1 John Introduction
Introduction
The First Epistle General of John is actually more like a sermon than a letter. It lacks the usual greetings, thanksgiving, and closing greetings (or blessing) that are standard features of letters in the Greco-Roman world and in the several examples of letters that are now part of the New Testament. First John seeks to warn its readers against false teachings and to encourage them to live according to the true faith which they received from the apostles. The readers are told that certain opponents of Christ (KJV, “antichrists”) have left the true faith (2.18,19), but they still perpetuate their false teachings and deny that Jesus is the Christ (2.22). This type of false teaching typically viewed the human body and the physical world as evil, so that salvation essentially meant becoming free from the body and the world, and even from moral responsibilities or compassionate caring for the poor. Such “antichrists” even denied that Jesus really had a human body (4.1-3). But, this letter says, echoing the Gospel according to John, true Christians will strive to live in the light and love one another (1.7; 2.8-11; cf. John 3.19-21). They will affirm Jesus as the Christ. And because they know that God is love, the faithful will love one another and care for one another (3.11-18). It is Christ who is the model for this self-giving love (3.16), and it was Christ's singular commandment to his followers that they love one another (John 15.12). Right conduct of life flows from right faith and teachings. Ancient tradition ascribes the three Epistles of John to the writer of the fourth Gospel, and the many thematic and verbal affinities with that Gospel support that conclusion.
Outline
Living in the Light (1.1—2.17)
Children of God and Children of the Devil (2.18—3.10)
The Love that Comes from God (3.11—4.21)
Faith's Victory: Whoever Has the Son Has Eternal Life (5.1-21)
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1 John Introduction: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
1 John About this letter
About this letter
John wants Christian believers to know that when we tell God about our sins, God will forgive us and take them away (1.9).
The true test of faith is love for each other (3.11-24). Because God is love, his people must be like him (4.1-21). For a complete victory over sin, we must not only love others, but we must believe that Jesus, the Son of God, is truly Christ, and that his death for us was real (5.1-12).
Remember:
The Word that gives life
was from the beginning,
and this is the one
our message is about.
(1.1a)
A quick look at this letter
1. The Word that gives life (1.1-4)
2. God is light and Christ is our example (1.5—2.6)
3. The new commandment (2.7-17)
4. The enemies of Christ and God's children (2.18—3.10)
5. God's love and our love (3.11—4.21)
6. Victory over the world (5.1-21)
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012