John

Response as the Goal of All Bible Reading

I love purpose statements. I love them because I really don’t like guessing about someone’s motivation. It’s an uncomfortable place to be in. If I’m reading something someone wrote or listing to someone give a talk, I don’t want to be left wondering why they wrote what they wrote or said the things they said. I think this is partly why I like John’s gospel so much.

As the apostle John was drawing his gospel to a close, he thought it would be a good idea to make clear why he wrote it in the first place—to remove the mystery, if there was any.

Who Wrote What Letters to Whom in the New Testament?

  • From: Paul

    To: All in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people.

  • From: Paul and Sosthenes

    To: The church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours.

  • From: Paul and Timothy

    To: The church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia.

  • From: Paul and all the brothers and sisters with him

    To: The churches in Galatia.

  • From: Paul

    To: God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.

  • From: Paul and Timothy

    To: All God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons.

  • From: Paul and Timothy

    To: God's holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.

  • From: Paul, Silas, and Timothy

    To: The church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

  • From: Paul, Silas, and Timothy

    To: The church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

  • From: Paul

    To: Timothy, my true son in the faith.

  • From: Paul

    To: Timothy, my dear son.

  • From: Paul

    To: Titus, my true son in our common faith.

  • From: Paul and Timothy

    To: Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker—also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your homes.

  • From: Unknown (possibly Paul, Luke, or Apollos)

    To: Unknown (probably Christians who had recently came out of the Old Covenant system that was previously established).

  • From: James

    To: The twelve tribes scattered among the nations.

  • From: Peter

    To: God's elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bythinia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood.

  • From: Peter

    To: Those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have receieved faith as precious as ours.

  • From: Unknown (probably John—the disciple whom Jesus loved)

    To: Unknown (probably Christian’s under John’s care).

  • From: The elder (probably John, the disciple whom Jesus loved)

    To: The lady chosen by God and to her children whom I love in the truth (probably the local church and the members of that church).

  • From: Unknown (probably John, the disciple whom Jesus loved)

    To: My dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

  • From: Jude

    To: Those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.

With Just a Sentence

John Piper is fond of saying, “Books don’t change people, paragraphs do — sometimes sentences.” To his credit, he does quickly iron out this statement by explaining that he doesn’t think books are a waste of time—he’s written over 50 of them!—it’s just that it’s difficult told hold an entire thesis of a book in your head at once.