity in the faith. 
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The Elder John writes three letters — along with Jude, the LAST EPISTLES of the New Testament.

Although our focus will be 2 John and 3 John, I will include 1 John in this overview written about the same time.

In order to set the cultural stage of the Church enduring beyond the end of the A.D. first century, consider that the Elder writes his 3 Epistles some sixty years after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.

Introduction to an Era not unlike our own:

INTRO – MACARTHUR NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY 1-3 JOHN

quoting Donald W Burdick

Apart from the Judaeo-Christian sphere, the world was religiously inclusivistic. There was always room for a new religion, provided of course that it was not of an exclusive nature. Syncretism[‘s].. characteristic expression was in the combination of various ideas and beliefs from different sources to form new or aberrant religions. This was the age of of the developing mystery religions, the age of the occult, ane age of the proliferation of Gnostic sects.

MACARTHUR Commentary 1-3 John, p.1

Recall from Acts how the young Apostle Jesus loved also preached the Gospel of our risen Lord boldly along with Simon Peter in the Temple. But that was about sixty years ago .

In the year of our Lord 90

(approximately)
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Keep in mind that ALL dates used for comparison to various 1st c. events are approximate, but reveal a chronology of John's life.
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- John’s own Gospel account of the events of JESUS’s incarnate life had already been written and distributed to the churches some five to ten years ago.
- Mark, Matthew and Luke had written and sent out their Gospel’s some thirty years before, back in the 50’s and 60’s.
- Several missionary journeys of the Paul (begun in A.D. 47) along with many others had concluded prior to the Apostle’s death along with Peter in Rome [~ A.D. 66] also some twenty to thirty years before these final epistles of John.
  - Paul had founded this church in Ephesus where John now serves as an Elder.
  - Paul had written to it as well some forty years before, back in the early A.D. 60’s.
Rome had political problems of its own.

In addition to putting down a Jewish revolt in Jerusalem [A.D. 66] and destroying the Temple [A.D. 70], the Caesar’s frequently blamed and banished Christians for their political problems in Rome and other cities of the Empire.

An Apostolic Dogma of John
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The 21st c. Common Era church speaks so little of dogma that I must define it. 
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Dogma – 1. A doctrine or a corpus of doctrines relating to matters such as morality and faith, set forth in an authoritative manner by a religion.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language

This is what I refer to as Apostolic Faith, which includes all Apostolic authority continuing through Scripture to this day.
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Referring to the "we" statements of 1 John, the author speaks on behalf of the Twelve." 

John Stott observes: 
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He does not hesitate to call certain classes of people liars, deceivers or antichrists. .. they either have God or have not, know God or do not, have live or abide in death, walk in darkness or in the light, are children of God or children of the devil.

This dogmatic authority of the writer is seen particularly in his statements and in his commands.

John Stott commentary, quoted by MacArthur, p.4

a culture combining aberrant and mystery religions
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Stick with me on some abridged definitions for your understanding of the A.D. 1st century, (again, not so unlike our 21st century of the Common Era).
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- syncretism –
  - .. fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or religion, ..the result is heterogeneous – AHD
- aberrant –
  - 3. straying from the right way – AHD
- mystery religions – (What typifies them?)
  - any of various secret cults of the Greco-Roman world that offered to individuals religious experiences not provided by the official public religions.
  - .. initiation in Greece became a matter of personal choice.
  - The mystery religions reached their peak of popularity in the first three centuries a.d. Their origin, however, goes back to the earlier centuries of Greek history.
    
    Source: Britannica
The DANGER of gnostics!

For those of you who really don’t know much about false religions, before we begin John’s three strongly-worded epistles, I need to define this great threat to the Church — gnosticism.

of a person (25 terms) gnostic 1607–
Historical. (With capital initial.) Chiefly plural.

The designation given to certain heretical sects among the early Christians who claimed to…

source: OED

Until fairly recently the term was generally applied collectively to the majority of those 2nd cent. movements which called themselves Christian or borrows heavily from Christian sources, but which were rejected by the main stream of Christian tradition.

more..

.. Gnostic systems which make testing intellectual demands, others which depend on mumbo-jumbo and sleight of hand.

.. high-minded ascetic, and others who are licentious charlatans.

