John Examines the Power of True Bible Doctrine Through the Lens of Love Before being exiled to the island of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation, the apostle John penned three letters to the church at Ephesus. The Ephesian church was the largest in the ancient world and faced, as many churches of that time did, the dangerous doctrines of Jewish legalism and Hellenistic Gnosticism. The church was also dealing with false leaders more interested in gain and fame than in spreading the truth of the gospel. In response, John, who was the church's pastor for a time, wrote the Johannine epistles. And, as in his gospel, John addresses all of these issues through the lens of God’s love. Bob Yandian delves into John’s letters, verse by verse, using context and his own pastoral sagacity to illuminate John’s messages. In doing so, Pastor Yandian first provides historical and biblical background—including observance of the original Greek language—to bring alive the truths in John’s three letters. Pastor Yandian then encourages modern believers to apply these truths in response to God’s pure and unfailing love. Important Johannine themes Pastor Yandian explores in this commentary: The crucial differences between relationship and fellowship with God The reality of and remedy for sin in the believer’s life The outworking of sanctification The saving power of true doctrine The discerning power of the Holy Spirit within In this commentary, not only can readers expect valuable insight into the beloved apostle’s writings, they can also expect a gentle nudge to be more like Jesus and less like the modern church which, like the Ephesians, forgot their first love.

"John Phillips writes with enthusiasm and clarity, . . . cutting through the confusion and heretical dangers associated with Bible interpretation." --Moody Magazine

Concentrate on the biblical author's message as it unfolds. Designed to assist the pastor and Bible teacher in conveying the significance of God's Word, the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series treats the literary context and structure of every passage of the New Testament book in the original Greek. With a unique layout designed to help you comprehend the form and flow of each passage, the ZECNT unpacks: The key message. The author's original translation. An exegetical outline. Verse-by-verse commentary. Theology in application. While primarily designed for those with a basic knowledge of biblical Greek, all who strive to understand and teach the New Testament will benefit from the depth, format, and scholarship of these volumes. 1-3 John In her commentary on John's letters, Karen H. Jobes writes to bridge the distance between academic biblical studies and pastors, students, and laypeople who are looking for an in-depth treatment of the issues raised by these New Testament books. She approaches the three letters of John as part of the corpus that includes John’s gospel, while rejecting an elaborate redactional history of that gospel that implicates the letters. Jobes treats three major themes of the letters under the larger rubric of who has the authority to interpret the true significance of Jesus, an issue that is pressing in our religiously pluralistic society today with its many voices claiming truth about God.

Given the popular-level conversations on phenomena like the Gospel of Thomas and Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus, as well as the current gap in evangelical scholarship on the origins of the New Testament, Michael Kruger’s Canon Revisited meets a significant need for an up-to-date work on canon by addressing recent developments in the field. He presents an academically rigorous yet accessible study of the New Testament canon that looks deeper than the traditional surveys of councils and creeds, mining the text itself for direction in understanding what the original authors and audiences believed the canon to be. Canon Revisited provides an evangelical introduction to the New Testament canon that can be used in seminary and college classrooms, and read by pastors and educated lay leaders alike. In contrast to the prior volumes on canon, this volume distinguishes itself by placing a substantial focus on the theology of canon as the context within which the historical evidence is evaluated and assessed. Rather than simply discussing the history of canon—rehashing the Patristic data yet again—Kruger develops a strong theological framework for affirming and authenticating the canon as authoritative. In effect, this work successfully unites both the theology and the historical development of the canon, ultimately serving as a practical defense for the authority of the New Testament books.

This selection from Dr. Boice's popular commentary series brings into focus three of John's major themes: righteousness, truth, and love. This commentary not only explains the meaning of the text, but it relates the concerns of the text to the world, the church, and the realities of Christian life.