December 25, 2017 Bible Study — A Timely Warning Against Those Who Teach That Jesus Did Not Have a Real Body

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 John, 3 John, and Jude.

    John writes that we should live in the truth. That truth is that God commands us to love one another. He follows that up by warning us against people who teach that Jesus did not come in the flesh, that Jesus did not have a human body. The translation notes for the New Living Translation say that John may have been using the future tense here. If so, that would mean that these deceivers John is warning us against were teaching that the Resurrection was not physical. I suspect that the ambiguity of John’s wording was intended to cover those who taught either. There are those today who teach that it does not matter if Jesus really existed and/or that it does not matter if the Resurrection actually happened. John warns us that such teaching will lead us away from God.

    Jude also warns us against false teachers. His warning is against those who teach that because our salvation is a free gift from God by His grace that we can do whatever we like, including living immorally. Such teachers often call on us to accept them and their teaching to avoid division in the Church. Jude warns us that it is these teachers who are creating the division which they claim to be preaching against.