“GNOSTICISM” – Tenney Encyclopedia of the Bible, pub. ZONDERVAN, vol.2, p.736-739

The gnostic doctrine of God

Gnostics borrowed from the anti-christian philosophers:
- ‘that God is so utterly transcendent that He can have no direct contact with the world;
- and can have no contact with God..’
- THEREFORE, they conclude:
- ‘Man is thus a creature of mixed origin, a mixture of incompatibles.
- Christianity is ‘self-condemned:’
..the claim that God became man is impossible, since God and Matter could not mix.

ibid. p.736

God is conceived as remote from all material creation..

If God’s transcendence implies the impossibility of His contact with matter, how could God take a human body —(*that of Christ, whom the gnostics oppose) — still less suffer in one?

ibid. p.737

John’s opposition to developing heresies

Various heresies of the A.D. first century antichrists creeping into the houses of worship in various places led John to write his epistles to the faithful who believed his Gospel of the the Lord Jesus Christ. The Elder’s purpose in writing is to urge the faithful to REJECT false gospels, false philosophies cloaked in christian garments and especially to send away FALSE teachers.

MacArthur continues in his commentary on 1 John 1-4:

He [the Elder John] clearly expected his readers to obey his commands unquestioningly. Only an apostle, known and respected by those whom he addressed, could have written such an authoritative letter and not given his name.

ibid. p.5

John’s first epistle clearly calls on those under his Apostolic authority to apply the test of faith he puts forth and to obey his commands of how to deal with these liars, deceivers and antichrists bringing false faith into the practices of their gatherings and worship.

The Elder’s second and third epistles, the shortest of John’s letters (other than the brief tests revealed to the 7 churches in his apocalypse) addresses certain faithful leaders of the Church more personally with specific individual instructions.

Key Scriptures from Epistles of the Elder

John will reiterate some of his purpose in writing in his second and third Epistles, the focus of our Apostolic look at his last letters. The partial list from 1 John provides a larger context for the Apostle’s last two letters near the end of the A.D. first century.

the First Letter of John the Elder and Apostle of Jesus Christ

Key verses from 1 John
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1 John 1:3-5,9; 2:1,10-11,15,18,26,28-29; 3:5-6,8,18; 4:3-4,10,19; 5:1,13,18-19
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This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1 Letter of John 1:5 ESV

Do you want to know IF someone truly believes that JESUS Christ is the Lord — the only Son of God?

Without introduction, the Elder John writes to the Church in his own Apostolic authority with two tests for the saints of God to know if another has fellowship with God — the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
1. Belief in God
  - .. if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
    
    1 John 1:7 (and in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 5:8)
2. Certainty of Sin
  - If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
    
    1 John 8
  - If we confess our sins, he is faithful..
    
    1 John 9a
If we say we have not sinned, we make him [Jesus Christ] a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:10 ESV

John provides a plumb line to delineate true faith in Christ.

The beloved Apostle makes clear that those who claim falsely to have no sin, ‘lie and do not practice the truth,’ a direct affront on the claim of some that the body can sin while the spirit separately remains pure.

Fellowship

Love and fellowship permeate the Apostle’s larger focus not only in John’s Gospel, but in the 3 Letters from the Elder as well.

κοινωνία – koinōnia is the share which one has in anything, participation; intercourse (between loved ones, but not eros), fellowship (between near friends), intimacy (as that of family members who live lovingly together with each other).

BluueLetteBible.org – Strong’s G2842 – koinōnia *with parenthetical clarity added by RH

What does this mean in relation to God?

Perfect PERSONAL fellowship of the One Triune GOD in the Persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Fellowship between the Father and the Son.

Fellowship between believers and the Holy Spirit.

AND within the Church — the Body of Christ — fellowship of personal relationship in the love of the Light of life, our Lord Jesus Christ.

John, in the authority of Christ, sows the seeds of the Father’s love given in the Person of the Son redeeming us from our sins.

Do not love [agapaō] the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ..the world is passing away along with its desires,

but whoever does the will of God [theos] abides forever.

1 John 2:15,17 ESV

The Apostle urges a fellowship with the loving Person of the Father, not simply an acknowledgment of God, Who IS forever.

Have fellowship with God.. and fellowship with Light.. fellowship AND love [agapaō & phileō]…

Obey God, because of His love for you and His holy ones..

