Religion and Theology

The opening verses portray Allah as a deity that invites his follows to a Home of Peace.  Allah will guide them on a straight path, and will reward all that do good works with promises of abundant blessings.  Allah will protect these followers and will treat them as heirs of Paradise where they will live forever.  However, it is quickly established that while those who do good works will be blessed, those who do evil will be rewarded with evil.  They will not be protected by Allah and will be covered in misery.  The evil doers will also be heirs, but instead of Paradise they will be heirs of Hell where they will spend eternity.

Islam views idolatry as evil.  According this section of the scripture, those who commit idolatry are believed to have turned their backs on Allah.  The scripture asks how they can be turned from the one who turns living from the dead, and the dead from the living  The scriptures question their judgment, and declare that even the idols that they worship will betray them in the end.  The scripture states that the idols will declare that they had no idea that the evil doer was worshiping them, and that Allah is there all-sufficient witness.

The scripture goes on to say that these evil doers who worship idols have no faith.  They pose the question, Can your idols lead you in the truth  Islam believes that only Allah can lead you in the truth therefore, only Allah could have written the Koran.    This portion of the scripture concludes by challenging the evil-doers to have their false idols attempt to write one chapter of the Koran.

Islam sees the worshiping of idols as an ultimate evil.  They believe that not only will idol worshipers be exposed, but that they will pay for their sin by being sent to live in Hell for all of time.  Idol worshipers are seen as those who lack faith, and have turned from Allah.

Belief systems are established years before the time we are born. It is a traditional practice of moral values handed down from generation to generation. These moral standards help us to handle every day situations and are usually taught by our parents and grandparents through their examples of behavior and attitude. Christians and Non-Christians are the most common groups that exist, however, there are many religions that are placed under these two categories. A few other strict religions practice differently and they do not believe in God, but they do believe in a higher power. Christian traditions are carried out throughout our life in different stages and we celebrate these events according to the Christian Liturgical calendar. (Catechism, Part I)

Roman Catholic is the traditional Christian faith that my family has carried out their moral values. Being a Cradle Catholic, means I have a moral obligation to attend functions of my faith according to the liturgical calendar and I am held accountable for my actions according to my Catholic faith.
 
Attending church services and participating in (RE) religious education for the youth, either in private schooling or in the Sunday programs, are other ways I learned how to carry out my belief system. Roman Catholics believe in living according to the scriptures which is why there is an obligation to attend mass every Sunday. The re-enactment of the last supper, as though Christ is truly present every time mass is being celebrated, gives Roman Catholics an advantage of living the word of God, through the Holy scriptures. Those scriptures are taken directly from the bible and read every Sunday at mass.  Depending on the liturgical calendar and time of year, depends on what traditions are carried out in the home. Every season carries its own celebration and particular meaning in the faith.  Tradition plays a vital role in the Roman Catholic faith. Besides the mass being traditional, the celebrations throughout the year have a major influence on the Catholic way of living. Catholics are taught that all people were created by God and that life should be valued. A newborn child receives their first sacrament of Baptism and is accepted into the church as part of Gods family. The seven sacraments Baptism, Confession, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders and Annointing of the Sick are received according to their age and occasion of that sacrament. These are important stages in the Roman Catholic lifestyle and celebrated with great preparation and accountability.  (Catechism, 1994)

Parents roles are vital to the development of the Catholic faith. Many families gather together in prayer everyday before dinner. During the Christmas season, the prayers contain scriptures in reference to the season of Christ being born. Traditions of an Advent wreath are placed at the dining room table, where Roman Catholics follow the weeks of preparation for Christ being born. All prayers are taken directly from scriptures. There are many misconceptions of the Catholic faith, but really the faith is all scripture based and carried on with tradition. The biggest celebration of the Roman Catholic church is the celebration of the Lenten season, that ends with the Easter season. This is where all Roman Catholics gather in contemplative prayer and prepare for the celebration of the Resurrection. Families go to Confession, abstain from meat on certain days and attend stations of the cross every Friday, which is the scriptural prayer as a church remembering the stations Christ took on the way to Calvary where He was crucified. The greatest day for many Catholics is receiving their sacraments during this time. Holy water and Holy oils are renewed in the church for the year. Many traditions are passed on year to year in the Catholic faith. It takes dedication and devotion to practice teachings of the church and to fulfill the obligations of the sacraments. It is virtually impossible for a Roman Catholic to practice all the traditions. However, the most important aspect is to live life according to the faith the best they can by attending Holy Days of Obligation and practicing their moral virtues. (Catechism, 1994)

The Roman Catholic faith contains so much in every aspect of its tradition that unless you have been cradled in the faith, it takes years for non-Catholics to understand the faith. Often causing other religions to carry misconceptions of the traditions, such as Confession, praying the rosary and recognizing the saints of the church. Religions debate over the structure of Catholicism and their theological stances on the Eucharist, Confession and Pro-life issues the most. Their perception of our prayer with the intercession of saints often lead other religions to question the Catholic faith. If Catholics are not brought up in the traditional practice at home, then they themselves often misconstrue the meaning of their own practices, causing them to fall away from the church. My family grounded my faith and so I am secure with my faith and feel that I have a great understanding and appreciation for my belief system. Learning about other faiths exposed me to diversity within cultures and respect for other religions and their belief systems.  Respect for all faiths is taught in the private schools and learning the differences amongst other faiths is encouraged so that Catholics can better understand the formation of the church and its teachings.

The traditions of the Catholic faith allow for some scrutiny when it comes to certain topics of the hierarchy of the church, however, its the sacraments and the traditions that are most important as I practice my faith. Sometimes people judge Catholics according to the medias definition of the mafia, the Hollywood movies containing the Catholic church in a bad light, or the medias condemning of the priests behavior. Although, not all priests have behaved badly, it makes being a Catholic a challenge in the discussions today. So standing up for the Catholic faith is different and certainly a challenge but I have to remember to be Christ-like. Prayer is essential for practicing the Catholic faith. Knowing that many people are gathered to celebrate the great traditions of the Catholic church every Sunday, brings a deeper meaning to what the church is all about.                                                                                     
Roman Catholics have many benefits to their belief system. Families have structured gatherings, great private education, private organizations for all members of the church and a worldwide practicing faith. All aspects of the church give meaning and relevance to deepening the practicing faith. The example of being a good Catholic generally come from an upbringing with tradition in the family and within the religious education programs. To have the opportunity to go to daily mass and I know that no matter where a Catholic goes in the world, the same mass is being celebrated. The Roman Catholic church does not waver with its political stance and with its liturgical calendar celebrations. Everyone recognizes what to do regardless of the language. Exposures to different cultures practicing the Roman Catholic faith, brings appreciation and respect for what it means to be part of the Universal Roman Catholic church and what it means to be a Roman Catholic. (Fisher, 2002)

The Roman Catholic belief system is different. There is a completeness within the Roman Catholic teachings that is unique to their social life and family upbringing. It is a dedicated lifestyle with moral obligations to the family and to the community. To stand up for what is right and to accept the challenges of becoming more Christ-like through a daily living of the scriptures.

The Oxford movement belonged to the High Church of Anglicans which later developed to be Anglo Catholicism. Most members of this movement were associates of the University of Oxford who championed for the traditional practices of the early church.  However, they did not manage to convince the rest hence the conceiving of the Anglican Church as one of the three branches of Catholic Church (Church. 33-36).

The Oxford movement was also referred to as the Tractarian Movement.  This term was adopted after the movement published a series entitled Tracts of the times. This series lasted from 1933 to 1941.  Later in 1945 other names Newmanites and Puseyites were used to refer to the group after inclusion of new Tractarians (Church. 40).

The initial aim of the movement was to give the church a bit of secularization. This included reduction of the number of Irish bishops in the Ireland Church through Reform Act of 1832 among others such as liberalism as an element in theology which the leaders of the movement were against. Given that they were interested in restoring the churchs early traditions, they were forced to rethink the relationship which they wanted to have with the Roman Catholic Church (Church. 41-45).

Debates emerged amongst the church clergy where they discussed whether to include traditions of the liturgy from the medieval practice but others felt that the church needed some life. In the final Tract, Newman one of the Tractarian said that the Roman Catholic doctrine was similar to the thirty nine articles of the 16th Century church of England.  As a result Newman quit the movement and went to the Roman Catholic Church as well as Manning who converted to Roman Catholicism in 1851.  These conversions of Newman and Manning affected the Oxford movement profoundly (Adam. 21-24).
Critics of the Oxford movement said that they had tendencies of Romans, which later introduced the doctrine of Anglicans. As a result Anglican religious leaders emerged. In the effort to bring more life to church they started practicing liturgy and ceremony which also resulted to the formation of Liturgical Movement. This had a very strong impact and so the sacrament of Eucharist was embraced as worship. Many did not like this idea and so they took legal actions whereby they disputed the act of Eucharist as a ritual (Adam. 54-56). 

It was also noted that the Americans were well at home with the Tracts as opposed to British.  Therefore even though the Oxford movement originated from England, it had a strong impact on the practices and traditions in the American churches thereafter influencing some changes in the American Church. For Tractarians bishops are the heads of the Church and these positions are humanly appointed but divinely guided. In addition, the Church is also divine and therefore considered above politics. They also believed that the experience that one goes through in a divine society shapes his or her attitude towards the spirit (Ollard. 76-79).

However, it was noted that criticism by the Tractarians on the early church did not have an impact on the Episcopal Church as expected. The three major claims that brought about conflicts were issues to do with the apostolic succession, confession to the priest or baptismal regeneration, and the claim by the Episcopal Church that Christ was in the Eucharist (Brian. 60-63).

According to Ollard (72-75), Samuel Johnson who lived between 1696 and 1772 was the first man to subscribe to the high Church practices in America.  He also requested people to practice one doctrine, liturgy and scripture.  According to him, the order created by the church was for the purpose of conveying grace.  Those who converted to the high Church paid the price of having to move from the popular Church to the new and unpopular.  However, there was a difference in the high Church in America and the high Church in England given that Episcopal Church in England was not established. It was rather treated with political animosity since it was not embracing the Protestants point of view.  As a result Protestants moved out of England to other places in the effort to convert new members.  For the American Church, it is said that they had earlier undergone some changes so by the time the Oxford movement came, it was easy to sway people to their side (Williams. 81-83).

The Tracts of life are also said to have had more impacts to people than the normal sermons. However, the followers of Episcopal Church had a profound understanding of their tradition and cultures leading to minimal conversion by the Oxford movement.  In England, the Tractarians are said to have faced more opposition than American. However, historians also pointed out that the Native Catholics in American were more sophisticated making it hard for them to buy the concept in the tracts of time (Cullman. 55-58).

John Henry Hopkins being a powerful figure at the time influenced the attitudes of people towards the Catholic Church in America and Tractarianism. Hopkins is said to have defended the traditional rituals in the liturgy on the basis that the ritual practices were indeed biblical.  The controversy over the above practices led to the publication of The Primitive Church in the year 1835.  The latter is said to have also influenced the next series of the Tracts of the Times. Prior to the two publications, the Christian Year had been produced by Keble in the year 1821 in which he elaborated the need to strengthen Churchmanship with religion (Cullman. 64-66).

In the Novelties which disturb our peace, Hopkins is brought out as a person with disturbing issues.  Hopkins had four letters written to the clergy, the laity of the Church and the bishop.  The third letter talked about the Holy Eucharist and how the Tractarians viewed it.  Hopkins is said to have stated that the Puseys view about the Holy Eucharist is similar with the doctrine of the Roman Catholics and thus called for disapprobation. In Tract 10 and Tract 90, Hopkins illustrate that just because the Anglicans deny that the Holy Eucharist substantiates the body and blood of Christ, it does not mean they deny the presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.  Hopkins also accused the Tractarians of distorting Anglican position of the Holy Eucharist (Williams. 98-101).

There have been debates as to whether the Oxford movement influenced the genesis of Nashotah House as well as the controversies surrounding the Catholic traditions.  Churches in America were influenced particularly Biretta Belt of the Episcopal Church, Minnesota Church and California Church.  This is detected through the similarities that the Tractarianism had with the Nashotah-Style Anglo-Catholism. For instance, Blessed John Keble was ingrained in a glass window of St. Mary the Virgin at Nashotah, and their belief that a church is a holy place which originated from the Oxford movement (Church. 109-114).

Nashota Society of Protestant Monks plan of inception is said to date back from 1840 when Jackson Kemper visited the general seminary. During that time, Oxford movement was the subject matter of the day and most students at the seminar used to practice Hobartian high Churchmanship. Nashotah Seminary grew to become the most influential especially in the matters of Holly Eucharist. They preached the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the significance of the Holy Eucharist with the Sacrifice of Christ as well as the purpose of adoration of the Holy Eucharist. There were very many controversies about the presence of the Eucharist in the Nashota Seminary (Cullman. 112-115). 

The Modern Church continues to experience controversies.  Some churches who disagreed with the traditions and practices of the early church split to form other churches.  The Anglican American Church continues to recognize the Holy Eucharist however, there are other challenges that have emerged.  The issues that are at the center of controversy of the Episcopal Church are homosexuality and women ordination, the institution of marriage where by in the recent past the Anglican Church has witnessed gay marriages between priests.  Another thing the Anglican Church argues about is the introduction of a prayer book similar to the Roman Catholic Church and also liberalization of the churches concepts (Ollard. 128-132). 

This is an indicator that the controversies in the Episcopal American Churches and other church movements will continue since each generation comes with its own culture and expectations.  The Episcopal Church has however tried to deal with the above issues. In 2009 the Anglican Church of North America came up with an ecclesiastical structure that was set apart from the Episcopal Church.

Survival of human civilization requires discipline. Its incorporation as an innate component of what humans perceive to be creation is probably the sole facilitator for the existence of religion. Yet, since ages, abiding by religious doctrines has more than often proved to be ominous. Every religion preaches the word of peace amongst humans, whereas times and again religious beliefs has proved to be harmful to multitude of people.

Oxford Students Dictionary of Current English defines religion as belief in the existence of a supernatural ruling power, the creator and controller of the universe. Evolution of most of the religions is as mysterious as human evolution. In ancient times, various forms of nature like earth, wind, rain, air and fire as well as non-human entities which proved to be valuable like trees, etc. were worshipped. They were worshipped with the only intention of keeping them pleased so that life goes on without any hurdle. Gradually idolism came into existence. Then there were religious leaders whose ideologies were transformed into respective religion by their disciples.

Religion evolved simultaneously with human civilization. Every religion aims for prosperous and peaceful life for everyone. Its goodness has always enhanced unity, prosperity, legitimate society, as well as a disciplined lifestyle. However, human manipulation along with misinterpretation of religious beliefs has always brought a negative impact to the world. There are innumerable religions existing in todays world. It is impossible to critically analyze the boons and banes of each one of them. So, I have taken Hinduism to elaborate on this topic.

Hinduism united the thought process of the entire ancient Indian subcontinent (till the time foreign invasion took place). The four Vedas and the Upanishads cover every possible aspects of life. Yoga and Ayurveda which evolved during this period for maintaining health is an aspect that even modern science looks into for the same. Dividing lifetime into four different stages ensured that every human being enjoyed each aspect of life at optimum time. The four stages are Brahmacharya (the bachelor)  time spent for amassing or mastering earthly knowledge Ghrihastha (the family man)  time spent for enjoying all the worldly pleasures of family life Vanaprastha (retirement)  imparting knowledge acquired during lifetime to younger generations Sanyasa (Moksha)  giving up of all earthly ties to attain salvation.

The caste system assigned work to people. People who devoted their life to acquiring and imparting knowledge were Brahmins, those dedicated for protecting the society were Kshatriyas, those involved with trade and business were the Vaishyas, and those who took up the job for cleaning up the society to maintain hygiene were known as the Shudras.

Kamasutra taught men and women how to enjoy conjugation and the various processes related to it. Goddess Durga who is the ultimate embodiment of power is a woman women gave birth to new generation and so were considered the initiator of civilization.

Idolism is an integral part of Hinduism. Idol worship is a matter of controversy for many who consider that God cannot be idolised or personified. But consider this aspect most human being feel frail to reach the almighty, so they created idols as a medium via which they could communicate with the almighty.
Ideally Hinduism has always respected the views of every individual. Yet illogical human nature could not ensure tolerance towards other religion. Clouded sceptical minds could never accept change or harsh truths which led to diversity.

Caste system evolved to become a taboo for the society. It originated to divide the various works of society to different people. It was meant to group people according to the work they do, but what it came out to be was that people were born with it. This stratified the society and inflicted indignation to lower classes as well as inefficient functioning of the society as inheriting similar caste never assure competency in the respective field.

Physical relationship between a man and woman is natural. It is the basis for survival of the human civilization. Yet discussion or education on the topic became a societal taboo, whereas Kamasutra was written with similar intention. Marriage has always been considered as an auspicious institution by every religion. But malpractices like polygamy and child marriage dilutes its purity. Also, maintaining a harem was considered an honour by rich and affluent.

In the name of religion and tradition, women are probably the worst hit. Instead of protecting the women, the patriarchal society suppressed and tortured women to maintain male supremacy. Women were considered to be children producing machines who would unconditionally serve her family. Previously widows were burnt alive on the pyre of their dead husband (SATI). No doctrine ever defines this practice. After the abolition of  this practice, widows young or old were isolated from the society and having no sound source of income young widows were forced to compromise on their honour in all respects which included them sleeping with other men for money. Moreover, women were restricted from education, whereas Saraswati the goddess of knowledge is a woman.

The criticism can continue unending. People who formulated strict and irrational social norms did so for their personal profit. It depends on modern human beings on what course they decide to take up - follow religion merely as a rulebook, where mostly rules are biased and irrational, or follow religion in its true essence which never intends any negative impact on anyone. Past cannot be undone, but it depends on this conscious decision, of how the world will be in the present and prosper in future.

A monotheistic religion, revelation-based and worlds second largest religion, is known as the Islam. From the selection, Islamic perspective sees false idolatry as something that will deprive them of the Paradise. Only those who are faithful to Allah will inherit and be able to dwell it.

Allah invites you to the Home of Peace. He guides whom He will to a straight path. Those that do good works shall be rewarded with abundant blessings. Neither blackness nor misery shall cover their faces. They are the heirs of Paradise in it they shall abide forever (Surah, 487).

Once a person embraces the religion, he is to profess faithfulness in having worship one god- Allah. Islam revolves only in one core to worship Allah. This belief assures followers the life without misery and doubt before and after death.

Should they commit mistake or fall into the pathways of evil, no one can save them, not even their idol this will be re-payed by another evil, which would make them suffer eventually.

Thereupon each soul will know what it has done. They shall be sent back to Allah, their true Lord, and the idols they invented will forsake them (487).

Worshiping other gods is planning dread future. They will be there while you worship. But once idolaters are separated from the Islam, the idols would simply deny them. Idolatry, being a religious sin, for Islams would subject them to punishment. Their idols can not provide them guidance, conceive the Creation and renew it and lead them to the Truth. And without the Truth, in the end, they will gain nothing.

This Koran could not have been composed by any but Allah ... It is beyond doubt from the Lord of the Creation (487).

What comes out of Allah is of divine creation. Koran, Muslims most sacred text, was created by Allah. Belief has it that what He created can not be created or imitated by false gods.

True worship is a dangerous thing because in it we are required to bring our personal failings face-to-face with a holy, righteous, and just God (Williams, 2003).

This particular statement from the book They Spoke from God A Survey of the Old Testament by William C. Williams, expresses the power of true worship. A person, who comes to seek God, kneels before Him and worships intently will be opening his heart and mind to God and will be experiencing His holiness and righteousness. The author may have regarded true worship as dangerous because it is a process wherein one expresses his religion and faith despite of his faults, shortcomings, failures and faults. All these flaws and human imperfections which had been committed are linked to a person regardless of how strong his faith and prayers are. This simply means that in times of true worship, one comes face-to-face with God  flaws and all.

Faith and personal failings do not complement each other. It is complicated why as humans we tend to disobey Gods teachings even though we are rooted in faith. In times of prayer, we usually reflect, praise God and ask for everything we need  personal needs, forgiveness and many others. Still, we continue to commit sin and fall into temptation. For this reason, true worship is defined as a dangerous process  it is a moment wherein we face a righteous and holy God and present to Him ourselves  all that we are. This act reveals who and what we really are against Gods holiness. It makes our imperfections more apparent. It becomes a moment of transparency and the process reveals to us just how unjust and unclean we are. We come into a realization that there is something far stronger than our faith in God because we choose to walk in a sinful path and become involve with immorality.

True worship reveals just how disobedient we have become. It highlights our sins and makes us realize that we can never run away from our personal failings. Even if we try to avoid and conceal them to others, they are very visible and strongly linked to us whenever we face God. We cannot hide anything from Him. In the eyes of God, we come to discover who we really are as a person and as His follower because we are required to bring our personal failings in times worship. By doing so, our faith is challenged and we become fearful of the consequences.

A Reference to the Tower of Babel and the Pharaohs Order

Be fruitful and multiply. This is a line we commonly hear at Mass, but what does it really mean If we read the bible, we can find this line in Genesis, at that moment after God has created heaven and earth, plants and animals, and Adam and Eve. This sentence is redundant and simple, yet it holds a deep meaning. Be fruitful and multiplythis is Gods way of telling us to reproduce, to have children who represent God as we represent Him as we are created after His likeness. In the bible, however, there are certain instances that somehow contradict this lines purpose. Two examples are the tower of Babel and the pharaohs order to gather and eliminate all Hebrew male babies.

The tower of Babel was constructed after the Great Flood. Noahs descendants have already multipliedthey have formed a very large family that uses the same language. They have built the tower to raise themselves to the heavens and seek glory higher than Gods. At such insolence, God punished them by scattering them throughout the world and confusing their language. Thereafter, Gods people continue to multiply and be fruitful. However, they started to bear fruits of different natures, different colors, and different tongues.

The pharaoh, at the time of Moses birth, ordered for all male Hebrew babies to be killed and cast to the sea for fear that, as their population continued to thrive, the Egyptians will be overthrown. This act contradicted Gods command of being fruitful and multiplying. However, though this had been the case, Gods words still found its way to being made possible. The Hebrews, led by the grown-up Moses, were able to break free from the Egyptians oppression. They were able to reach the Promised Land that overflows with milk and honey, and since that time, they were again able to be fruitful and multiply.

The crucifixion of Jesus was as dramatic as it was meaningful yet as politically motivated as it was religiously motivated. However, divinity provides sufficient grounding that the crucifixion was dully for divinitys sake. Profoundly, each of the assertion has sufficient backing relative to the ingenious of the presenter of the argument. Nonetheless, the crucifixion was as justified as is injustice to immense magnitude. Vividly, the crucifixion was motivated by both religious and political reasons. Ultimately, the messianic will had to be fulfilled.   

Jesus exhibited rare traits. For the Jews, his teaching was against their religious faith. The reason for the Jews to support the crucifixion of Jesus was mainly based on this assertion. To the Jews, the fact that Jesus was interacting and dinning with sinners was sufficient proof that what Jesus was doing was in essence wrong (Thomas, R. L.,  Gundry, S. N. 1988 p 6). When Jesus went to Zachaueus to have a meal, this was not taken lightly by the Jewish clergy. Ideally, people who were prophesying the faith were not supposed to mingle with sinners. 

Jesus was ideally relinquishing the mandate of forgiveness from the Jewish clergy (Joel B). He was reviewing some of the covenants anew, according to the Jews Jesus was doing away with the laws of the Old Testament. For instance, the encounter with the adulterous woman at the well, where he challenged those who had not sinned to make the first through at the woman, appeared to present the entire clergy at crossroads (Niswonger, R. 1992). This implied for the Jews that Jesus was condoning sins.

Jesus was allegedly purporting to be the king. It was for this reason that the Roman administration choose to have Him taken before the high priest for judgment (Thomas, R. L.,  Gundry, S. N. 1988 p 3). During the judgment the crucifixion was justified by the high priest belatedly. In addition the roman administration had initially alleged that Jesus was advising civilians against payment of taxes. However, it was so evident that he had nothing to do with the Roman law, give Caesar what is for Caesar and to God what is His. The Roman was clearly presenting the case against Jesus to justify their crucifixion of Jesus.

Besides, the Romans saw the activities of Jesus as jeopardizing their leadership. The jeopardy was not only explicitly inherent through the activities but also Jesus popularity that was hitting gregarious levels (Joel B). Because this could not have a substantive backing for the crucifixion, the Roman administration chose to level other allegations against Jesus. As Wright (Niswonger, R. 1992) rightly puts it, neither the Jews nor the Romans had a straightforward sense for the crucifixion. The crucifixion was therefore largely informed by the popular order that existed in Rome then.

In all aspects, the Romans took the preachings by Jesus as utterly subversive. For example when Jesus was asked by the disciples on who was greatest, he answered the kingdom of God belonged to children. Overall, this showed that even the leadership on earth did not matter to him. Besides, He asserted that He was to demolish the church in three days and have it rebuilt. For the Jewish leadership this was quite subversive (Thomas, R. L.,  Gundry, S. N. 1988, p 6). The Jews argued that Jesus should have not allowed the unclean to dine with the clean besides, it was argued that the gentile and the Jews were not supposed to mix, to which Jesus never gave a damn. The Jews saw Jesus as blasphemous when he alleged to be going to sit on the right hand side of God.       

The death of Jesus has much to exemplify. In particular, it is evident from the unfolding that he had the least consideration for status. Its for this reason that He strongly asserts that greatness is much of service than status. Overall, the death of Jesus embodies much to do with the shear sacrifice for others than simply working. The death gives much insight into the ultimate process of ministering and accessing the kingdom of heaven one has to sacrifice hisher life in total. Sacrifice and humility is the earnest essence of service and Christianity.   

There was once a philosopher who said that religion is mankinds most wonderful but at  the same time, most dangerous creation.  Religion falls under a dichotomy.  On one side, it is an instrument of social control and, to a certain extent, repression it defines the norms of society.  On the other hand, it serves as a means of establishing a personal and meaningful relationship between the individual and the Divine, which goes by many names depending on ones faith.  Its incorporation as an innate component of what humans perceive to be  creation  is probably the sole facilitator for the existence of religion. Yet, abiding by religious doctrines has more than often proven to be ominous. Every religion preaches the word of peace amongst humans, whereas time and again religious beliefs has proven to be harmful to multitude of people.

Religion evolved alongside human civilization.  But upon closer observation, religion is not religion per se.  It is not merely the act of performing rituals to profes ones faith.  Religion is a way of life.  The teachings of every religion influences how people behave in a society.  Every religion aims for prosperous and peaceful life for everyone.  It always aims to enhance unity, prosperity, ensure a just society, as well as an orderly one. They fefinme what is moral and immoral, what is acceptable and unacceptable.  However, human manipulation along with misinterpretation of religious beliefs has always brought conflict among each other as religions subscribe to differing norms which clash with one another.

