The Passion Translation New Testament Masterpiece Edition (2020 edition) : with Psalms, Proverbs and Song of Songs (The Illustrated Passion Translation) (The Passion Translation (TPT))

by Brian Simmons

3Above all, you must understand that in the last days mockerse will multiply, chasing after their evil desires.

8So, dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape your notice: a single day counts like a thousand years to the Lord Yahweh,i and a thousand years counts as one day.j 9This means that, contrary to man’s perspective, the Lord is not late with his promise to return, as some measure lateness. But rather, his “delay” simply reveals his loving patience toward you, because he does not want any to perish but all to come to repentance.k

k3:9 The Aramaic is quite different and can be translated “The Lord does not treat his kingdom like a dutiful chore, as some people consider it, like the treatment of a temporary laborer. But he pours out his Spirit on your behalf, since he does not wish that anyone should perish but that everyone should come into grace.”

We gazed upon himb and heard him speak.c Our hands actually touched him,d the one who was from the beginning, the Living Expression of God.e 2This Life-Giver was made visible and we have seen him. We testify to this truth: the eternal Life-Giver lived face-to-face with the Father and has now dawned upon us. 3So we proclaim to you what we have seen and heard about this Life-Giver so that we may share and enjoy this life together. For truly our fellowshipf is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus, the Anointed One.g

d1:1 The word for touch is poetic. It comes from a sensory verb meaning “to pluck the strings of an instrument.” It can also be translated “to feel” (see Acts 17:27). It is as though John is saying, “We have plucked the chords of his being and felt what motivated him, his melody within.”

g1:3 It is believed that these first three verses comprised an early hymn sung by the church. h1:4 Or “that our joy may be fulfilled.” The first four verses form one Greek sentence, somewhat awkward in its construction, with three parenthetical interruptions in the sequence of the Greek sentence, which would be confusing if left in a literal form.

12I remind you, dear children:k your sins have been permanently removed because of the power of his name.l 13I remind you, fathers and mothers:m you have a relationship with the One who has existed from the beginning.n And I remind you, young people: you have defeated the Evil One.o 14I write these things to you, dear children, because you truly have a relationship with the Father. I write these things, fathers and mothers, because you have had a true relationship with him who is from the beginning. And I write these things, young people, because you are strong, the Word of God is treasured in your hearts, and you have defeated the Evil One.p

9Everyone who is truly God’s child will refuse to keep sinningm because God’s seedn remains within him, and he is unable to continue sinning because he has been fathered by God himself.o

11The beautiful message you’ve heard right from the start is that we should walk in self-sacrificing love toward one another.

9 This is the Greek word sperma, “male seed.”

7Those who are loved by God, let his love continually pour from you to one another, because God is love. Everyone who loves is fathered by God and experiences an intimate knowledge of him. 8The one who doesn’t love has yet to know God, for God is love.f 9The light of God’s love shined within usg when he sent his matchlessh Son into the world so that we might live through him.i 10This is love:j He loved us long before we loved him. It was his love, not ours. He proved it by sending his Son to be the pleasing sacrificial offering to take away our sins.k 11Delightfully loved ones, if he loved us with such tremendous love, then “loving one another” should be our way of life! 12No one has ever gazedl upon the fullness of God’s splendor.m But if we love one another, God makes his permanent home in us, and we make our permanent home in him, and his love is brought to its full expression in us. 13And he has given us his Spirit within us so that we can have the assurance that he lives in us and that we live in him.

19Our love for others is our grateful response to the love God first demonstrated to us.v

21For he has given us this command: whoever loves God must also demonstrate love to others.w

“God’s love was revealed among us.” The base word for “revealed” is phainō, “to shine light.”

The Aramaic can be translated “that we might live in his hand,” considered to be an idiom for living by his grace.

5Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah is God’s spiritual child and has been fathered by God himself. And everyone who loves Father God loves his children as well.

21So, little children, guard yourselves from worshiping anything but him.g

Truth generates love, and love will always be faithful to the truth. To love God is to love his truth and cherish it in our hearts.

Possibly written earlier than his first letter, John addressed this one to the “chosen woman and her children.” Most commentators see this as a metaphor for the church with its spiritual believers (children), believing that John the Elder wrote the letter to a church or network of churches. Some have viewed it more literally as written to an unnamed woman or a woman named Elekta or Kyria (feminine of kurios, “lord”). Regardless of who the letter was written to, it is inspired of God to bring truth to our hearts and keep us from evil.

Not only are we to love truth, we’re to love each other.

1From the eldera to God’s chosen womanb and her children: I love you all as those who are in the truth.c And I’m not the only one, for all who come to know the truthd share my love for you 2because of the living truth that has a permanent home in us and will be with us forever.e 3Grace, mercy, and peace belong to us, flowing from the presence of God the Father and from Jesus Christ, Son of the Father and from the realm of true love.f

11For if you welcome him as a believer,l you will be partnering with him in his evil agenda.

