1 John I. Introduction A. The letter of 1 John B. Encouragement of believers, warnings regarding false teachers C. Let us consider the book II. 1 John: The Details A. Authorship 1. Written by one who experienced the Incarnate Word of Life (1 John 1:1-3) 2. Writing style, language very consistent with authors of Gospel of John 3. Most believe the letter written by John the Apostle B. Dating 1. As with all New Testament letters, no specific date 2. John the Apostle would have lived in the first century CE 3. View of dating depends on one's view of John's ministry 4. Some see John as working entirely before 70 CE; hence, 1 John from 60s CE 5. Some others place him around 80 6. The largest consensus over time has placed John at the end of the first century; hence, 90s CE 7. Thus, somewhere in the last half of the first century CE C. Audience 1. John refers often to his "little children" (1 John 2:1, 5:21, etc.) 2. A reference to Christians; quite possibly Christians who have been greatly influenced by John over time 3. It has been assumed that these individuals/congregations are in Asia Minor based upon John being in that region (Revelation 1:9) 4. Lessons applicable for us today D. Purpose 1. To encourage Christians regarding their standing before God and salvation 2. To warn Christians about the dangers of false (Gnostic) teachers 3. To exhort Christians to love one another, obey God's commands III. 1 John: The Story A. Light and Darkness (1 John 1:1-2:14) 1. The Word of Life: from the beginning, heard, seen, and touched by John; life made manifest, John as witness, testifies to it, proclaims what he heard so that believers may have fellowship with him; his fellowship with Father and Son (1 John 1:1-3) 2. Writes to complete joy (1 John 1:4) 3. Message from the Word: God is light, no darkness at all (1 John 1:5) 4. If we walk in darkness but say we have fellowship with Christ, we are liars; if we walk in the light, association with one another, cleansing from sin through Jesus' blood (1 John 1:6-7) 5. If we say we have not sinned/do not sin, we deceive ourselves, truth not in us, make Christ a liar; if we confess sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins (1 John 1:8-10) 6. John writes to "little children" so that they may not sin; if believers sin, they have advocate before the Father, Jesus the righteous; Jesus as propitiation for sin of believers and the whole world (1 John 2:1-2) 7. Believers know that they know Jesus when they keep His commandments; those who profess to know Jesus but do not keep the commandments is a liar; those who keep the commandments have the love of God perfected in them; we know we are in Jesus when we walk as He walked (1 John 2:3-6) 8. John writes an old commandments but one that is "new" because of the redemption in Jesus; one professing Christ while hating brother is still in darkness; the one who loves his brother is in the light, no cause of stumbling in him; those hating brothers are in darkness, are aimless, blinded by the darkness (1 John 2:7-11) 9. John writes to some kind of grouping of believers: little children have sins forgiven, know Father; fathers know Him from beginning; young men have overcome Evil One, are strong, Word abides in them (1 John 2:12-14) B. God and the World (1 John 2:15-3:10) 1. Believers not to love the world or things in it; not of Father; those loving world do not have love of Father; lust of flesh, eyes, pride of life; world passing away and its lusts; those doing God's will remain forever (1 John 2:15-17) 2. John tells "children" that it is last hour, antichrist coming, has come; definitely last hour; antichrists went out from believers, but not really of believers, since they left (1 John 2:18-19) 3. Believers have anointing from God, have knowledge; John writes not because they do not know truth but because they do; liar the one denying Jesus as the Christ; such is the antichrist, denying Father and Son; one denying Son does not have Father, one confessing Son has Father also (1 John 2:20-23) 4. Believers are to abide in teaching from beginning to abide in Father and Son; eternal life the promise of God (1 John 2:24-25) 5. John writes about those trying to deceive believers; God's anointing remains with believers, no need to have anything written; anointing teaches them about all things, and is true; believers to abide in it (1 John 2:26-27) 6. "Little children" to abide in God to have confidence on day of His return, not to shrink in shame; God as righteous, those practicing righteousness born of God; great love of Father for believers-- to be called children of God, which believers are; God's children now, in future also, but we will not know what we will be like; when Jesus appears we will be like Him, see Him as is; those who hope in Him purifies himself as He is pure (1 John 2:28-3:3) 7. Those who sin practice lawlessness; sin as lawlessness; Christ appeared to take away sin, no sin in Him; those abiding in Him do not make practice of sinning; those who do know Him not (1 John 3:4-6) 8. John does not want "children" deceived: those who abide in God and are born of God do not make a practice of sinning; those who make practice of sinning are of the devil, the sinner from the beginning; Son of God came to destroy works of the devil; delineation of children of God from those who are not-- those who do not practice righteousness and do not love brother are of the devil (1 John 3:7-10) C. Love (1 John 3:11-5:3) 1. John returns to the message from the beginning: love one another; not like Cain, of the evil one, murdered his brother, since his deeds were evil and Abel's righteous; believers not to be surprised when world hates them; believers know they have passed from death