The book of 1 John

1. The Book of 1 John - 17th April 2016
"Andnow, dear children,continuein him,so that when he appearswe may be confidentand
unashamedbefore himat his coming." (1John 2:28).
There are three separate epistlesinthe bible knownasJohn 1,2, and3. From earliesttimes ithasbeen
attributedtothe apostle John,whoalsowrote the Gospel of John.The content,style,andvocabulary
seemtowarrant the conclusionthatthese three epistleswere addressedtothe same readersasthe
Gospel of John. The Book of 1 Johnwas likelywrittenbetweenA.D.85-95. The Bookof 1 Johnisa book
of love andjoy.Itexplainsthe fellowshipwe have withothersandwithJesusChrist.Itdifferentiates
betweenhappiness,whichistemporaryandfleeting,andtrue joy asgivenbyGod. We can learnwhen
1 Johntellsushowto achieve thistrue Joy. If we take the wordswrittenbyJohnand we applythemto
our dailylives,the true love,commitment,fellowship,andjoywe longforwill be ours.
The keypurpose of 1 Johnis to setboundariesonthe contentof faithandto give believersassurance of
theirsalvation. The keywordis"knowledge,"withitsrelatedwords,occurringatleast13 timesinthe
Bookof 1 John. False spiritual teacherswere abigprobleminthe earlychurch.Because there wasnota
complete NewTestamentthatbelieverscouldreferto,manychurchesfell preytopretenderswho
taught theirownideasandadvancedthemselvesasleaders.Johnwrote thislettertosetthe record
straighton some importantissues,particularlyconcerningthe identityof JesusChrist. Because John's
letterwasaboutthe basics of faithinChrist,it helpedhisreadersreflecthonestlyontheirfaith.It
helpedthemanswerthe question: Are we true believers?Johntoldthemthattheycouldtell bylooking
at theiractions.If theylovedone another,thatwasevidence of God'spresence intheirlives.Butif they
bickeredandfoughtall the time orwere selfishanddidnotlookoutfor one another,theywere
betrayingthatthey,infact,did notknowGod. That didnot meantheyhad tobe perfect.Infact,John
alsorecognizedthatbelievinginvolvedadmittingoursinsandseekingGod'sforgiveness.Dependingon
God for cleansingfromguilt,alongwithadmittingourwrongsagainstothersandmakingamends,was
anotherimportantpartof gettingtoknow God.
One of the mostoften-quotedpassagesregardingsinisfoundin 1 John2:16,” For everythingin the
world—thelustof the flesh,the lustof the eyes, andthe pride of life—comesnotfrom the Father but
from the world”..Inthispassage,Johndescribesthe three aspectsof sinthatrecall the firstandmost
earth-shatteringtemptationsinall of Scripture.The firstsin—the disobedienceof Eve—wasthe resultof
heryieldingtothe same three temptationsaswe findin Genesis3:6:the lustof the flesh(“goodfor
food”);the lustof the eyes(“pleasingtothe eye”);andthe pride of life (“desirable forgainingwisdom”).
The apostle JohnknewChristwell asone of Jesus’closestapostles.He istellingusthatwe can all have
that close,intimate relationshipwithJesusChrist.We have the witnessof menwhohaddirectand
personal contactwithHim.The Gospel writerspresenttheirsolidlybasedtestimonyonahistorical
reality. AsChristians’one mayinquire asto how this applies toourlives.We canlearnin 1 John which
explainsthatJesuscame here asthe Sonof God to create a unionwithus basedonHis grace,mercy,
love,andacceptance.

2. In today’scontext manytimespeoplethinkJesusisinsome farawayplace andthat He doesn'treally
concernHimself withourdailystruggles,issues,andconcerns.ButJohnistellingusthatJesusisright
here withusin boththe simple,mundane partsof ourlivesandinthe complex,soul-wrenchingpartsas
well!Johntestifiesasa witnessof hispersonal experiencesthatGodbecame fleshandlivedamong
men.That meansChristcame here to live withusandHe still liveswithus.AsHe walkedthe earth
alongside John,sodoesHe walkthrougheachand everydaywithus.We needtoapplythistruthto our
livesandlive asif Jesuswere standingrightnexttouseverysecondof the day.If we putthistruth into
practice,Christwill helpusmove awayfromsinandsinfulnessandthus addholinesstoourlives,making
us more and more like Him.
We can readof some keyverses inthisepistle: We can learnthat:"If we confessour sins,he is faithful
and justand will forgiveus our sinsand purifyus fromall unrighteousness." (1John1:9). We can also
learnwhenJohntellsus that:"Noone who livesin himkeeps on sinning.Noonewho continuesto sin
has either seen him or knownhim"(1John 3:6). Furthermore he speaksof eternal lifewhenhe says: "I
write these thingsto you whobelieve in the name of the Sonof Godso that you may knowthat you
have eternal life." (1 John5:13). We can alsolearnfroma veryimportantassurance whenhe tells us:
"You,dear children,are from Godand haveovercome them,because the one whois in youis greater
than the one who isin the world." (1 John4:4).