13The children of your sister, whom God has chosen, send you their loving greetings. Amen.o

The letter is addressed to the eklekte kuria (“elect/chosen/excellent lady”). Most commentators see this as a metaphor for the church and her spiritual children, believing that John wrote this letter to a sister congregation or network of congregations. This has been the majority view since it was first noted by Jerome (Jerome, Ep. Xi. ad Ageruchiam). Still, others see it as a letter to a specific woman, with the conjecture that her name was either Elekta or Kyria. This is a possibility, since one way to read the letter is that John knew this woman and was acquainted with her sister and her children (v. 13). If this was indeed written to Kyria (feminine of “lord,” meaning a woman in authority), there is a possibility that she was the pastor or overseer of a specific church. But who was the most especially “chosen woman” in the entire Bible? It was Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus. John was given the commission by Jesus himself in his last moments on the cross to care for Mary as his mother, and we know that Mary had a sister (John 19:25–27, cf. v. 13). What other woman is chosen and loved, not only by John but all the church? Every believer in Jesus rightly honors and reveres his mother, Mary. Throughout church history there have been a few scholars who believe that Mary was the recipient of this letter. (See Knauer, Stud. U. Krit., 1833, Part 2, p.452ff.; q.v. J. E. Huther, Critical and Exegetical Handbook to the General Epistles of James, Peter, John, and Jude, transla...

Or “If you give him a [public] greeting [as a believer].”

He also warned against allowing pride and self-centeredness to get in the way of showing such love and support.

3I was filled with joy and delight when the brothers arrived and informed me of your faithfulness to the truth. They told me how you live continually in the truth of Christ.f

I hope to visit you and speak with you face-to-face.u

Leaders must view other leaders not as threats but as coworkers. Love is not controlling or tyrannical.

The Aramaic can be translated “mouth to mouth.”

“The Lord Yahwehw rebuke you!”

10These people insult anything they don’t understand. They behave like irrational beasts by doing whatever they feel like doing.y Because they live by their animal instincts, they corrupt themselves and bring about their own destruction.

16These people are always complaining and never satisfied—finding fault with everyone. They follow their own evil desires and their mouths speak scandalous things. They enjoy using seductive flattery to manipulate others.at

22Keep being compassionate to those who still have doubts,az 23and snatch others out of the fire to save them. Be merciful over and over to them, but always couple your mercy with the fear of God. Be extremely careful to keep yourselves free from the pollutions of the flesh.ba

y10 There is an implication that they are like animals in heat, following their natural instincts.

at16 Or “admiring faces [of the rich] for their own [financial] gain.”

“Show mercy to those who are still undecided.”

a1:1 The Greek noun apokalypsis is a compound word found eighteen times in the New Testament. It combines apo (to lift) with kaluptó (veil, hide, cover), and so could be translated “the lifting of the veil” or “the unveiling.” The implication could be stated as simply, “Here he is!” It is not primarily lifting the veil off coming events, but the unveiling of Jesus.

The Aramaic can be translated “a fervent spirit came from his mouth.”

5Think about how far you have fallen! Repentf and do the works of love you did at first.g

The Aramaic can be translated “torture house.”

6So the one whose heart is open let him listen carefully to what the Spirit is now saying to all the churches.

13So the one whose heart is open let him listen carefully to what the Spirit is now saying to all the churches.

18So I counsel you to purchase goldt perfected by fire, so that you can be truly rich. Purchase a white garment to cover and clothe your shameful Adam-nakedness.u Purchase eye salve to be placed over your eyes so that you can truly see.

22The one whose heart is open let him listen carefully to what the Spirit is saying now to the churches.

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power, for you created all things, and for your pleasurex they were created and exist.”y

7When he broke open the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature call out, “Come forth!”o 8And behold, I saw a greenp horse, and its rider’s name was Death, and Death’s Domainq followed him. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword,r famine,s death,t and by the wild beasts.

9When the Lamb broke open the fifth seal, I saw gathered under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God and because they had the testimony of the Lamb.u 10They cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Sovereign Lord, holy and dependable, how long before you judge those who live on the earth and vindicatev our blood on them?”w 11Each one was given a glistening white robe.x And they were told to rest a little longer, until the full number was fulfilled of both their fellow servants and brothers and sisters who were going to be killed just as they had been.

12And behold! I saw the Lamb break open the sixth seal, which released a powerful earthquake. I saw the sun become pitch blacky and the full moon become bloodred. 13The stars fell from heaven to the earth, as a fig tree shaken by a stormy wind sheds its unripe figs. 14The sky receded with a snap—as a scroll rolls itself up.z And every mountain and island was moved from its place.aa 15Then the kings of the earth and its great princesab and generals, the rich and powerful, and everyone, whether they were slave or free, ran for cover and hid in the caves and among the mountain boulders. 16They called out to the mountains and the boulders, saying, “Fall on us at once!ac Hi...

The Greek word kloros always means “green,” not “pale green.” It is used four times in the New Testament and always refers to grass (green grass) or green living things. The color of the horse speaks of life, but the rider’s name is Death. Death rides on life (life comes through death—Gal. 2:20). The death is his death.