Propitiation of a Personal God
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Propitiation would seem to be a technical theological term unfamiliar to many Common Era Christians. 
The concept is important.. and not so difficult. 
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ἱλασμός – hilasmos –

from a Greek root word found only in John’s first letter

– English translations: propitiation, the sacrifice that atones, atoning sacrifice, expiation, sacrifice to take away

Christ’s love for His Church.

The ‘one Jesus loved’ (the Elder’s own self-identification) instructs believers in how to relate to God as your personal loving God, as John himself had experienced God in Jesus Christ.

Herein is love [agapē],
not that we loved God,
but that he loved us,
and sent his Son
to be the propitiation
for our sins.
1 John 4:10 KJV

What human father would do that?

Is OUR love of God the reason Christ became the propitiation for our sins and the sins of the world? NO!

It is the LOVE — agapē — of our Father in heaven, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father who in His love for us Personally sacrificed Jesus to the Cross for the price of our sins.

Jesus is The Christ!

Therefore, in light of the cultural challenges we introduced as an impetus for the Elder’s epistles, John calls on the Church to identify antichrists among us — that is, heretics and gnostics.
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We will not again address end times today as before.
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7 Epistles of John with the same Revelation

The Elder addresses his beloved saints in Ephesus (and other churches):

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come,

even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

First Epistle of John 2:19-20.22 King James Version
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Now don't go calling any of your questionable 'christian' colleagues, 'antichrists.' 
The Elder explains why some saints will sit under Godly teaching while others listen only for a time they hope to influence the body.. and then leave the church. 
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‘Do Not Love the World,’ ‘Beware of Antichrists,’ and ‘Remain in Christ,’ read the subheadings for these.

Behold what manner of love..

We recognize this same Apostle once nearest to Jesus as the Elder now embraces his fellow saints with the same concern for their souls as Christ held for His Disciples.

Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are!

The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed.

1 John 3:1-2a BSB

‘You know that he [Jesus] appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin,’ John reminds [ESV].

No one who abides in him keeps on sinning..

1 John 3:6a ESV

The Elder then continues in his delineation between the saints of Jesus and antichrists of the devil:

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil:

whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

1 John 3:10 ESV

the Elder’s foundational exhortation of his epistle

My little children,
let us not love in word, neither in tongue;
but in deed and in truth.
1 letter of John 3:18 KJV

On Denying the Incarnation

This heading from the NIV addresses John’s concern for the saints holding fast to the truth of the Gospel in the recognition of the false teachers of tolerant gnosticism, inclusivist universalism and other antichrists posing as the godly.

Dear friends,

do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God:

Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.

This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

1 John 4:1-3 NIV

John comforts: ‘You, dear children, are from God.. [v.4] and warns:

They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.

1 John 4:5 NIV

Of course the world entangled in sin will neither accept the Truth of Christ or His Incarnation and return in a final Judgment.

Herein is love.. agapaō

In this is love, not that we have loved God,
but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins...

We love,
because He first loved us.
1 John 4:10,19 LSB

John’s Conclusion to his First Letter

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him.

We know that anyone born of God does not keep on sinning; the One who was born of God protects him, and the evil one cannot touch him.

1 John 5:1,19 BSB

That is, proclaims the Elder: Jesus Christ, the Son of Man and Son of God, protects you, beloved saint and holy one of His, from Satan and the anti-christs of this passing world.

Next: the last 2 of 3 letters
April 20, 2026
The Elder John and Leadership of the Church
The A.D. First Century Church

I tend to look at the Acts of the Apostles and oversimplify the History of the Church,

STARRING THE APOSTLES — Peter and Paul.

Although Jesus says of Peter, “Upon this Rock I will build My Church,” we tend to miss the frequency of John at Peter’s side throughout the early acts of all of the Apostles in Jerusalem.

Peter, John and the healed lame beggar

ACTS of the Apostles 1-6 – Peter

Epistles from Apostles to Elders

Even while reading the Epistles of Paul outlining a developing leadership structure of the A.D. 1st century Church, Elders seem to get lost somewhere between Apostolic authority (at the top) and dynamic Deacons (such as Stephen).
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Elders, Deacons and other Apostolic leadership 
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Paul writes in his first pastoral letter to Timothy:

Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.

1 Timothy 5:17 NKJV

Other English translations help us apply the same Scripture into responsibilities 21st century C.E. churches consider as leadership jobs.

The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

1 Timothy 5:17 CSB

We need to think of the Apostles John, Peter, Paul and others in these dual roles in relation to the developing churches they establish.