In the name of religion and tradition, women are probably the worst hit. Instead of protecting the women, the patriarchal society suppressed and tortured women to maintain male supremacy. Women were considered to be children producing machines who would unconditionally serve her family. This was the case shown in Fatema Mernissis memoirs titled Dreams of Tresspass.  When she was a child, she grew up in a rather tense atmosphere where Christians and Muslims were at odds with one another
 The problems with the Christians start, said Father, as with women, when the hudud, or sacred frontier, is not respected...When God created the earth, said Father, he separated men from women, and put a sea between Muslims and Christians for a reason. Harmony exists when each group respects the prescribed limits of the other tresspassing leads to sorrow and unhappiness.  (Mernissi, 1994, 1)

Mernissi further added that this was propagated through schools where religious doctrine is learned.  But for Muslims, Islam is not just a religion, it is also a way of life.  They believed that Allah has defined the roles of men and women in society, which is why her father told her that Allah kept men and women separate.  From her experiece, it can also be inferred that it is the Muslims who have created and maintained that rift between Christians, regarding them as the  enemy  along with the Jews when ironically, they used to be very close during ancient times.  People who formulated strict and sometimes  unreasonable social norms did so for their personal profit or to stay in power.  Mernissi even criticized the sharia law, particularly the provisions on polygamy which they want banned but was met with resistance because religious leaders say that since it is a religious law, it cannot be changed and is something she did not agree to (Mernissi, 1994, 99).

This was something she learned from her mother, who despite being having to abide by the norms, harbor resistance, if not defiance, of these norms and urged her daughter to  scream and protest  (Mernissi, 1994, 9).  It can be inferred here that there are those who do not agree with the societal norms defined by religion.  The harem where Mernissi lived in is one of the many kinds of harems that exist and is a far cry from the harems of royal courts which many non-Muslim people tend to associate.  There are also harems outside the city where women have more freedom such as her grandmother Yakima.  Inspired by her mother, she made use of her imaginative mind to create artistry which served as a way for her to  escape  the rigid life in a harem.

For people like Mernissi, their protest is in no way an act of heresy.  They still remain faithful Muslims and they do believe Allah is the supreme authority.  What they protest or deplore is how a few people claim the authority to speak in Allahs behalf by interpreting religious teachings.  It can be inferred here that Muslims like Fernissi believes that religion is all about creating a personal and meaningful relationship with their god and this relationship is what determines what is right and wrong for them.

In conclusion, religion may be a way of life in a much bigger picture but at an individual level, it puts more emphsasis on the relationship between God and the individual which is regarded as more important than letting a few  experts  determine what is right for them.  People like Fernissi believed God created individuals to be equal in rights and it is man, not God that created these barriers or limits that is the source of many troubles in the world and even used religion to antagonize others or make enemies out of friends.

Judaism, as the Jewish religion came to be a religion of extreme diversity by first century CE where Jewish settlements in the Mediterranean areas inevitably affected their religious beliefs and practices.

JUDAISM IN THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD
By the time of Jesus birth, more Jews were living outside Palestine than within its borders. The City of Alexandria in Egypt became home to a large Jewish population and within the Third Century CE important Jewish communities throughout Asia Minor and Greece were culturally distant, and since the Hebrew language could no longer be assumed, Jewish translators created a Greek version of the Hebrew Bible called the Septuagint. However, language differences became a huge hindrance between the Diaspora (Jews dispersed from Palestine) and the Jews from near Palestine and its surrounding communities.

Different Jewish traditions helped Judaism survive, although Hellenism posted a threat when it spread and became an important part of millions of Jews, especially those in the Diaspora and absorbed contradicting and critical religios practices within itself. Despite the  hellenizing,  Philo of Alexandria (ca. 20 scp - 40 cs) produced a synthesis of both traditions developing concepts for future Hellenistic interpretation of messianic Hebrew thought. He, along with other Hellenistic Judaism representatives were able to claim that Judaism represented the true from and nature of the religious impulse within all peoples.

JUDAISM IN PALESTINE
In the mid-twentieth century, an extensive collection of documents were discovered near the Dead Sea clarified that there is no easy distinction between Judaism in Palestine and in the Diaspora, and furthermore verified that most Jews shre certain fundamental beliefs.

Saying the Mishnah can serve as a good starting place to trace the roots of first-century Palestinian Judaism. Being the first section of Talmud, Mishnah is attributed to a high priest called Simeon who reportedly belive that there are three things by which the world is maintained (1) by law, Jews believed that Torah (a special heritage from God) reveals how to best live life(2) by temple service, because it provides and appropriate way to seek forgiveness after error and (3) by deeds of loving kindness, because it is one of the chief features of Gods character.

Torah   contains the story of Gods self-revelation and the commandments that are the foundations of Jewish Law.

Temple   the place where Gods name dwelt a visible reminder of Gods accessibility to them and a sign of His presence and holiness, as well as his desires to forgive sin.
Synagogue - a congregation of Jews for the purpose of worship or religious study. Its temple is solely based in Jerusalem

JEWISH POLITICAL PARTIES
Because of different political aspirations, first-century Palestinian Jews had many religious and politcal parties that divided their ideas concerning Torah, temple and synagogue.
Sadducees   a religious and political party from the Maccabean rebellion.
politically conservative usually identified with the priestly aristocracy centered in Jerusalem, who allied themselves with the policies of the Hasmoneans.
only considered the written Torah, hence they do not share in the resurrection of the dead to the afterlife woth other Jews

Pharisees   appear to have been especially concerned with ritual purity, which required the avoidance of   unclean  things such as certain food, blood, dead bodies and leprosy.
- discouraged contacts between Jews and non-Jews who do not share their religious beliefs
- considered synagogues to be their source of power and support
- devoted to Torah and committed to applying its principles to every aspect of daily life

Essenes -  a priestly sect who withhdrew from the Sadducees for founding them to be corrupt.
- believed that they were living on the verge of some great cataclysm that God would inaugurate, and that they were the  true  Jews whom God would declare his divine purpose.
Zealots   a revolt that brought together resolute groups in a unified anti-Roman front
- desired violent overthrow of Roman rule in Palestine and believed that God was king

Economic hardship and family resporrsibilities left most with little opportunity for political involvement or religious expression beyond observance of the Sabbath and other holy days and  occasional pilgrimages to Jerusalem hence less than 10 percent of the Palestinian Jews were associated with any of these political parties.

APOCALYPTIC AND JEWISH MESSIANIC EXPECTATION
The term apocalyptic derives from the Greek word apokalypsis, meaning revelation or unveiling,  and in English points to a branch of eschatology which refers to any teaching of speculation about the end of the world. Apocalyptic literature is concerned woth revealing the course of future events, describes the interaction of the supernatural and natural worlds, looks forward to a violent and cataclysmic clash between the forces of good and evil, expects that the good forces will triumph, and assumes that the end is very near.

In line with apocalypticism was messianism. Messiah ( anointed ) originally denoted someone who had been anointed with oil and thereby set apart by Gid for a special purpose. Later term associated it with agents who would establish and safeguard Gods standards on earth. And finally, it refers to a deliverer who hass the abilities to overthrow evil rulers and intitutions, as well as restore righteousness.

First-century Jews were people of expectation. Between 100 BCE and 100 CE, conditions in Palestine worsen that many expected God to intervene and replace the Roman reign with the divine rule. Their faith taight them that God was their king and that they were  the chosen ones.  But still, they could not ignore the hard reality that they people under Roman rule. And although there was no general agreement as to when and how God would act, Jewish people watched and waited in confident expectation.

This paper will analyze the worldview of Oprah Winfrey, one of the role models of present day American society, and analyze its debt to the New World movement and its problematic relationship it shares with the Christian faith.

Discussion
This paper will discuss Oprahs performance and views depending on the specified Life Domains of Career and Money, Sexuality, Suffering and Death, Family and Friends. It will then try and analyze it to find out its theological and spiritual allegiance, and on that basis will make a studied conclusion about Oprahs acceptability as a role model.

Introduction
It does not always take a Time Magazine Top 100 list to observe that Oprah Winfrey is one of the most influential individuals in American society at the present time. Award winning Talk-Show Host, entrepreneur, author, publisher and a self-made business woman, she moves seamlessly into domains as polarized as poetry and politics. Oprah is, more significantly, conscious of her social responsibility and vocal about her it, and often uses her extremely popular talk show as a platform for airing New Age belief system.

Life Module Career and Money
Starting from humble beginnings in a childhood fraught with trouble and abuse, Oprah rose to the very heights of the broadcasting business. Her philosophy of career is strongly related to a social cause, particularly related to the liberation of women and improvement of girl children. Oprah is the owner of HARPO Inc. and has the distinction of being the first African-American billionaire.

Life Module Sexuality
Oprah Winfrey appears to have a liberal view on sexuality, and is candid about her many romantic affairs in the 1970s, before being more or less settled in with Stedman Graham in 1986. Oprah pledges sincerity in almost all the relationships, and recalls situations where her degree of involvement would cause her great pain, leading her on to the verge of depression and suicide.

Life Module Family
Oprahs views on family are largely fashioned by her own far from perfect family experiences of her childhood. Oprah was sexually abused by a family friend and then by an uncle. For several years, Oprah was sexually abused often (Krohn  Cosgrove, 2004, p.21).  Both of these define why she always stopped shy of raising a family and biological in the formal sense, and her raising concern about the issue of childhood abuse.

Life Module Suffering and Death
Oprah is not new to suffering, and right from a torrid childhood to an equally difficult early life, but believes in the power of the will to outdo these impediments and emerge ever the stronger through grit and determination.

Life Module Friendship
Oprah has been close friends with Gayle King ever since she was in her early twenties. The long-lasting and close nature of their friendship led to widespread speculation about them being gay, which Oprah denies but at the same time accepts that she understands such a misconception is natural. 

Conclusion
Oprah does not openly vouch for adherence to any New Age Movement as such, yet her beliefs as well as an insistence on espousing a kind of deep spirituality in her shows that stops short of being expressly Christian, raise strong suspicions about her strong associations with it. It is often observed that Oprah developed her show quite consciously as a New Age platform, starting with pop psychologists and motivational speakers in the guest list to start with, leading to more explicit spokespersons of the New Age Spiritualism at a later stage. The Oprah Winfrey Shows New Age design evolved slowly, but surely (Harris  Watson, 2007, p.133). Her liberal and unrepentant sexual life, her rather cynical views on family as well as her attempts to combine an all pervading spirituality with career and leisure, her stress of the feminine identity, all betray strong traces of New Age Belief systems. At the same time, she is one of the strongest members of the anti-Satanist camp from within the media (Newport, 1998, p.570).

Coming to a decision about Oprah Winfrey as a role model is a difficult one, Her fight with suffering, poverty, abuse and subsequent rise to stardom has too much of the making of the self-made American myth in it to warrant denial or reproach. However, a close look makes it immediately apparent that the justification behind all these activities is an ego that places the self and the power of an almost god-like self at its center, rather than a gentle submission to the God that made all these apparently miraculous events possible for her. As a result, even appreciating the great qualities that her persona has been bestowed with, I would stop just short of considering her as a role model.

The New Age movement belongs to the most phenomenal of theological accounts on natural theism. By denouncing Gods existence at a hyper real level, this philosophy holds that humans are on top of the creation hierarchy and that humans possess the capacity to transcend their mortal selves to be the one similar to Gods stake, as projected by traditional Christian worldviews. Consequently, decision making practices are hinged on individual will and resilience, not to mention wisdom and foresight into the future.   

Introduction
Decision making principles in the purview of Christianity are based on a God-centric model where constructs of moralism, ethicality, and righteousness play a determining role. Contrary to this, the New Age movement, which is based on eastern schools of thought on individuality and occultism, does not hold God as the Supreme creator of beings on earth. The proponents of this movement seek truth on a universal level, encompassing every morsel of physical as well as nonphysical entities present both within the visible and the non-visible universe. Thus, the foundation of a God-centric model is challenged by an occult concept of the self that is capable of superseding God. Like secular humanism, principles of the New Age movement too have become extremely popular in the West, especially in the domains of money and career, sexuality, family relations, suffering and death, and friendship. This paper is going to discuss the New Age principles in relation with each of these domains.

Discussion
The New Age movement has emerged out of a weakened and somewhat outdated conceptualization of Christian pantheism that laid too much importance on the absolutism of an imagined super force. Early Christian worldviews on God and the meaning of life underwent a radical change after the European Renaissance. A new breed of thinkers began to question the pertinence of a monistic model of truth. As it were, the Darwinian model of evolution raised serious doubts about the authenticity of many of the erstwhile philosophies on creation and sustainment. With the emergence of naturalism, secular humanism, atheistic existentialism and eastern pantheism, the stage was very much set for the introduction of a radical concept that could justify the true meaning of the self for its own end and purpose (Cosgrove, 2006, p.128).

Life Domain Money and Career
The New Age movement being rooted in pagan beliefs can be critiqued from both materialistic as well as spiritualistic perspectives of life and career. As far as materialism is concerned, a person has to take certain crucial decisions about hisher life and career paths. These decisions are invariably taken in consideration of factors having nothing to do with spiritual propensity of the mind. Gone are the days when an individual could afford the luxury of making the best possible choice in terms of a comfortable and leisurely living by doing jobs that allowed for greater amount of personal time and spiritual fulfillment. But according to the New Age principles, a person has the liberty to have both money and peace of mind if the ideologies of counterculture movement can be synthesized with that of materialism and utilitarianism (Danforth, 1989, p.282)     

Sexuality Domain
Sexuality can be seen as having keen connection with a dichotomy of principles involving ethical chastity and interpersonal taste and preferences. This is why the advocates of the New Age movement strongly argue in favor of liberal sexual behavior, without violating the governing laws of society. Sexual liberalism, however, does not imply outright polygamous escapades on the pretext of decrying existential chains. There is a basic difference in how sexuality is viewed in cultures and religious transcripts of the occult and the occident. According to biblical traditions, emphasis is given on a patriarchal control whereas the East has espoused feminine virtues as the binding force of love and sexuality (Newport, 1998, p. 82). Since the New Age is based on occult approaches, it is rather self-explanatory that feminine qualities go far beyond just the domain of sexuality, and permeates into that of family relations, friendship and so on.     
  
Family Life Domain
Christian worldviews on family affairs have some binding influences in terms of fashioning and implementing strict codes of behavior. But this is only limited to Catholicism. As such there are no golden rules to how a family should function within the collective domain of a given social structure where all laws of civility are relative to individual understanding, or the lack of it, about the rights and wrongs of behavioristic approaches. 

Suffering and Death Domain
The New Age movement is essentially built on the premise of enjoying whatever earthly stint we are given with by natural theology. Since it does not approve of Gods existence as such, it is safe to argue that suffering and death, if taken as a cumulative whole, does not elicit any significant response from the proponents of the Philosophy. However, since the self is given optimum importance in this theory, it is suggested that procreation of human gods is possible should we be able to transcend the phenomenon of our physical departure from this world and be united with the Divine Entity up in heavens (Cosgrove, 2006, p. 128).     

Friendship and Comparison to Christianity
Once again, classical concepts of friendship and camaraderie do not stand a realistic chance of being appreciated in the New Age. It is only practical to think that each individual in todays world of hustle and bustle should learn to live on their own, expecting nothing more than casual acquaintance from fellow people. Such viewpoints drastically differ from Christian worldviews on friendship and partisanship.     

Conclusion       
Time and again it has been proved in this paper that the New Age theories have evolved from traditional Christian worldviews. Anything lacking or missing in Christian worldviews is promptly replaced by its New Age counterpart. In a nutshell, the New Age outlook is driven by epistemological reasoning, claiming that it is the self that decides and bears the brunt of its decisions, than on meek submission to Gods will. 

The following table contains key points of the New Age movement with respect to the aforementioned domains.

Christianity is known to have been very audible in its views about homosexuality but so little has been heard from other religions. In Islam, the authorities have from time to time condemned homosexuality and as a matter of fact, they have forbidden it. However Islam is not clear about the issue. There are no verses in the Koran which clearly condemn it and some of them are considered ambiguous. Some Muslims are also saying that it can be tolerated (Siraj, par 1). So what does Islam actually say about homosexuality

Homosexuals in the Koran are depicted through the story of Lot in Sodom. In the Holy Koran, a prophet called Lot used to be so much against this sin and he never ceased to warn the people about it amidst hardships. It is said that he tried to tell the people to lead pure lives but for them, they only mocked him including his wife who is said to have been on the side of homosexuals. The people could not heed to his words and thus God sent two very attractive angels to test all of them including Lot. When the wife learnt about it, she informed other people, who did not hesitate to come and do the abominations act against them. Lot could not take it and he persisted in telling them off and reminding them about Allahs words. At that time, he did not know that, those men were actually messengers from God (Shariahs Researchers, par. 8-10).

The Quran states that same sex relationships started in the times of Lot and for them, they used to have the sexual acts in the public. They did not see any problem with it and they used to justify the act by saying that, it is difficult for human beings to lead holy lives in respect to sex. Koran contradicts the bible in regards to Lot since Muslims consider him a prophet of God but the bible states that, he committed incest with his two daughters. How ever, it should not be misunderstood that Koran is against sex. In fact sex is considered as rewarding and that it can only be allowed in marriage (Shariahs Researchers, par 13-16).

The issue of homosexuality is a thorny one in Islam. It is considered the worst crime against humanity which requires a very harsh punishment. Muslim scholars have tried to look into this issue and it is time for the Muslim council in the world, to come up with the law that will suit the situation. The perpetrators of this act especially in the Muslim world are supposed to be rejected by the society. Since homosexuality is considered a sin, it is said to go against the original plan of God especially in regards to the family unit (Mohamed, par 1-3).

It is said that, since there is a relationship between homosexuality and HIV AIDS, those who commit it are actually committing sin against humanity. The Koran does not state clearly on how homosexuals should be punished (Mohamed, par 4, 7). Nowhere in the Koran is written that Prophet Muhammad punished a homosexual, and this is why, most Arabs in the life time of the prophet did not know anything about the sin. Moreover, there is no teaching in the Koran that specifies the punitive action that is supposed to be taken against the homosexuals (Mohamed, par 8-9).

However the Koran describes the homosexual act as an abomination. The Arabic word fasishah has been used to describe it and it means abomination. The same word has been used to describe fornication and adultery. This means that the same punishment that is usually administered to fornicators should be administered to homosexuals. This has brought debates on what is the best punishment for those people. Some have proposed that they should be killed others have said that they should be subjected to the same punishment as the fornicators while others have said that they should be imprisoned. The punishment by stoning is supported in the Koran by two weak verses on which those who support the punishment are basing their arguments (Mohamed, par 9-11).

In the Koran, the prophet says that, if any one finds two people committing the sins of Lots people (sodomy), both the culprits should be killed. Some Imams are questioning the truth of the verse. In the same verse, the prophet says that the two of them should be stoned to death. Scholars are still debating on the authenticity of these two verses and whether they should base punishments against homosexuals on them (Mohamed, par 12-14).

It can be agreed that, homosexuality is a great sin in the Muslim world but stoning and killing the culprits has no basis in Islam. All that can be said about it is that, it is an abomination. The punishment given to a fornicator should also be given to a homosexual and this is lashing him or her in the public, a hundred times or imprisonment. However, Islam is considered a very merciful religion and thus, sinners should be given a second chance to repent and correct their mistakes (Mohamed, par 19-21).   
 
Since no one is certain about the issue, there has developed various schools of thought. The first one is the school of Hanafi which agrees with some scholars that, homosexuality should be treated as adultery and punishment should be left at the discretion of the judge in the sharia court. The early school of Hanafi did not agree to corporal punishment. The second school called Imam Shafii believes that homosexuality can be compared to fornication and the punishment imposed on fornicators should be done the same to homosexuals. If the person committing homosexuality is married, he is supposed to be stoned to death and if not married, he is to be flogged or beaten up. The school of Maliki says that, homosexuals should be treated as adulterers and the  fourth school of Jafari seconds them as they support the punishment of adultery to be used on them (Trejo, par 4).

Some liberal Muslims have accepted homosexuality as a natural act and for them the verses in the Koran against the act are considered as baseless in the current society. They continue to say that the Koran is actually against those who have homosexual lust but not homosexual love (Trejo, par 8, 9).
 The Muslim countries which have the strictest of laws related to homosexuality include Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Mauritania and Iran. These countries usually slap a death penalty on the culprits. Iran has been at the fore front with the leading number of executions based on this crime. In countries like Qatar and Algeria, they punish by imprisoning, executing and imposing fines. Jordan, Egypt and Turkey have been somehow lenient and some homosexual perpetrators can go without any punishment though some gays have been hate crimes victims (Trejo, par 10, 11).

Despite of division over the issue in Islam, people have not stopped condemning it. Heterosexual sex is allowed in marriage only and any other sexual behavior is considered a sin. However in countries like Egypt, sexual relationships between men are not considered homosexual but rather a state of hyper masculinity (Dunno, par 14).

Despite this, violence against male homosexuals has been on the increase especially in Egypt. In the same country, in the 19th century, there used to exist a dancing group of male homosexuals called Khawals who were very popular but lately, associating a person or even calling one using that name will have serious consequences. The term has negative connotation just like the word faggot in Europe. Although it is not a crime to be a homosexual in Turkey, lesbians and gay men have faced it rough. The police have harassed them and the family members have gone to the extent of disowning them. Those who have been activists and gays at the same time have not been spared the hostility (Dunne, par 17).

In conclusion, Islam religion should come up with a stand against homosexuality. So many homosexuals are at the mercy of the people who can be sometimes very cruel and dispense a very harsh punishment which the Koran is against. It is high time they come clear on the issue to prevent more deaths and sufferings of the homosexuals.

The term Koinonia, a Greek word, occurs around 20 times in New Testament. Each of these verses give one or more aspects of the Koinonia as implied by the original Greek term. Koinonia is mostly translated in English New Testament as Fellowship. The meaning of the Greek word takes many forms  Fellowship, close relationship, participation, gift, companion, partner and sharer. 1 

Koinonia first occurs in Acts 2 42.  They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 2 Some of the important passages are, We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 3 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 4 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. 5   May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 6 For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common Or what fellowship can light have with darkness 7   If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy
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1. Richard J. Goodrich, Albert L. Lukaszewski, A Readers Greek New Testament (Michigan Zondervan,  2003),375-376.
2.  HYPERLINK httpwww.biblegateway.compassagesearchActs242versionNIV Acts 242
3.  HYPERLINK httpwww.biblegateway.compassagesearch120John13versionNIV 1 John 13
4.  HYPERLINK httpwww.biblegateway.compassagesearch120John16versionNIV 1 John 165.  HYPERLINK httpwww.biblegateway.compassagesearch120John17versionNIV 1 John 176 HYPERLINK httpwww.biblegateway.compassagesearch220Corinthians1314versionNIV .  2 Corinthians 1314
7.  HYPERLINK httpwww.biblegateway.compassagesearch220Corinthians614versionNIV 2 Corinthians 614

complete by being like minded, having the same love being one in spirit and purpose. 8
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.

A care full reading of these passages denote Koinonia to mean, fellowship, fellow ship with fellow humans, fellowship with the Triune God  God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, common attribute  holiness, common bond  Love, like minded, one in Spirit and purpose, and the purpose of this fellowship is to become like Christ. This fellowship is possible only with similar characteristics  purity, which is made possible by the blood of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Fellowship with Christ means in Pauline thought, being in Christ, in Christs words, being in Christ to give fruits.           
This term is associated with the church. Bible says Church is the body of Christ.10 Church is not the making of men but it is the creation of our Lord. God is the author of the church. So also Koinonia is not of men but it is the gift of God. It is evident then that the fellowship meant by the term Koinonia denotes the fellowship between the members of the church and that with Christ. Koinonia is brought into the church by the Holy Spirit and with out God the Trinity present in the church, there is no koinonia worth mentioning. It can be said, Koinonia is the Gods plan for the church. God wants fellowship with His created beings and also wants that fellowship to permeate among his created beings. The Koinonia  Fellowship with God has a definite purpose, entails participation in Gods plan  and being partner and sharing in his work- his vine yard.

The concept of Missions ensues from the study of Koinonia. We can clearly see this concept through out Bible.

Fellowship with God
Creation scenario. In Genesis, we see God creates all the universe and Adam. God wanted Adam to have fellowship. God and Adam had fellowship. But when sin entered humanity, effecting the fall of man, Adam wantonly got away from the presence of God and the agony and anguish inflicted on God is reflected by Gods question Adam ,where are you

Fall of man. The consequence of sin is the loss of Fellowship with God. The corollary of this is the loss of fellowship among human beings as depicted by the Cain-Abel episode. Instead of loving fellowship- Koinonia, there arose jealousy, hatred, and enmity resulting in murder.

When God asked Cain , where is your brother, Cain lied, saying I dont know. He even protested saying, am I his keeper  - a reckless answer. Sin breeds lies and recklessness. The scenario was continuing and the mankind was estranging from Gods intended purpose of creation, kindling the indignation of God, resulting in the deluge during Noahs time. But there are instances of people having fellowship with God like Enoch and Noah.

Life of Enoch. It is written in Bible, that Enoch walked with God while living in this world. God took him at his 365th  age. Enochs life illustrates a life of constant and continuous fellowship with God.
Life of Noah. Noah lived a life pleasing to God denoting the fellowship he had with God. God was communicating with Noah and Noah was responding to Gods instructions and doing the work God had given to him. Fellowship entails partnership and participation of the Gods plan.

Call of Abraham. God called Abraham to follow him and Abraham faithfully followed him. God
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11. Genesis 39
and Abraham had fellowship, as illustrated by Bible.12 God communicates to Abraham his plan
regarding Sodom and Gomorrah. The dialogue between God and Abraham seen in this passage is a fine example of Fellowship  close relationship between God and Abraham. God wanted to
bless the whole world through Abraham and reestablish the lost fellowship between God and humanity. The chosen tribe of Israel, with whom God wanted to establish fellowship, is the descendant of Abraham. 

The nation of Israel. The nation of Israel is the chosen one for establishing Gods fellowship with humanity. God wanted to bless the whole nations of the world through Israel. God blessed Egypt through Joseph. He blessed Babylon through Daniel. God planted his presence among Israel during their sojourn in wilderness, all through day and night. God communicated with Moses face to face, just like a friend. Moses had good fellowship with God.  The nation of Israel was not faith full all the time and sinned against God. Sin estranges Gods people from God and the fellowship is lost. God wanted to reestablish the fellowship and he raised many prophets to give clarion call and to bring back people to his fold. 

Prophets. The mind of God is clearly depicted in the messages of the prophets. Through Isaiah God laments, I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. 13 Fellowship is lost when there is rebellion, The Ox knows his master, the donkey his owners manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. 14 Fellowship is lost when there is no understanding, when there is loss of communication.

God laments through Prophet Jeremiah, what fault did your fathers find in me that
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12. Genesis 18 17-33
13. Isaiah 1 2
14. Isaiah 1 3

they strayed so far from me15 God anguishes, my people have committed two sins they have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. 16 God is the living water, but the nation of Israel have opted the worldly things instead of God, showing that the fellowship with God is lost when the close relation ship with him is lost. God says, Israel has forgotten him, Does a maiden for get her Jewelry, a bride her wedding yet my people have forgotten me with out number. 17 God says, My people are fools, they do not know me. They are sense less children they have no understanding they are skilled in doing evil they know not how to do good. 18 When the fellowship with God is lost, knowledge of God and understanding of Gods ways are lost, and the ability to perform good works glorifying God is also lost. In all these passages God complains of the loss of fellowship with his chosen people. But God longs to re establish the lost relationship.  God says,

Return faithless Israel I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful, I will not be angry for everfor I am your husband. I will choose you I will give shepherds after my own heart, who will lead with you with knowledge and understanding Return faithless people, I will cure you of your backsliding. (Jeremiah, 312, 14, 15, 22)

God expresses his love for his people through the prophets. Through Jeremiah, He says, Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. There fore my heart yearns for him, I have great compassion for him. 19 Here we see the mind of God. Though the chosen nation has sinned and estranged from God, loosing the fellowship, Gods heart yearns for them and God longs to re establish the fellowship the relationship.
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15. Jeremiah, 25
16. Jeremiah, 213
17. Jeremiah, 232
18. Jeremiah, 422
19. Jeremiah, 3120


Gods agony for the estranged people is depicted in the writings of Prophet Hosea,
My people are determined to turn from me.  How can I give up you Ephraim How can I hand you over, IsraelMy heart is changed within me all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man- the Holy one among you. ( Hosea, 11 7-9)

Here we see, God says he is among his people, but his people turn from him but still God is compassionate and agonized. 

