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Introduction To 1 John

UNIQUENESS OF THE BOOK

A. The book of 1 John is not a personal letter nor a letter written to one church as much as it is an "Impassioned Office Memo from Headquarters" (corporate letter).

1. It has no traditional introduction (from whom, to whom).

2. It has no personal greetings or closing message.

B. There is no mention of personal names. This is highly unusual except in books written to many churches, such as Ephesians and James. The only NT letter which does not include the name of the author is Hebrews. However, it is obvious that 1 John was written to believers presently facing an internal church problem of false teachers (Gnostics).

C. This letter is a powerful theological treatise

1. The centrality of Jesus

a. fully God and fully man

b. salvation comes by faith in Jesus Christ, not a mystical experience or secret knowledge (false teachers)

2. The demand for a Christian lifestyle (three tests of genuine Christianity)

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a. brotherly love

b. obedience

c. rejection of the fallen world system

3. The assurance of eternal salvation through faith in Jesus of Nazareth ("know" used 27 times)

4. How to recognize false teachers

D. John's writings (especially 1 John) are the least complicated Koine Greek of any NT writer, yet his books, as no other, plumb the depths of the profound and eternal truths of God in Jesus Christ (i.e., God is Light, 1 John 1:5; God is Love, 1 John 4:8,16; God is spirit, John 4:24).

E. It is possible that 1 John was meant to be a cover letter for the Gospel of John. The Gnostic heresy of the first century forms the background for both books. The Gospel has an evangelistic thrust, while 1 John is written for believers (i.e., discipleship).

The renowned commentator Westcott asserted that the Gospel affirms the Deity of Jesus, while 1 John affirms His humanity. These books go together!

F. John writes in black and white (dualistic) terms. This is characteristic of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gnostic false teachers. 1 John's structured literary dualism is both verbal (light versus dark) and stylistic (a negative statement followed by a positive one). This is different from the Gospel of John, which employs a vertical dualism (Jesus from above versus all humans from below).

G. It is very difficult to outline 1 John because of John's recurrent use of themes. The book is like a tapestry of truths woven together in repeated patterns (cf. Bill Hendricks, Tapestries of Truth, The Letters of John).

What we do know about John the Apostle?

(1) He was the son of Zebedee and Salome

(2) He was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee with his brother, James (possibly owned several boats)

(3) Some believe his mother was a sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus (cf. John 19:25; Mark 15:20)

(4) Apparently he was wealthy because he had

(a) hired servants (cf. Mark 1:20)

(b) several boats

(c) a home in Jerusalem

(5) John had access to the High Priest's home in Jerusalem, which shows he was a person of some renown (cf. John 18:15-16)

(6) It was John in whose care Mary, the mother of Jesus, was committed

d. Early Church tradition unanimously testified that John outlived all of the other Apostles, and after the death of Mary in Jerusalem he moved to Asia Minor and settled in Ephesus, the largest city in that area. From this city he was exiled to the Island of Patmos (just off the coast) and was later released and returned to Ephesus (Eusebius quotes Polycarp, Papias and Irenaeus).

1 John addresses heresy in the Church from the influence of the Gnostics.

THE HERESY

A. The letter itself is obviously a reaction against a type of false teaching (i.e., "If we say. . ." 1 John 1:6ff and "he who says . .." 1 John 2:9; 4:20 [diatribe]).

B. We can learn some of the basic tenets of the heresy by internal evidence from 1 John.

1. a denial of the incarnation of Jesus Christ

2. a denial of the centrality of Jesus Christ in salvation

3. a lack of an appropriate Christian lifestyle

4. an emphasis on knowledge (often secret)

5. a tendency toward exclusivism

C. The setting of the first century

The Roman world of the first century was a time of eclecticism between the Eastern and Western religions. The gods of the Greek and Roman pantheons were in ill repute. The Mystery religions were very popular because of their emphasis on personal relationship with the deity and secret knowledge. Secular Greek philosophy was popular and was merging with other worldviews. Into this world of eclectic religion came the exclusiveness of the Christian faith (Jesus is the only way to God, cf. John 14:6). Whatever the exact background of the heresy, it was an attempt to make the seeming narrowness of Christianity plausible and intellectually acceptable to a wider Greek-Roman audience.

D. Possible options as to which group of Gnostics John is addressing

1. Incipient Gnosticism

a. The basic teachings of incipient Gnosticism of the first century seem to have been an emphasis on the ontological (eternal) dualism between spirit and matter. Spirit (High God) was considered good, while matter was inherently evil. This dichotomy resembles Platonism's ideal versus physical, heavenly versus earthly, invisible versus visible. There was also an overemphasis on the importance of secret knowledge (passwords or secret codes which allow a soul to pass through the angelic spheres [aeons] up to the high god) necessary for salvation.

b. There are two forms of incipient Gnosticism which apparently could be in the background of 1 John

(1) Docetic Gnosticism, which denies the true humanity of Jesus because matter is evil

(2) Cerinthian Gnosticism, which identifies the Christ with one of many aeons or angelic levels between the good high god and evil matter. This "Christ Spirit" indwelt the man Jesus at his baptism and left him before his crucifixion.

(3) of these two groups some practiced asceticism (if the body wants it, it is evil), the other antinomianism (if the body wants it, give it). There is no written evidence of a developed system of Gnosticism in the first century. It is not until the middle of the second century that documented evidence existed.

1 John 4 NKJV

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.