Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

1:1-3 - Maybe it’s because Jude is the brother of James and so also the half-brother of Jesus that I thought Jude’s letter as recorded here would be along the same lines as James and John, like peace, love, and obedience and all that. What I found instead is that Jude’s letter is like if someone took a random chapter out of Harry Potter and expected you to come away with the storyline after you are done reading. Some of the stuff in here, I was like, “wait, what?” He starts by introducing himself as “the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.” He doesn’t say, “I’m Jesus’ brother,” probably for the same reasons that James didn’t, but it’s interesting because he talks about Jesus like he’s this foreign, holy guy that no one knows, when in fact, he grew up in the same household with Him, and might know him more personally than almost anyone else. Jude wishes mercy, peace, and love “be multiplied.” Jude says that his purpose in writing is to “exhort you that ye should earnestly c...

1:1-8 - This is another short (14 verse) book from John to church members, but what’s different about this one is that it isn’t about “love one another” commandments but instead directed to specific individuals. This letter is addressed to “the wellbeloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.” From listening to the podcast “The History of Rome,” I learned that Gaius was a very common Roman name, so my guess is that this Gaius was a Roman citizen, but also became a Christian believer. This almost certainly means that Gaius was not natively Jewish, therefore a gentile convert. This also means that John is another one who accepted the gentiles into Christ’s church. Apparently, some Christian church leaders had visited the saints in Gaius’ city and when they came back to report the status, they praised Gaius because he “doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers.” The IM comments that Gaius was “a faithful member of the Church whom John praised for showing unsel...

1:1-4 - This 2nd letter of John to “the elect lady and her children” is a short book consisting of only 13 verses. Interestingly, it seems like this letter is addressed to a woman which is unusual, but the IM explains, “Since the epistle addresses a group of people, many commentators conclude that ‘the elect lady’ actually refers to a Christian congregation. The Greek term for church is feminine, and it was common to personify the Church as a woman. Another possibility is that ‘the elect lady and her children’ were John’s wife and family.” Concerning the term “elect lady” specifically, the IM continues, “In our dispensation, Emma Smith, wife of the Prophet Joseph Smith, was called ‘an elect lady’ (D&C 25:3).” Most of what John discusses in this epistle is covered in what he talked about in his 1st epistle, 1st John. He introduces himself as “the elder,” and wishes his reader “grace be with you, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” He also “rejoice...

There is a lot in this last chapter of the first book of John that is repeated and because I’m incredibly short on time, I’m just going to focus on the points that are unique to this chapter. 5:3 – “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” I think there is a point in everyone’s spiritual progression where their desire to keep the commandments transitions from fear based (doing it because you’ll be punished if you don’t) and love based (doing it because we recognize God’s love for us and desire to keep us safe.) I know that for me, any desire to be obedient was mostly rooted in fear and guilt. Fear that if I went against the laws of God that I would miss out on certain blessings, and the guilt of doing what I was told was the right thing to do but hating that I had to do it or else I was “bad.” I think it came after I learned who God is and who I am to Him that I was able to make that mental shift to WANTING to be obedient bec...

4:1-6 - We know that God “dwelleth” in us “by the Spirit which he hath given us,” but John warns us to be wary of just any “spirit.” Now I’m not exactly sure what John means by “spirit” here, if he is referring to the aura or feeling that we get from other people, the vibe they put off, or if he’s talking about influences, I don’t know, but either way John encourages us to “try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” The article on this chapter quotes Dallin H. Oaks as teaching, “(the) power of discernment is essential if we are to distinguish between genuine spirits gifts and the counterfeits Satan seeks to use to deceive men and women and thwart the work of God.” I read somewhere and I can’t find it now but basically it said that it would be impossible to tell the difference between God given revelation and that given by Satan if we don’t have a sort of “checklist” to go by. John gives us the start of that checklist, “hereby kn...

3:1-2 - Because God has given the righteous “an unction from the Holy One,” John says that we can “behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” What does that mean? John continues that when Jesus “shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” The IM quotes President Dallin H. Oaks as teaching, “the purpose of mortal life is to prepare us to realize our destiny as sons and daughters of God- to become like Him… The Bible describes mortals as ‘the children of God’ and as ‘heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.’ It also declares that ‘we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together’ and that ‘when he shall appear, we shall be like him.’ We take these Bible teachings literally. We believe that the purpose of mortal life is to acquire a physical body and, through the atonement of Jesus Christ and by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel, to qualify for the glorified, resurrected cele...

