1:2 beginning. The definite article has been supplied. The actual Greek is en arche—that is, “in beginning.” The “Word of God” thus was there before the creation of the space-mass-time universe, so that John’s “beginning” even antecedes the Genesis “beginning,” extending without an initial beginning into eternity past, before even time was created. Note also John 17:24, where Jesus, in His humanity, acknowledged that He was with the Father, and loved by the Father, “before the foundation of the world.”

3:19 the condemnation. The word “condemnation” (Greek krisis) is also translated “judgment,” but only a judgment concluding in condemnation. The use of the definite article—“the condemnation”—emphasizes that judgment is not because of sin, but because of rejection of God’s provision of salvation from sin through the light of Jesus Christ.

2:3 falling away. The “falling away” (Greek apostasia) has commonly been transliterated as “the apostasy” (the definite article in the Greek indicates Paul had already told them about it), and then assumed to apply to the final great religious apostasy at the end of the age. The context, however, as well as the etymology of the word itself, makes this interpretation unlikely. In this precise form it is used nowhere else in the New Testament, so its meaning must be defined by its context here. It is derived from two Greek words, apo (meaning “away from”) and stasis (meaning “standing”). It thus could properly be rendered “standing away” instead of “falling away.” In Paul’s previous letter, he had made no reference whatever to a coming departure from the faith, but he had discussed at length a coming departure from the earth by all believers, when Christ returns to meet them in the air (I Thessalonians 4:13-18). Thus this “standing away from,” in context, seems to refer to all the raptured believers standing away from the earth, as they stand before their returning Lord when they meet Him in the heavens. Paul here is simply reminding them that the “sudden destruction” that would come upon unbelievers when “the day of the Lord” begins could not happen until the rapture—“the standing-away” from the earth before Christ (note Romans 14:10)—had taken place. The entire context, before and after, fits this understanding of the text better than the idea of the apostasy from the faith. Over the 1950 years since Paul wrote these lines, there have been numerous great apostasies form the faith, and none of these introduced the day of the Lord, although persecuted believers in each case might easily have so interpreted them.

2:11 believe a lie. There is a definite article here—“the lie.” Those who have refused the truth will be given a strong delusion by God Himself when the man of sin is revealed. They will believe his lie, receive him as the god of this age, then perish with him.

2:15 childbearing. In the original, there is a definite article here—that is, “the childbearing.” It is probable that a very specific birth is in view, not child-bearing in general. If so, and in light of the context, it seems that Paul is referring to the great protevangelic promise of Genesis 3:15: “And I will put enmity between thee [i.e., Satan] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; [He] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” It is in the very next verse (Genesis 3:16) that God told Eve that, henceforth, “in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Because of being “in the transgression,” Eve and her daughters would bring forth children, begotten of the husband’s seed, in sorrow (a word implying labor and suffering), but there would be one particular birth one day, uniquely born of “her seed,” rather than of her husband’s seed, and He (the virgin-born God/man) would finally inflict a mortal wound on the old Serpent. It was by this “childbearing” that “she shall be saved.” In a secondary sense, every birth is a type of that special birth, in its reminder and promise that salvation is preceded by suffering, and that the joy of life follows travail and possible death (or at least willingness to die). As Jesus said: “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world” (John 16:21).

3:8 little strength. Literally, “a little strength” simply reads “little strength,” since the article is not present in the Greek. The Lord’s promise of a continuing open door, therefore, is conditioned on the premise that the church (or any Christian ministry, for that matter) have little strength of its own, and thus relies wholly on the strength of the Lord. Worldly marketing methods may seem to yield large numerical results for a time, but will also produce gradual spiritual compromise and eventual disintegration. In addition to the “little strength” criterion, of course, the church or other ministry must keep (that is “guard”) the absolute integrity of God’s Word, and uphold the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in all its sovereign power.

4:11 created all things. It is significant that this mighty accolade of praise to God from the elders (representing all the redeemed) centers first on Him as Creator, then later on Him as Redeemer (Revelation 5:9). It is proper that our earthly worship and praise should follow this same pattern. The redeemed ones by this time will have received their crown rewards, as well as “praise and honour and glory” (I Peter 1:7), but then they will “cast their crowns” (Revelation 4:10) down before Him, acknowledging that only He is truly worthy to receive “the glory and the honour and the power” (the article is in the original Greek). They were merely His creations, and all they might have accomplished on earth was by His grace.