God promises through Prophet Jeremiah, making new covenant, forgiving their wicked ness and making them His People.  I will put my law in their minds and write in their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people.  for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. 20 Here we see fellow ship with God is re established when sins are for given. The new covenant foresees a conversion in the mind of Gods people. The new covenant is best expressed by prophet Isaiah in Chapter 53, which talks of the Redeemer suffering for the sins of his people. Isaiah states,
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows  But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was upon him. the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all  he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people he was stricken. (Isaiah, 53 4-8)

The Redeemer took all the iniquities and bore all the punishment to bring forgiveness and restoring the peace and relation ship with the Godhead for his people. Fellowship with God is possible only when the sins are forgiven and when similar characteristics exist among all.

The fulfillment of Prophecy and the advent of Jesus.  At the appointed time, the eternal Son of God took the form of humanity and was born of Virgin Mary according to the scriptures
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20. Jeremiah, 3133, 34
.
and with the fulfillment of prophecy. Gospel according to Mathew records the statement of the angel,
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel which means, God with us. (Mathew, 1 21-23)

Here we see, Jesus will save his people from their sins, and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us God dwells amongst us. The second God head of the Trinity has assumed permanently the human nature so that He will dwell among the humans, and he will forgive their sins and justify them as sinless. This is the essence of the Gospel. Because of the advent of Christ Jesus, fellowship with humans is established. 

The teachings of Jesus. The Jews- Pharisees taught the Old testament scriptures scrupulously, leaving the essence of the scriptures. Jesus taught the scripture truths effectively using parables driving the central, deep, and spiritual points of the truth. Apart from the ethical teachings contained in the sermon of the mount, Jesus taught his disciples how to do the will of God effectively, The work of God is this to believe in the one he has sent. 21 In essence believing in the son of God is the work pleasing to God.

The Gospel truth is well given in the words of Jesus, to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,22  and God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.23 The sole requirement of salvation on the part of men is to believe in the Name (Person) of Jesus and receive him.
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21 John 6 29
22 John 1 12
23 John 3 16

Abiding in Christ. Jesus explains the importance of abiding with him in Gospel according to John Chapter, 15.  Here we see fellow ship between Jesus and the believer is compared to the vine tree and the branches. Only when the branch remain in the tree it can be alive and give fruits. Apart from the tree the branch itself cannot give fruits. So if we are in fellowship with Jesus and Jesus in us, we will be fruitful. And God will be glorified because of our good fruits.24 The fellowship entails giving good fruits for the glory of God. We may compare and contrast this with Gods question in the prophecy of Jeremiah, I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine25 God planted Israel as a good vine tree expecting good fruit, but it turned into a corrupt and wild vine. The reason for this unfruitfulness is the non abiding nature of the nation Israel. What is the fruit Jesus is talking about Jesus explicitly says to obey his commands, the chief command being the command to love each other as Jesus has loved us, My command is this Love each other as I have loved you.26 Jesus has taught that love is the fulfillment of Law and Prophecies. Jesus has summarized the law as, 1). Loving God whole heartedly and 2) loving the neighbor as oneself.

Fellow ship and Church assembly. Jesus promises to be with us where ever two or three come together in his name, where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.28 This denotes the fellowship  Koinonia between the believers and the Savior. The criteria required are, 1) gathering in His name, 2) togetherness- oneness of mind.
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24 John 15 1-8.
25 Jeremiah 2 21 
26 John 15 12
27 Mark 12 30,31
28 Mathew 18 20 

Fellowship and Missions. Jesus promises to be with us always to the end of the age,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. 29 This promise is given at the great commission denoting the fellowship of the savior is assured for the carrying out of the great commission. The fellowship has a definite purpose, doing the will of God, partaking in his plan of salvation taking the Gospel message to the un reached. Fellowship- Koinonia has a definite Missionary perspective. 

Fellowship and interpersonal relationship. Jesus gave importance for both the vertical relation ship- relation ship between the person and God and the horizontal relation ship- the person and his neighbor. We see this concept in many of his parables. A beautiful example of the Gods requirement of fellow ship- Koinonia is given in the parable of prodigal son.30 Here we see the second son went away from the fellowship of his father and his brother and lived a sinful life, wasting all his resources and finally repented and returned to his father. But the loving father was all along waiting for his return and received him whole heartedly and restored him his son ship, and there was joy and celebration in the house hold. But the elder son could not digest this. He could not forgive his brother and was arguing with his father. The father admonished him and states,  we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again he was lost and is found. 31  This parable tells the mind of God. He wants all to be saved and wants his people to cooperate with him in saving people. Thus Koinonia results in gladness.

Jesus, in his high priestly prayer prayed to the Father, that they may be one as we are one I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know
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29 Mathew 2820
30 Luke 15 12-32
31 Luke 15 32
that you send me 32   Fellowship  Koinonia as envisaged by Jesus is complete unity, unity in purpose, action,  witness, and partnering with Christ in carrying out Gods will of saving people.  The birth of the Church is in direct answer to this High priestly prayer of Jesus.

The birth of the Church.  Church is not a mere organization involving Christians. Church is the mystical body of Christ for carrying out the plan of God in saving the nations. Augustine affirmed that Church is the mystical body of Christ whose principle or unity is that it is a fellowship of love. 33 Church is the body of Christ, in that through the Spirit Christ is ruling inspiring, sustaining and uniting power in the church.  It is the presence and working of the Holy Spirit which makes church the body of Christ. 34 In Acts, we see  the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved. 35 So it is clear, Church is the making of God.

In the spiritual sense there is only one Church  Church Universal, spiritual, and invisible. But practically we see many denominations- big and small. These are all local assemblies, practicing Christians. The one universal, Spiritual, holy, apostolic, and catholic  church comprises of members from all local assemblies, big or small, from all parts of the earth, with out any difference of race or culture or language.

Fellowship among Christians
Christians have fellow ship with the father, Son and Holy Spirit and with one another. Possession of the Spirit is the decisive mark of being a Christian. 36 The fellowship with God leads one to fellowship with fellow believers, because  God has poured out his love into our hearts by
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32 John 17 22-23 
33  Owen C. Thomas p 233
34 Owen C. Thomas p 231
35 Acts 2 47 ,
36  Owen C. Thomas p 231

the Holy Spirit. 37 A. Nygren argues in his book Agape and Eros The fundamental theme of Christian faith and life is Agape, Gods love for humanity in Christ and in response humanitys love for their neighbors. 38 Surely there exists Koinonia between true believers, what ever be the denominational difference among them. The one sign of the universal Koinonia is the existence of un explainable love towards the fellow Christian of any denomination. The absence of this love is a clear proof of  heretical leanings.  Koinonia  Fellow ship is the mark of any Christian assembly. The fellowship characteristics expected out of any Christian assembly as listed out in Ungers Bible dictionary,
Confession of faults to one another with prayer, James 516 . Assembly with exhortation and provoking to love and good works. Hebrews 10 24, 25.  Partaking of Lords supper. I. Corinthians1124, 25. Ministering to the Saints Acts1129, Romans 1213, 15 25, I Cor. 161, 2. II Cor. 84, Heb 1316.  Bearing infirmities of the week and edification, Rom 151. Love for and fellowship with one another is necessary as an evidence to love of God. I John 412. Christ prayed that his people might have fellow ship with each other. Fellowship with God is essential to fruitfulness. Jn154. (Ungers Bible Dictionary 1983, 349)

On a look of the early Christian Church, one can easily find the marks of Koinonia among Believers. We see in Acts 242, They devoted themselves to Apostolic teaching, Breaking of bread- meaning partaking in Lords supper, Prayer, being together, had every thing in common, selling their possessions and giving to the needy, glad and sincere, and praising God.  The immediate effect of the Koinonia among the early Christians was that the other people came to know of this and filled with awe favoring the believers and the Church began to grow as God was adding the new converts.
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37 Romans 55 
38  Owen C. Thomas p 265

It is not out of context to quote a famous Tamil Evangelist, N. Jeevanandam regarding the Christian fellowship. While he was giving a message on Christian unity and love, narrated a vision that he had. While he was praying, he in his vision, was taken to Hell by an angel. There he saw all in pandemonium. There was a dining table and there were food available on it. People
surrounded the dining table and were very hungry and desirous of eating. But they were unable to eat as their hands were stiff and they could not take the food to their mouth. After struggling for some time they got restless and started cursing each other for their plight, accusing one another and were hitting each other. There was utter pandemonium. At the next vision, the angel took him to Heaven. He was taken to a dining room, and the dining table was full of eatables. People came to the dining table and they were all in joy full mood, and started praising God. On closely looking on them, the evangelist found out that these people also could not bend their elbow. But they all started to eat, praising God. They started feeding one another with their stiff hands with out any difficulty, patting each other. They all cooperated with each other, there was happiness and praising.

The message is simple- by helping others one fulfills the Royal law, love your neighbor as your self 39. The new law of love cares for one another, honors, accepts, serves, and encourages others. God, as a father wants His children  to live at peace and harmony  with each other. St Paul Teaches in his epistles, If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 21-5)

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39 James 2 8
Biblical rationale for small groups
We have seen the Church is a Spiritual entity and God is the author of it, it is catholic-means universal, and invisible. The local Christian assemblies, big or small, are all part of the Spiritual Church. God only knows who all part of the Church are. The one and only qualification needed on the part of the believer to be a part of this Church is faith in Jesus  the shed blood of
Jesus Christ effecting Justification by faith. Salvation is free and is of the Grace of God. Having justified freely, the believer gratefully obeys the Lord, and is in spiritual union with the Savior, participating with Christ and fellow believers in carrying out the will of God, with the ultimate goal of glorifying God.  The chief end of Koinonia is the glorification God, through worship acceptable and work fruitful. As long as these criteria are met, there is no problem with the size of the congregation, whether big or small.

There is often difficulty on the part of one Church group in practicing Koinonia with another group, because of doctrinal differences. It is human to cast doubt about other side. It takes maturity to understand and acknowledge other groups.

We find a beautiful example in the life of Moses. The people of Israel were murmuring and complaining against God and Moses. Moses was much grieved and he prayed to God that he can not take the burden of leading the people single handed and wanted God to take him away. But God told Moses to gather 70 elders so that he will put the Spirit on them and so did Moses. God sent the Spirit to all the seventy elders and when the Spirit came, all of them prophesied. But of the seventy, two elders  Eldad and Medad were not in the company of Moses but were in the camp and they had also prophesied. Coming to know of this, Joshua asked Moses to stop them. Moses replied, Are you jealous for my sake I wish that all the LORDs people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them 40  Here we see a beautiful example of leadership, magnanimity and tolerance on the part of Moses. Joshua, out of loyalty towards Moses, wanted others, who are not in the company of Moses, to be derecognized. But Moses wants all the people to be prophets like him whether they are in his company or not.

We see another similar instance in New Testament. John tried to stop another man who was driving out demons in the Name of Jesus, reasoning that he is not of their company. But Jesus said, Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you. 42 Group loyalties should give way to loyalty towards God. Koinonia should be manifested universally, with out any local loyalty. 

Heresy and Cults. Another aspect we have to consider regarding small groups is the Doctrinal Purity. Through out the church history, one can find heretical movements. There is a danger of development of heretical tendencies in small groups., distorting the Gospel message as taught by Christ and Apostles. The leaders of the small groups may introduce novel doctrines by giving false interpretations of the Bible passages, even to the extent of denying the Lord who has bought them with his blood. The modus operandi of  these leaders is to introduce novelty to attract more people. Their motive is aggrandizing themselves. This problem is existing even from N.T. period. Jesus and the Apostles have warned of these people. 43 ___________________________
40 Numbers 1129
42 Luke 949,50
43 Mt 245, 11,24 Acts 2040 Rom 16 17,18 2 Peter 21-3 1 Tim 63-5

Examples of heretics of early Church are, Montanists, Arians, and Gnostics. Modern day heresy is Jehovah Witness.

Cults. Small groups may initially exhibit much cohesiveness and have very close knit fellowship,  attracting its members to its fold. The members will be totally loyal to the group leader even surpassing loyalty to Christ. These small groups, if with out communion with other Christian communities, may develop into a close circuit community with secret doctrines and dealings. The leader of the cult will exert out right control over the members of the group, almost enslaving them, indoctrinating them, and leading them astray- away from the true doctrine. The leader may even assume superhuman postures, demanding and accepting allegiance more than that is given to Christ who has shed his blood, bought and redeemed them. Then the group will lose its Christian character and outlook, the members will backslide, losing the grace and Joy of Salvation and get separated from the fold of Christ. A few examples of the past decades are, 1). Sun Moon group of South Korea, 2). Jim Jones group of United States of America, and 3) Paul Asir Laurie group of India. So it is always safe and advisable for the small groups to have some form of communion with the established major Church groups.

Summary
Koinonia  fellowship is a divine attribute, a divine creation, and it is alien to carnal human mind. Koinonia is possible only with the participation of Godhead- the Triune God- God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and any show of fellow ship with out Gods presence is only hypocritical exhibit, concealing the selfish human attribute. Koinonia as manifested in the early church is Gods plan for carrying out his will  taking the message of Salvation to all mankind. Koinonia exists in the Church and God is present among his people in the Church- The Church Universal, mystic, spiritual  the body of Christ. The prerequisites of membership in the universal Church for humans are Justification by faith in Jesus, cleansing of sins by the blood of Christ, and sanctification by Holy Spirit. The love of God is shed abroad in the hearts of members by Holy Spirit and this is the bond of fellowship- Koinonia. The local church groups, big or small, are all part of the universal church. The visible signs of Koinonia in Church groups are the joyful worship of the Triune God and fellowship with partaking of Holy Eucharist, love and concern for one another, Joy of sharing and caring, helping and lifting the weak, honest and transparent dealing with one another, partaking in the joys and tribulations of one another, taking care of others needs, encouraging one another, and considering others better than oneself.

A Thesis Submitted to Atlantic Coast Theological Seminary in accordance with the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of this study was to investigate the Johannine epistles to discover the picture of a genuine believer through understanding the effects of salvation. The study focused on the relationship of the salvation of the believer to the Christians lifestyle, attitude and behavior. There were individual analyses of the three epistles of John.  The analysis determined the major points and reflections from these New Testament books in relation to the impact of salvation in the lives of believers.  There was an exegetical understanding presented for each epistle in order to illustrate the context of the authors message.

There were two significant interpretations that emerged for the purpose of the epistles of John, as the test of salvation and the test of fellowship.  The study also evaluated the epistles to determine which interpretation was most appropriate to it according to the existing critical analysis. The study revealed that the evidence and the context of the epistle should be viewed as a test of salvation because of the constant distinction that John constructed between the believers and non-believers.

The study also presented the seven marks of a true believer that could be extracted from the Johannine epistles.  This implied and supported that these epistles were written to provide a test of salvation because of the criteria made to evaluate the genuineness of the believers walk of faith.  Furthermore, the study also discussed about the different roles of God and man in the salvific activity, wherein it was discovered that God played the role of the initiator and man simply responded with faith in order to be justified.

CHAPTER 1
Introduction
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

- 1 John 513
Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.

 - Mark Twain
You may as well quit reading and hearing the Word of God, and give it to the devil, if you do not desire to live according to it.

-Martin Luther
Background of the Study
The Holy Scripture possess truths that are written for the purposes that people will know about God, His nature and His promises.  The intent as to why these things are written is because there is a necessity to know and understand.  One of the ways by which God is revealed to humans is through the Word of God, known through reading the Bible. Through the method of systematic theology, this paper will focus on understanding the biblical doctrine of Salvation as perceived and revealed by God through the Holy Scripture.  This study is intended to give special emphasis to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd epistles of the Apostle John in order to discover the message they revealed about salvation and Gods intended relationship with man.

Salvation
The doctrine of salvation can be understood based on the knowledge of God and Jesus passion on the Cross. It also involved the recognition of Gods grace.  Since Adam and Eve sinned, they needed to have eternal punishment and separation from God.  This is the same case for human beings because of what Romans 623 proclaimed, For the wages of sin is death. Since sin was written in singular verb, it magnified the fact that there was no one who can escape eternal death because all have sinned.  It was only from Gods saving grace that believers are saved.
 
The issue of election and reprobation was also a significant area in this doctrine. It involves studying when and why God chose the believers and questions if it was possible to not be chosen.  Grudem discussed the issue of salvation in different parts. First, there was a discussion about election or Gods choice of the people to be saved. The first order was highly focused on predestination. Predestination is a term that included the aspects of election for the believers and the reprobation for the unbelievers.  The term election referred to an act of God before the world was created, wherein He was said to have already chosen the people who would be saved, not because of foreseen merit but because of his sovereign good pleasure.  This has brought about much controversy in the church and a misunderstanding over this particular doctrine.

The New Testament taught predestination and passages were compiled to show how Election was presented in this section of the Holy Scripture.  Election perceived to give a sense of comfort because it gives assurance for the Gods promises and purposes for the chosen people.  It gives a reason to praise God.  It serves as an encouragement to evangelism. It guaranteed that when believers evangelized about the gospel to the lost, they would be saved.  Election was described to be unconditional. It was not based on Gods foreknowledge of the believers faith.  Instead, it was His choice that He made out of His love.  It did not mean that unbelievers never had a chance to believe in the first place.  It was stressed out that because sinners remained in their unbelief and because they were unwilling to come to God.  This theme could be understood in the epistles of John. 

The next order involved the Gospel call and effective calling.  This talked about the way God brought salvation in the lives of believers. He would call those he had predestined and when he does this, they will be justified and glorified.  The gospel call is important because the absence of a gospel call meant a person cannot be saved because it was a prerequisite to hear the Gospel before anyone could believe in Jesus.  The Gospel call is followed by regeneration (being born again), conversion (faith and repentance), justification (right legal standing), adoption (membership in Gods family), sanctification (right conduct of life), perseverance (remaining a Christian), death (going to be with the Lord) and glorification (receiving the resurrection of the body).  It shows how it was really Gods power that changes the lives of Christians, as they move them to His greater purposes and His good, pleasing and perfect will.

Date and Authorship of Johannine Epistles
There were a number of views regarding the date by which the epistles were written.  There were those that perceived them to be written between 85 and 90 AD because the John was believed to write the fourth gospel between the years 75 and 80 AD.  Dr. Vernon McGee noted that the epistles were probably written after his imprisonment on the Island of Patmos, which dated the epistles to be written in 100 AD.

The Apostle John, a first generation Christian disciple, is the accepted author of the three letters. The acceptance had been based in the epistles writing style and their content. Even if the actual text did not contain a statement that declared who the author was, such as when Apostle Paul greeted the recipients of his letters and introduces himself, the same John who was the author of the fourth gospel was still considered to be the same author of these epistles. The letters exhibited internal evidence, such as vocabulary, writing tone and themes that were similar to the fourth gospel. There were also similar expressions that were noticed in the epistles that were similar to that of the Gospel of John, using terms such as light, new commandment, works of the devil, and born of God.  The major themes were also the same, such as topics about love, laying down ones life and salvation. The literary construction expressed the same simplicity and directness, as well as a Hebraic style that showed parallelism.

Furthermore, John was considered as the author of the three epistles because of external evidence as well. Significant people such as Polycarp, the Muratorian fragment, Origen, Dionysisu of Alexandra and Eusebius testified that the Apostle John authentically wrote the epistles. The time by which the letter was written was observed to be upon Johns return from exile in Patmos based on church history and the content of the epistles. The place of writing was Ephesus, which was where John ministered in his last days.

The dominant themes that were observed in the epistles were considered to be sufficient to tilt the scale in favor of the view the Gospel of John and the same person authored the epistles.  The claim of the epistles author to pass on what he had seen and heard that was similar to the gospels mandate represented the authors identity. The three epistles were considered to be written by one author was based on the observance of the similarity of style and language.  Furthermore, the writing style and thematic content of the epistles deducted the fact that the author was an Elder of the early church.

Unlike the epistles from Paul, there was a limited background based on the text to develop the contextual background of the Johannine epistles.  The only foundation that could be related to these epistles was the traditions of the early church. One of the conditions of the early church would be the division that could be observed within the Christian community, wherein individuals have taken separate paths due to doctrinal disputes and heretic groups that pulled believers against the church. There were doctrinal disputes regarding the Sonship of Christ and the humanity of Jesus.

Furthermore, there were also divergent teachings that emerged, which denied the authority of Christs teachings, as well as humanitys personal sinfulness.  It was evident that the letters came against a specific group, the Gnostics.  Gnosticism was described as the belief in the evil of the matter, mediating beings and salvation through knowledge and the rejection of the Incarnation of Christ. It would also be observed how John came against another heretic movement, Docetism, which claimed that Jesus only appeared human but he was not really human.  John expressed his arguments against false teachers in the epistles.

Themes of the Epistles
It could be observed that the letters were written in defense of Christianity against false teachers.  The letters served established the truth that is Jesus Christ and how this should not be compromised.
We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is trueeven in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Nevertheless, the most important theme of the epistles revolved around the love of God and the hope of the salvation of humanity. John painted a picture of the Savior, as the light of the world, emphasizing on his righteousness and love. Jesus is established as the way of salvation and John presented ways by which believers faith could be strengthened through an eschatological perspective of life.

The message of the epistles allowed for scholars to place the context of the letters during a time wherein there was a disagreement that had arose among the Christians pertaining to the reality of Jesus life and death. Some believers were already questioning how the son of God have lived a life limited by human qualities and suffered from a shameful death.

Docetists or Seemists claimed that Jesus divine nature or his messiahship came upon him during his baptism and left him before his death on the cross. They claimed that the sufferings that Christ experienced were not real, but seemingly real. One of the main purposes of the Gospel of John was to rebuke such views. This same purpose could be observed to be evident in the epistles.

Furthermore, the epistles also revealed the views regarding the separation of life and death, as well as the differences between Christians and non-believers.  Terms such as light, fellowship with God and heirs were used to describe the impact of salvation on the lives of believers.  The second and third epistles of John were described to be real letters because there was no other New Testament letter that possessed the complete form of a Hellenistic private letter. They were also described to have the same language, length and the epistolary form, such as the address introduction and conclusion were the same.

The phrases such as I am writing to you, I write to you, fathers became intelligible and natural when they were perceived as pastoral letters that were carried out in the churches of Asia. While there were more similarities observed for the II and III John, II John was necessary to I John as I John was to II John, thus the three epistles were written and organized as a corpus in order to be completely understood.  It was also not advisable to conduct an atomistic treatment of the epistles.

1 John. Unlike the epistle that Paul wrote to different churches, there was nothing in this epistle that signified that it was meant as a letter, other than the fact that it carried the statement I write unto to you, which could be found in verses 21, 212, and 213.  It did not possess the name of the author or any greetings in the end.  The general theme of the epistle was to strengthen the faith of the community that was familiar to the author of the mention of different concerns such as the heretics.  The author of the epistle spoke about how the heretics have separated themselves from the church and denied that Jesus is the Christ, as well as how they spoke in the spirit of the antichrist.  The author contested the claim of the Docetic heretics that Christ appeared as a human, who was not born and did not die.

I John was evidently the longest among the three letters. The epistle was considered to be pastoral in nature because of the letters length and message.  Thus, there was no need for the letter to bear his title.  Furthermore, the language the opened the words of the Gospel of John and the authors experience, the writer brought out revelations that described the Gospel as the Revelation of life.  The one who was of Light and Truth, as well as of Repentance and Forgiveness, characterized the experience of the Revelation of Life.  Furthermore, the theme of the Gospel also revealed faith and love in action. The claim of knowing God was futile if it was not accompanied by obedience to his commandments.  The author of this epistle emphasized on the experience of being in the light to be the same as living in love.  This epistle also described the importance of being led by the Holy Spirit in order to be protected from the dangers of sin. The idea that believers were Gods children was also highlighted in this epistle. Being a child of God was accompanied by the privileges and duties of sonship.

2 John. The elder wrote another letter, a shorter one, to the church to which Gaius belonged to. Love was still a dominant theme in this epistle. It spoke about loving one another and maintaining harmony. The Elders also declared that there were agents of the Antichrist and exhibited warning against them.
The second epistle also included warnings against the Docetists.  The epistle contained warning against giving hospitality or greeting to anyone who held heretical views.  This epistle was noted for having striking parallels between the languages of that from the fourth Gospel, such as the reference to truth, which served as a significant proof for the identity of the epistles author.

Overview of the Study
This study will provide an examination and interpretation of the epistles of John through the analysis of a theological and practical significance of his writings, which encompasses a test of salvation or a test of fellowship.  The purpose of this paper is to readily understand and define the roles of God and man in their relationship, a relationship that is centered on the gift of salvation that was brought about by Jesus Christ.

This chapter provides a background of the Johannine Epistles.  It discusses the historical background, date and authorship of the Epistles, along with the themes that were discussed in these three books in the Bible. Chapter 2 focuses on 1 John and provides an interpretation and analysis of its themes, which a special focus on its message for salvation and relationship. Chapter 3 zeroes in on what 2 John reveals about the gift of salvation and how it was related to the previous epistle. Chapter 4 studies the last epistle of John.

Chapter 5 discusses the Johannine epistles as a whole and analyzes two perspectives towards their theological significance, according to the test of salvation and the test of relationship.  Chapter 6 identifies the differences between a true believer and a non-believer.  This is based on the premise that not everyone who calls himself or herself a Christian is genuinely a believer.  This chapter enumerates the biblical signs for those who are truly children of God. Chapter 7 analyzes the role of God and man in their relationship that was based on Christs redemptive mission. This chapter discusses about Gods sovereignty and mans free will and how these Biblical concepts should be understood in the context of salvation, according to the epistles of John. The final chapter in this study provides concluding thoughts for the paper, as well as practical significance and application for the Johannine epistles. 

CHAPTER 2
1 John
We love because he first loved us.
-1 John 419
Jesus is God spelling Himself out in language that men can understand.
--S.D. Gordon

Gods Love and the Believers Salvation
The Book of 1 John was written by one of the first men to follow Jesus. This pertained to the fact that he had a close relationship with Jesus and John knew him well. He knew the heart of Jesus for the sinners.  He personally witnessed it. Moreover, John also received the revelation that Jesus is God.  While the first epistle of John seemed like a wide array of theological concepts, the theme of love and truth seemed evident throughout the book. When he wrote to the believers, the foundational message that he brought forth was the love of God for the Christians and the response that Christians must have as a result of Gods love.  He emphasized on Gods commandment for believers to love one another.
The first epistle of John specifically discussed important theological points, such as Christians were the children of God and that they could enjoy a special relationship with Him because of this privilege.  One of the most significant revelations of this epistle describes this special relationship that builds up the faith of the believer on his or her salvation, How great is the love the Father has lavished on 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. However, John was also someone who insisted that knowing God enables Christians to obey His commands.   Furthermore, John teachers that Christians will always be forgiven if they confessed their evil deeds to God but it does not mean that they would intentionally do wrong things. It was because of the special relationship that believers have with God that the Holy Spirit is given to them to warn them against false idea. John also could not emphasize enough the importance of love for the fellow believers.  The first epistle stressed on the importance of building up strong relationships with fellow believers through fellowship.

