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Introduction to 1 John
INTRODUCTION
1. When Jesus to earth, He came not only to LIVE a life, but to GIVE life: "I have come that they may have life, and that they mayhave it more abundantly." - Jn 10:10
2. The GOSPEL of John was designed to produce faith so that we might have life - cf. Jn 20:30-31 3. However, it is the FIRST EPISTLE of John which discusses the nature of that life in greater detail - e.g., 1 Jn 3:14 4. That we might be sure to live the sort of life God offers through His Son Jesus Christ, a careful study of First John is in order [In this lesson, the first of several on First John, let's begin with some...] I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A. THE AUTHOR... 1. It will be assumed in the course of this study that the author is John, the beloved disciple of Jesus 2. Similarities between this epistle and the Gospel of John certainly suggests INTERNAL evidence for this conclusion 3. There is also EXTERNAL evidence that this John is the author: a. Polycarp, a close associate of John, appears to make reference to this epistle at the beginning of the second century, in a letter to the Philippians b. Irenaeus, a student of Polycarp, quoted from it and attributed it to John B. THE RECIPIENTS... 1. No one is specifically mentioned 2. John may have been in Ephesus general epistle to the Christians throughout Asia Minor 3. However, John's comments in 1 Jn 2:20,27 suggests that John may have been addressing a particular group of Christians possessing certain spiritual gifts C. DATE... 1. Estimations range from 60 A .D. to 100 A .D. 2. Most modern scholarship places it around 95 A .D., but there are also good reasons for believing it was written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem 70 A .D. D. PURPOSE... 1. As declared by John throughout his epistle, he wrote it... a. "that your joy may be full" - 1 Jn 1:4 b. "that you may not sin" - 1 Jn 2:1 c. "that you may know that you have eternal life" - 1 Jn 5:13a d. "that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God" - 1 Jn 5:13b 2. While these reasons may state the "positive" side of John's purpose, it appears he was also responding to errors that were prevalent at the time - cf. 1 Jn 2:26 a. If not fully developed in John's day, there was at least a precursor to "Gnosticism" b. Those who came to be called "Gnostics"... 1) Claimed to have a superior knowledge (Grk. word for knowledge is "gnosis") 2) Believed all matter was evil a) Therefore God did not create or have anything to do with the material universe b) Therefore Christ could not have come in the flesh - cf. 1 Jn 4:1-3 1/ One branch of gnosticism, DOCETISM (dokein, "to seem"), said that Jesus only "seemed" to be physical - cf. 1 Jn 1:1 2/ CERINTHUS taught that "Jesus" was physical, but that the "Christ" came upon him at his baptism, and left before his death, so that the "Christ- spirit" never suffered - cf. 1 Jn 5:6 c. Their application to everyday living took two different directions; since all matter was thought to be evil... 1) Some thought one should abstain altogether from anything that would satisfy the flesh 2) Others claimed it did not matter what one did in the flesh (it was evil anyway), and to have full knowledge it was proper to explore everything [Many of John's comments in this epistle appear to address these false teachings. With this brief background to the epistle, let's get right into the text by considering the first four verses. They appear to serve as a PROLOGUE, and reveal...]
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