to life by their love for brothers; those not loving abide in death, those hating brothers are murderers, murderers do not have eternal life (1 John 3:11-15) 2. Believers know love through love of Christ, laying down His life for believers; thus believers should lay down their lives for one another; if one has material wealth and does not help his needy brother, God's love does not abide in him; believers' love not just in word and talk but also in deed and truth (1 John 3:16-18) 3. Believers can know they are of the truth and have heart reassured before Him by their love; heart may condemn us, but God greater than our heart, knows everything; if heart does not condemn, we have confidence before God; whatever we ask in faith we will receive if we do the commandments and what pleases God; commandment to believe in Jesus and to love one another; those keeping commandments abide in God, God in him; known by Spirit He gave to believers (1 John 3:19-24) 4. Believers to test spirits, since not all spirits of God; many false prophets in world; those who confess Jesus Christ in the flesh can be known to be of God; those spirits not confessing this not from God-- spirit of antichrist coming and now present (1 John 4:1-3) 5. John tells "little children" that they are from God and have overcome false spirits, for God is greater than Devil; false spirits of the world, world heeds them; believers from God, God listens to them, those not of God do not listen to them; thus believers know spirit of truth vs. spirit of error (1 John 4:4-6) 6. John exhorts the "beloved" to love one another; love from God; those who love know God, born of God; those who do not love do not know God; God is love; God's love manifest in Jesus' life and death, our life in Him; love not that we have loved God but He loved us and Jesus as propitiation for sin; if God loved us, we must love one another; no one has seen God-- if we love one another, God in us, His love perfected in us (1 John 4:7-11) 7. Believers know they are of God because He has given of His Spirit; testimony that Father sent Son as Savior of world; confessor of Jesus as Christ abides in God, God in him; believers come to know and believe in God's love for them; God is love, those abiding in love abide in God, God in them; love perfected in us by this to have confidence on day of judgment, as He is so we are in the world; no fear in love, perfect love casts out fear; we love because God loved us; no one can love God but hate brother, for he has seen brother but not God; commandment-- those who love God must love brother (1 John 4:12-21) 8. Those believing Jesus is Christ born of God; those loving Father love those born of the Father; we know we love children of God when we love God and obey His commandments; love of God to obey commandments; commandments not burdensome (1 John 5:1-3) D. Conclusion (1 John 5:4-21) 1. Those born of God overcome the world; victory is our faith; only those who believe in Jesus will overcome the world (1 John 5:4-5) 2. Jesus as coming by water and blood; Spirit testifies, Spirit is truth; three testify-- Spirit, water, blood-- and their testimony agree; if we receive testimony of men, God's testimony greater, for God gave testimony concerning His Son; those believing in the Son of God has the testimony; God has made those who do not believe liars, not having this testimony; testimony-- God gave eternal life, life in the Son; those having Son have life, those without the Son do not have life (1 John 5:6-12) 3. John writes to believers that they may know that they have eternal life; confidence toward God-- whatever we ask according to His will is heard; if we know He hears, we know we have what has been requested (1 John 5:13-15) 4. Believers to pray for fellow believers committing sin not leading to death; God will give them life; no prayer for sin leading to death; all wrongdoing sin, but there is sin not leading to death (1 John 3:16-17) 5. Those born of God do not keep sinning; protected by Jesus, not touched by Devil; believers from God, whole world in power of Devil; Son of God came to give us understanding to know the True One; we are in the True One, the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:18-20) 6. "Little children" to keep themselves from idols (1 John 5:21) IV. 1 John: Christology A. Jesus Christ as Incarnate, fully human, the Word of Life (1 John 1:1-3) B. Believers as having fellowship with Father and Son; Word as Light (1 John 1:3, 5) C. Jesus' blood as cleansing sin of believers, propitiation for sin (1 John 1:7, 2:2) D. Jesus as Advocate before the Father, is righteous (1 John 2:1) E. Jesus as exemplar for believers (1 John 2:6) F. Deep connection between Father and Son (1 John 2:22-23) G. Jesus returning, believers will see Him as He is, will be like Him; pure (1 John 2:28, 3:2-3) H. Jesus came to destroy works of Devil (1 John 3:8) I. Jesus' death exemplar of love (1 John 3:16) J. Jesus receives testimony from His baptism (water), His death (blood), and the Spirit (1 John 5:6-8) K. Jesus as giving knowledge of the Father, true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20) V. 1 John: Old Testament Citations/References A. 1 John 2:16 / Genesis 3:6 (?) B. 1 John 3:12 / Genesis 4:2-8 VI. 1 John: The Kingdom A. Fellowship 1. John's fellowship with Father and Son; believers can have fellowship with them (1 John 1:3) 2. Fellowship based on shared walk in the light, blood of Jesus cleanses from sin (1 John 1:7) B. Light and Darkness, Righteousness and Sin 1. God is light and not darkness-- believers must be of the light (1 John 1:5-10) 2. To claim that we have not sinned in the past and/or do not sin in the present means we are liars, in darkness, deceived (1 