Background of the Epistle
When John the Apostle wrote this epistle, he was already an old man and it was more than half a century after the death of Christ. John was considered as one of the youngest apostles because he was still alive by this time.  There were also speculations that he was probably the last apostle who was still alive.  During this time, he made Ephesus his home.

The recipients of the epistle were the different churches nearby Ephesus.  To be more specific, he wrote to the Christians in these areas. The relationship that the author had with the recipients was close, as he knew and loved them to the point wherein he considered them his family. The tone by which he had written to them was as if he was speaking to his own children.  Even if the epistles of John have a unique position in the writings of the New Testament, 1 John is one of the most-loved and most-quoted books in the New Testament.

Purpose of the Letter
The epistolary format of the 1 John was considered a common form of communication in the first century and within the early church, as a means of encouragement, greetings, discipleship and even for rebuke.  However, the format of 1 John was not associated with the standard features of ancient letters, as no author is listed and it lacked personal greetings, and it did not mention the designated recipients. While the genre of 1 John remained open for further discussion, it was also considered to be of other genres, such as a universal religious tract, a circular epistle or a homily, also known as an informal pastoral tractate. A universal religious tract was a text that was intended for the church worldwide, however, this fails to explain why there was no author. A circular epistle was a genre considered to account for the lack of epistolary format and the presence of specific contents.

Furthermore, it explained how there was a lack of personal names.  A homily was also a possible genre classification for 1 John, as there is a definite style that was consistent with pastoral writing. However, the comments against it being one were the lack of identification for the sender of the epistle. 
Among the three epistles, this was the longest.  The length of the letter could be associated with the authors intent for writing.  The forceful simplicity of the letters, especially for the first one, revealed the gentleness of John and his deep love for the letters recipients.  During that time, some people in these Christian churches were believed wrong things because of erroneous teachings that were taught by other members of the church, possibly even church leaders. Those that taught these wrong things already moved way from the faith and left the church they belonged you even before they received discipline from the Elders. Thus, John intended to correct the wrong ideas that were developed as a result of the teachings of the members that left. In this epistle, the ungarnished message and the sternness are described to be simple enough for young person to understand, yet complex enough to merit a lifetime of relevance and analysis.

One of the issues that John dealt with in this epistle was the heresy that Christ was not really a man. There were those that taught that he only appeared to be a man but he was not a real man. In this epistle, John wanted to set it straight for the remaining church members that Jesus is the Son of God and he came as a real man, as he lived his life on earth and died as a man. Furthermore, the man rose again from the dead.

On the other hand, there were those that taught that Jesus was just a man and that he was not really God.  They could not accept that a God could die and they said that Christ came upon Jesus and then left him again before he died. John needed to address this because there was a need to show that Christ gave his life for sinners and that only Jesus Christ could take away the sins of the world, as no mere man could accomplish this.

Furthermore, the inconsistencies in the teachings ended up with the conclusion that the body is bad but the spirit is good.  Thus, what one does with the body does not affect the spirit, which meant it does not matter how one lived in the body. During that time, members of the church thought that their evil actions did not matter as long as they believed they loved God, even if they lived for themselves.  John rebuked these ideas to be false and stressed out to them that loving God needed to be reflected in the believers lives.  The epistle spoke upon ceasing to sin and those believers must follow the way Jesus lived because God is good.

Aside from correcting the wrong teachings that former members taught, John wrote the letter to encourage the Christians and filled them with the truth in order for them to recognize false ideas.   Moreover, John stressed that Christians were children of God and that God was their Father.  Thus, Christians were all brothers and sisters. As the children of God, John showed the kind of life that they should live.  As one church, these brothers and sisters must share the life that Jesus gave them for as long as eternity. John reminded them that because they knew Jesus they would know the truth of the Word.  This epistle was also meant to build up the faith of the different churches that served as recipients of the epistle.  Since they were grounded on the truth, they would be able to depend on Jesus who is both man and God, as well as exhibit love for their fellow believers.

Teachings of the Epistle Even if the letter does not specifically mentioned who wrote it, John the apostle was identified as the author of the epistle because of the similar thought and style of the letter to the fourth Gospel.  It was clear that the same person wrote them because of the consistencies in the following passages

1 JohnThe Gospel of John1 John 11John 11, John 14, John 1141 John 25John 14231 John 26John 1541 John 28 1 John 311John 13341 John 28, 1 John 210John 15, John 19 John 11101 John 213-14John 1731 John 31John 1121 John 32John 17241 John 38John 8441 John 313John 15201 John 49John 3161 John 412John 1181 John 513John 20311 John 514John 14141 John 520John 172Table  SEQ Table  ARABIC 1 Consistency between the Gospel of John and 1 John

It was evident that the letter was intended to correct wrong teachings.  This was done through providing reassurances for the truth. The letter sends the message that believers can be sure about Christ.  They could know what is true about God and Christ.  Furthermore, that the Son has come to take way their sin.  Furthermore, the letter of John was designed to let the believers know about their assurance of their eternal life with Jesus. Finally, the epistle of John emphasized on the fact that Christians should show their love for God by living good lives in obedience of the Scripture.

The first epistle of John contains five chapters. There were different ways by which commentators described the division of this epistle.  John Stott described the shape of the letter could be divided into seven thematic divisions.  The first section served as the preface of the letter.  The second section revolved around the apostolic message and its moral implications. This section included the denial that sin could break the believers fellowship with God, as well as the denial that sin existed in our nature or that sin could show in the conduct of believers.

The third section talked about the first application of the tests.  This section spoke about obedience, love, a digression about the church and the world, as well as belief or the doctrinal test. The next section could be described as the second application of the tests, wherein there is an elaboration of the moral tests for righteousness and the social test of love.  There was also the digression regarding the assurance and the condemning heart.  There is further discussion about the doctrinal test of belief.  In the fifth section, John discussed about a third application of tests, such as a further elaboration of the social test, a combination of the doctrinal and social tests, as well as a combination of all the three.  The sixth section described three witnesses and the consequent assurance for salvation.  Finally, the first epistle ended with three affirmations and a concluding exhortation for the recipient of the letters.
When John discussed about the digressions mentioned above, John refocused in the principal thesis of his letter, which pertained to the discrimination between true and false teachings through tests.  Aside from moral and social tests, this letter highlighted a doctrinal test for believers, which would draw the line between heresy and genuine Christian beliefs in 1 John 218-21.  This was significant because John believed that it was already the last days. He saw the urgency to hold on to Scriptural truth and to be vigilant against false teachings.  Furthermore, he spoke about how many antichrists have come.  It should be noted that the term antichrist only appeared in Johannine letters. The role of the antichrists signified the approaching of the end of times. When John spoke about the antichrist, it was not about demythologizing the myth or that the antichrist he talked about was not as much a person as a principle, John meant that there were numerous antichrists that would still come.

It was significant to understand the presence of the term antichrist in Johns epistle and to know what exactly he was referring to. If the term was literally interpreted, there could be two meanings. One of the meanings of the antichrist referred to false Christ or pretenders. On the other hand, anti could also mean against, which translated to the opponents of Christ.  If John intended the antichrist in his epistle to mean the false Christ, he would have used the term pseudochristos instead John used the term to mean fundamentally against Christ or the denial of Christ.   There was a difference between the many antichrists and the one antichrist that shall come.  Thus, the many antichrists referred to human teachers, even false prophets.  These are the same former church members that spread heresies in the churches but failed to win over church leaders to their viewpoints, and decided to leave the church.  These false teachers were described to have excommunicated themselves.

It could be observed that John provided distinction for those that left and those that remained.  John pointed out that this spoke about their true character, something that he expected as well when he said, They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.  Furthermore, John offered that there was a reason why they would leave.  The heretics went out of their own free will, otherwise they would have led the believers astray and noted that what was not true could not remain hidden.

In this epistle, John exposed the truth in the discussion about the perseverance of the saints and the nature of the church.  He described the faith of the true believer.  Affirming what Mark stressed in the second gospel, the believer that stood firm to the end will be end. This perseverance was needed not because salvation is the reward of endurance, but because endurance is the hallmark of the saved. John described those who fall way to have never been imbued with the knowledge of Christ.  If they knew Christ, they only experienced a slight and passing taste of the truth, which was not enough for them to stay in the church.

According to the second chapter, But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.  When he said all, it referred to the recipients of the letter, those who have remained in the church.  It referred to his readers loyalty to the truth, in contrast to those who followed heresy and left the church.  It was because of Gods revelation that these members knew of the truth.
Robert Yarborough used the opening words of the verses to detect the themes for each chapter.  In the first verses of the first epistle, John opened up saying, that which was from the beginning carrying the central burden that God is light. It emphasized on the character of God, as the main burden of the letter.

In the second chapter, John called the recipients of the letter my dear children represented the theme of the primary commandment that embodied an age-old message for believers to stay within the anointing of God and to receive eternal life. It spoke of old, yet current messages, as well as the implications for misanthrope.  These implications pertained to the futility of mere confession and the darkness of lovelessness.

The third chapter stressed on being correlation of being born of God and how believers should not continue to sin.  The chapter carried that theme for Christians to beware against false prophets. It also teaches Christians to abide in the Fathers love, as well as, to hold on in the promise of divine transformation.  This promise included future transformation of the believers, as well as the present ethical urgency. Moreover, this chapter discussed Christs presence, in terms of the defiance, purpose and the victory of Christs presence.

The fourth chapter discussed about Gods love and faith in Jesus as the Son of God. The opening words of this chapter included dear friends, which introduces the concept of the foundational view of Gods love.  In the last chapter, there was an emphasis on the discipline of rebuke of brothers and sisters in Christ. The part gave emphasis on knowing the true God and the threat of imposters.

The theological and pastoral themes of the epistle were grounded on the hallmarks of Johannine tradition, especially as given expressions that are also called as Farewell Discourses. These discourses included Jesus final instructions to his disciples, such as love each other, heed the teaching of the Holy Spirit, dwell in unity in God and with each other, to be vigilant against the hatred of the world, as well as to live in the joy and peace made possible by Jesus Christ.  The teachings of this epistle carried these themes to the problems that the early church was experiencing during that time.

Chapter 1. The first chapter few verses of this epistle emphasized on the Word of Life and how the Word was Jesus, and how the Word existed ever since the world began.  These verses intended to give glory to Jesus and testified to what he has done.  The opening statement reflected the main purpose for the letter, which is about Jesus, whom he referred to as the Word of life.  This chapter described the life that awaited the believers and how the Word produced life because of the good news of salvation, through Jesus.  The author focused on the division between the things of the light and the darkness. 
These verses also reflected the eyewitness privilege of the author, together with others.  The terms we, our and us occurred eleven times in this section.  The author spoke about what he and the recipients of the letter personally encountered with distinct descriptions of physical contact.  He described the Word of Life to be something they have seen, watched and even touched with their hands.  Even if the epistle lacked the mention of the name of the author, there were claims that his reputation was widely known among the believers.  When he spoke of we, John was probably speaking of his fellow eyewitnesses to Jesus earthly ministry. 

The eyewitness account of Jesus life and ministry was an important assumption for this chapter.  Through the first verse, John emphasized the Jesus was alive before time to emphasize that Jesus is God.  Jesus was considered as the historical manifestation in the life of Christ and the experience of the fellowship with God and Christ was revealed to be sufficient for the believers spiritual needs, as reflected in 1 John 11-4.  Furthermore, John also highlighted on the fact that they had a personal and physical encounter with God. They have been with him and lived with him for three years, in order to build the foundation for his argument against those who denied that God came as a human person. John stressed that the real experience they have had with Jesus served as an eyewitness account that Jesus is both God and man.

Furthermore, the chapter also emphasized the believing made an individual a member of Gods family.  John declared that the Lord was not only for those who first believed, but it was for those who would believe. Belief in Jesus unites Christians with God as the Father.  A central tenet of Johannine thought was the revelation of Gods greatness.  However, revealing this can be considered secondary to the main theme of the chapter and the epistle, which was God is light. Johns message was based on the character of God. Thus, 1 John 15 was viewed to carry the central thesis of the chapter and the entire epistle because of the assertion that it was the message passed on from Jesus who himself declared it. According to Yarborough, Scripture is a treasure trove of names and metaphors for God, and one of these metaphors is light. Despite the fact that Jesus is the visible pole of Gods personal self-disclosure, God is invisible and revelation about Him is dependent on Him as well. Thus, Jesus revelation of Gods nature would be significant.

The revelation from 1 John 15 is that John did not invent the message, instead, he received it from Jesus. The nature of God, like a light, would mean that He is all good, holy and just.  Furthermore, it also meant that man could not hide anything from God and like the light that shines, nothing could escape it.  Darkness was also associated with evil acts, such as sin and error. While there could not be any darkness in the light, there is no sin or evil in God.  God is revealed to be perfect. Furthermore, when people turn from the light it was also associated to their love for darkness, instead of light.  Since there can be no darkness in God, people who do evil acts could not share a relationship with God. Thus, those who believe in God must live in the light. 

It could be seen that the significance of this burden would become clear as he addresses the church community that was besieged by darkness of different natures, such as doctrinal, ethical, and even relational in nature. This darkness was associated to a theological lapse, which was described as an inadequate response to God.  There was darkness that was creeping into the early church in the form of doctrine error, ethical negligence, and relational breakdown, such as the lack of compassion and the presence of hate.  John described the lightness that will defeat these different forms of darkness in the church, such as corrective measures.  The error and confusion that his letter addressed was based on the standard that Gods light provided and they are to be replaced by corrective teaching, fresh imperatives and the reinvigoration of the love for God and for others.  The frame of the epistle was not dominated by Johns teaching, commands, or encouragement instead, it was directed by the vision of God  His light, moral excellence, as well as His efficacious purity.  There were significant points that John declared, which were right before God, such as the light, which represented truth, purity and all that was right and holy, truth, and life, on earth and in eternity.  There were also messages about being loving and compassionate, the enduring nature of God it also promotes faith, as well as an open acknowledgement about the humanity of Christ and the divinity of Jesus.  On the other hand, there was also a sharp contrast about the things that were not right before God, such as darkness, lie, death, hate, temporal, unbelief, as well as the denial of the divinity of Jesus and humanity in Christ.

The first chapter also discussed about the implications of Gods character for the Christian life.  There was a thematic assertion for the holy character of God that used quick if-clauses, each associated Gods light to a hypothetical human verbal response or an implied mode of living.   He further associated Gods character to walking, which is a metaphor for living and doing the truth.  The chapter also carried implicated for fellowship, in the case of transgression (1 John 16) and obedience (1 John 17), as well as implications for integrity, in the case of the denial of sinfulness (misrepresentation of the self) (1 John 18), in the case of the consciousness of sin (1 John 19) and in the case of the denial of sinful acts (misrepresentation of God) (1 John 110).

There was an emphasis that when individuals did evil things, they did not share in Gods life.  Even if the person claims to be a believer, if he sins, John places doubt in the persons fellowship with God. John emphasized the false things that people declared (1 John 16, 8, 10), in comparison to Gods truth (1 John 17, 9 21). John emphasized that there is new life in God and that the sinner should continue to sin because there could not be any unity between light and darkness.  Thus, the test of truth was not just about belief in one what said but in what one did. This showed the fellowship that one had in Christ through obedience.

The first chapter was introduced by an introduction about a man with the Message about a life that never ends. This speaks of the promise of Christs salvation. This chapter also emphasized that God has already provided a remedy for sins. When believers receive Christ as their Lord and Savior, they must live to please God and live according to the way God wants them to live. Genuine Christians are described to live in the light and be unity with God, who is the Light. The chapter emphasized on the blood that Jesus gave so that the sins of mankind will be taken away.  Since sinners lived in darkness, Jesus sacrifice on the cross was needed in order for God to have unity with man.  Thus, God is able to forgive those who believe and Jesus death on the cross has cleansed away sins of the world.  People only needed to believe in order to claim the righteousness that believers have in Christ. Furthermore this chapter also revealed that the light that comes from God could overpower the darkness of sin.

John also gave mention in this chapter about the people who denied their sins.  The author noted that those that denied that they were sinners were merely lying to themselves because they believe they did not need Jesus to remove their sins. They were living in a false reality that not all humans sinner.

Instead, they chose to forget and to be blind of their sinful nature. The first epistle was specifically anchored on the significance of Jesus life and death for the early church members.  Apparently, false teachers were disputing the need for Jesus death on the cross during that time.  As some denied that they have sinned, John stressed that they might as well deny their need for Jesus.  The views that there is no sin and that there is no need for atonement and the need for Jesus are expressions of thoughts that could not co-exist in the community.  On the other hand, God forgave sinners that confessed their sins.  John exposed the lie that sin did not spoil ones unity with God because it was because of sin that Christ died on the cross to remove it.  Jesus died in exchange of mans place on the cross in order restore the damaged relationship man had with God that sin brought.  If a person denied their sin, it reflected their disbelief for the Word of God.

Chapter Two. The second chapter of the first epistle of John spoke about how Christ spoke for man and that believers should obey God.  There was a specific emphasis on the theme of keeping the commandments in order to know God more, which was repeated all throughout the epistle, with a specific emphasis in this chapter. John emphasized that it was Jesus that spoke to the Father on behalf of the believers. While people would falsely believe that sin was a normal part of Christian life, this chapter stressed that sin moved Christians away from the light of God. Furthermore, sin will get between God and the believers, as sin would spoil the joy of Christianity.   In this chapter, one would observe how John wrote like a father who wrote to children, whom he loved. He warned that if Christians sinned, they need to confess it to God and that believers must decide not to sin again, as well as ask for forgiveness for sin. There was also the stress on how Jesus remained the only mediator between God and man if ever believers sinned. As believers are called to be born of God and children of God, they were considered to be brothers and sisters to each other.

There was a reiteration of the important message that Jesus died for the sins of man.  Jesus is able to mediate for believers because he was the one who died for the sins of man and he was the one who took all of the sins of the world.  John described the atonement of Christ to remind the recipients of the letter of the faith that they have in the face of sin.  False teachers also had false teachings that Christ did not die for everyone and that Jesus only died for those who accepted their message.

This chapter also presented a significant discussion on the issue of Christian obedience. John stressed that persons who knew God obeyed his commands, while those that did not obey did not know Him.  In this chapter, there was a discussion as to how loving God would move the person in obedience. Obedience is reflected in the believers emulation of how Jesus lived his life.

There was also the command to love, a command that Jesus himself declared as the highest commandment.  John was known to discuss about love eloquently.  The command to love was described to be both an old and a new command. It is a new command in the sense that Christians now have a more concrete example of how they should love, as they have Jesus example when he died on the cross because of love.  It was also new because Jesus obeyed the law and love was described to complete the law.  The command to love is made knew because Jesus revealed what love meant. Before, the commandment was to love ones neighbor as one loved ones self.  However, the new command to love was based on what Christ did on the cross, which is a higher standard for love.

Since Christians had the light and they knew the love of God, their lives should show that they loved others. Otherwise, if their lives did not show that they loved other Christians and other people, their lives would not reflect the love of Jesus.  For John, a person either loved or hated to walk in the light would mean to love one another.  Furthermore, more than being in unity with God, Christs death on the cross also meant that one could overcome the devil and strengthen Christians in spiritual warfare.
The epistle also spoke about hating sin and evil things.  The term world in this chapter did not refer to the earth God created instead it referred to the opposition against God.  World pertained to everything that was under the control of the devil For everything in the worldthe cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and doescomes not from the Father but from the world.  Furthermore, the author described the things from the world to cause believers to sin. While they seemed good, Christians must decipher what was of God and of the enemy.  In contrast, John described the things that were of God.  Those that were from God are described to be eternal, while the world was described to be fleeting and temporary.

Johns purpose for writing was also to correct false teachings to warn the recipients of the letter about false teachers.  He warned them about the false teachers that would come and the last of these would be known as the Antichrist, the enemy of Christ. John noted that if they belonged in the church they would not have left, but since they did they showed that they were not genuine believers.  In contrast, John reminded them that the Holy Spirit taught the truth to all of the Christians. The truth set apart the true believers from the false teachers.  John clarified that he was not writing because he doubted their knowledge, instead it was to encourage them to move on what they knew because he was sure that the recipients of the letters were true believers, which made them know the truth.

He delved deeper into the teachings of false christs and how their teachings opposed the truth about Jesus.  False teachers would claim that Jesus was not the Christ they would also separate the man Jesus from the Christ who is God. There were also teachers that would deny the unity between God the Father and Jesus as one God.  There were also cases wherein false teachers rejected the message of the Bible and tried to change it.  John warned the readers of the letter to guard the truth.

Finally, this chapter concluded with the encouragement that believers had the confidence of Jesus return.  John encouraged believers to remain in Christ and for them to guard the truth for the Lord.  He assured them of their relationship that was rooted on their faith in Jesus Christ and on their obedience in the Word of God.  He encouraged them to remain in the light, until the time wherein Christ comes in the final judgment of the world.

In summary, Chapter 2 of 1 John spoke about Jesus Christs role as the mediator and how he came to can speak to God on behalf of believers because even believers sinned.  Furthermore, the reason why John was writing the letter was also expounded in this chapter.  This chapter focused on those that fought against Christ and how John described them to have told lies about Jesus, as well as how they have twisted the Word of God.  This chapter also reemphasized that believers are Gods children.
Chapter Three. The third chapter went back to the discussion about the believers membership in the family of God.  According to this chapter, God loved believers and through Jesus, He made believers His children.  John continued the discussion using two subjects the first was Christians are born of God and about the return of Christ.  The children are then born again of God.  John also described how Christians would be like Jesus when he returns. This showed the changing power of God if the believers have faith and remain in Him.  This chapter agrees with Pauls message to the Corinthians, as he reiterated that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.  While Christians do not know the future that awaited them, however, the fact remains that the believers will be like Christ.

While it would be by the grace of God that Christians are changed, the desire of Christians should still be to be like Jesus in the present time.  The term hope was used in order to reveal the absence of doubt in the promises of Christ.  This chapter reveals the fruits of ones faith in Jesus and showed what it meant to have a relationship with the God of light.  Despite the fact that the believers human nature is still weak, thus he or she will fall into sin it was the commitment to reject a sinful life and to flee from anything that could cause one to sin.  This chapter drove focus once again to the fact that Jesus came to take away sin and how sinners should not continue to sin.

This chapter declared that a righteous person does right things.  Thus, righteousness is marked by ones actions, instead of what one says. In contrast, John also declared that the devil wanted people to sin. The origin of sin was the devil. The person who continues to sin was described to be like the child of the devil, because this individual shows the same nature of the devil. Ever since the beginning of time, the devil has been doing evil and forcing humanity to do the same, ever since he brought the original sin to mankind when he tempted Adam and Eve. Since that time, he is still working to keep people from giving their lives to Jesus and obeying his Word. The work of the devil is to steal, kill and destroy, while Jesus came to destroy the acts of the enemy and to give man an abundant life.  When Jesus died on the cross, he had defeated the enemy and he had taken away the sins of humanity.

When believers turned to God, He gave them a new life through Jesus Christ.  The new life He has given is a life that is of Gods nature and it is Gods nature to oppose sin.  Furthermore, this new life enabled man to love other Christians because they are also Gods children.  It is in Gods nature to love both Christians and unbelievers. Thus, the person who could to love Christians is not born of God and if believers did not love Christians, it means that they were not children of God.

In this chapter, there was a strong emphasis on how Christians should love each other and believe in Christ.  John described those who were evil to be like Cain who murdered his brother. The fact that Cain did not show love for Abel reflected that his origin was from the devil. The comparison between Cain and Abel was a significant part of the chapter. Abel was described to have obeyed God, while Cain did not.  This showed the specific model of good and evil between the two brothers in this chapter. John also described non-believers or false believers to hate Christians.  The love of a Christian for a fellow believer marked the genuineness of ones faith.

Jesus revealed that anger without a case was the same as murder. John described hate to have the same effects of murder. In fact, hate could be perceived, as the first step to murder and those who hate does not have God in their lives. On the other hand, aside from not having a murderous or a hateful heart, a Christian believer is described to be unselfish.  Johns epistle was filled with thoughts about Christian love and how one expressed such love in action. The greatest act of love was that of Jesus, when he died on the cross for humanity. This was because he loved man that he died for them.

The knowledge of God also brings one to have a good conscience, wherein a believer is not left to feel condemned about past sins and inadequacies.  They are aware of the forgiveness, peace and blessing of God, which gives them the confidence to come to God without any fear.  Furthermore, God gives Christians the desires of their hearts because of His unfailing love for believers. 

More than this, God also gave Christians the Holy Spirit to strengthen believers in their Christian walk and to enable them to believe and love.  The presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christian is a significant mark that the faith of the believer is true, which is reflected by a changed life.   The third chapter compared love versus death.  It could be observed that John always compared different things with each other.  He compared numerous thoughts against each other, but everything went down to the basic messages of love, obedience and truth. 

Chapter 4. Chapter four gave warning about testing the spirits or testing the reliability of the message, in order to test if they were true or if they are of Gods.  The opening of this chapter was a clear warning against false teachings. There are other spirits that are in the world that were not of God but were from the enemy. They may or may not belong to the Christian church. Thus, it was significant to know of the origin of what people said. Believers needed to test and approve that the message they were hearing were aligned with the Holy Scriptures before they believe them. While people claimed that they were teaching a message from God, they could be lying.  There are those that are considered as false prophets.

On the other hand, the spirit that is from God would be from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit from God would teach a message that was aligned with the work of God and would not add or deduct from it. Furthermore, the Spirit that came from God would profess that everything in the Bible is true and not just some parts of it. John encouraged the recipients of the letter that they should not fear or worry about the works of the enemy. God lives in the believers through the Holy Spirit and God is greater than the devil.

By the Holy Spirit, believers will be able to defeat false teachers and for this reason, as God is working in His people and He is the one the fights for the believers as long as they remain in Him Christians belong to God and not the world. While false teachers come from the devil and the rest of the world might believe in them, the Christians will only listen to the truth of the Gospel.  The Holy Spirit would cause Christians to know what was true.  They would be able to determine the kind of spirit, which speaks the truth.

John also professed that God is love.  Since He loved us, Christians should love him because of who He is, what He has done and who He is to the believers.  This was the power that enabled Christians to love each other.  The saving knowledge of God allows Christians to love because He showed his love among believers.  In this chapter, John also emphasized that since God lived in Christians, they should represent Him in the world. Even if they cannot see Him, they must remain in Him through their actions and faith. 

John also spoke of Gods unfailing love.  He noted that Christians could always depend on Gods love and that He is always faithful. The reason why He loved humanity was not because men loved Him, it was because God is love. His very nature is to love.  By this, believers are not afraid because of Gods love. Fear was in contrast of the confidence that Gods love brought.  Furthermore, it is because of Gods love that believers are able to love others. Finally, it was out of believers obedience that they are able to love God. Believers could not choose to love God and not love others, as it is the overflow of Gods grace in their lives that they are able to love.

Overall, this chapter contained a specific warning that believers must constantly make sure that the message came from God and the message was aligned with the Word of God.  It also served as a reminder that it was God, not the believers that chose to love first. Thus, it was because God loved the believers first that they should be able to love fellow believers, as well as others as well.

Chapter Five. John declared that it is the believers faith that enabled them to overcome the world.  Faith was declared to be the weapon of Christians to experience victory over the world. The last chapter of the first epistle summarized the message of John.  He spoke about the belief that Jesus is the Christ, he declared that everyone who believed in him was born of God, belonged to the family of God, that believers obeyed God, and that by faith Christians could defeat the world. In this chapter, there was a specific emphasis on the power of Christian faith and how it helped them overcome everything that opposed them, as believers. 

