The mini commentary on the Epistles of John provides a verse by verse explanation of the letters of 1 John, 2 John and 3 John. This commentary systematically unpacks the Epistles of John in a concise manner enabling readers to understand them in their original context. The commentary is based on a literal translation of the Greek text. This allows the reader to get as close to the original text as possible in order to best understand what John is trying to communicate. Additionally this commentary includes Bible Study notes which are intended for use in small group discussions.

About the Epistles of John
When it comes to the early apostles there is one individual who followed Jesus the longest and understood him the best. John is best known for writing the fourth gospel however in addition to this he also wrote 3 epistles to the churches of Asia Minor. Now the churches in John's day had recently experienced a split with many leaving the faith. This led to all sorts of questions about who really were believers? And how can we know if what we believe is true? For those who remained their confidence was knocked and they were left with confusion and uncertainty. John therefore writes to his community affirming the truth of the message they had received and giving clear instructions on how we can be sure of our salvation. For John what brings us assurance of our salvation is the knowledge of the love of God. This is seen in the person and work of Jesus Christ and brings about transformation in the life of the believer.

One of the best ways to summarise John's theology is simple but profound. John has an amazing ability to put forward easy concepts whilst at the same time revealing profound depths of revelation. It is in these letters that we learn that 'God is love' as John unpacks the character of God, the nature of the atonement and shows us how we can identify what is truly from God and what is not. Whereas 1 John deals with the assurance of Salvation, the letters of 2 John and 3 John are written to individuals within local churches. These letters are very short messages written with the intention of being followed up with personal visits from John himself. They respond to immediate situations that have occurred of which John feels require his attention. 2 John is written to a lady called Kuria who hosts a church in her house; whereas 3 John is written to Gaius a member of a local church who had supported travelling ministers sent by John.

About the mini commentary Series
The mini commentary series is a collection of biblical commentaries covering the books of the Old and New Testaments. The series has been designed with the intention that anyone can pick it up and by doing so can read and understand the books of the bible in their original context. These commentaries are an ideal tool for all students of the bible whether pastors, theology students or everyday believers in Christ.

There are a vast array of biblical commentaries available which are all excellent. Some of these range from the highly technical to the more devotional in style. The mini commentary endeavours to strike a balance between the two. The aim is to provide a simple verse by verse explanation of the text in an easy to read format. The idea of this series is not to provide a survey of interpretations or to list all possible arguments, but to set out a singular interpretation based on a literal translation of the text.

In the majority of cases each commentary features a fresh word for word translation of the Greek or Hebrew text. The philosophy of providing a literal translation is to get as close to the original text as possible and from there attempt to explain what it means in its original context.