2:1-2 - John addresses his readers multiple times as “My little children” which the IM explains is a term of endearment. His goal in writing is “that ye sin not.” There’s a critical JST saying, “But if any man sin and repent, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” The KJV translation says, “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” This is a very important addition because without it, there is no accountability for our actions. The KJV makes it sound like “but don’t worry, if you sin, you’ll be forgiven” where the JST clarifies, “if you sin you can repent and then be forgiven.” The process of repentance is omitted from the first one and really, that would be a huge win for Satan, if he could convince us that it doesn’t matter if we sin, Jesus will cover us either way. Not only is Jesus our advocate with the Father, but “he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole w...

1:1-10 - Just like the gospel of John is structured differently, these epistles of John to the saints that would read his words. The IM described it as, “1 John is more of a doctrinal essay or treatise than an epistle to a specific Christian congregation.” John wrote a lot about false teachers, as Peter and others, because there was a specific religious rival theology Docetism which was an off shoot of Gnosticism. The IM explains, “A core teaching in many forms of Gnosticism was that the spirit was wholly good and that matter, including the physical body, was wholly evil. Follows of Gnosticism believed that salvation was not achieved by being freed from sin but rather by freeing the spirit from matter, meaning the physical body.” Because of these beliefs, they “overemphasized Jesus’ spiritual nature to the point that they rejected the idea that He came to earth in actual bodily form. They believed that God was invisible, immortal, all-knowing, and immaterial.” We see this is some Chris...

3:1-2 - There are a lot of words that Peter is saying that I just don’t understand. But at the same time it’s kind of bittersweet because I’m trying so hard to finish up the New Testament by the end of the year and with these last few books being so short, it’s just kind of, I don’t even know how to describe it. I’ve been studying the New Testament for 5 years now and I’m so excited for the Old Testament, but at the same time, reading these original apostles’ final farewells is like a passing of the torch kind of. Like in a dream or a movie when one scene fades out and another fades in featuring a completely different place and time and people. I don’t know if that makes sense, but that’s how I feel. It’s always interesting to me when the New Testament talks about the Second Coming or the Last Days and implies that they are expected at any moment because it’s been over 2,000 years. I guess the preparation is the same, whether preparing for the second coming or for our own personal me...

2:1-8 - The ancient scriptures were written by ancient prophets by the power of the Holy Ghost, but this begs the question, how do we know that they were prophets. Peter notes that “there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you.” Peter knew he was going to die soon, and he probably saw the writing on the wall just like Paul did, that those who accepted the gospel would ultimately reject it, either partially or entirely. He probably knew that it would become corrupted and lose essential truths and ordinances. He knew that people would be more interested in an “easier” gospel, that these false teachers would speak evil of the “truth.” He knew that the temptation would be too much and they would exploit the believers for money and influences. But Peter makes an interesting point when he reminds the people that “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell.” And he only “saved Noah” when “bringing in the flood upon th...

1:12-14 - The goal that Peter has in this letter is “to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.” He says that while he’s “in this tabernacle… knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.” The word “shewed” is cross-referenced with John 21:18-19, which is long but profitable. This is Jesus speaking directly to Peter saying, “Verily, Verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest: but when thou shaly be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” John gives the explanation in verse 19 saying, “this speak he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.” Peter knew that he was going to be killed because of his belief in Jesus and he still went when Jesus told him, “follow me.” I wondered why Jesus would tell Peter about Peter’s death, but I gue...

1:1-4 - This letter of Peter is different from his first one in a couple of ways. First, the IM notes that some scriptorians have concluded that the writing styles of the author of 1st and 2nd Peter are too different to be written by the same person. But we know that Silas helped Peter write the first letter and I don’t know who helped with the second letter. Another difference is that while the first letter is about building up their testimonies and their individual churches, the second letter was probably written shortly before Peter was martyred so it is more like a good bye and a “this is what I want you to know before I leave,” kind of thing. This letter is written “to them that have obtained like precious faith with us.” This is for people who value the gospel more than anything else. Peter wishes “grace and peace be multiplied” to the readers “through knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.” I struggle with Peter’s words because it just seems like he’s saying all the Jesus wo...