In the world, Christians would still have struggles, however, by the grace of God and the benefits of being called His children, Christians would be able to go against any persecution and overcome the attacks of the world.  The enemy would do anything to steal, kill and destroy the faith and the relationship of Christians with Jesus, but the Holy Spirit was sent to help Christians fight this spiritual battle.  Nevertheless, the faith of believers also called them to be witnesses to the glory of God. The last chapter also presented more arguments from John that declared that Jesus is the Son of God. 

The general message from this chapter was that everyone who believes in Jesus as their Lord and Savior are called Gods people.  It was also a chapter that strengthened Johns case as to why the world should believe about what God has told them about His Son, through His Word and through the ministry of Jesus.  Furthermore, John ended the chapter declaring that it was God that gave His people an everlasting life.

Summary
There have been significant attempts from different authors such as Stott, Wiersbe, and Mackervoy to provide a comprehensive outline for the first epistle of John but most outlines would ultimately fail to reach an acceptable level of comprehensiveness because of the lack of structure of this epistle.  The fact of the matter is 1 John would keep returning to the same core subjects repeatedly, without seeming to have an overall plan.   Thus, it seemed important to acknowledge this aspect before studying this epistle to prevent from getting lost in its flow. However, despite the fact that 1 John lacked a clear overall outline, there were sections in this text that were carefully structured, such as 1 John 15-211 and 41-18, which were introduced by 323-24.  Despite the seemingly lack of structure of the 1 John, it did not include random thoughts.  It was cohesive in such a way that the main themes would be observed throughout the chapters and in different combinations with one another.  The most significant themes that could be observed from this text revolved around the nature of God, brotherly love, obedience, and being children of God.

The chapter discussed about the overall teaching of 1 John.  It showed how the author of this epistle stood against those that questioned the divine nature and the human nature of Jesus.  It also carried a resounding message about love Gods love and the believers love for their fellow believers and their compassion for the lost.  The chapter also discussed how the language of the epistle was consistently reminiscent of the Fourth Gospel, which was attributed to terms like light, Word of life, the relationship of the believers and the world.

CHAPTER 3
2 John
And this is love that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
- 2 John 6
When a persons faith seems to collapse without warning, one can be sure it has been the result of inner conflicts - the termites of disobedience.
- Quinton J. Everest
The Christian life consists of two words, love and obedience.
- John R. Clemens

Truth and Love
The book of 2 John is a short letter in the New Testament. The book of John revolved around the main theme of love.  It teaches that believers should love other Christians because this is a sign of their obedience.  It was Jesus who left the command to love one another.  Furthermore, this text also reiterates the message of the first epistle that stated warnings against those that teach wrong things about Jesus. 

The structure and genre of 2 and 3 John were exposed to little confusion and experience a greater degree of consensus, in comparison to that of 1 John.  This clarity could be attributed to the brevity of this epistle and the easily distinguished theme of the letter.  The epistle could be observed to revolve around a single concept.  The brief nature of this letter offers directness and singularity in terms of the theme and purpose of the text.  The tone of the text would reveal that there is authority associated with the writer of the letter when it came to his relationship with the readers.   Furthermore, the epistolary structure of this epistle could clearly be considered as a classical epistle, in terms of the length of the epistle, which could fit in a single sheet of papyrus paper, which was about 20x25 centimeters.
Time and Place of the Epistle

The second epistle of John, similar to 3 John, was sufficiently similar to 1 John in vocabulary and diction that could place them both in the same authorship.  The theory of the single-packet of the three documents (1 John, 2 John and 3 John) simplified the discussion regarding their origin and distribution.  This letter was intended to be read aloud in the church that Gaius belonged to. 

The earlier testimony about 2 John was not considered to be quite as strong as 1 John.  There was the requirement that was imposed in the epistles of Paul that every chapter in one of Pauls letters needed to be quoted before that book was considered as a canonical text.  The fact that 2 John and 3 John could have been written in a single in a single sheet of papyrus and was preserved for all of that time would be a significant evidence that it was a traditional part of Johannine authorship. 

When it came to the overall content of this epistle, there were only two problems that created confusion as to the authorship of this epistle.  The first concern was the fact that John identified himself as an Elder, instead of an apostle, and the second concern was that he did not use this self-designation in 1 John. During the New Testament period, as the world transitioned into the post-apostolic era, the term Elders referred to the pastoral leaders of the local churches. This title appeared as early as the book of Acts, wherein Paul and Barnabas were appointed as elders, as they oversee and minister in the churches that they planted. 

Those that defended 2 John as a genuine Johannine text pointed out that the term did not necessarily mean church leader, but it could have referred to the meaning the old man. This would make sense since he was the last surviving apostle at that time.   Furthermore, since John was one of the original 12 apostles, he did not need to identify his apostleship.  Other than this, the writing style and impression of Johannine authorship was evident in this epistle.  Even if the author was merely a close student of John, it would not have been possible to write in such a way that the epistles could not be distinguished to be Johns or another persons, since their literary style, message and revelation were the same.

In the same way that arguments for 1 John went for the place of writing, this epistle was also probably written in Ephesus as well. The date by which it was written was shortly after 1 John was written. The perceived date by which this epistle was written was probably between 66 CE and 68 CE. This was attributed to the fact that heretics did not apparently deny the second advent and still presented themselves to be a part of the Christian community.

In the early church days, teachers were known to travel from one place to another, just like Jesus did.  As they went to different places, they would teach people about Jesus. As church members, it was their duty to receive these teachers into their homes and give these travelers what they needed. The warnings that John gave to the church during this time was hinged on the fact that there were some false teachers or teachers that taught false doctrines. Moreover, many of them had erroneous ideas about Jesus.  They would teach that Jesus died as a man and not as a Christ.  Some denied that truth that Jesus is the Christ, as the Son of God. John warned members of the church that these people were not real Christians and that they would try to destroy the doctrine of the church. 

Recipients of the Letter
The letter was addressed to an elect lady.  This means that John wrote this letter to the lady whom God has chosen and to her children. There were two opinions as to who this lady was.  There were some that theorized that this lady was a real person, someone like a widow because John did not refer to her husband but she had many children.   There were those that noted that she could be an important person in her town.

However, the more popular and viable interpretation of this would associate the term lady to the local church.  The children of the lady would be the members of the church.  John mentioned that he wrote about her sister whom God has chosen, which could refer to the local church by which he was a member of.  Furthermore, the style of the epistle would reflect that John was addressing a church and not a single person.  It was difficult to truly assess whether the term the elect lady really referred to a female person or a church, however, majority of New Testament Scholars preferred to view the author to be addressing a church.

It would still be significant to consider arguments as to why there were views that it was for an individual person.  The first was the fact that there were no compelling arguments against this view. Secondly, since 3 John was written for an individual person, this letter could be too. Moreover, there was nowhere else in the New Testament that a church was considered elect.  Furthermore, since some of her children were not walking in the truth, then an entire church should not be called elect, if some members were non-believers.

On the other hand, the view that it was written for a church would be based on the first verse of the epistle wherein John noted that all who came to know the truth loved this lady.  It was noted that individuals could not be as well known as churches during that time. The word church was always feminine and the author could have used feminine imagery. Moreover, Johns style was not far from using figures of speech and double meanings.  There was also no stylistic parallel between 2 John and 3 John if the letter was considered to be written to a specific person, as there was no other personal names mentioned.  Finally, the second person plural was used all throughout the text.   These arguments would reflect that there was little evidence that supported the individual view. 

However, the location of the particular church was also undetermined.  Scholars would say it was in Asia Minor since John had lived there and his pastoral concern was mostly focused on that region. The recipients were probably not from the church of Ephesus since it was where John was already based.  It was also improbable to be the church of Colossae since Paul had already dealt with the same kind of heresy in his epistle to the Colossians about six years earlier than when 2 John was written.  However, the audience that John was addressing appeared naive in this matter. Furthermore, verse 12 would imply that the church was not nearby since John noted that it was difficult to get away and visit this particular church.

Purpose of the Letter
The main purpose of this letter was for John to warn the recipient church about the false teachers that they may encounter.  In this epistle, he stressed that the church members should not treat them the way they should treat other traveling teachers. Instead, they should deny them of such privilege and hospitality because they should not be helping false teachers. Instead, the church members were reminded to guard and obey the truth about Jesus Christ. Furthermore, John did not forget to remind them to love each other and live in the truth.  Truth in this epistle referred to the true message of the Gospel.  The letter was written to encourage them to exhibit their faith and hold on to what Jesus has done.  Furthermore, John also stressed that it was important for these church members to become separate from people who denied the truth about Jesus.  These false teachers did not teach the words that Jesus taught.

Teachings of the Letter
The teachings of this book in the New Testament could be easily identified because of the simplicity of the structure in comparison to 1 John.  Being an example of a classic epistle during the time of the author, the letter opened up with a salutation, addressing the letter to the elect or chosen lady and her children, that the author loved in truth and those who know the truth. As mentioned earlier, the term truth referred to the message of Jesus salvation. The second part of the letter was a commendation because of the life that they were living according to the Fathers Truth.  Again, John gave another emphasis on walking in truth, which appeared to be the resounding theme of the letter.   For John, it served as a distinguishing mark for Christians, if they walk in the Fathers Truth.  The most significant part of the letter was the exhortation and the warnings because this was the purpose why the author had written. There were are three different areas by which John spoke to the church about loving one another, love was seen through obeying, and to be vigilant against deceivers and false teachers.  The letter closed with Johns expression of desire to visit them and how the children of the chosen sister send their greetings.  Here, it could be observed that the term sister was also a church because of the pronoun their, instead of her, if she was just an individual person.

The theme of the epistle was clearly Do not house false teachers. The main purpose of the letter was to warn the members of the church from investing their hospitality for those that were spreading heresies in the Christian churches.   When he greeted the church, which was noted to be possibly situated in Asia Minor, John commended the church for its commitment to the truth of gospel.  At the same time, he used a certain level of tact to combine truth and love such that he is building the foundation for the believers attitude towards heresy. There were two points that John emphasized in the discussion of heresy.  The first point was understandable and expected wherein he declared that there could be no divine love apart from the truth of God.  The second part was this love could not be extended to those who reject the truth.  In this context, love referred to the hospitality and support that believers give to the teachers.

The apostle built a case as to why it was dangerous to help them.  He noted that these heretics denied the incarnation of Jesus and they are infiltrating the churches.  Furthermore, they were deceivers and antichrists.  John warned them to not lose the fruits of those that they have faithfully worked for, if it was for the sake of these false teachers.  The loss of the fruits of the faithfuls work could be due to their doubt. However, John also pointed out that these deceivers would lose more because they did not have salvation, but the loss of salvation was not at stake when it came to the believers. Thus, as these heretics exchanged the truth about Christs humanity, the church must not support them in the propaganda of their false teachings.

Truth and Love. A look at the shape of the letter, the main teaching is about truth and how it was associated with love, with how believers should live, as well as truth and error.  From the beginning of the letter, one would observe that John emphasized that Jesus is the truth and it was because of his love for Christ that he loved the church and that other people who loved the church. Their love for the truth made them brothers and sisters to the author of this epistle. He displayed the love for the brethren that was preaching about in the previous epistle. 

Thus, this showed how John laid the groundwork for the message about the Truth with the message of everlasting message of Christs love.  The reason why they could love was because the truth lived in them,  meaning it was because they accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  It was based on the overflow of Christs love for the world that believers are able to love others.  It was because they acknowledged the truth of the gospel that they are able to experience and express this love.   John describes truth to be something beyond head knowledge, since it was something that lived in believers and changes their hearts.  Thus, the truth becomes a part of the believers identity and it will always be in genuine believers. The commandment of love was familiar to Johannine writings, as it was something John valued in the Christian walk.

The third verse of this letter would show the things that believers have in Christ because of the truth and love of God.  It revealed that there is grace, peace and mercy that will be with believers because of truth and love. The next couple of verses reveal the response of the Christians to Gods love and truth, as well as his blessings.  John related knowing the truth with knowing how live for God.

Truth and the Christian Walk. In this verses, there was a comparison between those that walked in the truth and those that did not.  Those that were living in the truth were living their lives faithful to Gods truth.  John spoke about one of the major themes in his letter, which was to live in the truth, which was done by loving one another. The mark of a Christian would be loving Gods people.  If a believer says he or she loved God, then he or she must love Gods people as well.  It would be contrary to the truth if one did not love his or her fellow believers.  John reminded them that it was not a new command anymore to love another because it has been the first command of the old law and it was what Jesus declared to be a part of the greatest commandment.

Loving the Lord above anything else and loving ones neighbor like one loved ones self were declared together as the greatest commands, because apparently, one could not truly love God if one did not love others.  In the same way, loving others like one loved oneself not come if not based from ones love for God. 

John went on to say And this is love that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. It was clear-cut for John that loving meant obeying God. The believers love for God was to be expressed in obedience.  Obedience was the expression of genuine faith or true love. In this context, the command that was left was to love one another.  If a believer cannot love a fellow believer, it would mean that he or she is disobeying God.
Truth and Error.  During the time of John, he was heavily concerned with the false teachers that penetrated the churches.  It seems that the same source trouble that John was dealing with in 1 John was the same troublemakers that he was dealing with in this letter. 

These teachers rejected that Jesus came into the world as a man. This meant that they were twisting the gospel.  This was not was the gospels taught.  While there were teachers that traveled around churches that genuinely taught the word of the gospel, there were those that taught false teachings.
However, even if they did, false teachers would claim that they were true Christians and that they were teaching the truth.   The fact that they taught that Jesus could not be both man and God would reveal that they were not true believers of the teachings of Jesus.  Believing in these false teachings would bring about theological conflict in claiming ones salvation.  Salvation comes from believing the Jesus Christ, the Son of God came as a man and died for the sins of the world, and he resurrected on the third day. If one believed that Jesus was not really the Son of God or if he was not really a man, this would mean his faith is not based on the truth.  If this was what people believed, then they could not trust the salvation of Jesus. 

The false teachers did not only invade the churches, it seems that John was concerned that they also came to influence the Christian homes.  These false teachers knew that if they go and attack the home, they will be able to establish a strong ground against the church and the nation.  It would reflect how the family was the target of the enemy ever since the beginning of the church.   It was the case that Timothy faced in Ephesus, and the problem that Titus had with Crete.

John provided the members of the church a simple test to evaluate the teachers they would meet.  For John, all teachers must preach that Jesus Christ came as a man and that he is God.  Since false teachers opposed Jesus, they would become the servant of the devil and the enemies of Christ.  John warned them about the risks of accepting this false message.  Thus, he urged them to be vigilant against this danger and to test the source of the message they hear.  Christians would not grow in the truth if they believed the lies of the enemies.

The false teachers deceived themselves and taught they have new knowledge, in such a way that this knowledge should replace what the apostles taught. However, even if their message was a new idea, it was the wrong idea because it was not aligned with the truth of the gospel.  Thus, John warned that even if Christians must welcome people in to their churches and homes, they must be careful not to welcome these false teachers. This was because of the fact that the purpose of their visit would be to teach and spread errors among the church members. 

There is a comparison between genuine and false believers in 2 John, Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.  From this passage, one could compare that the comparison between the fruitful believer and the partaker or heir of God, and those that would be unfruitful and non-heirs of God.  In this verse, the regenerate was considered as an unregenerate or a non-believer because of their rejection of the doctrine of Jesus as both human and the Son of God.  Furthermore, John warned against the danger of going ahead or beyond the Word of God, as these false believers have done.  This could be considered as false progress, because these former members of the church have gone far beyond the limits of the gospel.

John warned that if the Christians showed them hospitality, it was as if one was sharing in their evil work helping them would be working against the church and Jesus. Hospitality was a significant part of Christian ministry during that period because there were a few places like inns.  Christians were encouraged to open their homes to visitors. As believers showed hospitality to servants of God, John stressed that they needed to test if the doctrine their visitors held about Jesus Christ was true.   John was adamant about this area because he did not want the church members to give the false teacher the impression that this heresy was acceptable.  Furthermore, John did not want to church to be infected by this false teachings based on the formation of friendships between the believers and the false teachers. 

Summary
The book of 2 John in the New Testament was a brief letter.  It did not present or develop any major theological theme that was unique to this book.  In fact, it reiterated in briefer forms the concepts that could be seen in 1 John. The only new idea that was discussed in this letter was the ministry of hospitality. In this letter, John warned the members of the church against supporting the wicked work of the false teachers. 

The significance and protection of the truth in the lives of the believers was a major issue in this epistle. John related the truth of the gospel to love, the Christian walk and against the heresy of false teachers.  John warned that Christians should not change the true message the Christ brought and that they must stand strong against those that would twist the truth of the gospel. 

More than anything this epistle was about defending the gospel from anything or anyone that would attack it. The gospel was portrayed as the most important thing in the Christians life.  Jesus, who came as a human, is the Son of God.  He died on the cross in the place of humanity and paid the penalty for the worlds sins. He resurrected on the third day and took his rightful seat in Heaven. When an individual accepts, depends and embraces this truth, he or she will be part of the family of God. As a believer, he or she must defend this truth in order to remain and grown in the body of Christ, the church. Furthermore, it was out of this truth that Christians are able to love and walk in faith.

CHAPTER 4
3 John
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
- 3 John 11
When you entertain, you bring honor and glory to yourself. Showing hospitality brings honor and glory to God.
- Author Unknown

Distinctions for the Members of the Church
The book of 3 John was a personal letter that the author wrote to Gaius. This epistle can be considered as the last letter in the theoretical single-packet text attributed to the Apostle John.  This letter revolved around Johns encouragement for Gaius and the significance of living a faithful Christian walk that was marked with the truth, obedience and love. Apparently, genuine Christian teachers reported back to John about the good work and hospitality of Gaius and John found it commendable, enough to send a letter to this regard. However, it was not the only reason why John had written, as the epistle also addressed significant problems in the church by which Gaius belonged.

The letter opened with the identification of the sender, as the elder and the recipient, as Gaius. This was described as the briefest opening that could be found in a New Testament epistle, however, this format was common for secular letters during this time.  This letter described how Christians took the opportunity to be a co-worker in the truth through the ministry of hospitality. The letter would still have the typical marks of Johannine writing, such as the emphasis on truth, walking in the truth, as well as encouraging brotherly love.

John also mentioned in the letter of an issue with another church member, Diotrephes, who was not reported to have problems with heresy but some kind of insubordination.  John expressed disapproval and sadness towards his attitude to Christian travelers. On the other hand, there was a mention of another person, Demetrius, who was commended.  There could be an implication of the test of good fruit and bad fruit, wherein the character of the member of the church can be viewed by their actions.  The ending was similar to 2 John. It was also possible for the two epistles to have a similar length, which was enough to fill one papyrus sheet.

Time and Place of the Epistle
It was already mentioned that John had written 2 John and 3 John and sent them out at the same time because of the noticeable similarities in the style and content of the message.  If this was so, then it would have been written between 66-76 CE.  Gaius has shown hospitality to traveling preachers even if the men were strangers to him, in contrast to how Diotrephes stopped the brothers from showing hospitality to these same preachers and sent them away from the church.

It seemed that John did not want to letter to be read publicly.  Thus, John was sending Demetrius to the church, apparently to stay with Gaius. It may appear that this letter was a cover letter for his arrival.  In order to understand the commendations and condemnations that could be observed in this letter, there was a need to understand the context of the church life during Johns time. The larger church community was consisted of smaller local churches that were scattered all over a wide area that prevented an elder easy contact, thus the need to communicate through letters and messengers, such as Demetrius. 

During this time, the split in the community over issues of belief and practice led to the secession of individuals, which made the situation complicated.  Thus, there were emissaries from the Elder and those that denied the gospel truth that went around in these churches.  Maybe for some church leaders, it was harder to distinguish between heretical teachers and faithful ones.   In this context, John gave attention to the attitude and activities of Diotrephes who offended him by refusing the authority of the Elder, spreading false charges against him and refusing to welcome his emissaries. While it was easy to assume he was one of the heretical leaders, there was no mention of this in the letter.

Recipients of the Letter
Evidently, the letter is addressed to Gaius.  The Greek names that were mentioned in the letter such as Diotrephes, Demetrius, and Gaius, suggested that the letter was addressed to a Gentile Christian. Thus, it was possible that Gaius was a member of one of the churches in Asia Minor, which John took care of after the death of Paul.

Purpose of the Letter
The assumption was the church leader of Gaius local church was Diotrephes or a nearby church, enough for Gaius to know of him. John had tried to reach him by sending some men to come and teach about the Word of God and he wanted the church to exhibit hospitality towards them.  However, the church did not receive the letter because of Diotrephes, who might have kept the letter for himself or destroyed the letter.

When the teachers that John sent got there, Diotrephes refused to help them and sent them away. He also did not allow his church members to help them. Gaius, a friend of John, was kind to the travelers and stayed in his home.  John received word of how kind Gaius was to them. John wrote Gaius and commended him and asked him to continue doing this good work. He explained that Christians should help teachers that come to them.  He contrasted this good behavior with Diotrephes attitude.

The negative statements that were made were not based on an issue of heresy, but one of pride in the church leader, Diotrephes. There was no evidence that he was a heretic.  One of the speculations that was raised why Diotrephes disputed Johns authority was that he did not respect the authority of any apostle, or it could be that he only disputed John specifically.  Since Asia Minor used to be under Pauls care, it could be that the leader refused to recognize new leadership.

Teachings of the Letter
The contents of the letter of 3 John involved commendation of the Elder of the church member Gaius, encouragement to continue good work, identification of the problems with Diotrephes, and the need to emulate good men in the way Christians should live. This letter, more than the other two, exhibited how John dealt with the internal issues of church life. It revealed issues of respect, truth, hospitality and love that are still relevant in todays churches.

Gaius. It appeared that John received news of Gaius faithfulness in serving the teachers that traveled to their church.  Christians and John loved Gaius like a brother in Christ. John commended him because he lived in the truth for Jesus Christ. While there were those that considered him as a member of a church only, it was more probable that he was also a church leader, otherwise, John would not have written to have about an issue about another church leader, Diotrephes. In this letter, John prayed for his friend and prayed for the best for him, such as good health and for his spirit to be healthy as well. It gave John great joy to hear Gaius walk in the truth. Gaius was described to be living to as a genuine believer should live. In verse 4 of 3 John, there was an implication that John was like a spiritual father to Gaius.
 
Thus, it made John pleased to see his faith grow, as reflected by his actions.
As John expressed, It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. It was understandable why John cared about so many Christians, as many of them came to know Jesus because of his work.

Johns commendation of Gaius will show that life in the truth was more than simply believing it and accepting it. It was living it, which meant it will be evident in every area of ones life.  There is action involved. Gaius helped out Christian teachers.  He served them so well that these teachers testified to his faith and to his walk.

The terms testified or witness was key words in this epistle.  It reflects the need for each Christian to be a witness for Jesus.  This meant that the evidence of ones faith was recognized with ones actions.  Thud, as Christians, one could either help spread the truth of the gospel or hinder it.  Christians reflected the image of God.  However, John was not worried, instead, he was proud that Gaius reflected a positive image of Christians, which ultimately gave glory to Jesus.   Gaius testimony was good because it was Gods truth was in him and this enabled him to do the work of God.  Gods truth enables Christians to obey Gods will.

Continue the good work.  In this section of the letter, John praised Gaius good deeds.  It was not because he was earning his salvation, however, it was because of the overflow of his faith.  It was the truth exemplified in his lifestyle.  Gaius saw the need to help other Christians, regardless if he knew them or not.  The Christians who experienced Gaius hospitality did not only speak of his help, but they described his love.  More than the acts of kindness, people would experience love when they experience these things from Christians. 

Johns encouragement was for Gaius to continue doing this good work and take part in the work for Gods kingdom. This showed what the Bible had to say about missionaries and those that traveled to teach the Word of God.  Since, they traveled on behalf of Jesus, the church should provide for them.  Furthermore, the Christians have the duty to help them.  This is a call that is still relevant today for Christians to partner and support those that traveled the world for the cause of the gospel. 

Diotrephes.  In this letter, John also spoke about the problems that he had with Diotrephes.  There were significant lessons that could be recognized from these problems, especially within a church setting.  It seemed that Diotrephes rejected Johns authority when he did not pass along Johns message for the local church and when he refused to show any kindness and hospitality for the emissaries of John.  When described Diotrephes as someone  who loves to be first, it would seem like there was a pride issue in the conflict.  It could be that he had an ambition to be the only authority in the church or that he did not want anyone to oversee him.   Even in the present times, there will be churches wherein members want and insist to be the boss and have their own way.  Even the disciples of the Lord argued about who was to be greatest in the kingdom, as Jesus reminded them that his ministry was not about being great but being a servant.

Diotrephes ended up rejecting Johns emissaries. Furthermore, it was also noted that John saw it fit to deal with the matter himself.  He also noted that Diotrephes was spreading malicious gossip about John. Perhaps, Diotrephes wanted to discredit Johns name for whatever reason he had that John saw required rebuke. Whenever there is someone in the church that view themselves to be the boss or to be a dictator, there were bound to be problems in the church.

Diotrephes refusal to help those that came from Johns church reflected a lack of Christian charity and hospitality in his character. Furthermore, is actions did not help the work of these teachers for the Lord.  Diotrephes used his authority from preventing other church members from helping these teachers.  However, this church was in trouble because Diotrephes operated on pride and self-glorification, which are the devils strongest tools.  This made John willing to personally settle the matter because of the authority given to him by God.  In 2 John, there was a warning about the external threats of the church, in this epistle the warning was against internal threats. Diotrephes was a threat because he displayed a disregard for the love of God through his actions.

Emulate genuine Christian leaders in Christian Living. John encouraged Gaius to imitate those that walked in the truth.   Furthermore, he encouraged him to do what was good and avoid what was evil.  This was a significant part of the message because John described God as the origin of goodness and that there were nothing bad that comes from God.  Thus, when Christians love God, they will not be capable of doing good things.  Christians should only emulate those that love God.  The mark of a genuine Christians could be reflected in his good deeds.  It is not the reason why he is saved, but it distinguishes his or her faith in God.

John stressed, Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.  In this passage, it was clear that the test of ones faith was based on what is reflected in the believers life and actions. Simply said, obeying God would reflect in doing good, while disobeying him would result in evil deeds.  John warned against imitating Diotrephes because he associated his attitude and deeds to be wrong. Instead, John offered an exemplar of a good Christian.  In this section, John spoke of another person, Demetrius.  He was a man that John described as a good Christian. Moreover, Christians that knew Demetrius spoke well of him as well. The manner by which Demetrius lived his life, as testified by John and other Christians would reflect that he believed the gospel of Christ.

Summary
There is no doubt that the genre of this text was an ancient letter, with all the features in place, such as the salutation, the personal greetings, the message, the thanksgiving and the personal remarks in the conclusion section.  The structure of the 2 and 3 John was simpler to describe in comparison to 1 John. This epistle had a less enigmatic structure than 2 John because of a centralized purpose for writing. 

This epistle had a greater focus on love and the expression of brotherly love than the other epistle.  In this letter, John dealt with a significant internal issue against a church leader that seemed to have been overpowered with pride.  Thus, the purpose of the letter would be to correct this and to highlight the significance of brotherly love and Christian service, as well as hospitality for fellow believers, in order to carry out the good work of spreading the gospel.  This letter highlighted the significance of being a good witness to ones faith, to represent the truth and love of God.

The next chapter will present the debate between the different interpretations for the epistles of John, as a whole. The two perspectives that emerged from literature were the test of salvation and the test of fellowship.  Chapter 5 will discuss the significant verses in the New Testament that would test the more viable interpretation for the epistles of John.

