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5 chapters, 105 verses. The subject of 1 John is how people can know if they are Christians. The letter develops a series of tests to demonstrate whether or not a person is in Christ. The tests are objective (a test of intellectual assent to the truth of the gospel), subjective (inner awareness of having been born of God), and communal (love for the people of God). These tests are presented in an informal letter that has a fluid structure. The *epistle is easy to read: it is organized as a fireside conversation with John on the Christian life. First John is also a small classic on the subject of love.
| Passage | Content | Conventional Epistolary Motifs |
|---|---|---|
| 1:1–4 | Purpose statement: to proclaim the reality of the Incarnation | Introduction |
| 1:5–2:6 | Tests of true faith that center on confession of sin and walking in obedience to God’s law | Instruction |
| 2:7–11 | Tests of true faith that center on loving rather than hating | |
| 2:12–14 | John’s reasons for writing the letter | Interlude |
| 2:15–17 | Commands not to love the world | Exhortation |
| 2:18–3:3 | Tests of true faith that center on believing the truth about Christ and living in light of his second coming | Instruction |
| 3:4–24 | Tests of true faith that center on doing what is right according to God’s law, loving one’s fellow Christians, and believing in Christ | |
| 4:1–21 | Tests of true faith that center on confessing Christ’s incarnation and loving one’s fellow Christians | |
| 5:1–12 | Tests of true faith that center on loving God and believing the truth about Christ | |
| 5:13–21 | Summary statement: seven assertions of what a Christian can know | Conclusion |
First John is ostensibly an epistle, but its content is more fluid than what we find in most NT epistles. There is no epistolary salutation, nor is there a conventional epistolary conclusion. A more accurate designation for this book is a treatise or pamphlet. Alternately, we can read it as an address or loosely structured sermon.
The topic changes with virtually every paragraph, so the best advice for reading the book is “think paragraph.” Nonetheless, even though the structure is not strictly linear, the author keeps coming back to topics that have been introduced earlier, so that we can profitably think of the book as arranged like a musical symphony. The main theme is tests by which we can know if we are in Christ—beliefs and attitudes that authenticate one’s claims to be a Christian. Under that umbrella, subordinate themes appear: Christology (doctrine about the person and work of Christ); walking in the light; love; the need to reject fallen culture. These topics weave in and out of the book.
We can infer that John is writing to Christians who want to know how to (1) tell when one’s Christian faith is genuine and (2) exhibit love in their lives. It is possible that there has been a church split (see 2:19, 26) and that in the wake of it the Christians who remained in the church wondered whether they were on the right track and were behaving as Christians toward those who had left the church. There is a tone of urgency in what John writes, and further, John obviously wishes to discredit false teaching and strongly exhort believers to love, which is offered as the supreme virtue of the Christian life. John writes as an elderly apostle to his “little children” in the faith.
Do not look for a single line of argument. Instead, think in terms of theme and variation, with the main theme being tests of authentic Christian faith. The movement from one paragraph to the next is fluid, though within the relatively brief paragraphs the material is unified. A good reading strategy is to keep a running list of tests of true faith. These tests, which offer grounds for certainty, are not simply doctrinal; they are consistently accompanied by moral commands for living the doctrines in everyday life. Further, the book is structured on an implied dialectical principle as John continually seeks to oppose viewpoints that are contrary to his assertions. For example, John’s assertions that Christ has come in the flesh (1:1–3; 4:2) are an implied refutation of those who deny the Incarnation. Finally, there is an incipient poetry and mysticism in John’s writing, so that (for example) many of his assertions about the Christian life are conveyed in great symbols like light and darkness or walking and abiding in Christ.
The book is designed to achieve the following literary purposes:
(1) Christology: the book contains famous statements about the person and work of Christ. (2) Sanctification: John outlines how Christians need to live in demonstration of their genuine faith, especially in regard to loving others. (3) Sin, confession, repentance, forgiveness: this book contains key NT statements about the nature of sin (especially love of the world), the need to confess sin, and the assurance of forgiveness.
The master story of the Bible outlines how God’s followers are to live and what they are to love. First John contributes to that story by offering tests of true belief and of conduct that pleases God.
Introduction and early tests of faith [ 1:1–2:6 ]. The first four verses are a key NT assertion of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. John makes a very strong assertion of empirical (based on sensory observation) validation of the Incarnation. By beginning in this way, John invites us to ponder as we read the ensuing letter how the incarnation of Christ permeates all that he says about the Christian life. At the outset John is also alerting us of his credentials to write about Christ: he was a personal disciple of Christ during his earthly ministry. With the preamble complete, John then turns to some preliminary tests of faith. The material is organized very fluidly, and this means that we cannot simply number the tests. We need to read slowly, noting themes that are introduced, succeeded by something different, and then picked up again. Here is a starting list: walking in the light rather than darkness; confessing sin and receiving God’s forgiveness; the need to love rather than hate.
1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our 1 joy may be complete.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
1 1:4 Some manuscripts your
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