1 John 1

     Beyond serious doubt, the author is John the apostle, also the author of the fourth gospel, Second and Third John, and Revelation.  All arguments of scholars aside, it seems obvious to me in reading all of them that we are engaged by the same brilliant and unique mind.

     1 John seems to be a general epistle addressed to no one, and thus meant for everyone.   The same themes keep recurring, but there is progression of thought.   Think of it as the ascending but recurring view from a spiral staircase, rather than climbing the rungs of a logic ladder.  It is a rope of many strands twisted together, rather than the forging of links in a chain.  Even though it is imposing an arbitrary and artificial structure on the text, it may be helpful to watch for these seven contrasts being developed: 
1. life and death;
2. light and darkness;
3. sin and obedience;
4. abiding and separating;
5. God’s sovereign love and man’s response;
6. the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of deception;
7. Christ and antichrist.

     The major purpose of the letter is to give assurance to the faithful, and to give practical tests by which a man may examine himself to know whether he is in the faith, so that we may know we have eternal life (5:13; cf. 2 Cor. 13:5).  There are three major tests: 
1. Obedience — do you walk in the light?;
2. Love — do you love your brothers in the Lord?;
3. Truth — is your faith in the real Jesus Christ? 
These are not separate things to John, but inseparable parts of the whole faith found in a true child of God.

     One purpose of the letter, not at all separate from the above, is the same as 2 Peter 2 and Jude.  That is, to oppose the early Gnostics.  These teachers of false knowledge believed matter was inherently evil, and thus denied that Christ had come in the flesh, or that the body was resurrected.  Also, they tended to think that the sins of the flesh didn’t matter much.  John wastes no time before attacking these false notions, as did the other NT writers.   We should be very grateful to God that in his wise providence he allowed heresies to arise so early in the church, and thus be opposed and answered by the testimony of Christ’s faithful witnesses.  The disguises of the enemy may change with the times, but the same dark lies appear over and over.

     1:1-4.  From the beginning (cf. John 1:1-4, 14) the apostles and other Jewish witnesses (we) testified that they had seen and handled a real flesh and blood man who was in fact the Word of Life (1).  This life was not temporary, but the eternal life which was and is always with the Father.  This is the life that God manifested to those who bear witness to what they saw, and have proclaimed to others (you) also, that all who hear may share the joy and fellowship believers now have with one another, and with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ (2-4; cf. Luke 24:39; John 20:27).

      1:5.  God is light; (cf. Is. 9:2; 60:1-3; Luke 1:76-79; Ro. 13:12; 1 Tim. 6:16; Jas. 1:17; Rev. 22:5).

     1:6.  Honesty and lies, righteousness and sin, are the issues between light and darkness (cf. John 3:19-21; 8:12; Eph. 5:8,14).

     1:7-10.  The blood of Jesus . . . cleanses us from all sin; we are cleansed not only in the once for all removal of guilt in justification, but by the ongoing continuous cleansing of sanctification (8-10).  If we are walking in the light, we cannot very well deceive ourselves about our sins.  But sin dealt with honestly will be cleansed in the blood of Christ by a faithful and righteous God.   Denying our sin calls God a liar, for the light of his word exposes us all as sinners, and he sent his Son for that very reason.