Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John

Christ-Centered Exposition

by Daniel L. Akin, David Platt (Editor), Tony Merida (Editor)

Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, this new commentary series, projected to be 48 volumes, takes a Christ-centered approach to expositing each book of the Bible. Rather than a verse-by-verse approach, the authors have crafted chapters that explain and apply key passages in their assigned Bible books. Readers will learn to see Christ in all aspects of Scripture, and they will be encouraged by the devotional nature of each exposition.

Exalting Jesus in 1, 2 & 3 John is written by Daniel L. Akin.

Genres: New Testament, Christian, Biblical Studies, Theology

187 pages, Paperback

First published August 17, 2014

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Used for our home group Bible study. Just ok. Not heretical, but also not very helpful or meaty.

[Knowlton Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. I used it in the context of leading a Bible study with people at pretty different levels, and everyone seemed to get good stuff out of it. I hated the questions at the end--every chapter had some variation. Of the questions, does truth matter? Why is it important that Christians believe Jesus is the Messiah? Should Christians be okay with sin? I also wpind up feeling like I just wasn't in the Biblical text as much as I would have liked. This has more to do with my goals than any shortcomings of the book, though. I went into it hoping to be able to have open Bibles at our dinner table, bit the format of the book did not really lend itself to that purpose. So in sum, pretty decent, nothing too deep, accessible to a decent spectrum of people, but not the format I was actually looking for.

[Matthew Huff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thorough and clear. A great help.

[Jillian Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in conjunction with teaching a women’s bible study with my church. I usually pick one main commentary when I teach and this was it for me this time! I love this series. It is not so theologically heady that it is hard to understand. It is deep enough that you get things that are very poignant indeed. I loved how he organized the book, his outlines, his charts, and the quotes he chose to use. I highly recommend to anyone studying or teaching the epistles of John!

[Joshua Jenkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would not recommend this volume as a commentary and I would not call it Christ-centered “exposition.” Little to no actual exegesis done, and honestly a bit topical at times - taking a topic brought up in 1 John and just talking about the topic, without dealing with the actually text or context. A very light devotional at best.

[Rod Innis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly great commentary on 1,2,&3 John. It is truly God honoring; it truly does as it says in the sub-title exalt Jesus.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

First sentence: Christianity stands or falls on the person and work of Jesus Christ. It succeeds or fails on whether or not a true and genuine incarnation actually took place in space and time. The options as to who Jesus is and what Jesus did can basically be reduced to four. He could have been a liar--someone who simply was not who he claimed to be and knew it. He could have been a lunatic--someone who thought he was somebody, but in fact he was not. He could have been a legend--someone who was not who others later imagined him to be. Or He could be the Lord--He is who He said He is, and His birth, life, death, and resurrection prove it to be true.

What you see is what you get. This commentary is part of the Christ-Centered Exposition series by Holman Bible Publishers. It is a commentary of 1 John, 2 John, 3 John.

The book is well-organized. It is clear, easy to understand, easy to follow. It isn't so incredibly scholarly that you feel overwhelmed having to look up words every few sentences. It is not as casual and conversational as say J. Vernon McGee, but it isn't dense or dull. I really LOVED some of the quotes Daniel Akin uses in the book.

Each chapter features discussion questions. I think this one would be good for Bible study or Sunday School.

Quotes:
This is the stumbling block of the incarnation--when God becomes a man, he strips away every pretense of man to be God.
We must receive Jesus--the Word of life, the eternal life, the Son of God--not as we imagine Him to be, or as we like to think of Him, or as someone else believes Him to be. We do not truly receive Jesus if we do not accept Him as He defines Himself. We know that we are Christians and have received God's salvation when we humbly accept the Word of life, which means to believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who appeared in our flesh, was crucified to take our punishment from our sin, was raised from the grave three days later for our justification with God, and is coming again to bring the fullness of God's kingdom. Is that the Jesus you have received? ~ Thabiti Anyabwile

[Christy Littleton Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy this series. It is perfect to read after studying a passage. It is not a commentary but more like sermons that explain a passage. D.A. Carson says it better than me "This book is not a traditional commentary. It does not attempt a full-scale exegesis, nor does it provide explanations of the subtle arguments in Johannine letters that bind the text together. Rather, it is an exposition of John's letters...."

[Steve Hazell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay. I felt like there were portions that were extremely helpful, and other portions that were not helpful at all. The questions at the end of each section were usually pretty solid, and were a help when teaching through John's letters. All in all, I would recommend it, but advise the use of a more robust commentary alongside this.

[Kelly Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The commentary was a sufficient guide to the Johannine Epistles. Not much on original languages, but in my opinion that's a positive. It does the job of introducing these great Books of the Bible to the average Bible student.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re looking for a basic commentary to supplement your quiet time, this series is for you. They provide a basic outline of the book with discussion questions following each section. The structure of the book doesn’t follow chapter-by-chapter, but thematic topics.

[Chris Amaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. Mr. Akin makes clear, concise points and brings gospel truth from John’s 3 under-utilized epistles.

[Hunter Paine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Akin is a great writer in the series. Did think Akin could’ve spent a little more time on specific verses. More like a 4.5, but I’ll round up for funsies

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read, easy to understand.

[Jeremy Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Reference

It worked at really well with my Sunday School lessons and with my own personal study, especially with 2nd and 3rd John, since I haven't seen a lot of study or sermons in these books.

[Mathew Dodge · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel as though it got repetitive in its exposition. It drew a lot of the same things from the text as it went through 1 John, and when I looked up other commentaries I found banks of uniqueness within specific passages of 1 John that wasn’t covered in this book.

[Jacob Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Akin did a great job of making a readable, entry-level commentary on the 3 Johannine epistles. This book was very easy to read and gave some good background info on the texts as well as good exposition. I've enjoyed every other commentary in the Exalting Jesus series, and I was not disappointed during this one.