1 John

Overview

John opens not with a greeting but with a declaration of what he has seen and heard and touched, the Word of life made manifest. He writes as an eyewitness so that his readers may have fellowship with the Father and the Son and that their joy may be complete. The first great theme follows immediately: God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. To claim fellowship with God while walking in darkness is to lie, but if we walk in the light we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. John offers tender comfort to the guilty: if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive.

Throughout the letter John gives a series of tests by which believers may know whether their faith is real. The first is obedience: whoever says he abides in Christ ought to walk as Jesus walked, and the one who keeps God's word truly has his love perfected. The second is love for fellow believers: whoever hates his brother is in darkness, while the one who loves abides in the light. John warns against loving the world and its passing desires, and he alerts his readers to the spirit of antichrist already at work in those who deny that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh.

At the heart of the letter John exalts the love of God, which has been poured out so lavishly that we should be called children of God. He calls believers to practice righteousness and to love in deed and truth, not merely in word, for this is how we know we are of the truth. God is love, John declares, and his love was shown in sending his only Son as the propitiation for our sins. Since God so loved us, we ought to love one another, and his love is perfected in us, casting out fear and giving confidence for the day of judgment.

John brings his readers to assurance grounded in the testimony God has given about his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has eternal life, for God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The letter reaches its purpose in the declaration that John writes these things so that those who believe in the name of the Son of God may know that they have eternal life. He closes with confidence in prayer, the promise that those born of God are kept, and a final warning to keep themselves from idols, holding fast to the true God and eternal life in Jesus Christ.

Context at a Glance

Author

The apostle John

Written

c. AD 85-95, late in John's life at Ephesus

Genre

General epistle (letter)

Audience

Churches unsettled by false teachers who had left the fellowship

Central theme

Assurance of eternal life through faith, truth, and love

Key Verse

1 John 4:8 (WEB)

He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.

John reveals the very nature of God in three words, anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love, the love supremely shown in sending his Son.

The Big Movements

• Walking in the light (ch 1-2:6) — God is light; fellowship with him means walking in the light, confessing sin, and keeping his commandments.
• Love, not the world (ch 2:7-29) — True believers love one another, reject the world's passing desires, and abide in the truth against antichrists.
• Children of God (ch 3) — God's love makes us his children, who practice righteousness and love their brothers in deed and truth.
• God is love (ch 4) — We test the spirits, confess Jesus come in the flesh, and love one another because God first loved us.
• The certainty of faith (ch 5) — Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; John writes so believers may know they possess it.

Key Figures

• John — The apostle and eyewitness of Christ, writing as a spiritual father to give his readers assurance and joy.
• The little children — John's affectionate name for the believers he addresses, whom he longs to keep in truth and love.
• Jesus Christ — The Word of life made flesh, the righteous advocate and atoning sacrifice in whom eternal life is found.
• The antichrists — False teachers who left the fellowship and deny that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh.

Pointing to Christ

1 John presents Jesus as the eternal Word of life made flesh, whom the apostles saw, heard, and touched. He is our advocate with the Father, the righteous one who pleads our cause, and the propitiation for our sins, turning aside God's wrath by his sacrifice. John insists that confessing Jesus as the Christ come in the flesh is the dividing line between true faith and the spirit of antichrist. Most beautifully, John shows that the love of God was revealed in sending his only Son so that we might live through him. To have the Son is to have life; whoever believes in the name of the Son of God may know that they have eternal life.

Big Lessons

• Assurance of salvation is a gift God intends his children to enjoy.
• Walking in the light means honesty about sin, met by Christ's cleansing blood.
• Confessing our sins brings God's faithful and just forgiveness.
• Genuine faith proves itself in obedience and love for fellow believers.
• God is love, shown supremely in giving his Son as the atoning sacrifice.
• Perfect love casts out fear and gives confidence before God.