CHAPTER 5
Test of Salvation versus Test of Fellowship
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

- Jesus Christ
Test of Fellowship

This discussion will present the significant arguments that emerged from Johns epistles about the relationship of obedience with faith, as well as the unity on their faith. There is a significant need to qualify if John was speaking about a test of ones salvation or if it was merely a test of fellowship, within them. The former argument would stress that the lack of obedience could mean the lack of genuineness for the believers faith.  Thus, a person may not truly be saved if one disobeyed the commands of God, or if the person did not walk in the light. 

On the other hand, there was also the perspective that the epistles of John referred to a test of fellowship amongst the believers.  John discussed significant internal and external issues that surrounded the church.  Thus, there was a debate as to the genuineness of these Christians.  The first perspective was different with the latter because of the stake of receiving salvation.  The view for the test of fellowship reflected a different purpose for the epistle, one that did not focus on the salvation of believers, but in the test of fellowship among the believers.  During that time there was a significant conflict within the church that was breaking apart the fellowship amongst the members of the church.

In the first part of the discussion, this perspective presents the argument that the epistles of John were provided for the believers to test whether their fellowship with the other believers should be established or marred based on the unity in their doctrinal beliefs.  There was a significant need during that time to know whether they could fellowship with traveling Christians, since there have been those that had left because of church conflicts.  John set different tests by which believers of the local churches under his care would recognize their brothers, by the ultimate test of fellowship By this you know the Spirit of God every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

Meaning of Fellowship in the Epistles
The term fellowship in the epistles of John appeared four times in 1 John, in the first chapter, which referred to different interpretations, one was the sanctification view of fellowship, and the other was the salvation view of fellowship, which referred to the test of salvation as well. The test of fellowship falls under the sanctification view, wherein one questioned if one was in fellowship with God.  It describes the condition of the Christian in the manner by which he enjoys the presence of God.

  On the other hand, being out of fellowship with God referred to having unconfessed sins. However, when a believer walked in the light, this view offered that a believer was in the condition to receive blessings from God.  The condition of being in fellowship was regarded in the context of a believers obedience. Thus, when a sinner who was a believer committed sin, he could lose his fellowship with God. Nevertheless, he could restore this fellowship when he confessed his sins.   This is based on the reassurance of God, which John declared, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  This view argues that a believer could not lose ones salvation because of his disobedience. Thus, obedience should not be a test of salvation. As the Apostle Paul declared, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faithand this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.  Thus, this perspective stressed that it is the fellowship with God that is taken away because of disobedience, not ones salvation.

This view taught that when a believer was in fellowship with God, he is in a spiritual position, wherein he can experience blessing that goes beyond regeneration.  Since he was walking in the light and not committing sin, he was living in the higher level of faith. Thus, he would be experiencing the blessings of God, as well as his presence that believers who were not in fellowship with him would not experience.   Thus, under this perspective, there were two Christians one could be a carnal or a spiritual Christian.  The latter would be filled and the former would not be filled with the Holy Spirit, which would mean that one abided in Christ, while the other did not.

Keswick teaching offers that in order to move from being a carnal Christian into being a spiritual Christian one needed to move from a lower to a higher state of spirituality, which was dependent on faith or consecration, as the prerequisite to being filled with the Spirit. There was such a thing as receiving the second blessing, which Keswick teachers referred to as fillings of the Holy Spirit.  The first blessing would refer to being saved.  In this perspective, those who continued to sin were still free from sins penalty, which is eternal death. On the other hand, those that were in fellowship with Christ would be free from the power of sin and would experience a blessed life, which is characterized by victory and abundant fruitfulness.

The chart below would reveal Keswicks theology for two kinds of Christian
Category 1Category 2Out of fellowshipIn fellowshipFree from sins penaltyFree from sins powerFirst BlessingSecond BlessingFirst StageSecond StageAverageNormalConstant DefeatConstant VictoryCarnalSpiritualLife in the FleshLife in the Spirit Not abiding in ChristAbiding in Christ Has lifeHas life more abundantlyNot-Spirit-filledSpirit-filledChrist is SaviorChrist is both Lord and Savior BelieverDiscipleJustified but no crisis of sanctificationJustified Crisis of sanctificationNo power of servicePower of serviceVirtual fruitlessnessAbundant fruitfulnessLower lifeHigher lifeShallow lifeDeeper lifeTryingTrustingUnsurrendered lifeLife of consecrationLife lacking blessingBlessed lifeThe Christian life, as it ought not to beThe Christian life, as it ought to beTable  SEQ Table  ARABIC 2 Keswicks Theology for Two Kinds of Christian

Different Tests of Fellowship
Throughout the New Testament, there could be different passages that referred to different tests of fellowship. The contexts may be different but significant in Christian life.  The two contexts involve the one previously discussed, as fellowship with God and the other as the fellowship with other believers. 
One of the arguments for the salvation under the view of the Test of Fellowship classified the unregenerate or the non-believer to be one who did not believe and serve one God. Furthermore, unbelievers were classified as those that did not believe in Jesus, as the Son of God.  Moreover, those that were not saved are those whose beliefs were not based on the Bible, but on man-made creeds, doctrines, and traditions because true faith came from the Word of God.   Thus, there were three things that were considered to be a test of fellowship, in terms of identifying true believers were their belief in the one true God, their belief that Jesus is the Son of God, as well as belief in the Bible.
On the other hand, there was the test of fellowship with fellow believers.  In Scripture, the test of fellowship is usually based on doctrinal unity.  Thus, differences in doctrinal belief would mean failure to pass the test of fellowship. There could be problems in this regard, when it came to the present-day church, as denial of salvation and full obedience were the costs for anyone that differed in the formulation of minor doctrinal points.  However, this was not the case when it came for the significance of the tests of fellowship in Johns epistles.  The humanity and divinity of God were not minor doctrinal points.  Instead, these doctrines are the foundation of Christian faith.

The first epistle of John exhibited ethical tests of fellowships (15-211), as well as the Christological test of fellowship (218-28). The ethical tests of fellowship involved the tests for moral likeness, the confession of sin, obedience, and the love for fellow believers.  On the other hand, the Christological Test of Fellowship was composed of the contrast between apostates and believers, the person of Christ, and the persistent belief, as the key to continuing the fellowship.

In terms of the ethical tests of fellowship, one would look at the moral likeness of the person that claims to be a believer to that of a Christian.  Since the message of Jesus was since God is light, no darkness was in Him.  Thus, Christians in fellowship with Jesus can experience the cleansing of the blood. Furthermore, Christians are not sinless yet, since they are still in the world. Thus, there was a need to constantly confess their sins to Jesus, who will forgive them and purify them of their sins.  Thus, the mark of Christians in fellowship with God were those that confessed their sins and restored their fellowship with Him. 

Furthermore, obedience was also a test of fellowship because it was obedience that completes ones love for God and it showed that one followed the example of Jesus. Following the argument of the Test of Fellowship, it means that those that were in fellowship with Jesus will overcome the power of sin, while those who were not merely overcame the penalty of sin.  Finally, the final ethical test was the love for fellow believers. This was described to be an old command.  Love was described to motivate a lifestyle that avoids sin.

The Christological Test of Fellowship was described as the distinction between apostates and believers.  Believers were distinguished by their protection of the truth, which is the Word of God. Furthermore, a believer is identified by his or her belief that Jesus is the Christ and that he is both man and God. It is also identified by ones persistent belief in Jesus.  Thus, the rejection of Jesus would be a failure of this test.

When it came to the fellowship between the believers, it would always hinge on the matters of faith. John epistle reflected that the matters of the truth, the commandments, and the doctrine of Christ, as well as the gospel, were a matter of fellowship.  The epistles purpose was to let faith and practices reveal the true relationship that one should have with the next person and with God.  God would not receive the man that rejects the doctrine of Christ and there was a need to recognize this and reject this person, as an unbeliever as well.

Test of Salvation
Before believers came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, they were prisoners because of the law. However, when believers are set free believers free from the supervision of the law. Paul condemned those that would preach that Christians would be justified by obeying Old Testament law, in addition to the finished work of Jesus, For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.  It may be misconceived that John was adding a new requirement to salvation, when he said, 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.

John was not saying that believers could be justified because they were obedient.  Instead, like what Paul recognized in his epistle to the Romans, obedience comes from faith. John was stressing out that obedience was a sign that an individual was a genuine believer.  While faith can justify a believer, obedience to the teachings and commandments of Jesus is the evidence for the believers faith. 

Holy Spirit Is Given to Those Who Obey
In the Gospel of John, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit will come.  The context by which this was said was immediately after Jesus said, if you love me, you will obey what I command.  In this passage alone, Jesus was the one who declared that obedience was an expression of love.  Love was not just an emotion or a feeling that apostles felt for the Messiah. Instead, Jesus called for them to obey his commands.  It was in this context when he said that Jesus will ask the Father to give those who love him the Holy Spirit, to be with them forever.

This meant that the Holy Spirit as a Counselor was given to those that obeyed God.  In this same context, Jesus said that the world could not accept, see or know the Holy Spirit.  This was because they did not have a personal relationship with Jesus.  They did not love him. However, it was those that loved Jesus that knew the Holy Spirit.  Furthermore, it would be those that have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior that would have the Holy Spirit live in them. Believers need the Holy Spirit in order to live pure and holy lives before God.

 Peter, in the book of Acts confirmed this when he described the Holy Spirit, as someone whom God has given to those who obey him.  On the other hand, those that did not have the Holy Spirit did not have salvation. Paul clarified this, You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

A person who does not belong to Christ could not have salvation. The act of accepting Jesus as ones Lord and Savior meant that one would belong to Christ. Lordship required a person to surrender ones life to Christ. A person cannot consider someone lord of his or her life, if the person is still in control. If the Holy Spirit was not in the person, then the person is controlled by his sinful nature.

Thus, having the Holy Spirit separates Christian the Christian from the world. Furthermore, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer will be a life that is obedient to Christ.  Since the Holy Spirit is in the believer, he or she should not be controlled by his or her sinful nature anymore. The Counselor was sent in order to lead the way of the Christian unto the righteous path. When someone possessed the Holy Spirit, the individuals behavior and attitude would exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, which would include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. On the other hand, someone who did not have the Holy Spirit would give in the evil passion and desires.  Christian character would reflect obedience to God and would show the believer striving to live a life of righteousness to please God.

An evidence of genuine salvation, as reflected by the power of the Holy Spirit, would be the abiding power of the Christian.  This means that if the Christian will have a continuing present relationship with Jesus Christ, then genuine salvation.  Abiding included day-to-day living under the Lordship of God, which includes obedience to the Lords commands. While this does not mean that a perfect life was necessary, wherein a person exhibited the fruit of the Holy Spirit all the time, it was about having these general characteristics in the believers life.

Obedience Related to Salvation
The relationship of obedience to salvation must not be regarded in such a way that obedience is viewed as a requirement of salvation. The test of salvation does pertain to the recognition of ones salvation through the believers obedience.  However, the role of obedience in this perspective must be understood and identified according to what the Bible says.  It would be a misconception to think that obedience is seen as the prerequisite for salvation. The relationship of obedience with salvation is not as the latters source. 

The book of Hebrews described Jesus as the source of eternal salvation for who those who obey him. Thus, a believers act of obedience could not be the source of salvation.  Scripture is clear that Jesus is the source of salvation.  The question about obedience here is how does one know that one is saved.  The first epistle of John addresses this We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. In this passage, the act of knowing God meant establishing a personal relationship with Jesus. One would know that one had this relationship with Jesus, if the person was obeying the commandments of Jesus.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven Similar to what John was speaking about knowing Christ, Jesus himself stressed that not everyone who says they knew him, by calling him Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.  Instead, it was those that did the will of the Father or obeyed the commands of God, who are truly saved.  Doing the will of God meant obeying the teachings and commands of Jesus.  Based on Jesus declaration, no one who did not do the will of God will enter the kingdom of heaven.  In other words, those that did not obey Gods commandments will not enter the kingdom of heaven.  This would bring back the question of the real role of obedience.

Paul Rainbow, author of the Way of Salvation, noted that in order to provide a safeguard against the works-righteousness mindset, there is a need to isolate justification from sanctification. However, the faith alone doctrine was susceptible to thinking that ethical groundlessness was acceptable. On the other hand, if justification were completely based on sanctification, the requirement of sanctification would become a mere add-on and will not be based on Gods grace.  There was a need for ethical change in the lives of believers that was inherent and transformational in order to recognize the salvation of Jesus to be at work in the individual.

However, does this test go as far as accepting that good works should be the ground by which God will approve of believers in the last day.  This was something that would require further debate and careful analysis of Scripture. Rainbow criticized Luther and Calvin because he did not see that they acknowledged the distinction between the works of the law and good works in Pauls epistle.  He stressed that evangelical obedience would be critical in the Lords final judgment. 

John described those that know God to be those that kept His commandments, because those that would say they knew God but did not do what he says could be considered liars. This passage must be considered as a test of salvation because a person that does not know God could not be saved.  While there would be arguments that this would be a test of fellowship, rather than a test of salvation, wherein the former stressed that the Johannine Epistles spoke about Johns tests, by which one should have fellowship with the traveling teachers.  In the New Testament, the term knowing God referred to having eternal life, while not knowing God would mean that a person was not saved.  A person could not deliberately sin and willfully disobey Gods commands and continue to consider Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior. It would be contradictory.

It was true that even believers struggle with sin and even undergo times of disobedience.  Biblical stories are filled with the disobedience of Godly characters and the consequences of these actions.  Even the apostles experienced having rebellious experiences against the will of God, however, when one would consider the apostles life as a whole, it would be characterized by obedience, not by their disobedience.  The times of disobedience in the lives of believers would only show that it was not because of ones self-righteousness that one was saved and that one was blessed. 

It is the disobedience of man that reveals the need for the cross. It shows that no man could be worthy enough to save ones self.  However, a believers life must be identified as a life of obedience and faith.  It should not be recognized because the believer was consistently disobedient.  Even if Jesus knew the faults, flaws and failures of the apostles, he still said, they have obeyed your word. Little parts of a believers life should not define his entire walk of faith instead it should be the totality of his or her life. 

The totality of ones life characterizes walk of faith of the person. 
Thus, the role of obedience in salvation should be clear to the believers.  It is not the source of salvation, as Jesus Christ is the source. Obedience was not how believers earn salvation, because it was through faith in Christ that one would be saved.   The role of obedience should be the response to salvation. Obedience serves as the test of salvation because it would be the manifestation of the genuineness of the believers faith.  Since Jesus Christ died on the cross, it was this action that made salvation available to the believers through the cleansing of their sins.  It is the blood of Jesus Christ that saves that believer. Obedience completes the faith of the believer because there will be no evidence of faith, if the believer continues to sin and disobey God.

Thus, the role of obedience was to serve as the external manifestation of a believers salvation. Genuine obedience became a test of salvation, because without it, there would be no external proof that a person is saved. It must be noted that genuine obedience comes from the believers changed heart because of the saving grace of Jesus, claimed through the believers faith.  External acts of goodness that were not based on the intention to please God would still be judged. In the end, it will be God who will know the secrets of the heart of the believer and He will know whether or not the believer had a genuinely obedient heart.

Loving God Means To Obey His Commands
Jesus recognized the first and greatest command to be Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. The Apostle John wrote about what Jesus said, If you love me, you will obey what I command. The sentiments of Jesus were simple enough to understand but it carried so much weight in terms the standard of walking in faith. 

Jesus placed it in such a way that it will not be misunderstood. It was stated in an if-then statement, which serves as a strong foundation for obedience to be the test of salvation.  In order to be saved, one must trust Jesus to be ones Lord and Savior.  The process before, during and after accepting Jesus into ones life was based on loving Jesus. Like a servant that follows his master, the believers Master is Christ and he said that his greatest commandment was to love God.  Furthermore, Jesus also stressed that if believers keep the greatest commandment of loving God, as reflected by obeying the commandments that followed the first command. 

According to the Apostle Paul, you will be saved if you confess that Jesus is Lord, and if you believe this in your heart. More than being the Savior that died on the Cross it is about acknowledging that Jesus is God.  Furthermore, Lord or the Master of the believers life declared that love for him meant obeying him. It was not an option it was a declaration. It was like Jesus was saying, it is what is it is, its either you love me or not, therefore its either you obey me or you do not. John said that Gods definition of love was in the obedience of His commands.

Fellowship with Christ was not an abstract term, just because humans cannot physically interact with Jesus. Instead, it is an active and substantial concept, wherein it could be experienced in the physical realm and it was not in static form. Thus, it was not something that could be claimed, without sufficient evidence to support it.   Since the Holy Spirit was in Christians, their love for Christ could be exhibited in such a manner that the limit to a believers potential was in Christ. Since Christians are in fellowship with Jesus, this should be manifested in this way.  There was a dynamic of life that was involved in this relationship of love.  It involved living the truth and exhibiting the acts of love.   Thus, walking in the faith was literally exerting significant action.  It was not simply about head knowledge.  Christianity was not based on abstract concepts and ideas.

When Jesus called for obedience, he was not talking about legalism because he has already freed believers from the curse of the law.  Instead, he showed what it was like to walk in faith that had fellowship with the light. He showed what it was like to live a separate life from the world, in such a way that he did not fellowship with darkness.  Thus, Jesus called for believers to fellowship with those that loved the light, not with those who were perfect, as there are no such people. 

Those that loved the light can be identified by their obedience to Gods commandments.  It seemed that the true test of ones faith would be salvation.  Those that did not experience a changed heart, which was externally manifested through obedience of God, would fall away.  John believed that a time of testing would let a false believer will fall from the faith because of the inability to obey God. The inability to obey God was an outcome of sin and the lack of genuineness in accepting Jesus, as both Lord and Savior.  Since it was the Holy Spirit that works in the hearts of Christian, obedience would come much more naturally to a believer because of his or her love with God.

 Similar to a person in a relationship with a lover or a spouse, one would not be able to love someone that he or she does not have a personal relationship with.  Thus, a person could not love someone whom he does not know, let alone obey him.  John reminded, We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  Since believers knew of the truth about the Word of God, they are able to know Jesus and the nature of God. As they know about Jesus, they are able to love him more and trust him more.  This love would manifest in obedience. 

As mentioned earlier, this was more of a response to what Jesus has already done on the cross, instead of an action that was initiated by believers. In the first place, believers could not initiate because he loved us first.  As response, believers would accept Jesus and have faith in his salvation and Lordship.  His impact of his Lordship in the believers life would reflect in obedience, as a response to what God has done and to who God is.  The inability to understand what God has done and who God is would make it extremely difficult to walk in faith and to obey Gods commands, thus obedience is a test of salvation.

Summary
In the test of fellowship and the test of salvation, faith comes first. There were more compelling arguments that would recognize the assertion of the New Testament, especially the epistles of John for the view that it followed the test of salvation.  It was necessary to view obedience in the life of Christians, as an evidence of their faith. As Paul exhorted Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in youunless, of course, you fail the test

Furthermore John presented the ultimate test of faith Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us We know it by the Spirit he gave us.  Since it would become a test of faith, then it would result in a test of salvation.  Since salvation is gained through faith, if ones faith is dead, then one could not truly say that they trusted God and accepted Jesus, as their Lord and Savior.  Furthermore, salvation is manifested by the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit.  This is how Christ identified those who belonged to Him.  Christians that sin should not be regarded to be out of fellowship with Jesus. Christians are in fellowship with Jesus and those that are not in fellowship with him are not Christians.

While the test of fellowship offered two levels of being Christians, the test of salvation could present an invariable number of levels of Christian life, based on the argument of progressive sanctification.  In the life of a Christian, it would be a constant, daily and progressive battle with sin, and a continuous process of confession and acknowledgement that Jesus has purified the sins of believers.  It was not a one-time cleansing of sin, which would result to immediate perfection. Instead, it was described as a walk because it was a process.  Walking somewhere involved progressing towards a certain direction. Thus, walking in the light simply mean dependence in Jesus, constant obedience and the confession of ones sins, when the believer falls.

The next chapter will discuss the marks of a true believer.  This is based on the argument that the faith and salvation of a believer is expressed in the believers character, attitude and behavior.  The next chapter will describe how the epistles of John described a genuine Christian.


CHAPTER 6
The Marks of a True Believer
It is a new life that God is calling us not some steps in life, some new habits or ways or motives or prospects, but a NEW LIFE.

Horatius Bonar, Gods Way of Holiness
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, Gods love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

Satans cause is never more in danger than when a human being no longer desiring, but still intending to do Gods will, looks around upon a world from which every trace of God seems to have vanished and asks why he has been forsaken, yet still obeys.
- C. S. Lewis, Into The Wardrobe

Identifying Believers from Non-Believers
The previous chapter discussed about the strength of the argument for understanding books of 1, 2, and 3 John as a test of salvation. This argument supported the fact that obedience an evidence of the believers faith. This chapter will describe the significant differences between believers and non-believers, based on the assumption that the epistles of John were written to provide a test for a believers salvation. This chapter will provide focus on the distinguishable marks of a true believer.

The Real Non-Believers
The book of 1 John exhibited the seven marks of a true believer.  This epistle revealed significant signs that one received a new life. Before the discussion enumerates, discusses and analyzes these characteristics, the marks of a non-believer should also be understood first in order to have a point of coherent comparison.

Jesus warned that not everyone that claimed he or she was a Christian would go to heaven. He declared that not everyone that calls him Lord would enter his kingdom.  This was reserved for those that did the will of God.  In this verse, one could see that there are external and internal expressions of faith that must be evaluated for something as significant as a persons eternal salvation.  James did not relate belief of a simple assent to the words of God to ensure them of salvation, as even the demons believed that there is one God. Instead, it was the persons faith complete dependence or surrender to Jesus Christ is needed in order to be saved.  This required for the believer to accept Jesus in their hearts.  Jesus is so powerful that when he is invited into the hearts of individuals, a change is bound to take place.

In fact, when a person chooses to belong to Christ, he is transformed into a new creation, wherein the old has gone and the new has come.  Aside from the fact that it was impossible for Jesus to be in a persons life and for this life to remain unchanged, it was also worthy to note that it is still the power of God that changes the heart of the person, not the person himself.  The Holy Spirit is in the believer because his task is to dwell and clean the believers heart.  Since it was the saving grace of God that changes the unbelievers heart into a believers heart, the test of one salvation can be evaluated through the fruitfulness of ones life.  A true believer would produce fruit, while a person that was not truly saved would remain in a life of unfruitfulness and defeat.

According to 1 John 16, If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. Thus, a sinful lifestyle would be an indication that one was still an unbeliever.  Regardless, if a person claimed to be a believer or not, if ones lifestyle was characterized by sinfulness, this person is still lost.  A sinful lifestyle would reveal that a person was an unbeliever or an unregenerate.  If this person does not accept Jesus in his or her life, he or she will experience eternal death.  There were other indications that would characterize the life of a Christian believer.  This would be a life of faith, love, obedience, and prayer with the Holy Spirit.

Belief and Outward Confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God There were different signs that would show that a person was a believer.  One of the most significant marks that were evident in the epistles would be the belief and outward confession that Jesus is the Son of God. The context of the epistles would reveal that the church is under attack from heretics that rejected that Jesus was the Son of God.  However, in order to be assured of ones salvation, one needed to have a solid and accurate doctrine of salvation and accepts the doctrine of Christ, as human and divine.

It was important for John to reestablish the doctrine of the church, especially when it came to Jesus Christ and salvation.  He stressed, If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. John also identified that it was important to acknowledge that Jesus if born of God.   This is in the face of heresies that denied that Jesus is Christ or that he was not Christ the whole time.  There were Seemists that spread heretical messages that it only seemed that Jesus was God, but he was truly not.  Thus, the purpose of these verses was to establish that true believers were identified by their belief in the doctrine of Jesus, as the Son of God.  The mark of the believers salvation could be identified by the belief and confession that Jesus is the Son of God.  There was a need to go express ones faith, through a verbal confession.  Paul also wrote that one could be saved by ones confession of faith in Jesus

That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 

There was a need to declare this verbally because the overflow of the heart is expressed through ones words.  Salvation is not the work of man that speaking words served as the basis of ones salvation. Instead, it was the understanding that saved Christians has a testimony, which was the eternal life they have in Christ.  Furthermore, when Christ is in the individual, there is an assurance, in order to continue in ones faith.

A person who was unwilling to declare ones faith exhibits doubt about what they truly believed.  True Christians could stand with confidence about their faith and are free from fear, because they believe that Jesus is the Christ.  True believers have the mark of knowledge about who Jesus Christ is and that He has come to save.  Furthermore if the person could not confess their faith in Christ within a setting that the people believed the same thing, then this places doubt about the faith of the individual. On the other hand, those that rejected the testimony of God about Jesus were considered unbelievers and they were lost. 

Moreover, understanding the salvation that was given by the Son of God would enable saved people to realize that Jesus blood has cleansed their sins.  Believers need to understand why Jesus needed to die on the cross. It represented the meaning of the death of Jesus.

 Believers cannot choose and pick what they want to believe about Jesus life, passion and death at the cross.  It was about accepting the complete message of salvation.  Jesus came to set the people free from the law because he had the authority, as the Son of God.

At the same time, Jesus also modeled what it was like to be a believer and how to have faith because he came as a human.  The faith that believers must emulate was that of Jesus.  God did not possess him when he was enduring the cross. Jesus took into account the real possibility of a violent death wherein it was part of his liberating mission was to suffer and to experience a painful death, exactly like a human being would physically experience it.

Under this mark of being a true believer, it was also a mark of a believer to understand and appreciate the value of the blood of Christ.  In order to do this, they must acknowledge that they are sinners and that there is no way they could ever atone for their sins.  Furthermore, they need to recognize the principle of Biblical covenants, wherein there was a sacrifice needed as a penalty of sin.   The believer is aware that salvation was rooted from the initiation of God and mans role was only to respond to the sacrifice that Jesus took upon himself, in the place of mankind.

Unless a person comes to Christ, he or she will still be judged by the Old Covenant standard of the Law.  When one enters into a new covenant with God, it was because Christ instituted it and this is what enables the believers to escape the penalty of death.  This is the reason why being born again or being Christians required the process of acknowledgement or the confession of helplessness, as sinners, unable to save themselves, and the need for the blood of Christ that redeemed humanity from the curse of the Law, if they accept what he has done on the cross. 

The believer who does not come to acknowledgement that they were sinners and that they needed the grace of God is not really saved.  It would not matter how many times they call out to God and cry their hearts out.  If they would not recognize the fact that they were sinners in need of a savior, they will not be saved.  This was because they have not accepted that they needed Jesus to purify them from their sins.

This means that human action could not bring about salvation.  Even if 1 John 17 mentions that walking in the light would show that a believer will have fellowship with Jesus, it also stated that it was the act of Christ that purified the person of his or her sins.  It was not praying, joining a church, living a good life, being baptized in water or being obedient that cleanses ones sins it is the blood of Jesus Christ that does this.  The actions are merely reactions to what Christ did, which was purify believers of their sins.  These things believers could do because Christ has purified them of their sins and they are not bound by its curse anymore.

The confidence that believers have in Christ and the freedom they have from their fears is based on the belief that the blood of Christ has cleansed all of ones sins.  It meant that the believer is no longer haunted by his or her past.  It shows the redemptive power of to have washed away the past sins of a person.   Furthermore, this confidence is also based on how the blood of Christ cleanses the believers of all present sins.

