Opening the Heart of Scriptures, Volume 4
Table of Contents
Introduction Dan Burns 2
James Arkady Kim (Russian only)
1 Peter Maxim Mishenko (Russian only)
2 Peter Dan Burns 5
1 John Dan Burns 8
2 John Dan Burns 16
3 John Dan Burns 18
Jude Dan Burns 21
Romans Dan Burns 24
1 Corinthians Drake Williams 37
2 Corinthians Drake Williams 48
Galatians Brian Emmet 62
Ephesians Alexander Knyaskov (Russian only)
Philippians Dan Burns 69
Colossians Sergei Koblov (Russian only)
1-2 Thessalonians Dan Burns 81
Pastoral Epistles Bill Hampton 91
Philemon Allen White 105
Hebrews Dan Burns 108
Revelation Mark Blair 119
Introduction
Twenty one of the twenty seven books of the New Testament are found in the form of a letter. At first this is quite surprising, as the nature of a letter is occasional, that is, it is written from one particular individual or group to another on a particular occasion for a particular reason. When compared with other genres of Biblical literature, such as narrative, law, prophecy, or even poetry, the letter genre is much more personal and sometimes less formal. This can make determining the modern application of these personal letters more complex.
The Nature of Epistles
Nevertheless, the New Testament letters are more than random collections of personal communication between Christian friends and leaders. First of all, the New Testament letters reflect apostolic authority.[1] Most of the epistles are formal communication between one of the apostles and churches or individuals under their care. They reflect the same apostolic teaching commissioned by Jesus in Matt 28:18-20 and recorded by the apostles in the Gospels and Acts. The epistles are often a substitute for the physical presence of the apostle, and thus reflect his full authority as a spokesperson for Christ. Secondly, God granted us the epistles to provide explicit teaching on a great variety of practical and theological topics that are vital for growth in the faith. What the Gospels and Acts teach implicitly through narrative and reported speech, the epistles proclaim through direct explanation and instruction. A proper reading of the epistles requires modern readers to try to understand the issues faced by the individuals and churches of the first century. These issues, it is very often discovered, are similar in nature to the issues believers face in every century. The epistles give insight into the nature of life together in the church and the issues many congregations will face and, thus, are of great practical value.
The Structure of Epistles
In the ancient Greco-Roman world, letters followed a strict form, which Paul adapted for his purposes. Paul closely followed the form of ancient letters, beginning with introductory greetings, thanksgiving, and prayer. He changed the traditional greeting (Greek – xairein) to “grace” (Greek - xairos) and “peace” to reflect both their new experience in Christ as well as his prayer of blessing upon the recipients. In Paul’s thanksgiving and prayer sections, he often reveals his main concern or purpose for writing the letter. That purpose is usually expanded in the main body of the letter. It is in the main body of his letters where Paul is more innovative. The body of each letter is adapted to suit the purposes for which it was written. The body of some letters, such as Romans, Ephesians, and Colossians, are divided neatly into a doctrinal section and an application or ethical section. Other letters are organized more topically, ordered by questions asked by the church (1 Corinthians) or the needs of an individual (1 Timothy). The body of other letters are driven by the need to correct false teaching and practice (Galatians). While the bodies of the New Testament letters vary, the conclusions of the epistles typically follow the traditional Greco-Roman letter form. Paul often adds a benediction, a warning, or a summary of his upcoming travels to his conclusions.
General Epistles and Pauline Epistles
The first seven epistles are grouped together and have historically been designated “the general epistles”. They are typically addressed to a broader audience and are all intended to be circulated among various churches. Some of these letters, such as James and 1 John, do not follow the letter form very closely. James is a collection of New Testament wisdom sayings and teachings loosely organized in a letter format. In this way it is similar to the Old Testament book of Proverbs. 1 John lacks the opening greetings, thanksgiving, and prayer of the letter form, as well as the conclusion. It instead begins with a prologue similar to introduction to the Gospel of John and ends quite abruptly. The body of the letter, however, does display characteristics of a letter. Although Hebrews was traditionally attributed to Paul, it is now usually treated as an anonymous epistle. Therefore it is grouped with Paul’s epistles in the canon but addressed here in the general epistles. Hebrews is a written sermon, rather than a true epistle. It begins in 1:1-4 with a prologue, rather than formal greetings. It has the traditional conclusion of the letter genre (Heb 13:18-25), but there is identified as a “word of exhortation” (Heb 13:22), indicating that the genre of the author’s communication is that of a sermon.
Paul’s epistles follow the letter form more closely. They only vary in the nature of their content. Paul’s first nine epistles are addressed to churches, while his last four are addressed to individuals. This does not mean the last letters are less important. It only means that the nature of the teaching is individually directed. Although 1 Timothy and Titus are addressed to individuals, they give some of Paul’s most significant teaching on the nature and structure of the church. It should be noted that the canonical order of Paul’s letters is not based on chronology or theological importance, but simply on the length of the letter. His letters are basically arranged from the longest to the shortest. If Paul’s epistles were arranged chronologically, the most likely sequence would be the following:
I. Galatians (written after Paul’s first missionary journey)
II. 1 and 2 Thessalonians (written during Paul’s second missionary journey)
III. 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans (written during his third missionary journey)
IV. Prison epistles: Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon (written during his imprisonment in Caesarea or Rome)
V. 1 Timothy and Titus (written after his release from imprisonment)
VI. 2 Timothy (written during a proposed second Roman imprisonment, just prior to his execution)[2]
Revelation
The final book of the New Testament, and thus of the entire Bible, is best classified as apocalyptic literature, rather than as an epistle. Revelation does have an introduction (Rev 1:1-9) and a conclusion (Rev 22:8-21) similar to those of an epistle. It also contains seven separate letters within the work (Rev 2-3). However, the content of Revelation is clearly of a different nature. In fact, the very word used to identify the genre “apocalyptic” comes from the Greek term, apocalupsis, the first word of Revelation. Therefore, it should be read and interpreted according to the principles of its own genre.[3]
James (Russian Only)
1 Peter (Russian Only)
2 Peter
Historical Background
Many questions surround the historical background of 2 Peter, primarily because of the lack of specific information given in the letter. The letter itself is addressed very generally to “those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours” (1:1). This gives the impression that it is a general letter to be passed to many churches. However, the danger of false teaching and false teachers that the letter corrects appear to be quite specific. Therefore many scholars propose that 2 Peter was written to the same audience as Peter’s first epistle, the scattered believers in Asia Minor who were facing persecution (1 Peter 1:1-2). This idea is reinforced by the letter’s allusion to an earlier letter in 2 Peter 3:1. That audience was a mix of Jews and Gentiles, likely primarily Gentile. However, if the reference in 2 Peter 3:1 is to a lost letter, then there is very little information to specify the background of the readers of the epistle.
