THE NATURE OF JESUS, HIS DISCIPLES, ANTICHRIST AND FALSE PROPHETS

Pastor Seth A. Ofei Badu

The Message of the Letters of John, Peter, James and Jude in 800 words.

John the Apostle was the Disciple “whom Jesus loved”, and was in the inner Circle of Jesus (with James and Peter). He was the son of Zebedee the fisherman and Simone. He was probably the younger brother of James, who was commissioned along with him, Peter and Andrew (all fishermen) at the same time.

John  (3 letters with a total of 7 chapters) presents a first-hand account of the Jesus, His nature, His message, the change He makes in the nature and mission of those who come to know Him and the character of those only pretend to know Him. The nature of Jesus is God in the flesh, perfect in holiness. His message is that His life and death is the expression of God’s love to sinful mankind. This love places others ahead of self. His message is that those who know Him exhibit His love, which show them as holy and make others follow them to salvation in Christ.  Those who merely pretend to know Jesus have no true love, and they also deny that Jesus came in the flesh. In his second letter, he commends those who walk in the light and in His third he gives an example each of a leader who follows the Lord and a leader who follows his own agenda

Peter the Apostle was generally considered the leader of the apostles in the time of Jesus. He was a disciple of John the Baptist long with his brother of Andrew, who brought him to Jesus. He clearly declared who Jesus was, and Jesus changed His name from Simon (Hearing) to Peter (Rock). He was also rebuked by Jesus for attempting to detract Him from His mission; warned about his falling away, pardoned and restored.

Peter (2 letters with a total of 8 chapters) commends those who had come to faith in Christ, although they had not seen Him in the flesh like he had, and instructs them about the necessary challenges and sufferings that characterise life in Christ; It is though suffering that faith is proven and matured. Christians must therefore necessarily be excellent citizens, parents and spouses, while carrying out their commission from God. They must put their faith into action in order to be fruitful, while they guard against the false comfort of false teachers who are also characterised by sensuality (focus on satisfying the needs of the body), greed, disregard for authority, empty boasting, and inability to deal with sin in their own lives.

Jude was a brother of Jesus along with James the Elder, Joses and Simon (none of whom was numbered among the 12 apostles). Apparently, He came to faith in Christ after His resurrection.

Jude (one chapter letter) urged Christians to work hard to preserve the message of Christ, ensuring that their lifestyles and doctrines are well-grounded. This was because false teachers had entered the church; these were to be identified by their sensuality, denial of the Lord, reliance on dreams, defiling of the flesh, rejection of authority, insults, grumbling, boasting, and favouritism. The grace of God does not excuse unregulated conduct, as is proven by three acts of God’s judgement that preceded the law: banishment of rebellious angels, destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the destruction of those Israelites who rebelled in the desert.

James the writer of the epistle was the Lord’s natural brother, and received the title of apostle (Gal 1:19), although he was not part of the twelve appointed by the Lord (James the son of Zebedee and brother of John, and James the son of Alpheus were part of the twelve). Possibly, because he was raised as a pious Jew, he was not too keen on following the Lord until his resurrection and ascension. He was then indirectly numbered among the disciples in the upper room (Acts 1:14)

James (5 chapters) targeted Jewish believers to show them that life in Christ attracts persecution and demands endurance although it is of the same spirit as the Jewish Scriptures: A person who lives by faith in Christ is empowered and expected to have a more excellent conduct than one who was merely raised in Old Testament instructions. The best evidence of self-control is keeping one’s tongue away from cursing and slander. Discrimination is injustice. If a person still lives in the bondage of disobedience, he or she has not put faith in Christ into action. A person who has divine wisdom is humble, considerate, brings harmony and grows in the grace of God. The will of God, rather than our expectations or wishes, is best and must always prevail. Undue confidence in earthly wealth leads to the sin of oppression. We are sustained by living in the expectation of the Lord’s coming and in constant fellowship with Him.

This brief is from our studies at Apostles Doctrine Hour, which was continued at the Leaders and Potential Leaders Training Sessions in 2012.