It is the grace of God that would enable a person to walk in the light and keep from sinning.  It is also the confession of present sins to Jesus that would protect that fellowship that believers have with them, as John said he is faithful to forgive If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Moreover, believers future sins are already atoned for.  John described Jesus to serve as the intercessor of believers with the father, wherein the sins of the whole world  were already wiped out because of his sacrifice.  The psalmist asked, Whom have I in heaven but you  This was true because there was really no one in the kingdom of heaven who has the authority to intercede for humans but Jesus, neither the saints nor the angels.

Thus, there is the question that if a person denies Christ, would it be possible to be saved.  The Apostle Peter denied Christ three times.  This was a grave sin for any believer.  However, he also declared that he is Christ in front of thousands.  If the life of Peter will be examined, his life will declare that he confessed that Jesus was Christ.  His life will not be defined by his acts of denial.   The Bible would describe someone who denied Christ to be someone who did not know Jesus as his savior and did not belong to him.  On the other hand, confessing ones surrender to Christ would mean belonging to Jesus and accepting him as ones Lord and Savior. 

John declared that the one who denied Jesus was a liar and he was to be considered as the antichrist.   Furthermore, the person who denies Christ is not saved.  This does not mean that the person can never be saved. However, as long as a person who claims or does not claim that he is a Christian, denies Christ, he is not saved. Thus, the mark of a believer will always be the confession and the acknowledgement of their faith in Christ.

The Holy Spirit Working Within
John noted that believers are recognized by manifestation of the Spirit that lives in them.  The presence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit confirmed that an individual was truly saved.  The sign that the Spirit lived in a person was marked by the life of the believer that was abiding in Jesus and Jesus in them.  When a persons heart changes, believes, and confesses the lordship of Jesus, this was because God called them.  It was because of the revelation of the Holy Spirit about Jesus that enables a person to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  The believer is not the one who chooses when he or she is called.  There may be people that have planted seeds in their hearts over the years, but it is ultimately the timing of God that would open their hearts to accept the truth of the gospel.

According to John, Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.  The Holy Spirit enables the Christian to recognize between what was the truth and what was false. The believer would recognize if someone were professing something that was not in line with what the Holy Scriptures taught.  The Holy Spirit allows the believer to understand the Word of God and draw wisdom, knowledge, as well as power from it.  The doctrine that could be considered as the truth are recognized by those that are 

Moreover, it would be the power of the Holy Spirit that changes the hearts of believers that would give them the ability and the desire to serve. The Holy Spirit works as the Helper of Christians spiritual lives.  As mentioned earlier in the discussion about the test of salvation and how God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him, Christians are given the fruit of the Spirit, which is manifested in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

Through this fruit, saved people have the power to witness and to testify about the deity of Jesus Christ.   The fruit of the Holy Spirit is given to the believers in order for them to be distinguished from the rest of the world. As this fruit grows in the believers, their character become more Christ-like testifying to what Jesus did on the cross for them and giving glory to God.  This would show the world that the changes that were happening to an individual was not something that could be faked, it was not something that could be learned, without the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the believers.

Hebrews also described the mark of the believers salvation to included signs and wonders
This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

The Holy Spirit did not only guide and gave his fruit that would change the character of the believer.  The Holy Spirit also gave the believer the power to perform signs and wonders, as well as to receive gifts, in the form of healing, prophecy, and speaking in tongues, among others.  The life of a believers life is marked by the power of the Holy Spirit in this persons life.  The believer does not have the spirit of timidity instead, the believer has power, love and self-control because of the Holy Spirit.

There is also a certain level of exclusivity with the presence of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of God does not just dwell in anyone.  The Holy Spirit dwells in believers.  Jesus said that the world could not see, accept and know the Holy Spirit because of the lack of relationship it has with Jesus.  Those that loved Jesus knew the Holy Spirit.   Thus, the true believer can be identified easily because he or she is set apart, by the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit was not something that people could have without a genuine heart for Jesus.  There was a man named Simon who wanted to have the power of the Holy Spirit so that he could lay hands and people would have the Holy Spirit too He wanted to buy it from the Apostles and Peter rebuked him saying the gift of God could not be bought at any cost of material wealth.  The gift of God comes to believers because of His grace. It was not because of the believers that they are able to have the Holy Spirit.  It was ultimately still because of Gods grace that they receive the Holy Spirit, just because they believed in God.

The love for Jesus was something that God tests.  It was not just a simple assent about Jesus.  The book of Acts said, God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. Salvation was a heart issue.  Its not something that a person does. Belief comes from the heart. God looks at what is inside a person, He judges the hearts of the people and is not moved by superficial expressions of faith. Even if the whole congregation could be deceived and think that a person was passionate for God, God would know the inner being of the person.  When God perceives that the heart of the person loved Jesus, then the mark that He would give would be the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Loving Obedience Of Gods Word
A believers love for God extends beyond gratefulness for what Jesus has done on the cross.  Although if a person would be grateful for Christs sacrifice, this feeling alone could bring about tremendous commitment and dedication to God. The love that the believer has for the Lord is based on the fact that He loved him first.  It would be based on a personal relationship with God.  John used terms like fellowship and walk to denote a relationship.  This relationship is based on the fact that believers received a revelation of who God is.  The nature of God, which involved His goodness, His power and His love, among other things builds the love that Christians have for Him.

 This love is an intimate love a love that one would have for a dear family member, a friend, and even a lover. It comes from knowing God. John used the phrase walking in the light to denote an intimacy.  One does not walk with someone that one did not know. One could walk by strangers, but not with them. A non-believer could know Jesus and even consider him his or her God. However, the love of a believer goes beyond head knowledge, religion and tradition.  It was based on protecting the intimacy and the quality of relationship between God and the Christian.

John showed one of the closest relationships that God wanted to have with man.  It was between that of a Father and His children.  John revealed how great the love of God was for the believers, How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God  In reality, man was only a creation of God. The salvation that He granted was more than enough to make them worthy to be His servants.  However, this verse reveals that believers, from being servants and prisoners of the law, earned the right to be brothers of Jesus, children of the Father.

 Sinners became the children of God through the atonement of Jesus.  John described this to be a lavish act of love.  The term lavish could be defined as something given in abundance or in excess, as well as something given generously.  Thus, the love of God was displayed in its rich abundance when He called believers His children. 

As a response, John described the genuine believer to be someone who had such a love for God that they lived for God, knowing the greatness of their Father.  This was out of the realization of the extravagant love of God that Christians could be able to reciprocate with a devotion and passion for God.  Furthermore, as a response to Gods love, they would hang on to His word, as if it was their sustenance for living and live it out through the power of the Holy Spirit.  This was why John had a major issue with obedience of the Christians.

The assumption from the last chapter was the epistles were more of a test of salvation, than fellowship.  The split in the church and the conflict all around required a reevaluation for the genuineness of the members faith.  It was because there was a need to test the faith of the members of the church. Bottom line for John was if the believer did not follow Jesus, He is not of Christ, but of the enemy.

According to John, But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.  Even in this verse, one would see that Jesus already modeled obedience for the believers.  This verse showed that Jesus, who is God and is the Messiah, humbled himself and obeyed his own commandments, not breaking one of them.  He was also tempted, like a normal human being as the gospels revealed. Nevertheless, he did not sin. He asks for his believers to follow in him in the way he lived a life of obedience.  The ultimate expression of obedience was Christs sacrifice.  In the garden of Gethsemane, it could be seen that it was not without great difficulty and trouble in his heart.  He even asked the Father to take away that cup from him, but his ultimate desire was to do the will of the Father.

John defined love for God to be reflected by obeying His commands, even if his commands were not burdensome. John described the commands to be the opposite of burdensome, which would be light, small, common, easy to carry and even trivial.  This reflected that it was more than possible for believers to do the commands of God.  The mere fact that the commands of God were plausible for Christians, It should be made easier because of their love for God.  Sacrifices are made less painful, even made worthy, when one does it for love.  A man would not mind going into battle and sacrifice his safety, if it would be for the sake saving the woman he loves. Moreover, the love of a Christian for the God who has given him eternal life and purified him of his sins would enable him to obey Gods commandments. According to the Bible, love will manifest from loving obedience to the Word of God.
Obedience was described as the exhibition of a Christians mature love for God.  A lifestyle of obedience could be associated with a life of righteousness.  This life of righteousness shows that the believer patterned ones life with that of Jesus Christ. Moreover, there was also a need to have a continuous lifestyle of righteousness. This should not be observed only for a short period of time.  Instead, there should be a level of consistency.  It does not mean to perfect, it only means that the general life of the person will be marked with obedience.

A father could demand obedience from his children. He has the authority to discipline them if he knew they did something wrong.  He disciplines them out of their love.  Children obey their fathers because they loved them and because respected their fathers.  A child who goes against the will of the father is often considered a traitor of the family and is often disowned. In the same way, believers could either deny God or accept God in their actions.  Their life of obedience shows their love and respect for God.  A person, whose life is marked by disobedience, could not say that he is a true believer. 
Children of God are identified by their obedience to his commands.  John declared that if a person does not do what was right, he was not a child of God, if one was not of Gods, and then he is child of the devil.  John also said, the man who says, I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  A person who cannot obey God cannot claim that he or she loved God.  Love was an action. It was not simply a feeling of a person towards an object of affection.  It is manifested in behavior and attitude.

The genuine believer would abide in the doctrine of Christ.  These same believers will be those that reflect that they loved Jesus in the way they lived their everyday lives not just on a Sunday.  For Jesus, the ultimate expression of love was not through words or gifts, although God has left humanity with amazing words and gifts that depicted his great love.  It was the act of salvation, Jesus obedience to the will of the Father, which served as the greatest act of love.  In the same way, believers must express their love for God by obeying the Word of Life.

Walk In Love
Johannine epistles are characterized by the major theme of love.  John called for believers to walk in love.  This meant that believers should witness to the love of Christ and the love of Jesus must be experienced through them. The first mention of love in the epistles of John talked about Gods love. It was associated with the obedience of the Word, in order for Gods love to be completed in the believer. Obedience was also an act of love, as already discussed in the previous section.  Gods love is completed in the believer, as the believer obeys the commands of Jesus, which included loving one another.  Walking in love distinguished the genuine believer from false ones, because this meant that the believer emulated the life of Jesus. 

As John challenged, Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. This verse meant that for those that claimed that they had the salvation of Christ, they must live their lives the way Jesus did.  The life of Jesus Christ could be characterized with various expressions of love.  He expressed love for his family, for his apostles, for the people who listened to him preach, for the children, especially, for those that society considered as the worst sinners.  He exhibited what it was like to live a life, walking in love. Jesus obeyed the Fathers commands, not just because he wanted to be a role model for humanity, but because he wanted the world to know that he loved the Father.

According to John, true believers loved one another, and those that did not love their brethren or other believers, were not truly saved.  This was considered as a crucial mark of an unbeliever.  It would be the greatest contrast for a Christian to be described to be a person who hated his fellow believers.  This mark was highly associated with the latter one discussed.  It must be clarified once again that salvation was not dependent on good works.  It was based on ones faith in Jesus, as the persons Lord and Savior. A person is saved if he declared that  Jesus is Lord, he is saved.  Thus, since the Lords greatest commandment was to love another, next to loving God, a believer will obey this and exhibit this in his or her life.

Johns constant reminder to love one another was related to Pauls command to Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.  There was a need for the Christian believer to belong to a community of believers in order to take part in building up the body of Christ, the church.  It could be observed that Jesus did not leave commands that would be futile in the Christian life. The Ten Commandments that were given to the Israelites had a significant value.  Even the constitutions of today still uphold these commandments in the laws of society.  They were in place to promote order and to protect human dignity. 

In the same way, Jesus command to love one another would be one of the most important aspects of Christianity. Christianity was about relationships and being connected with fellow believers.  Fellowship between the believers in the community was important because it keeps the fire of passion of the believer burning.  However, most people rarely experience being in a church community wherein they experience support and love.

The importance of loving one another was crucial to building the community of believers in the world, which could stand against the attacks of the enemy.  The relationship between the believers served as one of the strengths of Christianity.  It was because Christians exhibited the love of the Father that they are separated from the rest of the world.  As true believers manifested the love of God, they are able to have a love that was possible beyond that of an ordinary person.  As one grows in his faith in God, this ability to love unconditionally would increase.

The love of God is indescribable.  There are different stories in the Bible that characterizes the love of God, but they would not be sufficient to fully comprehend.  Thus, when John said that Christians exhibited the love of the Father, it was the kind of love that was divine.  It was a kind of love that a human could not express by his own mind and hearts conception.  Understanding the love of God, to say the least, involved self-giving for the benefit of others.   It was the nature of God to give of Himself to provide a blessing for the world.  As John exhorts, God is love. Furthermore, John described love, in such a way that it was not because man loved God, but it was about the fact that God loved man.
Walking in love was a mark of a genuine Christians because God is Love and since a Christian was a follower of Christ, a believer followed the essence of love.  The essence of love is God. It was impossible for the Christian to not love because the very nature of Christianity was rooted in the love of God. This section could not be completed without the most famous verse about the love of Jesus Christ, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

In the epistles and the gospel of John, he could not emphasize enough that the believers identity was a life walked in love.  Jesus said that the mark of those who are his would be love, By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. Like obedience, a believers love was not the means of his salvation instead it was the fruit of salvation.  God could change the heart of the person with the hardest of hearts and give him a heart that is capable of loving others.

The love of God was the most significant drawing point of Christianity. More than Gods power and goodness, it is His love that draws people into a relationship with Him. When Christians love one another and when they exhibit love for the lost, the way Jesus did, they serve as ambassadors of Gods love.  Just as Paul described it, We are therefore Christs ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.  There was an author that wrote before, The strongest argument for Christianity is Christians, when they are drawing life from God.  The strongest argument against Christianity is Christians. Also, Christians, when they become exclusive, self-righteous and complacent.

Christians needed to draw from the Word of Life, from Jesus, in order to be capable of a daily walk with love. True believers would imitate Jesus in their daily walk and behavior because they knew the stake that it has in their Christian life.  In the gospel of John, Jesus showed that part of expressing love was serving one another through washing the disciples feet. It could be noted that it was only in this gospel that this incident was recorded.  It was because of the thematical importance of this event in what Johannine writings were all about.  When Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, it was an expression of what Christian love must look like.

Service was a familiar concept when it came to Christian love.  Jesus explained the reason why he washed his disciples feet, Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one anothers feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. When Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, he showed that the importance of being humble and serving one another in love.  In order to exhibit genuine love for one another, one needed to be able to give out a part of ones self. 

The purpose of living a lifestyle of servanthood was not just for the person the Christians were serving, it was because of what happens to the Christians character when they served and it is impossible to serve without creating sense of intimacy for the community.  Christians that walked in love were considered as genuine Christians because they are able to do this because they have had an encounter with Gods love.

Grief Over Sin
John said, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  This means that a believer could still fall into sin because he is in the world, and the nature of the world is sinful.  Being a believer does not mean a person is turned into a perfect, flawless being.  It only means that the believer is empowered by God to fight off sin, in different levels, according to the believers faith.  The presence of sin in a believers life does not mean that he is not a genuine Christian. Instead, it was a sinful lifestyle that suggested that one was not a genuine believer.

The reality was humans, even believers, would not stop sinning until they experience the glorification process of God, which would occur in the kingdom of heaven.  The journey of the believer from the point wherein he is saved, up until the time wherein he meets his Maker is characterized by progressive change.  It would be the Holy Spirit that would work in the hearts of the believer in order for him to move from one level of faith and Christian maturity, unto another.  According to Paul, he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
 
Since Jesus is working in the lives of those who trust him, it does not mean that believers will be contented with a sinful lifestyle.  It does not mean that if it was God that was changing and transforming the heart and the mind of the Christians that they should just go about their past ways, sinning.  It about the change of the believers attitude towards sin. Before one was saved, the believer could view sin as a normal part of life, which did not bother him.

 For some, their sins could even give them pleasure and happiness.  In short, the perspective of believers towards sinning would not be the same as before.  There would be a lower, if possible, a non-existent level of tolerance for sin.  The believer was expected to be grieved by their sin because they are hurting a holy and just God. In other words, John was talking about living a lifestyle that had consistent sinful behavior, as if believers were not bothered that they have offended God.
Since sin was inescapable in this world, the mark of a true believer would be the response that he has towards their sins.  The sign that a Christian was genuine about his faith would be the level of concern that one held when one had disobeyed Gods commandments. Even worse, it was a question of the genuineness of the heart of repentance, when one confesses sins to God.  There are times wherein Christians are complacent because they knew of the saving knowledge of Jesus and they sin repeatedly because they knew they could confess their sins, and be reconciled again with God.  This could reflect that the person was not genuine in his faith because if he was his love for Jesus would prevent him from repeatedly and intentionally sinning, even if he confesses it in the end. 

According to Romans 129, Christians must hate what is evil and cling to what is good. The term that Paul used here was powerful because it was the antithesis of love. Hate referred to detestation and revulsion of something.  Thus, true Christians are repulsed by sin because it was of the devil.

A Christian would hate the filth that the sin brings to their spirits and would desire to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus as soon as possible. Furthermore, they would not want to repeat it again.  The intention that the Christians have for not sinning was also important.  It was not just because they were afraid to get caught or that they were worrisome of the punishment.  These things could be valid reasons, but they should not be the primary reason. It would be because they have hurt a loving God, who paid the penalty for the sins of the world.  Jesus already gave Christians the victory over sin.  However, when Christians choose to sin it was is if they were disregarding the victory that they have from Christ and choosing to be prisoners of the devil.

Jesus came so that Christians may have life and life to the full.  However, when believers, who were supposed to be overcomers of the world, allow themselves to be overcame by sin, then they reject this full life, for a life that is miserable and defeated. John discussed about this for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.  Genuine believers are those that overcome the world and its filthiness.

The power to combat temptations and to avoid sin comes from Jesus and not from the persons own strength.  However, the believer needs to tap into this power in order to use it. John described Jesus, Who is it that overcomes the world Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.  Therefore, those that constantly yield to the temptations of the world could not be considered to be genuine believers and they are to be considered as lost.

The grief of the sinner over ones sins is reflected in the confession of sins.  Any person who has basic knowledge about God would know that there was no use hiding the sins one has committed before God because He knows everything.  The believer would know that the only way to reconcile with God in the phase of having committed a sin would be to confess the sins committed.

 In the same way that one confessed Jesus to be the Lord, it was still the same to confess that a person sinned. Confession was about the admission, acknowledgment or the admittance that a person sinned.  Furthermore, the purpose of the confession was not simply to admit that one sinned.  It was for the ultimate purpose of receiving Gods forgiveness, in order for the believer to be brought back in the right standing with God.

It was not only the unsaved people that must confess their sins.  According to 1 John 19, the need for the confession of sins was applicable to both believers and non-believers, because all have sinned.  When John said, If we confess our sins then Jesus faithfulness would shine through and purify the sins, it meant that even John was included in this promise.  Furthermore, since the recipient of this gospel was church of believers, it meant that the need to confess ones sins was not limited to non-believers.

There was a question as to why Christians should repeatedly confess their sins, since Ephesians 17 already dictated, In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of Gods grace and Colossians 313 said, Forgive as the Lord forgave you. This would question the necessity to constantly ask for forgiveness, when the Bible already revealed that all of the worlds sins (past, present and future) were already forgiven.

This was addressed in the story when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.  This could also be considered a figurative illustration for the forgiveness of Christ. The bath represented the positional forgiveness of sins, the washing of feet represented the daily and experiential forgiveness of sins.  The believers only needed the bath once, however, he needed to wash his feet daily.  Thus, the message for this, in the context of forgiveness was the believers needed to allow Jesus to cleanse them of their daily sins, in order to have fellowship in Jesus.

However, this does not by any means meant that a person must sin daily in order to confess daily and have fellowship with Christ.  The Bible still declared that the continual lifestyle of sin was indicative of a lost person. Instead, it was about placing ones complete dependence on Jesus when it came to repentance and forgiveness.  It was about constantly reminding ones self that there is nothing that one could do to save ones self from the penalty of sin. It was only because of Jesus that one had victory over sin.

It was evident that there is a need to overcome sin.  If the believer is serious about ones grief over sin, he would desire to stop sinning for as long as he was on earth.  Thus, there was a need to know the process by which one could overcome sin.  On the basic premise, a believer could overcome sin with the Word of God.  The Word of God offered a process to eliminate or decrease the occurrence of sins.  One would be for the believer to change the desires of his heart, wherein the believer would seek to please God and not ones self.  Furthermore, the believer would seek to limit the window wherein temptations could creep in and exercise the practice of self-control. 

Sin would only serve its purpose when it results in the punishment of God, which would mean the sinner is cutoff from his fellowship with God.  The devil would want a person to sin to take him away from God. However, by the blood of Christ believers are forgiven and cleansed of their sins.  There will be no punishment because the blood of Christ was already sufficient atonement for the sins of mankind.

Love Of The Brethren
This is similar to the other sign of a true believer, which was walking in love.  This specifically talks of loving the fellow believer. According to 1 John 17, people who have genuinely received the salvation of Christ have fellowship with other believers.  There was a need for believers to fellowship with one another because it was in this relationship that they could share victories, trials, prayers, blessings and victories, among other things.  Since believers should not be yoked with unbelievers, the Christian will have no other person in the world to yoke with, but his or her fellow believers.

There was a three-fold call for the people of God, which included a call to worship God, to serve one another in ministry and the world in mission.  This could be characterized by a life of service.  John warned, Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you because the world was of the devil. However, true believers loved their fellow believers, even if the lost people did not.

A person who was truly saved loved their fellow believers and fellowships with them. There was no private relationship with God.  In other words, there was no lone Christian.  The person who is saved is brought into a Spiritual Family, the Body of Christ.  Furthermore, since it was the believers that fellow believers were yoked with, it meant that they had a personal relationship.  They were not mere acquaintances that one saw on a worship service.   There should be a certain level of accountability between the believers.  The genuine Christian would care about the spiritual condition of his fellow believers. John noted that there was a need for Christian believers to watch out for each other and form a bond to strengthen each others faith and to battle the devil that is in the world side by side, by the grace of God.  Furthermore, true believers valued their fellow believers, as their brothers and sisters in Christ. 

The fellowship and love between the fellow believers was a significant weapon against the enemy.  It serves as a mark of faith and salvation when a person is found in the fellowship of believers because he does his part to strengthen the Body of Christ. This was why John commended Gaius in the third epistle he wrote.  John acknowledged the importance of the work of the Christians in terms of serving one another and sharing each others lives.  When the believers served and extended ones love towards a fellow believer, this builds up the church and advances the kingdom of God.

When a Christian matures in the knowledge about God, the believer could not grow by himself.  The evidence of growth is shown in love and service for one another.  A believer could not serve if he was the only Christian he knows. Thus, Christians could not do it alone.  The signs that one loved his fellow believer involved keeping the unity in the church.   Division was condemned in Scriptures, which was why there is an effort to maintain the unity in Christ through the renewing of attitudes and exerting diligent effort to protect the relationships among the believers.

Furthermore, mature Christians that loved their fellow believers could be distinguished as those that served as peacemakers during disagreements. They would avoid gossip and prevent gossip within the church. They would prevent the discussion of speculative questions and avoid partiality.  A saved person who does not love his fellow believer was considered like the child of the devil, who is unregenerate and an unbeliever. It must be noted that the test Christian love that could be observed in the epistle of Paul was not just in the failure to do evil, it was also in the ability to do good.  Christian love involved a positive and negative expression, which involved doing good and avoiding evil. 

Cain was the example that was found in this epistle as the example of the absence of love in a false believer. On the other hand, Jesus was the example of true Christian love.  Thus, loving ones brethren involved sacrifice and service.  While one saw Jesus talk about love a lot, the gospels will show that he also lived (and died because of) it.  Furthermore Christian love was also described to be personal and active.

A Life Of Prayer
Finally, John also placed a prayerful life as a sign that a person was a true believer. Prayer was the lifeline of the believer with God.  It is because believers are saved that they have the privilege to come to God, as His children.  Prayers proved that a person had faith in God. A person that did not have faith would not bother to pray.  Prayer reflects the personal relationship that believers have with God because it was one part of the communication process, wherein the other part was reading and hearing the Word of God. 

The saving power of Jesus builds the confidence of the believer to come to God in prayer. God is the King of Kings and for His mere creation to be able to come the Holy One through prayer would show that change in the relationship between God and man.  It would show that God would become the Father and believers became His children.  According to John, the personal relationship that Jesus had with the believers did not only bring about the gift of salvation, it also brought about the confidence in the believers to pray for the desires of their hearts and to ask what they needed
This is the confidence we have in approaching God that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears uswhatever we askwe know that we have what we asked of him.

The prayer of the believer would reveal his relationship with God.  If it was filled with repeated verses and chants, it showed an impersonal nature.  The content of the prayer reveals the heart of the Christian and the status of the relationship one had with Jesus. When a believer is able to come to God with requests, thanksgiving and supplication, it would show that the believer knew God and had an intimate walk with Him.  The value of the prayer in the true believers life could be viewed with the intentions of the believer why he or she prays, as well as his or her perspective of prayer. 

Jesus warned, And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. The mark of a true believer is not determined in his prayers, but in a life of prayer.  A life of prayer signified a life in constant communion with God. Its the relationship that two close friends have, wherein they have intimate and causal talks day-in, day-out.  It was not about praying for hours it was about not letting an hour passed without having uttered a simple prayer.  The gospel books would reveal that the teaching ministry of Jesus lasted three years, however his intercessory ministry has been going on for more than two thousand years.  John confirms this, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defenseJesus Christ, the Righteous One.  Jesus is in heaven interceding for the believers. Even if he died on the cross more than two thousand years ago, he is still standing in the gap on behalf of Christians.  True believers recognize Jesus as the only intercessor between God and man.  True believers only pray to Jesus to intercede.

Summary
This chapter reflected the seven marks of a true believer that emerged from the epistles of John, specifically the first one.   The life of the believers served as a concrete manifestation of what salvation looked like.  The influence of salvation was not just a spiritual state of the person that could not be witnessed by other people.  The purpose of salvation was to ultimately give glory to God, thus believers would bear marks in order to fulfill this purpose.   The seven marks of a genuine believer that were discussed in the chapter included the belief and confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, walking in love, loving obedience of the commands of God, grief over sin, loving the brethren, and a life of prayer.

The next chapter will discuss the doctrine of salvation.  It will illustrate the roles of God and man in the salvation history.  It would present different perspective about the significance of Gods sovereignty and mans free will in the process of regeneration and justification.

The Doctrine of Salvation
Salvation is from our side a choice, from the divine side it is a seizing upon, an apprehending, a conquest by the Most High God. Our accepting and willing are reactions rather than actions. The right of determination must always remain with God.
- Aiden Wilson Tozer

Gods Sovereignty and Mans Free Will

In Systematic Theology, Salvation is classified under The Doctrine of the Application of Redemption, which can be understood based on the knowledge of God and Jesus passion on the Cross.  Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden because they sinned.  The penalty of their sin was eternal punishment and the separation from God.  In the same sense, human beings, who are in the world, sin and the wages for their sin is death. Since sin was written as a singular verb, it meant that one sin could merit the personal eternal punishment. All have sinned and all sin, which reveals that no one could save ones self.  There needed to be a Savior, the perfect and sinless sacrifice in order for man to be reconciled with God. This doctrine was grounded on the redemption that was brought about by Jesus salvific work in the cross.

Under this doctrine, there was the area that spoke about election and reprobation. This addressed the question as to when and why chose the believers and the questions as to the possibility of not being chosen.  Salvation could be discussed in different levels, concerning this issue. It would be a crucial starting point to understanding the roles of Gods sovereignty and mans free will in the salvation of believers.