The author of the epistle is affirmed in 1:1 as the apostle Peter. This is confirmed in 2 Peter 1:16-18 by the author’s claim to be an eyewitness of the transfiguration of Jesus. Many critical scholars reject Petrine authorship of this letter because of its difference in emphasis with 1 Peter and the supposed second century background of the heresies this letter refutes. However, there is no evidence that Peter was refuting a fully developed religious system of Gnosticism, which didn’t develop until the second century AD. Peter was correcting the false teaching of the first century which was contributing toward the development of a body of false teaching that eventually gave rise to Gnosticism. Regarding the difference in emphasis, including the lack of emphasis of the cross in 2 Peter, there is no reason to assume that every letter must contain the same specific elements of doctrine as every other letter. The very nature of the letter genre is that it addresses a few issues specifically, which would naturally make it different from a letter that addressed separate issues.
2 Peter is generally dated in 65-67 AD, prior to Peter’s death in 67 in Rome, but after the writing of 1 Peter, and likely after the writing of Jude, which Peter appears to use in 2 Peter 2. Peter appeared to be aware of his imminent death (1:13-15), which would place the letter near 67 AD.
Literary Purpose
Peter wrote this epistle to warn his readers about the dangers of a new kind of false teaching that denied the return of Christ and led to many other errors. Peter exhorted his readers to stand on the firm foundation of God’s revelation, particularly as given through the apostles, including Paul. Peter contrasted the new, popular teaching of the false teachers with the God-given revelation of the Scriptures, which were given through Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles. He assured his readers that the Day of the Lord’s appearing, meaning the return of Christ, was certain and that they ought to live with this expectation and order their lives accordingly. He warned of the severe judgment that awaited false teachers, citing a number of Old Testament examples of false teachers and the judgment they received.
Theological Themes
The Danger of False Teaching
False teaching inevitably leads to improper living. One of the primary doctrinal errors of the false teachers Peter was facing was a denial of the return of Christ (2 Peter 3:4). The teaching that Jesus would return and bring a final judgment to the entire world was difficult for people from a Greek mindset to receive. Therefore the false teachers denied this teaching. They mocked people who held on to such a belief, particularly after Jesus did not return within a generation of his ascension. In order to deny this doctrine, however, the false teachers needed to deny the authority of the apostles (1:16) and the authority of Old Testament prophecies (1:20-21). False teaching by definition denies or distorts the truth revealed by God in the Scriptures, the record of His revelation given through His prophets and apostles. Somewhere at the core, false teaching denies the authority of God’s Word so it can promote an alternative teaching.
These false teachers claimed to be enlightened leaders who were freeing their followers from living in fear of judgment. Jesus’ return would bring judgment to sin and condemnation upon those who rejected the Lord. The false teachers denied this reality, which conveniently removed the fear of judgment from the lives of its adherents. This new freedom conveniently allowed its followers to pursue their worldly desires (2 Peter 2:2, 13-14, 18-19) without concern of divine retribution. False doctrine inevitably leads to immorality and improper relationships between people. Once the nature of God and His commands is distorted, the nature or our relationships with other people will become distorted as well.
The Importance of Biblical Revelation
In order to correct the false teaching, Peter gave clear instruction on the nature of God’s revelation and the importance of sound teaching. In 2 Peter 1:16-21, Peter made clear that he was an eyewitness of Jesus and personally heard the voice of God the Father during Jesus’ transfiguration. Peter’s authority is not his personal opinion or his private interpretation. Peter clarified that all prophecy recorded in Scripture is God’s revelation. In 2 Peter 3:15-16 he refers to Paul’s letters, equating Paul’s apostolic writings with other Scriptures. Peter’s teaching emphasizes the importance of Biblical revelation, the words of the apostles and the prophets, as the basis for all teaching. As Peter exhorts his readers to pursue godliness (2 Peter 1:3-11) and reject false teaching (2 Peter 2), he instructs his readers that the only way to do this is to remain true to God’s unique revelation given through His Word.
The Day of the Lord (parousia)
The Old Testament spoke of the Day of the Lord. This Day was the Day of Judgment when the Lord would appear and bring final justice upon the nations who opposed Him (Joel 2:31, Amos 5:18-20, Mal 4:5) and final salvation and deliverance for His people (Zeph 2:3). The New Testament teaches that this Day is the Day of Jesus’ appearing (Heb 9:28), the Day of His return to earth (John 21:22). His return will not be in humility and suffering, but in triumphant victory (Mat 24:30). Peter reminded his readers that this doctrine was taught both by the Old Testament prophets and by Jesus Himself.