Paul offers a precedent and example of which churches need elders in a pastoral epistle to (the pastor) Titus.

The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town.

Epistle of Paul to Titus 1:5 CSB

Timothy, Titus, Barnabas, Silas and especially the Apostles often deserved double honor for serving as pastor and teacher of a specific local church for a time, in addition to their commission and titles as apostles, disciples, deacons and elders.

JOHN, during his long years of Apostolic ministry to many churches served as an Elder (probably in several towns) in addition to his chosen commission by Christ as an Apostle.

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne,

Elders Leading the Family of God

Before we look at letters from John the Elder or the role of an Elder in the New Testament families of God and Christ, let’s honor the tradition into which James and John, Sons of Zebedee, Andrew and Simon Peter and other first century Jews were born.

Elders of Jewish Scripture (the Old Testament)

“You stand today, all of you, before Yahweh your God [יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם]:

your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is within your camps..

Deuteronomy 29:10-11a KJV

Included with the elders [the old men, some leaders of clans or families] yᵊhōvâ ĕlōhîm includes officers [foremen] and many others.

Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them.

Deuteronomy 31:28 ESV

Then all the elders H2205 of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah

1 Samuel 8:4 LSB

So Samuel did what Yahweh said and came to Bethlehem. And the elders H2205 of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “Do you come in peace?”

1 Samuel 16:4 LSB
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Princes are hanged up by their hand: 
the faces of elders were not honoured.
They took the young men to grind, 
and the children fell under the wood.
The elders have ceased from the gate, 
the young men from their musick.
The joy of our heart is ceased; 
our dance is turned into mourning.
The crown is fallen from our head: 
woe unto us, that we have sinned!

Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah 5:12-16 KJV 
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“But you shall select excellent men out of all the people, those who fear God, men of truth, those who hate greedy gain; and you shall place these men over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

Exodus 18 & Deuteronomy 1 LSB

Elders lead the thousands, the hundreds, the fifties and the tens..

Elders of a developing or disintegrating church

Before we breeze through the years of the ACTS OF THE APOSTLE JOHN, let’s recall the chronology mentioned previously in a look at John’s Gospel — a timeline taking the young Disciple at the foot of the Cross, past his proclaiming the Gospel with Peter on Pentecost and up to the time the Elder writes his Gospel.

A Glance at the Gospel of John

An account of ACTS in the life of John
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All dates and ages of John are approximate
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- ~A.D. 30 – Jesus’ ascension, Pentecost, Peter & John preaching in the Temple
  - The Apostle John is only about 25 years old.
- ~A.D. 44 –
  - John is now in his upper 30’s
About that time King Herod violently attacked some who belonged to the church, and he executed James, John’s brother, with the sword.

Acts of the Apostles 12:1-2 CSB
- ~A.D. 49 – Council at Jerusalem (Acts 15)
  - The Apostle John, ~ age 43
  - Peter, who an angel released at the time James was execution, would have been present, along with James, half-brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem church.
  - Paul and other Elders present to decide how Jews and Gentiles will worship Jesus the Lord as one body of Christ
Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them—Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers—to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, and they sent this letter by them,

“The apostles and the brothers who are elders, to the brothers in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles, greetings.

Acts 15:22-23 LSB
- ~ A.D. 55 – Mark, (John Mark, gentile nephew of Barnabas who had accompanied his uncle and Paul on Cypress & became a scribe to Peter) – writes his Gospel.
  - The Apostle John is about 50 years old
  - Paul and others write Epistles to various churches
- ~ A.D. 61 – Luke, gentile physician of Paul, writes his Gospel and Jesus’ Apostle Matthew Levi writes his Gospel
  - The Apostle John is now in his upper 50’s
  - The Apostles Peter and Paul continue to write Epistles
- ~ A.D. 62 – James, half-brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem church is martyred
- ~ A.D. 66
  - John is now 60 years old
  - The Jews revolt against Rome
    
    Christians flee Jerusalem
  - The Apostles Paul and Peter are Martyred in Rome
    
    Jude (Jesus’ half-brother) writes an Epistle
    
    Epistle “to the Hebrews” written (anonymously)
- ~ A.D. 86
  - The Elder John is now 80 years old
  - ALL of the other Apostles are dead and as Jesus had told Simon Peter, John is the only one remaining.
  - The Lord has saved John even from torture, exiled on a Greek island of Patmos.
  - John will now write three Epistles…
    
    ten, if you count brief greetings to seven in his apocalypse from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Elders of the New Testament

In the New Testament, the role of elders becomes more defined within the structure of the early church. Elders, also known as overseers or bishops, are responsible for shepherding the flock, teaching sound doctrine, and maintaining church discipline.

