1 John 4:15

[Abd_Yesua_alMasih]

If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.

This verse can easily be taken out of context and I realise 1 John in context does not say exactly what the verse says by itself. What I want to know is who 'acknowledges' Jesus etc...? I paused for a while when I read it as at first glance this could make a thousand times more Christians than there really are. Then I noticed they used the word 'acknowledge'. What is the greek meaning? Does it still have the root 'know' as it does in English? Does it have a deeper meaning than it does in English? Without any knowledge of greek I concluded until I mentioned it here that you could almost reword it as 'to know Jesus...' - is that right? (context wise, not translation wise).

 

[Scott Bushey]

Fraser,
Have you a lexicon? There is a free download which is excellent. It is called E-Sword. You can download bible progs with it. One of the bibles is the KJV w/ Greek and Hebrew Lexicon. It would be of great value for you.

Here is the hyperlink: http://www.e-sword.net/

 

[Abd_Yesua_alMasih]

thanks I have finaly given into pressure and decided to download it (that is after the local reformed pastor, a couple of friends and now you have told me - they have been saying it for about a year now)

 

[Abd_Yesua_alMasih]

On a side note why is there a John and a 1 John when there is a 1 Peter and a 2 Peter? Is it just because one is a gospel that it is too 'special' to be numbered?

 

[fredtgreco]

Originally posted by Abd_Yesua_alMasih
On a side note why is there a John and a 1 John when there is a 1 Peter and a 2 Peter? Is it just because one is a gospel that it is too 'special' to be numbered?

The numbering refers to an epistle (letter). Gospels don't have numbers.

Also, please note that the text behind "acknowledge" is really one of "confess," or make "public profession of." I've inserted the lexical entry for the word in image format so it is easy to see.

 

[RamistThomist]

Fred,
What is that lexicon (I think that is what it is)?

 

[Abd_Yesua_alMasih]

thank you for that. I do have a program where I can look at things like that but it is rather liberal and they didnt have an entry for that greek word (I am guessing - my greek is not always good enough to pick which word it is out of a sentence) but now I see which greek word it is I know they didnt have an entry. Maybe there was a root to it I was meant to look up afterall... I dont know. Anyway thankyou all for your help.

About the numbering. I thought there would be a difference in it being an epistle and not a gospel but who came up with that idea? I mean I would have thought two books with the same name would have been numbered 1 & 2 but then again what would I know. What has been done has been done.

 

[RamistThomist]

Fraser,
I John is written in epistolary form (ie, it looks like a letter). The gospel is written differently. The letters of Peter are just that, letters. They are not telling of the life and work of Christ; rather, they are exhorting the people of God.

That is a much simplified version.

 

[fredtgreco]

Originally posted by Finn McCool
Fred,
What is that lexicon (I think that is what it is)?

Louw-Nida

 

[Scott Bushey]

Fred,
What prog are you using for the screen shots? Snag it?

 

[fredtgreco]

Originally posted by Scott Bushey
Fred,
What prog are you using for the screen shots? Snag it?

Yes! I love it. It is super easy to use, and has great commenting/edit features.

It was easier to snag the image and post it than to try and turn the fonts on and off multiple times in the BB text.

 

[Abd_Yesua_alMasih]

Originally posted by Finn McCool
Fraser,
I John is written in epistolary form (ie, it looks like a letter). The gospel is written differently. The letters of Peter are just that, letters. They are not telling of the life and work of Christ; rather, they are exhorting the people of God.

That is a much simplified version.

I know why they are different but I suppose also another difference is they are not right next to each other. I suppose also it is often called "The Gospel of Saint John" or "The Gospel According to John" etc... and its simplified form is 'John'