FIRST JOHN

Background

Authorship.   Though anonymous this epistle has been ascribed to the apostle John from very early times. Not until relatively recent times has this been seriously challenged. Included among the ancient support are Ireneus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, and Dionysius.

The letter claims to have been written by an eyewitness of the life of the Lord (1:1–3). It maintains a clear attitude of authority, addressing the readers as “little children” (teknia), and fully expected to be obeyed (4:6). Its attitude toward its doctrine is strongly authoritative, and it condemns error without the slightest sense of self-consciousness or ill ease about its justification.

It also shows signs of affinity to the gospel of John. Guthrie speaks of “strong marks of similarity between the two works, in thought, style, expression, ideas and imagery.”[1]

The leading alternative proposal is that a John the Elder, so named because of the self-designation of “the Elder” in 2 and 3 John, composed all three epistles. (This matter is discussed in more detail in the Background to 2 John.) The other suggestion is that a disciple of the gospel author composed this epistle. This supposedly accounts for both the similarities and the differences between the two. Neither of these theories provides the adequacy of explanation as does the traditional ascription. They also introduce problems they cannot solve.

Date of composition.   There is precious little data on which to base an assignment of date other than the fact that this epistle and the gospel seem to have been written by the same author at about the same time. A date of 90–95 has received much favor among conservatives, in light of the Apostle’s agedness and the limiting date of Domitian’s persecution. There is, however, little reason for denying (or affirming, for that matter) Hodges’ case for a date in the 60s. Either of these suggestions is possible, and the data warrant no settled preference for either.

Situation of the readers.   John addressed the letter to believers (2:12–14). It seems likely they lived in the province of Asia, given John’s connections there.

It is evident there was a problem of false teaching plaguing the congregation, which involved a recent departure of its leaders (2:19), the focus of which was the incarnation. The statement that some were denying that “Jesus is the Christ” (2:22) suggests a heresy similar to Cerinthianism. The denial that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (4:2) sounds like a form of Docetism. The emphasis on knowledge (ginōskō occurs 25 times, oida 15 times) makes one think of Gnosticism. Probably the error troubling this congregation was one of the incipient first-century strands from which full-blown second-century Gnosticism developed.

Purpose and Form.   Though it lacks many of the formal elements of an epistle—introduction, greeting, thanksgiving, salutation (note by contrast these elements in 2 and 3 John)—it cannot be called a general tractate (as by some), in light of the specificity of its background. It was probably written to a congregation or group of congregations in a limited geographical area with whom John was well acquainted.

It contains two apparently distinct and almost contradictory purpose statements. In 1:4 he says his purpose is the readers’ participation in fellowship; and in 5:13 his purpose is the readers’ assurance of their salvation. It is certainly best, however, to see these statements as complementary. The comprehensive statements on assurance which permeate the letter—faith, righteousness, and love—involve an active, continuing integration of doctrine (especially christology) and practice. Thus he seems to be saying that a dynamic assurance of one’s living relationship to God is to be found in undying commitment to the true Christology coupled with a dynamic application of its implications for the believer’s personal righteousness (and non-participation in sin) and brotherly love.

Argument

The message of the Christ which John proclaims and his readers believe is credible, being founded on solid history (1:1–2), faithfully reported (1:3a). John’s desire is that it be faithfully applied, leading to joyful fellowship among believers and with God (1:3b–4).

Fellowship is a sharing in common. Since God is light, having no part in darkness, for anyone to have fellowship with God he must—approaching the question negatively—likewise have no part in darkness, but only light (1:5–7). But since sin is a reality in our experience, the proper address of it is not denial but confession (1:8–10); while seeking to avoid all sin, the believer must be ready to trust God for forgiveness through Christ (2:1–2). The positive side of fellowship is to be obedient (2:3–6); specifically in the matter of horizontal love (2:7–11).

Having introduced the matter of false claims to fellowship, John reassures his readers of his confidence in their genuineness (2:12–14). Because they are genuinely forgiven, etc., then they are distinct from and ought to have no attachment to the world and its “things” which are anti-God (2:15–17).

The specific matter pressing on the readership was a recent exodus of a faction who claimed unique authority and knowledge. To reassure the readers again, John distinguishes them from the remaining leaders, identifying the former with Antichrist, and the latter with the Holy Spirit (2:18–21). The contrast between the respective messages is then expressed, styling the opponents’ attack on the Incarnation as a lie, and asserting that the gospel as originally preached and received produces a present relationship of abiding with God and a future promise of eternal life (2:22–25). In sum, there is an implied warning in labeling the departed party “deceivers.” Those who remained should not be intimidated by the others, for they have a teaching from the indwelling Holy Spirit (2:26–27).

