The Race of Righteousness we were born to Run
1 John 2:28-3:10
The Growth in Righteousness Demanded in the Race of Life is Undergirded by the Glorious Reality of our Starting Line and our Finish Line.
#righteousness
#righteous
Published November 19th, 2021
CH 2:28-3:10
CH 2:28-3:10
NT
1 John 2:28-3:10
esv
The Finish Line of the Race for those who Abide
The Aim of the Theme (b4 it is introduced)
And now,
Temporal
little children, abide
in him,
Locative
so that ... we may have confidence
Advantage
when he appears
and not shrink
Negative
from him
Separation
in shame
Manner
at his coming.
The Starting Line of the Race for those who Abide
Intro the Main Theme
If you know
Condition
that he is righteous,
Content
you may be sure
that everyone ... has been born
of him.
Subjective
who practices righteousness
An Aside for Worship
The Wonder of our Birth
See
Concessive
what kind ... the Father has given
of love
Epexigetical
to us,
Destination
that we should be called children
of God;
Relationship
and so we are.
Result
why the world does not know us
The reason ... is
that it did not know him.
The Connections that our Birth Implies: From Start to Finish
Beloved, we are God’s children now,
and [it] ... has not yet appeared;
what we will be
but we know
that ... we shall be like him,
when he appears
because we shall see him
Ground
as he is.
Standard
And everyone ... purifies himself
who thus hopes
in him
as he is pure.
Comparison
Running the Race of an Abiding Lifestyle
Three Truths about Sin
Everyone ... also practices lawlessness;
who makes a practice
of sinning
Objective
sin is lawlessness.
You know
that he appeared
Content #1
in order to take away sins,
Purpose
and ... there is no sin.
Content #2
in him
No one ... keeps on sinning;
who abides in him
no one ... has either seen him
who keeps on sinning
or known him.
What our Sin Implies about our Birth
Little children, let no one deceive you.
Whoever practices righteousness
is righteous,
Reference #1
as he is righteous.
Whoever makes a practice
of sinning
is of the devil,
Reference #2
for the devil has been sinning
from the beginning.
The reason ... was
[that] the Son of God appeared
to destroy the works
Disadvantage
of the devil.
Producer
What our Birth does to our Sin
No one ... makes a practice
of sinning,
born
of God
for God’s seed abides
in him,
and he cannot keep on sinning
because he has been born
of God.
Transition Statement
By this
Means
it is evident
who are the children
of God,
and who are the children
of the devil:
whoever does not practice righteousness
is not of God,
Explanation #1
nor is the one
Explanation #2
who does not love his brother.
ti esomeqa is "what we shall be" in greek. Im wrestling between whether this a relative phrase "that which we shall be" or should be just broken off and labeled content (subjects can be labeled content too).
This is not a noun, it is an adjective. Can "who are the children of God" be a relative phrase to an adjective?" According to the internet it can be an antecedent to a relative clause.
What does this mean? I almost labeled this Concessive, like "even though the manner of love is too good to be true, it's true.
It's advantageous to abide in him now, for the sake of having confidence on that day.
I almost wanted to identify this as a ground, since it would seem to be assumed as an understood truth. But it still seemed like, in the context, he was asking them, "do you really know...that he is righteous."
Ok so first choice would seem to be Source. He is the source of our birth. Or he is our source since he birthed us. The second choice could be relationship. We are the born ones of him. If are we are born of him, we will imitate him. Oh wow, a third choice that actually seems very strong is subjective - Everyone that he has birthed, I think this is strongly the one. Does Context help? The context is likeness.
For this one, I don't think this is actually in greek like this, but is displayed like this in english to give the idea of the ongoing nature of the greek present tense. This is especially important theologically in this case, or the heart could come to some pretty self condemning conclusions, which isn't John's point (to throw us into hopelessness. Nonetheless, what should the relationship be?
Could this be subjective? The devil working? I think producer is better, since previously it described the devil as working "from the beginning." So it's not just the devil's current working, but his works since the beginning. Also the devil is not being destroyed persay in this context. That's also true, but here the emphasis is on the works produced by the devil.
It is incredible to me how special it is that he takes a moment to emote with passion the wonder of our birth. What I think He's doing is saying, "I'm not just stating these truths, and I'm not going to let you just think about these truths and make connections. You will not get my point unless you worship God for what He has done for you! Unless you are filled with wonder at these truths, the connections will be meaningless.
phrasing
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