Plurality and Accountability:
The New Testament model for church leadership often emphasizes a plurality of elders, suggesting that multiple elders should lead each congregation. This plurality provides a system of accountability and shared responsibility, ensuring that no single individual holds excessive power. The collective wisdom and diverse gifts of multiple elders contribute to the health and growth of the church.

Conclusion:
The biblical concept of elders encompasses a rich tradition of leadership and service, rooted in both the Old and New Testaments. Elders are called to be shepherds, teachers, and examples, guiding the people of God with wisdom, humility, and integrity.

Their role is vital to the spiritual well-being and doctrinal soundness of the church, as they seek to honor God and serve His people faithfully.

source: BibleHub.com

NO man was more directly accountable to our risen Lord Jesus Christ, with a lasting impact on the saints of an expanding second century church who had met him, than the ELDER JOHN.

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
March 28, 2026
The Clarity and Connections of Apostolic Faith
How do WE respond after hearing a letter from an Apostle of Jesus Christ written to our Church?

We are about to take a look at the faith of three Apostles through Epistles they sent to many churches.

But more than that:

The Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims connections — relationships that matter.

We receive the same love evident through these connections to God and the Apostles, who continue to mean much to 21st century Christians who believe with Apostolic faith.

Apostolic Unity in the Gospels

When someone asks us about our faith, their questions may boil down to a single foundational question:

“Faith in what?”

or perhaps, “faith in whom?”

Let’s begin with what the Lord says about these connections. Jesus actually presents His clarifying question to the Apostles.

And out of all the possibilities of their answers, one stands out in every Gospel.

Peter’s answer to Jesus
- Gospel of Luke
9: And calling the twelve together, He gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick…

And departing, they were going from village to village, proclaiming the gospel and healing everywhere.

Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ

(Mat 16:13–20; Mar 8:27–30 )

.. and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

.. And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Luke 9:18b,20a BSB

And Peter answered and said,

“The Christ of God.”
- Gospel of Matthew
And Simon Peter answered and said,

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Mat 16:16 LSB
- Gospel of Mark
And He continued asking them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”

Mark 8:29 LSB

Peter provided an answer communited to him by the Holy Spirit of God. And the Apostle John through the same Spirit says the same more fully and in mysterious revealed detail.

Gospel of John

Nearly all of us are familiar with John’s introduction of Jesus in his Gospel:

IN THE BEGINNING was the Word [logos]

(We will come to discover that John refers to JESUS as the Word in the flesh.)

and the Word

was with God [Theos]

[but now, in John 1:1, the Apostle clearly states:]

And the Word was God.

1:1 ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος

John 1:1 LSB – English translation from Greek New Testament

JESUS IS GOD !

The Gospels all record that the twelve Apostles witness God’s power personally MANY TIMES in JESUS.

“I and the Father are [in essence] one,” John records later in his Gospel [John 10:30].

The Apostle’s Gospel of connection to the Living God revealingly becomes even stronger and more forward-facing after Jesus’ resurrection.

We see this first in Peter and John, but with an additional absolute faith in Christ later proclaimed to all the world by the Apostle Paul.

John 20 – Apostolic Authority from God

ἐμφυσάω

emphysáō – John 20:22, where Jesus, after the manner of the Hebrew prophets, expresses by the symbolic act of breathing upon the apostles the communication of the Holy Spirit to them

He breathed on them and *said to them,

“Receive the Holy Spirit.

Gospel of John 20:22b LSB

Christ’s communication from the One God — Father, Son and now the Holy Spirit given — to His Apostles sent into all the world with Gospel Good News!

What is Apostolic Faith?

πίστις – faith, assurance,believe, belief,them that believe, fidelity occurs 244 times in 228 verses in the TR Greek.

conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it
- the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ
- a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God
- the religious beliefs of Christians
- belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same
- fidelity, faithfulness
- the character of one who can be relied on
Source: Lexicon :: Strong’s G4102 – pistis – faith

This is Apostolic faith,

which finds its roots in the eternal truth that GOD IS — the Person of JESUS IS God — and Christ chose Apostles to continue God’s work of redemption of sinners by proclaiming the Gospel to all mankind.

