Tag: Dave Thomas

Believing in the Son of God

• Lesson 9 for the week of August 22 to August 29

Observations for discussion and questions: The following passage as a whole is delimited by three recurrences of belief in relation to Jesus: who believes that Jesus is the Son of God (5:5), who believes in...

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Walking in the Light: Keeping His Commandments

• Lesson 4 for the week of August 18 to July 25

Observations for discussion and questions: Here again we see John ministering to a community that are suffering from the impact of the schism he mentions later in this chapter. He gives them tests both as...

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Loving Brothers and Sisters

• Lesson 8 for the week of August 15 to August 22

Observations for discussion and questions: The topic of this lesson focuses on two major passages, 1 John 3:11-24 and 1 John 4:7-5:4. 1 John 3:11-24 is carefully structured by the overall recurrences of we should...

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Living as Children of God

• Lesson 7 for the week of August 8 to August 15

Observations for discussion and questions: The overall unity of 1 John 2:28-3:10 is supported by the recurrences of manifested, everyone, who does/does not do right, children of God, born of him/God. The subsections are demarcated...

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Walking in the Light: Rejecting Antichrists

• Lesson 6 for the week of August 1 to August 8

Observations for discussion and questions: The principle occasion for the writing of 1 John was most likely a serious schism of the Johannine community over teaching about Christ. There are two well defined passages that...

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Walking in the Light: Renouncing Worldliness

• Lesson 5 for the week of July 25 to August 1

Observations for discussion and questions: 1 John 2:12-14 is puzzling. The fact that the author says almost the same thing in each stanza with a shift of verb tense in “writing” and “wrote” may be...

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Walking in the Light: Turning Away From Sin

• Lesson 3 for the week of July 11 to July 18

Observations: 1 John 1:5-2:2 is carefully crafted in terms of structure where between an introductory proposition and a concluding application and exposition we have three false claims reflected in if-clauses, “if we say that we…,”...

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Experiencing the Word of Life

• Lesson 2 for the week of July 4 to July 11

Observations: If, as noted in the previous lesson, the primary purpose of 1 John was to give instructions and encouragement in the wake of a painful schism over views that questioned the incarnation of Jesus...

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Jesus and the Johannine Letters

• Lesson 1 for the week of June 27 to July 4

1 John Observations: The Author: Although traditionally the author was taken to be the Apostle John, none of the letters identify the author by name. In 2 and 3 John he is referred to as...

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Confidence in the Prophetic Gift

• Lesson 13 for the week of March 21 to March 28

Theme: Confidence in the Prophetic Gift Leading Question: How does one develop confidence in the “prophetic gift”? If one starts with the question of how one develops “confidence” in a person, or in anything, for...

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The Blessings of the Prophetic Gift

• Lesson 12 for the week of March 14 to March 21

Theme: Blessings of the Prophetic Gift Leading Question: Is the prophetic gift more important for blazing a new trail or defending old landmarks? In Adventist History, two key words represent the poles between which any...

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Interpreting the Prophetic Writings

• Lesson 11 for the week of March 7 to March 14

Theme: Interpreting the Prophetic Writings Leading Question: Can a person be saved who has never heard of the Bible or listened to its message? 1. Interpreting prophetic writings: helpful, but not essential (Rom 2:14-16).  In...

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The Message of the Prophets

• Lesson 10 for the week of February 28 to March 7

Theme: The Message of the Prophets Leading Question: To what extent is it the responsibility of prophets to help God’s people retain doctrinal integrity? While it is very important for a believing community to hold...

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The Integrity of the Prophetic Gift

• Lesson 9 for the week of February 21 to February 28

Theme: The Integrity of the Prophetic Gift Leading Question: When speaking of prophetic messengers, what does the word “integrity” mean, as in the phrase, “The Integrity of the Prophetic Gift”? When scholars in the 19th...

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