The First Letter of St. John

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The First Letter of St. John

• Chapters 2 and 3

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My Little Children

• te????? teknion tek-nee'-on darlings
• Repeated 6 times in this letter and seems to show
  St. Johns pastoral responsibility and strong
  Christian love.

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Conscious of our Sinfulness

• St. Josemaría Escrivá Jesus wants us to make
  an effort to climb a little each day. He seeks us
  out, just as He did the disciples of EmmausHe
  is always waiting for us to return to him He
  knows our weakness.

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What is a Christian?

• 6whoever says, I abide in him, ought to walk
  just as he walked.
• St. John assumes that we all know how Jesus
  walked.

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A New (old) Commandment

• I give you a new commandment love one another.
  As I have loved you, so you also should love one
  another. This is how all will know that you are
  my disciples, if you have love for one another.
  (John 1334)

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I Am Writing to You

• Writing
• Exhorting or insisting
• The repetition bears out this meaning.

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The AntiChrist is Coming

• Jesus said to them in reply, See that no one
  deceives you. For many will come in my name,
  saying, I am the Messiah, and they will deceive
  many. (Mt 244-5)

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The AntiChrist is Coming

• In the New Testament, the only use of the term
  antichrist, is in the Johannine epistles. 1
  John 218 speaks of the antichrist who is the
  great enemy of God and, in particular,
  antichrists who precede that great enemy.

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The AntiChrist is Coming

• These antichrists were human teachers who had
  left the church. Such antichrists deny
  the incarnation (1 John 43) and Christs deity
  (1 John 22).

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The AntiChrist is Coming

• In 2 John 7, the antichrists are identified as
  deceivers who teach that Jesus Christ did not
  come in the flesh. The concept of the antichrist
  appears in the term false Christ (pseudo
  christos) (Matt. 2424 Mark 1322). 

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The AntiChrist is Coming

• Mark and Matthew apparently expected a Roman
  ruler to once again enter the Temple as
  did Antiochus and Pompey.

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The AntiChrist is Coming

• In Revelation 133, the beast from the sea is
  often viewed as an antichrist figure. There John
  may have looked for a return of the emperor Nero.

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The AntiChrist is Coming

• In 2 Thessalonians 21-12, the antichrist figure
  is armed with satanic power and is fused with
  Beliar, a satanic being. In this passage the
  Roman government is viewed as restraining its
  power. In Revelation, the Roman caesar is the
  evil force.

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Divine Filiation

• The marvelous gift from God that makes us
  children of god.

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Sin is Lawlessness

• Man is a creature of God and is totally dependent
  of Him. Thus, sin is pretentious ignoring
  Gods will to be more important than He.

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Sin is Lawlessness

• John does not mean that we are not capable of
  sin. Rather, he means that we cannot justify our
  own sin by claiming to be a child of God.

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Brotherly Love

• St. Augustine If you love your brother whom you
  see, you will also see God, because you will see
  charity and God dwells within it.

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Take Heart

• God knows everything Our sins and faults but He
  also knows our repentance and good desires and He
  understands and forgives us.

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Questions

• Whats the difference between the world God loves
  (Jn 316) and the world we are forbidden to love
  in 1 Jn 215-17?
• What is the anointing that teaches you
  everything? (226-27)
• Is the call to holiness something only saints can
  achieve?