A community learns to love one another.
As the first century drew to a close, some Christians began drifting from the truth about Christ. Founders of the church began to die off, and believers were losing touch with those who had known Jesus in the flesh. Many were also being seduced by competing doctrines, especially early forms of gnosticism (see “The Danger of Gnosticism” at 1 John 5:20). Second- and third-generation believers grew cold in their love for each other and in their commitment to truth. They had, as the Lord put it to the Ephesians, “left [their] first love” (Rev. 2:4).
The books we call 1, 2, and 3 John were written in response to this trend. These short letters call Christians back to the basics of the faith: truth and love. Their author is often described as the apostle of love, and 1, 2, and 3 John are commonly referred to as the love letters of the New Testament.
But these writings are hardly sentimental. They’re infused with a tough love, a love that speaks up even when it hurts, because it truly cares. At many points the tone of these letters suggests an older believer pleading with someone younger in the faith. Nine times in 1 John the writer addresses his readers as his “little children,” and nine times among the three letters as “beloved.” He refers to himself as “the elder” (2 John 1; 3 John 1). His writing is reflective and loosely structured, using some of the simplest Greek in the New Testament.
One of 1 John’s most notable features is the author’s presentation of material in formulaic expressions (1 John 2:12–14; 5:6–8). These may be the beginnings of creedal statements and catechisms, which package truth in a memorable way for the purpose of instruction.
Such a strategy would have been important in countering false teachers who denied Jesus’ physical reality. Claiming special knowledge, they taught that God could not have become flesh. No wonder John opens his first letter with the powerful declaration, “That … which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life … that which we have seen and heard we declare to you” (1:1, 3). Here was a man—perhaps the last person in the early church—who had actually walked and talked with Jesus.
John writes that in genuine Christianity there is a core truth one must believe—that Jesus has come in the flesh—and that the practice of love and righteousness is the test of whether we truly believe in and follow Jesus. His message is similar to Paul’s word to the Ephesians that true spirituality involves “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15).
The books of 1, 2, and 3 John are generally believed to have been written by the same person. Traditionally this author has been understood to be John the apostle of Jesus. It is worth noting, however, that one early church historian identified the writer as another John, called the Elder (compare 2 John 1; 3 John 1), a disciple of John the apostle in Ephesus. It is likewise possible that John the Elder wrote 1, 2, and 3 John on behalf of John the apostle or under his supervision. Exact dates of writing have not been determined, but all three letters were likely produced toward the close of the first century A.D.
Key Verses in 1 John
• “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8, 9).
• “Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you” (1 John 3:13).
• “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).
• “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).
• “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us” (1 John 4:10).
• “Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).
• “This is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4).
• “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12).