The main message of the epistle is that believers can gain assurance of salvation as they faithfully abide in Christ according to the true message of the apostles. Therefore abiding is exhorted (2:28). That abiding expresses itself first in righteousness; the reason being that God is himself righteous, and we are his offspring (2:29). He proves that we ought to pursue righteousness, by pointing to the fact that we as his children shall become like him, contending that one who truly holds such a great hope will invariably purify himself (3:1–3). Besides that, sin is absolutely antithetical to Christ and Christianity, a point he makes by creating two parallel sub points dealing with the fruit and root of sin (3:4–9). His purpose is that the believers might identify who is with them and who is not (3:10a).

Going hand in hand with righteousness is love (3:10b–11). Negatively speaking, he refers to the hatred that is characteristic of the lost world and illustrated in Cain (3:12–15). That is balanced with the positive teaching of selfless giving for others, supremely illustrated in Christ (3:16–18).

His intermediate conclusion is that believers can have present confidence of their salvation, expressed as confidence that the heavenly Father would hear and answer their prayers. The basis for this assurance is twofold: trust in God who knows their hearts and deeds thoroughly; and their own knowledge that their deeds and faith conform to God’s commands (3:19–24).

Beginning a subsection that climaxes with an expression of confidence concerning the future judgment (4:17) is further development of the matter of distinguishing the saints from the world based on their respective spiritual origins (4:1–6). Those spiritual origins could be determined by the application of the test of Christology. It would prove the divine origin of John and his readers, and the worldly origin of the false teachers.

The imperative of love is reinforced by a logical argument. Love is imperative because of what it says about one’s relationship to God. As the Christological test proved their divine origin, and love also finds its origin in God, having been supremely manifested in the sacrifice of Christ, these children of God should also show that love of God (4:7–11).

Verse 12 provides another Johannine segue, this one from love to abiding. John supports the fact of believers’ abiding in God by showing the involvement of each member of the Trinity: the believer possesses the Spirit, confesses the Son as Savior, and abides in the Father’s love (4:13–16).

The theme of confidence (parrēsia), the primary theme of the epistle, comes to its climax in 4:17–19. Its focus is the judgment of the saints; its proximate basis is perfect love, the completed cycle of divine love received by the believer and passed on to his brothers; its subjective result is freedom from fear; its ultimate basis is the original love of God.

As he moves toward his conclusion John reviews the bases of Christian confidence. Concerning love his emphasis is that it is real only if the vertical is translated into the horizontal (4:20—5:1). That love is an outgrowth of obedience (5:2–3a); obedience is possible because we even triumph over the world (3b–4) by faith in one well attested (5:5–10); and it is that faith that leads to life (5:11–12). Thus the three elements are interrelated, and lead to unassailable confidence.

In conclusion John articulates his purpose as having been to instill confidence in his disciples that they indeed have eternal life (5:13). It is then a kind of a fortiori argument by which he adds that they can then have absolute confidence in their prayers (5:14–15). That abstract assurance is then applied to the specific matter of prayer for some who are inclined to follow the false teachers (5:16–17).

As an epilogue John adds three statements of absolute assurance for believers, all reminiscent of their irrevocable status as children of God beyond the reach of the enemy of their souls. The first two emphasize their antipodal position with respect to the world; the last one asserts the absolute truth of the message which they believe (5:18–21).

Outline[2]

