1 John Study

Lesson # 1

                                                Introduction To 1 John

 

1. Author

            a. The author does not give his name or his title.

            b. Easily identified from his style, vocabulary & content – same author as the

books of “The Gospel of John” & the epistles 2nd & 3rd John.

            c. Some say there are 2 Johns – John the apostle & John the elder. The weight of

evidence says that John the apostle wrote the book.

            d. About John

                        1) An apostle the son of Zebedee

                        2) Irenaeus the bishop of Lyons in 177AD summarizes the testimony of

the early church – “John the disciple of the Lord who reclined on

his breast & himself issued the gospel at Ephesus”.

                        3) Tradition says that John spent his latter years preaching teaching &

writing. At some point he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos during

the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian.

            e. John was one of the 1st disciples of Jesus – Jn.1:35,39

            f. John & James were either partners with their father or worked for their father in

a large fishing business. Lk.5:10

            g. John & James left all to follow Jesus Mt.4:21-22

            h. John was one of the three apostles who comprised the inner circle of disciples –                            a group of disciples who were with Jesus on very special occasions

(Transfiguration; Gethsemane) Mt.17:1,2; 26:36,37; Mk.5:37-43

            i. John was called the beloved disciple because he seems to have been especially

close to Jesus & stresses love so much in his writings. Lk.5:10; Jn.18:26;

21:20,23; Acts 4:13

            j. John was the disciple to whom Jesus committed the care of His mother

                        Jn.19:26,27

            k. John is said by Paul to be one of the three pillars of the church – Gal.2:9

 

2. Date written

            a. Uncertain – probably somewhere between AD 85-90

            b. There is no mention of the persecution under the Roman Emperor Domitian

which happened in AD 95, so most likely was written before that date.

            c. This book is found in the earliest Greek manuscripts & has never been

questioned about being scripture.

1) Polycarp is the earliest reference to this book in his letter to the

Philippians – about AD 155

                        2) There are also what seems to be quotations from the epistle from earlier

writers – Clement of Rome; the Didache; and the epistle to

Diogenetus

                        3) Eusebius verifies that John wrote at least the 1st two epistles

                        4) Clement of Alexandria mentions “the greater epistle” of John which

shows that he knew of more than one letter.

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3. To whom was it written?

            a. There is no greeting, farewell or personal references that reveals the recipients.

            b. Therefore it was written to the church at large – each church can look at the

letter as a personal letter from John to them.

            c. Tradition says that the book was written from Ephesus where John was

preaching.

 

4. Purpose

            a. To defend the faith & strengthen the church against false teachers. John

confronted the 1st stages of Gnosticism.

1) Gnosticism said that the body was evil & resulted in two different

attitudes toward the body.

a) Body must be disciplined & mastered as much as possible.

b) What is done by the body mattered little – was evil & doomed to

death – what mattered was the spirit. Let the body eat,

drink & be merry & do whatever it wanted.

                                    c) Since the beginnings of Christianity there are millions who have

believed that they were safe & acceptable to God as long as

they have been baptized & belong to a church & practice

the rituals of that church & worship here & there. They

believed that what they did with their bodies did not matter

much, as long as it was not too serious of a sin. What made

them acceptable to God was that they were baptized &

belonged to the church.

                        2) Truth destroys this teaching. The human body is not evil: Jesus came to

this earth in a human body. Being God, He could not be touched

with evil, so the body could not be evil. The body is honorable &

what man does in his body affects him spiritually. It determines his

relationship & destiny with God. It is totally impossible to keep

one’s spirit  right with God & allow the body to go it’s own way. A

person is both body & spirit & therefore must honor God with both

their body & their spirit. (Rom.12:1,2; 1 Cor.6:12-20)

            b. That we may know that we have eternal life – 1 Jn.5:13

                        1) The phrase “we know” is used 13 times to give assurance to the

believer.

                        2) John gives test after test that believers can use to prove they have

eternal life.

a) Seven proofs one really knows God – 2:3-29

b) Six proofs that one really loves God – 3:1-4:21

c) Three proofs that one really believes – 5:1-21

 

 

 

 

 

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            c. Things that John stresses in his book

                        1) Love – 1 Jn.2:7-11; 3:1-3,11-17,23; 4:7-21

                        2) Jesus is the Son of God – 1 Jn.1:7; 2:1,22; 3:8; 4:9,10,14,15;

5:1,5,9-13,18,20

                        3) Jesus did come as a man – 1 Jn.1:1-3,5,6; 4:2,3,9,10,14; 5:6,8,20

                        4) Jesus is the savior – He died for our sins – 1 Jn.1:7; 2:1,2; 3:5,8,16;

4:9,10,14

                        5) That the Spirit lives within the believer – 1 Jn.2:20,27; 3:24;

4:13,15,16; 5:12

                        6) The need for separation from the world – 1 Jn.2:15-17; 3:1,3,13; 4:3-5;

5:4,19

                        7) Righteousness & obedience to God – 1 Jn.2:3-8,29; 3:3-15,22-24;

4:20,21; 5:2-4,17-19