First, there was a question as to the election or Gods choice of the people to be saved. The first order would focus on the concept of predestination. This term that included the aspects of election for the believers and the reprobation for the unbelievers.  The term election referred to an act of God before the world was created, wherein he already knew and chose the people who was to be saved, not because of foreseen merit but because of his sovereign good pleasure.  This has brought about much controversy in the church and a misunderstanding over this particular doctrine between Calvinist and Arminian perspectives.  The former held on to the notion that God predestined a chosen few, the elect to be saved, while the latter believed that salvation was for the whole world and salvation comes to anyone who believes.

Election was taught as a comfort because it gives assurance of Gods promises and purposes for the chosen people. It gives a reason to praise God. It serves as an encouragement to evangelism. It guaranteed that when believers evangelized people will get saved, for those who were chosen beforehand because election was unconditional. This means the selection was not based on Gods foreknowledge of the believers faith. Instead, it was His choice that God made out of His love. On the other hand, did not mean that unbelievers never had a chance to believe in the first place. It was stressed out that people who remained in their unbelief, did so because they were unwilling to come to God.

The doctrine of reprobation talked about Gods sovereign choice of some persons to be saved and to pass over others.  As Grudem described, Reprobation is the sovereign decision of God before creation to pass over some persons, in sorrow deciding not to save them, and to punish them for their sins, and thereby to manifest his justice. Reprobation represents one of the most difficult teachings to accept in the Bible because it shows the just side of God and the horrible eternal consequences this meant for human beings.

The next order involved the Gospel call and effective calling.  This stage reveals the process by which God brought salvation in the lives of believers. He would call those he had predestined and when he does this, they will be justified and glorified.  The gospel call is important because the absence of a gospel call meant a person cannot be saved because it was a prerequisite to hear the Gospel before anyone could believe in Jesus. 

The Gospel call is followed by regeneration (being born again), conversion (faith and repentance), justification (right legal standing), adoption (membership in Gods family), sanctification (right conduct of life), perseverance (remaining a Christian), death (going to be with the Lord) and glorification (receiving the resurrection of the body).  These stages reflected the sovereign power of God over His chosen people. It reveals that it was Gods power that changes the lives of Christians, as He move them into fulfilling His greater purposes and His good, pleasing and perfect will.

Gods Sovereignty
There were areas in the epistles of John that exhibited the role of Gods sovereignty in the salvation of the believers.  It reflected how there is an innate distinction between those that were saved and those that were not.  Furthermore, certain verses also reveal that there are those that did not belong to the chosen church or to the group of the elect.  The concept of regeneration was perceived to come before a believer can respond to an effective calling with saving faith.  While it would be difficult to determine the exact moment wherein a person experiences regeneration, it was God that enables a person to regenerate.  According to the Calvinist view, without the process of regeneration a person could not respond to the effective calling in faith.  This has something to do with the irresistible grace of God, wherein believers could not deny if they were called.

On the other hand, there were perspectives that placed faith in the beginning of the process, giving credit to mans belief in the Son of God that brought about his regeneration.  However, no person had the power to save himself from spiritual death and divine assistance (from Gods sovereign plans and purposes) was needed

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressionsit is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faithand this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. 1For we are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God needed to move the hearts of the unbeliever, in order for them to realize that they needed salvation.  Before which, a persons eyes would have blinders as to his or her current spiritual state.  According to R.C. Sproul, Regeneration is the sovereign work of God the Holy Spirit.  The initiative is with Him, not with ourselves. There was a necessity for a divine initiative in order for one to have a revelation about who Jesus is and about his redemptive work on the cross.
John declared, Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also. Without the divine initiative a person could not comprehend and accept that Jesus. On the other hand, when the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the heart of the person to believe, the regeneration will take place.  The believer will have a relationship with the Father, through Jesus.

There have been numerous verses in the Johannine writing that describes to believer to be possessing or having certain things through Christ, such as the love of God, the Word of God, the light of life, peace, joy and life.  In other words, believers have a mark of salvation.  They are set apart for the things they have.  The ability of a person to confess Jesus as his Lord revealed that a person was a genuine Christian.  Since a person could not realize the necessity to have Jesus in their lives without the divine initiation of God, a person who was not called could not be a believer, before the time that God touches his or her heart to believe.

There was a need for prevenient grace, wherein prevenient meant to come from something else.  Thus, it was the prevenient grace of God that man must exhibit cooperation with and assent to, before one could believe and have faith in Jesus.  Even this was half-truth.  It was believers faith for as far as God does not do the believing in Christ for man, however, the issue of prevenient grace goes deeper than the decision to trust God.  The deeper issue needed to be understood in order to comprehend the role of Gods sovereignty in the doctrine of salvation.  The issue would be when the believer started to cooperate with the prevenient grace of God, was it before the person was saved or after the person accepted Jesus in his heart.  The question would address the nature of regeneration, if it were operative or cooperative, as well as effectual or dependent.

In this discussion, there was a need to consider if the regeneration process was a monergistic or a synergistic work.  This meant that if it was solely Gods work or if it requires a synergistic effort or if it needed the cooperation of man with God in order to be completed.

The reason why a person needed to be regenerated by God alone first, before one could cooperate through the exercise of faith and trust, was based on the fact that humans could not do anything about it before hand.  Before God initiated to regenerate the souls of believers, they were spiritually dead. Paul revealed the operative and monergistic work of God when he said that even when believers were dead in their transgressions, Gods grace and mercy made them alive.  This would paint a picture of Gods role in the salvation process. It was always understood that most part of the process would be coming from his side because of the inadequate nature of man.  However, this verse would reveal that it was God that first pursued man and it was Him that made a way.  John clearly stated this when he said, we love because he first loved us.  This meant that the ability of man to be a believer and to exhibit marks of being a genuine Christian could not be made possible if it was not initiated and provided for by God. Therefore, unless regeneration takes place, there is no possibility of faith.

According to 1 John 51, Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.  When one spoke of birth, it would show that it was Gods sovereignty that was in action.  In order to fully understand this verse, one should perceive it in the literal example.  An infant, in the mothers womb, has no control over when he will be born. There is a time and period for this.  It is not something that his mind could conceive or decide on. In the same way, there is a time by which a person is born again.  This is the time that is determined by God.  This Scripture reveals that unless a person is born of God, a person could not believe that Jesus is the Christ. 

The context by which John was writing the epistles was because of the problem of the church against heretical movements that spread false teachings about Jesus.  The opponents that John was speaking off left the church because of the disagreements they have had in the doctrine of Jesus Christ.  John had an important conclusion for this They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. 

The withdrawal of the opponents revealed that they did not genuinely belonged to the church they went away from.  Thus, the implication of this departure would be revealed to be a part of Gods sovereign purpose.  In this verse, the author emphasized on the reassurance that the readers have in God who have loved them first, in the face of emotional and psychological turmoil that could follow this schism. John stressed that those who left were not genuine believers.  The secession that was witnessed marked the fact that they were not true believers to begin with. John stressed that as true believers they would not experience this because of Gods sovereign hand and guidance.  It was because they did not have the Holy Spirit and that they were not born of God that they failed to realize that Jesus is the Son of God.

In contrast to those who left the church and rejected Jesus as the Son of God, John described the regenerate, the elect of God, to have the anointing of the Holy One.  The mark that they were believers was the fact that they knew.  The simple fact that they knew that Jesus is the Son of God was associated with the anointing of God.  This anointing referred to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believers.  It was because the true believers had the Holy Spirit that they were able to know Jesus Christ. This reflects still the role of Gods sovereignty because it was God that could send the Holy Spirit.

On the other hand, the opponents of the church did not belong to the elect of God.  Thus, they would not have the Holy Spirit and they would not know about the truth of about Jesus. There was a noticeable effort on the part of John to discuss the indicators of a genuine believer.  Furthermore, the author also emphasized on presenting an antithetical viewpoint, which could provide a sharp distinction between those that are born of God and those that were not.

In the Old Testament, the purpose of being anointed was associated with the process of consecration.  Consecration meant something that was separated and offered to God.  This meant the consecrated object belonged to God.  The anointing that the believers had would reveal that genuine believers were called and chosen by God as His.  He also places a mark on those whom that are His. According to the Apostle Paul, the Lord knows those who are His.  In order for the world to know who is of Gods, the anointing of the Holy Spirit is given.   This would reflect how the grace of God, especially in the work of salvation was particular in nature.   The perception that the gracious covenant was for the elect alone would show how Gods sovereignty played a huge role in the salvation process.

There was another issue that should be considered in line with the doctrine of salvation, and the roles of God and man.  The process of justification is defined as the is an instantaneous legal act of God in which he (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christs righteousness as belonging to us, and (2) declares us to be righteous in his sight.  The epistles of Paul would show that justification comes from faith and it was Gods response to the believers faith.   Gods sovereign nature was exuded in this process because believers are declared to be righteous in His sight because of the blood of Jesus that served as the covering of the believers.  According to the book of Romans, blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him

The reason why God could declare believers to be just was because He imputed the righteousness of Jesus upon them.  The Holy Scripture displayed three cases wherein God imputed something on someone.  First, when Adam sinned the guilt was imputed to humanity, then when Christ suffered and died for the sins of mankind, it was because the sins of humanity was imputed on him, and finally the justification that believers have in God was because Christs righteousness was imputed on the believers. John described the blood of Jesus Christ to have purified the believers of their sins.  The justification of the believer rested on the sovereignty of God to have allowed the righteousness of God to be freely given to the believer.  Paul declared Gods sovereignty, It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from Godthat is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

Even if believers justification comes from their faith, it was still entirely based on Gods grace and there could be no merit that believers could attribute to themselves.  According to Paul, all have fallen short of the glory of God.  This was because all were sinners.  The justification of God comes from the fact that He was willing to give His chosen people the gift of redemption.  The grace of God referred to unmerited favor.  Gods grace meant that believers received something they did not deserve, as well as were saved from getting something, which they deserved, which would be eternal death.  The believers get two significant gifts from the grace of justification.  First, they will not suffer the penalty of their sins, which would mean for them eternal damnation. Second, believers will receive eternal life because of the righteousness that was imputed on them through Christ Jesus.

The part wherein the believer plays a part would be in the part wherein one believed in Jesus Christ, in order to be justified.  Faith comes prior to the believers justification.  Christ would be received by faith and God would justify the believer who has faith in Jesus.  It was not because of a persons inherent goodness of ones faith that one could be saved.  In this context, faith was an instrument by which justification was received but it was not something that enabled a believer to earn this merit with God.  Instead, the justification was reliant only on the work of Christ.

Out of all the goodness that could be given to Christians, God has chosen faith to be the attitude of the heart of the believer in order to obtain justification.  It was not genuine love, joy, peace, humility or contentment. Instead, God chose faith because it was the only attitude of the heart that would require the surrender of control and dependency to God. Faith exemplified that an individual was dependent on God, not on the persons good works or attitude. It would require the acknowledgement that one could never achieve or attain righteousness before God by their personal efforts and goodness.

Another area in the doctrine of redemption would be the process of adoption.  This is the stage by which Christians experience their Christian walk on earth. This entailed being adoption to Gods family because of the justification that Christ has provided.  Through regeneration, a spiritual life is created within the spiritually dead, justification allows the believer to have a right legal standing with God and adoption makes believers members of Gods family.   It was through adoption that salvation could be experienced by means of a personal relationship between God and with His people.

Again, adoption was considered as an act of God and it purpose was to make believers members of His family.   This was not something that was initiated by the believers upon realization of Gods great love and power.  It was still the great, powerful and good God that initiated and made believers a part of His family. John was one of the writers that spoke extensively about the adoption of believers into Gods family, Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

On the other hand, those who did not receive Jesus were not children of God and they could not be adopted into Gods family. In fact, John even called them to be children of the devil.  According to Paul, since faith has come the law did not bind believers anymore instead they were already sons of God through faith.  This showed that there was a progression from divine initiation of regeneration, to the grace of justification and into the privilege and benefit of adoption. These stages revealed how God moved and how the only response of the believer so far was ones belief in Jesus, which would not have been made possible in the first place, if God did not extend his divine initiative.

The first epistle of John evidently placed focus on the status of believers as children of God. He emphasized that it was out of the abundance of the love of God that believers were called to be members of Gods family. It showed an eternal sense of relationship between Jesus and the believers, since Gods family is eternal. 

According to John, believers were the children of God now.   The term now was present because it denoted a sense of time, which is the present.  It reveals that there is another state of adoption in heaven wherein the full benefit and privileges of belonging to the family of God would be realized.  John describes this, Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 

Adoption was described to follow conversion and it was an outcome of the saving faith of believers. It would be possible to conclude that believers were made Gods children through the regeneration because it was this process wherein one was born again.  The idea of being adopted into a family would be the opposite idea of being born into a family.  Instead, the New Testament was observed to connect the adoption of believers with saving faith. It was out of the response of man to trust God that God allowed the believers adoption into His family.  According to John, those who received Jesus and believed in his name were given the power to become the children of God.  Therefore, this shows that adoption came from conversion and it was the response of God to the faith of believers.

Adoption was considered as a privilege that comes to believer at the time they become believers.  However, it was something that was different from justification and regeneration. In the latter, believers experienced the process of being made spiritually alive through the initiation of God. It was a process that opens the hearts of the believer. However, it was possible for a person to be spiritually alive but not members of His family.  Angels were described to fall into this category, as they are only called sons of God because God created them.  They did not belong to the family of God.

On the other hand, God could also have given believers justification without the privileges of adoption into his family. He could have simply forgiven the sins of the believers and given them the right legal standing between them, while they were still not His children.  It was significant to distinguish the differences because it allows the believers to realize the privilege of adoption

Regeneration has to do with our spiritual life within. Justification has to do with our standing before Gods law. But adoption has to do with our relationship with God as our Father, and in adoption we are given many of the greatest blessings that we will know for all eternity. When we begin to realize the excellence of these blessings, and when we appreciate that God has no obligation to give us any of them, then we will be able to exclaim with the apostle John, See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God and so we are (1 John 31).

There were significant privileges that could be related to being children of God.  John described that the fact that one could pray, forgive us our sins was related to the fact that believers relate to God as their Father, not anymore as the judge of the universe.  Furthermore, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was a mark that one belonged to the family of God.  Paul viewed the Holy Spirit to be a guide that directs the path of Gods children towards consistent obedience to God.   These were just a few of the numerous privileges and gifts that believers receive as a result of their adoption to the family of God.

The response of the believers, as children of God, would be to imitate the Father in heaven in their conduct here on Earth.   The obedience of the believers reflected that their response to being members of Gods family. Paul and Peter observed that the natural tendency for children would be to imitate their fathers, thus in the same manner, Christians should imitate the conduct of their Heavenly Father.   The pattern of the believers moral conduct would be the evidence that believers were adopted to the family of God.  In this context, this verse becomes more significant This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

Mans Free Will
From an Arminian perspective, the claim that regeneration precedes faith would distort the gospel.  This perspective would claim that God performed regeneration through the Holy Spirit, after a person trusted Jesus Christ for salvation.  Since a person was saved by faith, the Holy Spirit would only work in the person after one was saved.  Arminians disagreed that faith was a result of having been regenerated, instead they view it as a result of ones faith.  While they believed that faith did not cause regeneration, Gods response to the believers faith would be regeneration.  Arminians equated conversion or salvation with regeneration. They believed that faith preceded regeneration because they held on to the gospel message that one needed to have faith in Jesus to be regenerated. 

They have different interpretation for Johns declaration, Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.  Since in the statement, belief appeared first, they viewed it as a prerequisite for regeneration, which meant they associated with born of God.  They rejected the Calvinist view that believing was a result of being born of God.  In the same way, they used the New American Standard Bible to argue that Colossians 213 supported this statement, When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.   They believed that regeneration followed the forgiveness of sins.

The question that would follow this would involve the free will of man.  In biblical verses such as Matthew 32, Acts 319, and 1 John 323, the call would be for the sinners to repent and believe.  This call was associated with the sinners choice between repentance or indifference to this call.  This disregards the fact that sinners were spiritually dead.  There was still a need for God to open the eyes of the sinners for them to be able to understand the choice before them.

While it would be impossible to understand the true relationship between Gods sovereignty and mans free will in the process of salvation, it is evident that God had the major role in His plan of salvation.  Providing extreme roles to both God and man would have a distorted view of salvation.  Scriptural evidence was clear that God determine who will be saved.  Furthermore, the Bible describes the believers to be chosen and the elect.  On the other hand, the Bible also reveals that believers were responsible for receiving Christ and to take the gospel to the world.

In order to recognize the most determinable role of mans free will, it would be in the context of the gospel call and mans response towards it.  Conversion could be understood by the believers faith and repentance. In fact, conversion is defined as the believers willing response to the gospel call, in which we sincerely repent of sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation. 

The operative words in this definition would be willing response.  This would reveal that it would be the willingness of the believer to respond to the gospel.  The fact that the sinner was spiritually dead before one was regenerated would should that regeneration brings the believer in a position to decide for ones spiritual state.  It means that regeneration made the sinner aware of sin and is offered the choice of turning to Christ.  Conversion involved turning away from sin and to Christ.  This would be out of the persons willing response to this choice. Regeneration was not the process of repentance.  It was only the process by which the sinner was awakened from spiritual slumber wherein he is unaware of his sins. It would be the willingness of the sinner to turn away from sin and to Christ that would be considered conversion.

Regeneration allows the sinner to understand principles about heaven and hell, such as the consequence of sins and the rewards of heaven.  However, these would remain head knowledge, unless the sinner makes a choice between the two of them.  Conversion was done based on the sinners decision to depend on Jesus to save him from the penalty of sin.  This meant that the person would move from being an observer for the facts of salvation and the teachings of the Bible, into someone who already has a personal relationship with Jesus.

The faith that a believer exhibited to be saved was described as the trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God.   This definition was based on the understanding the sinner would receive a personal relationship with Jesus.  This was because ones faith exhibited a personal trust in Jesus to save the sinner.  This meant that the person would trust Christ for the forgiveness of ones sin. This would be out of the acknowledgement that without Christ, one would not receive eternal life.  Since the sinner understood and had knowledge of salvation, the part wherein one accepted Christ would be when the unbeliever comes to Christ seeking for salvation for the penalty of sin and seeking to have sin and guilt removed from his or her life, as well as dedicating his life to Jesus for eternity.


Figure  SEQ Figure  ARABIC 1 The Single Act of Conversion
According to the figure above, repentance and faith were different things that were needed in order to experience conversion.  Repentance was defined as, Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ. When a person experiences repentance it would mean that it would give up sin.  A repentant person would let go of sin and turn away from it, and turn to God.  Repentance was similar to faith in such a way that it was a form of intellectual understanding that sin is wrong.  Furthermore, it was also an emotional approval towards what the Bible says about sin.  This would move the person to experience sorrow and hatred against sin.  Furthermore, repentance is also a personal decision to turn away from it and to renounce it.  While faith was a personal decision to turn to God, repentance was a decision to turn away from sin.

This illustration would reveal that it was the responsibility of the person to make this decision.  God could not do this for the person.  God could only provide the initiation and the revelation for the person to understand the spiritual state by which he was in.  It was because believers understand this situation that they hate sin.  This revelation that God provides enables the believer to come face to face with the choice between life and death.  It would be at this time, wherein the will of the person will decide whether or not he will choose God or his sins.

Summary
The epistles of John were also significant because it provides evidence as to the role of God and man in Gods plan of salvation.  In the first place, since God was the author of this plan, it would be evident to recognize that he played a bigger and more significant role than man, His creation. There was a need to understand the differences in the roles because this understanding will also serve as a test of ones faith.  It was crucial to be equipped with proper doctrine, especially when it came to the Christian salvation.  Misconceptions about the differences in the roles of God and man could bring about to false belief and heresy.  This would ultimately mean that a believer would not be truly saved, because of false teachings.

The assumption that stood out from this discussion was the role of God has always been the initiator.  He was the one that initiated the process of regeneration to awaken the sinners from his spiritual slumber.  When a sinner is awakened, he will be aware of his spiritual state of sin.  It is at this point that he can choose to live in it or choose to accept the free gift of salvation, which Jesus the Redeemer provided on the cross of Calvary.  Furthermore, God justifies a sinner through the sinners faith.  When the sinner is justified, God also initiates the adoption of this former sinner into the family God, as His child.

CHAPTER 8
Concluding Thoughts
Jesus Christ is to me the outstanding personality of all time, all history, both as Son of God and as Son of Man. Everything he ever said or did has value for us today and that is something you can say of no other man, dead or alive. There is no easy middle ground to stroll upon. You either accept Jesus or reject him.
--Sholem Asch

Conclusion
This study investigated the epistles of the Apostle John in order to explore what salvation looked like.  It was about what these epistles and the rest of the Holy Scripture declared about the characteristics of a believer.  The entire study focused on the salvation of the believer, as perceived by God and how it was addressed in the Bible.  The epistles of John were individually and generally analyzed as to the contributions it offered when it came to the mark of a true believer, as well as the role of the sovereignty of God in the salvation of man. 

It was designed to address the questions What should salvation look like As well as inquiries like How did Gods control and the believers free will apply in the doctrine of salvation  This study provided an analysis of the Bibles test of salvation in the epistles of John.  Furthermore, it discussed about the roles of God and Man in the salvific activity.  The definition of their roles would illustrate the response that man have towards God and would reveal practical implications for believers everyday walk with God. 
The first chapter discussed about the general significance of the Johannine Epistles. Aside from providing for an overview for the study, this chapter involved a discussion that related these epistles to the authorship of the fourth gospel writer, the Apostle John.  The first chapter established the authorship, background of these epistles, the general structure of these epistles to give the readers a general idea for the discussion.

According to the analysis of 1 John, it would appear that the longest of the three epistles was not an epistle after all.  It appeared as if it was a preaching of some sort that was passed along from different churches. There is a general sense of confusion as to the genre and the outline of this chapter, as the author jumped from one major theme to another, and then backs to the former point. Nevertheless, this epistle would be the most quoted among the three epistles.  It had major themes about love, obedience, truth and fellowship.  This epistle represented an outrage that the author had for those that did not walk in the truth.  It was clearly a response to the heretical movement that the local church was experiencing during that time. 

John enumerated significant points that were later viewed to be ethical tests and Christological tests of salvation.  In this epistle, John often made use of antithetical statements in order to draw the line and set the distinction between those that belonged to Jesus and those that did not.  During those times, similar to today, Christians needed to be aware of the different messages that surrounded the world. 
This epistle encouraged Christians to test and filter the messages they accept.  It warned against accepting everything that one would hear if it were introduced to be of Christ.  John provided the members of church doctrinal tests for them to approve that the message they were receiving were of the Bible.  In the present day, the world would offer numerous religious worldviews that offer seemingly good things, principles that were deceivingly similar to what the Bible said.  However, it was the responsibility of the children of God to recognize if they were authentically according to the Word of God.

The second epistle described another letter, which was addressed to the chosen lady. This was popularly understood to refer to a local church.  In this epistle, John was still concerned about the heretical movement that was infiltrating the Christian homes.  It was not only just the church that was under attack.  This is still experienced even in todays society, in the most evident way. 

Families are attacked by the enemy because it served as one of the strongest ties that a person would have. Broken families allowed the enemy to have a foothold on its members, who are left hurt, bitter and offended.  Thus, John warned the Christians to watch out against those that would try to spread heretical messages.  They should be aware of those whom they helped and support.  In the same way, Christians today should also be vigilant against the causes they were involved in.  They need to guard themselves against being an instrument of the enemy.

The third epistle was a personal letter to Gaius.  In this letter, John made commendations for the recipient of the letter and rebukes for a church leader that Gaius probably knew.  This letter revolved around the internal problems of the church.  The problem that John had with the prideful church leader, Diotrephes was representative of todays problems as well. 

There would be churches that would suffer from the attack of the enemy, by allowing divisions in the church.  In this context, it could be seen that the enemy would attack the fellowship of the believers through offenses in order to cause schisms.  These divisions and offenses were observed to result in the hindering of Gods work.  This would be the very purpose why Christian fellowship would be attacked, because it would mean the advancement of Gods kingdom would be delayed.  This letter would teach that believers must always exhibit love to their fellow believers in order to guard the church against any division or offenses.

The fifth chapter discussed about the debate between two different interpretations of the Johannine Epistles, the test of salvation versus the test of fellowship.  It was noted that there were more compelling evidence to side with the argument that these epistles were a test of salvation.  It seemed that the epistles, specifically 1 John always questioned the genuineness of the Christians faith.  As John placed specific signs as to the who should be considered as a child of God or a genuine believer, it could be noted that those that failed these signs were called children of the devil.  The children of the devil could not be saved.  Therefore, it could not be a mere test of fellowship because this would mean that those that failed the test would be saved.  They failed the test only because they were at a different or a lower state of faith.  This would not be consistent with the way John described them. He called them children of the devil and to be of a different spirit.  As Christians, believers could use this to reassure and reaffirm themselves of their faith in God.  Scripture served as the standard for ones life and it should dictate the way Christians should live.

The sixth chapter supported this assumption.  It enumerated and discussed the different marks of a believer, according to the epistles of John.  This chapter revealed that one could determine if a person was a genuine believer through the fruits that one produced and the lifestyle that one lived.  The true believer would be the one that believed and confessed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, anointed by the Holy Spirit, walked in love, lovingly obeyed the commands of God, experienced grief over sins, loved their brethren and lived a lifestyle of prayer.  It was these markers that Christians should abide by.  Failure to live in one area of this should make the Christian aware and should lead him to Jesus to be restored as a genuine believer.

The seventh chapter discussed the roles of God and man in the salvation process.  This chapter revealed that God initiated the stages in the salvific activity.  It was Gods grace that abounds in each level of redemption.  Regeneration was from divine initiative because one could not awaken ones self from spiritual death.  Justification was not merited to believers because it was solely because of Jesus work that believers could receive legal standing with God. It was only the believers faith, rooted on their total dependence and surrender in the sacrifice of Jesus, that they could be justified.  Furthermore, God was also the one that initiated for believers to be adopted into His family. This meant that believers were not only placed in right legal standing with God, they were called into an intimate and close relationship with God, their Father.

Practical Application
The main question in this study was what does a saved person look like  The epistles of John provided the answer to these questions.  Even more, it provided a comparison to the characteristics of those that were not saved.  While there had been significant evidence that one could tell if a believer was genuine, by the fruits of their live, one could never be in the position to judge people.  It would be God that would inspect and judge the hearts of man.

One of the most important lessons from the epistle was the fact that God loved man first.  The response to such love should be love as well.  It should be reflected in the genuine love that overflows through obedience and love for others.  Since God is the source of love, he made a way for man to experience it.  It was Gods initiative that enables Christians to love.  The Christian is left with the response to love back and to love others as well.

The expression of love and the love for the brothers served as the practical test of love. A person that did not love God would not be able to love a fellow believer.  Thus, John was straightforward in his claim that the one that did not love his brother did not love God.  Christians should always seek their hearts and pray for the love the Jesus have for others.  This would enable the believer to grow in love, as expressed in charity, service and obedience.  Love did not just happen.  It was a virtue that was conceived and modeled by God.  Without ones knowledge for God, it would be impossible to truly love. 

The three letters of John idealized how Christians should love each other. They were intended for people to know the nature of God, as well as to know how to respond to it. These letters emphasized on what Christ has did on the cross and focused on the fact that He was the light.  This would reveal how there should not be any middle ground for Christians and non-believers.  Christians should stand out and be recognized as children of God.  There should not be any contradiction between the faith they professed and the lifestyle that they lived.