I. Prologue: the message of Life  1:1–4

A. Firsthand exposure to the message  1:1–2

B. Direct transmission of the message  1:3a

C. The intended result: fellowship  1:3b–4

II. Basic principles of fellowship  1:5—2:11

A. Negative: dealing with sin  1:5—2:2

1. God and light and darkness  1:5

2. The Christian and light and darkness  1:6—2:2

a) Walking in light, not darkness  1:6–7

b) Confessing, not denying sins  1:8–9

c) Avoiding, not denying sinning  1:10—2:2

B. Positive: obeying God  2:3–11

1. The general principle of obedience  2:3–6

a) The test  2:3

b) The explanation  2:4–6

(1) The disobedient  2:4

(2) The obedient  2:5–6

2. The specific issue: love  2:7–11

a) The commandment to love  2:7–8

(1) Its oldness  2:7

(2) Its newness  2:8

b) Its application  2:9–11

(1) A false claim  2:9

(2) The reality  2:10–11

(a) The love of the saved  2:10

(b) The hate of the unsaved  2:11

III. Occasion–Purpose: clarification of true and false Christians  2:12–27

A. Encouragement of true believers  2:12–14

1. First cycle  2:12–13b

2. Second cycle  2:13c–14

B. Warning against the world  2:15–17

1. The command  2:15a

2. The dangerous alternative  2:15b

3. The reasons  2:16–17

a) Not from God  2:16

b) Not lasting  2:17

C. Contrast between the true and the false  2:18–27

1. The persons  2:18–21

a) The false teachers  2:18–19

(1) Their source: antichrist  2:18

(2) Their departure  2:19

b) The good teachers  2:20–21

(1) Their anointing  2:20

(2) Their knowledge  2:21

2. The messages  2:22–25

a) The lie  2:22–23

(1) Its content: denial of incarnation  2:22

(2) Its effect: alienation from the Father  2:23

b) The truth  2:24–25

(1) Its present effect: abiding in God  2:24

(2) Its future promise: eternal life  2:25

3. The summation  2:26–27

a) Warning against deceivers  2:26

b) Encouragement of abiding relationship with God  2:27

IV. Christian confidence  2:28—4:19

A. General exhortation: progress in godliness  2:28

B. Present confidence  2:29—3:24

1. The family of God and righteousness  2:29—3:10a

a) The family trait: righteousness  2:29

b) The logic of righteousness  3:1–3

(1) The present reality  3:1

(2) The future prospect: likeness  3:2

(3) The present implication: self-purification  3:3

c) The illogic of sin  3:4–9

(1) The fruit of sin  3:4–6

(a) The lawlessness of one who sins  3:4

(b) Christ’s opposition to acts of sin  3:5

(c) Antipathy of sin and abiding in God  3:6

(2) The root of sin  3:7–9

(a) The righteousness of one who does right  3:7

(b) Christ’s opposition to the source of sin: the devil  3:8

(c) Antipathy of sin and being born of God  3:9

d) Conclusion: distinguishing God’s and the devil’s children  3:10a

2. The family of God and love  3:10b–18

a) The principle  3:10b–11

b) The teaching approached negatively  3:12–15

(1) The world’s hatred  3:12–13

(2) The world’s lostness  3:14–15

c) The teaching approached positively  3:16–18

(1) The example of Christ  3:16

(2) The application  3:17–18

3. The bases of Christian assurance  3:19–24

a) God’s omniscience  3:19–20

b) Our obedience  3:21–24

C. Confidence concerning the future 4:1–19

1. The two spirits  4:1–6

a) The problem of confusion  4:1

b) The Christological test  4:2–3

(1) The orthodox  4:2

(2) The heterodox  4:3

c) The clarification of the parties  4:4–6

(1) The Asians’ victory and divine source  4:4

(2) The false teachers’ worldliness  4:5

(3) The apostles’ audience  4:6

2. The logical imperative of love  4:7–11

a) Its source  4:7–8

b) Its quintessential manifestation  4:9–10

c) The extension of divine love through us  4:11

3. Abiding (positionally) in God  4:12–16

a) Summary  4:12

b) Possession of the Spirit  4:13

c) Profession of the Son  4:14–15

d) Love of the Father  4:16

4. Climax: confidence at the judgment  4:17–19

a) The beneficial effects of love  4:17–18

(1) Safety  4:17

(2) Freedom from fear  4:18

b) The origin of love  4:19

V. Review of the bases of Christian confidence  4:20—5:12

A. Love for one another  4:20—5:1

1. Its logic  4:20

2. Its imperative  4:21

3. Its relation to faith  5:1

B. Obedience to God’s commands  5:2–4

1. Its relation to love  5:2–3a

2. Its feasibility  5:3b–4

C. Faith in Christ  5:5–12

1. Its content  5:5

2. Its support: witnesses  5:6–12

a) Water, blood, and Spirit  5:6–8

b) Father  5:9–12

(1) His focus  5:9

(2) His truth  5:10

(3) His message  5:11–12

VI. Conclusion  5:13–17

A. Purpose: Assurance of eternal life  5:13

B. Result: Assurance of answered prayer  5:14–17

1. Abstract statement  5:14–15

2. Concrete expression  5:16–17

VII. Epilogue: Christian assurances  5:18–21

A. Assurance of protection from sin  5:18

B. Assurance of divine kinship  5:19

C. Assurance of knowledge of the truth and the True One  5:20–21