Monday, August 11, 2014

Deeper Bible Study - 1 John 1:5-10

One hundred Redeemer adults are doing Deeper Bible Study with me. This means they receive emails from me each week where I share how I am studying to preach the coming Sunday's sermon.

 I don't give DBS people answers, but point them in directions.

 I want to get more of our people learning how to study the biblical text on their own. When they come to Sunday morning worship they will be more prepared to hear the preached Word.

 If you are in my church family at Redeemer and want to join please send me a request at: johnpiippo@msn.com.

 Here's what I sent DBS people this morning.

THIS COMING SUNDAY, August 17, I'll be preaching from 1 John 1:5-10.

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But 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, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.


Here’s how I am preparing, today, for next Sunday.

1.   I’ll print these verses out and carry them with me. I’ll pull them out and read and re-read. If I have a thought or a question, I’ll write it down.
2.   II'll slow-read through the entire letter of 1 John, probably multiple times. This is good to do because it gives me the broader context. In interpreting the Bible (or anything for that matter) context is necessary.
3. I turn to biblical commentaries on 1 John. I have the following 1 John commentaries on my Kindle:  

1, 2 and 3 John, by Robert Yarbrough. At the amazon.com link look at the New Testament scholars who review Yarbrough's book positively, including my friend Craig Keener.

The Letters of John, by Gary Burge. This is one of the volumes in the NIV Application Commentary series. It's very good in scholarship and practical application.


1-3 John, by Marianne Meye Thompson. (I have a hard copy of this. Marianne is the daughter of a former professor of mine. She teaches New Testament Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary.)

Note: If you don't have a Kindle you can get the Kindle app for free at amazon.com.



JOIN ME
Here are my suggestions for you, this week:
1.   Read the verses. If possible, over and over. Perhaps carry them with you on a 3X5 card.
2.   If there is something you do not understand, this is where you will want to do some study.
3.   This week, at least once, read the entire book of 1 John.
4.   Try pulling up one of the 1 John commentaries using Google Books.

RESOURCES

I use biblegateway.com to pull up the text. It’s easy to look at other translations on this website.

I mostly use the NIV translation. I also really like what Eugene Peterson has given us in The Message.

One excellent study tool I use is Google Books. It’s free!

When I use Google Books to look up biblical commentaries, I do this, for example:
1.   Pull up Google.
2.   Type in key words; e.g., “1 John walk in the light.”
3.   Click on “More”
4.   Click on “Books”
5.   Then, a number of commentaries appear. Some are definitely better than others! E.g. - scroll down to the commentary on Colin Kruse and click on it. 




I’m so glad you are doing this with me,
PJ

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