Who are Apostles?

ACTS on Mission

Tens of Thousands of men, women and children witnessed the Son of God, JESUS, born as a man to a virgin.

Many followed JESUS as DISCIPLES, listening to His teachings and commands. Sometimes Jesus taught thousands. At other times hundreds would follow their Master (Lord) as a Rabbi sent from God. Jesus would teach a houseful of guests or sometimes just one chosen by Him even without witness of the Twelve.

More than five hundred witnessed Jesus AFTER the Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection from the grave (even as several had seen Him raise Lazarus and others).

.. He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles:

Luke 6:13, also Matthew 10 & Mark 3

Disciples followed their itinerant Rabbi from mountainside to village to city over three years, hearing the Messiah Jesus teach true faith. Yet even one of the Twelve had been chosen before time to betray the Lamb of God, our Savior redeeming our sins on a Cross in Jerusalem.

The APOSTLE’S sent out by Jesus were all chosen as witnesses to the Son of Man — an itinerant Teacher who was not of this world, but IS before all time — with God and was God.

Three Apostles nearer to Jesus

And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

And six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain alone by themselves. And He was transfigured before them;

Gospel of Mark 5:37, 9:2, additional references

James, the older brother of John, became the first Apostle martyred for his faith in Jesus just fourteen years into the establishing of the Church. Another would later replace him, as Matthias would replace Judas Iscariot.
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It would be James the half-brother of Jesus who would later lead the church in Jerusalem, writing epistles to followers of The Way and conferring with the Apostles including Peter and John. 
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We witness these three Apostles nearest to Jesus on several occasions, both before and after the Lord’s resurrection.

Many witness the boldness of Simeon Peter and John in the Temple after Jesus is risen. It’s just once instance where Apostles proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the face of imprisonment, persecution and even death.

Σίμων Πέτρος – Simon Peter

So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go?”

Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

Gospel of John 6:68-69 LSB

“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

And I also say to you that you are Peter,
and upon this rock
I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Gospel of Matthew 16:17b-18 LSB

a Fisher of Men

Ἰωάννην Βοανηργές – John son of thunder

Jesus called these two brothers and close friends of His inner-circle of Apostles, “sons of thunder,” and more than once James and John had caused a commotion among his disciples.

And they [James and John] said to Him, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.”

.. And hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John.

Gospel of Mark 10:37,41 LSB

And nearer the time of their journey to Jerusalem for Jesus’ crucifixion:

And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

But He turned and rebuked them..

Luke 9:54-55a LSB

THEN on a hideous hill outside Jerusalem, as Peter and the other Apostles hid distanced from the iniquitous crucifixion of Christ, the youngest of these dared a nearby witness of this most ironic Sacrifice of all time — the Son of God, their friend, hanging and pierced on a cursed Cross.

When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother,

“Woman, behold, your son!”

Then He said to the disciple,

“Behold, your mother!”

From that hour the disciple took her into his home.

Gospel of John 19:26-27 LSB + Witness of the Disciple Jesus loved – youngest of the Twelve

The Lord Jesus entrusted His own mother Mary to the beloved Disciple John, who so often would cling to Him and His every word.

Christ would also restore Peter as the Rock upon which He would build His church.

“Children, have you any fish?”

Jesus’ love and connection to these two Apostles cannot be disputed.

Σαῦλος – Saûlos – Ῥωμαῖος Ταρσέα

After His resurrection the Lord will also embrace an arch-enemy who had not only denied a connection of the Son to God the Father, but even worse had persecuted and killed followers of The Way.
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- Saul, Roman Citizen of Tarsus and Leading Jew of the Pharisees 
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And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple.

Acts of the Apostles 9:26 NKJV

Παῦλος – Paulos – ἀπόστολος ἐθνῶν
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apostolos ethnos  
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ACTS on Mission

But I say unto you, Love your enemies,

bless them that curse you,

do good to them that hate you,

and pray for them which despitefully use you,

and persecute you..

Gospel of Matthew 5:44 KJV – from Jesus’ sermon on the mount

.. and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen…

‘Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.’

And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts of the Apostles 7:58-60 excerpt KJV

Next: Introduction to the letters of Peter

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Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
October 6, 2025