John 1:8, 10) 3. Believers must confess sins to be cleansed, walk in light (1 John 1:5, 9) 4. Believers, however, should not sin, but have forgiveness for their trespasses (1 John 2:1-2) 5. Those in light love their brothers; those in darkness hate brothers (1 John 2:7-11) 6. Sin as lawlessness-- those who persist in sin do not know God (1 John 3:4-5) 7. Believers no longer persist in sin if they abide in Him (1 John 3:6) 8. The righteous act in righteousness; those who sin are of the devil, the original and ultimate sinner (1 John 3:7-9) 9. Thus believers and unbelievers delineated: those doing righteousness or not, loving brother or not (1 John 3:10) 10. Sin to death, sin not leading to death-- less about specific sins, more about intentionality, habit-- we should pray for one another regarding sins not leading to death (1 John 5:16-17) 11. Believers who do not make practice of sinning protected by Jesus, not harmed by Devil (1 John 5:18) C. The Commandments 1. To know God is to do His commandments! (1 John 2:3-6) 2. Love of God perfected in those doing the commandments 3. One who says he knows God but does not do what He says is a liar! 4. Doing the commandments involves following Jesus' example-- walk as He walked 5. One commandment: love your brother (1 John 2:10) 6. Those who do the commandments have confidence that they will receive that which they request (1 John 3:22, 5:13-15) 7. Command: believe in Jesus Christ, love one another (1 John 3:23) 8. God abides in those keeping commands, given the Spirit (1 John 3:24) 9. Command: those loving God must love brothers (1 John 4:21) 10. Love of God to keep His commandments, commandments not burdensome (1 John 5:2-4) D. The Imperative of Love 1. Without love of brother one is in the darkness; one can only be in the light by loving his brother (1 John 2:7-11) 2. To love one another the command from the beginning (1 John 3:11) 3. Cain's example the negative example: those who do not love their brother are of the evil one, are reckoned as murderers, do not have eternal life (1 John 3:12, 14-15) 4. By love for one another believers know that they have passed from death to life (1 John 3:14) 5. Believers to die for one another if necessary (1 John 3:16) 6. Love involves giving of material wealth to those in need-- such is love in deed and truth, not just word and talk (1 John 3:17-18) 7. Those who love have no reason to be condemned by their hearts (1 John 3:19-21) 8. God is love, demonstrated love in Jesus-- believers thus to love one another (1 John 4:7-12) 9. We know love only through God, cannot love God whom we have not seen if we do not love brothers we have seen; God's love is for us to do His will (1 John 4:13-5:3) E. Children, Fathers, Young Men 1. John speaks of these groupings in 1 John 2:12-14 2. Possible reference to physical standing; more likely speaking of spiritual standing 3. Children as new Christians: sins forgiven, know the Father 4. Young men as more mature Christians in the prime of their spiritual lives: are strong, have overcome Evil One, word abides in them 5. Fathers as mature Christians who work to strengthen others: know Him from the beginning F. The World 1. John speaks of lust of eyes, flesh, pride of life as "the world" (1 John 2:16) 2. Not from God but of this world-- will pass away (1 John 2:17) 3. Believers must not love world, things in it (1 John 2:15) 4. Those loving the world cannot have love of Father, will perish (1 John 2:15-17) 5. Those doing God's will, love God, remain forever (1 John 2:17) 6. Believers should not be surprised when world hates them as Cain hated Abel (1 John 3:12-13) 7. World in power of the Evil One (1 John 5:19) G. False Teachers and Believers 1. False teachers reckoned as antichrists: those denying that Jesus is the Christ-- cannot have Father if they deny the Son (1 John 2:18, 22-23) 2. False teachers as having come out of the truth, but since they left the truth, evident that they did not fully accept the truth (1 John 2:19) 3. Believers, however, have anointing from God, have knowledge; must abide in what they heard from the beginning, and if they do, they abide in Father and Son; should confess Son and Father (1 John 2:20, 20, 23-24) 4. God's promise: eternal life (1 John 2:25) 5. Antichrist, then, not just one person to come in future, but anyone who denies the Father and Son (1 John 2:22) 6. 1 John 2:19 not advocating Calvinist doctrines-- their departure does not mean that they never received any redemption or forgiveness of sin (cf. 2 Peter 2:20-22) 7. Believers must test all spirits because of the false teachers in world (1 John 4:1) 8. Antichrists deny Jesus' coming in the flesh (1 John 4:2-3) 9. Believers are in God and will overcome false spirits since God is stronger than the Devil (1 John 4:4) 10. False teachers of world, world hears them, refuses to hear truth; believers are of God, God listens to them, thus the spirit of truth is known from spirit of error (1 John 4:5-6) H. Children of God 1. Believers as children of God (1 John 3:1-2) 2. Demonstration of love of God (1 John 3:1) 3. Will see Jesus as He is; will be like Him in the resurrection (1 John 3:2) 4. Believers must abide in Him to be ready for that day-- those hoping in Him are purified (1 John 2:28, 3:3) 5. To be ready is to be righteous as He is righteous-- those righteous are born of Him (1 John 2:29) I. Believers must keep themselves from idols-- anything that would turn their devotion away from God (1 John 5:21)! VII. Conclusion A. Thus we have seen 1 John 1. It may seem short, but it is full of encouragement and exhortation! 2. Do the commandments, love God, love fellow man 3. Beware of false teachers B. Let us abide in God and do His will! C. Invitation/songbook