III John 1:9-14 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. (v. 10) John really takes Diotrephes to task, charging him …
Category Archives: RTB 2020 – Epistles
December 30 / III John 1:1-8
III John 1:1-8 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. (v. 4) This is such a true statement! Carol and I rejoice greatly that all four of our kids are seeking the Lord – some seeking Him in different denominations or with particular issues different than …
December 29 / II John 1:7-13
II John 1:7-13 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. (vv. 10-11) When the apostle John was writing this letter he probably had the Gnostics in mind – people …
December 28 / II John 1:1-6
II John 1:1-6 The elder to the elect lady and her children… (v. 1a) Bible scholars ask whether John was writing this letter to a particular woman or whether the “elect lady” reference was meant to be a greeting to an entire church body. I would argue that John is writing to a particular person. …
December 27 / I John 5:13-21
I John 5:13-21 Just a week ago (12/20) we engaged in an RTB discussion on the “practice of sinning”, specifically that we could not be “born again” if we continued a “practice of sinning”. The sum of it all, knowing the presence of daily sin in every believer’s life, lay in the importance of confession …
December 26 / I John 5:6-12
I John 5:6-12 Occasionally some translations can vary dramatically from others. Both the ESV and the NASB give the first translation below, while the second translation is from the NKJV (I’ve emboldened the differing text): For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. (vv. 7-8, …
December 25 / I John 5:1-5
I John 5:1-5 Christmas 2020!! Interesting: the word “commandments” appears three times in today’s reading (vv. 2-3) ; likewise, the word “overcome(s)” also appears three times (vv. 4-5). I was wondering if there was a connection, but I don’t see one directly. Naturally if we keep His commandments we will be overcomers. I reflected back …
December 24 / I John 4:12-21
I John 4:12-21 So many well-known verses…!! So today we have 16b, 18a, and 19. Probably the best is verse 19: We love because He first loved us. Verse 19 is “best” because it explains at the most fundamental level – we only know about and feel love at all because God is the source …
December 23 / I John 4:1-11
I John 4:1-11 I can hear Bill Gaither singing, “Greater…, greater…, greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” (v. 4b) And another oft-quoted verse: In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for …
December 22 / I John 3:16-24
I John 3:16-24 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (vv. 17-18) I think I’ve mentioned before that St. Francis …