1 John 5:13- These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

Series Introduction

We begin now the study of three small books; three of the smallest books in the whole Bible. Yet we must not think that because they are small that they are without value. In other words, don’t be fooled that just because they are short they have little to teach us. On the contrary, they are rich in meaning and teach us things essential for our growth in the Lord.

In this first lesson we will look at some important background information to these books. As you undoubtedly realize, the author of these three small books had a specific purpose in writing each, and if we are going to understand and apply the lessons they have for us we must understand their historical context and purpose.

Authorship

There is little doubt as to the authorship of these epistles despite the fact that the author never states his name. The early church and the internal evidence of the epistle all point to the Apostle John, the one whom Jesus loved, as being the author. Their style, structure, choice of words and themes are all similar, and bare a strong relationship with the Gospel written by the same Apostle.

John was the son of Zebedee and brother of James the apostle, who was put to death by Herod Agrippa I about 44 A.D. (Matt. 4:21; Acts 12:1-2). It may be reasonable inferred that his mother was Salome (Matt. 27:56; Mark 15:40), and that she was the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Jesus and John would then be cousins. The family lived in Galilee, probably in the town of Bethsaida, and made their living as fishermen.

John is first introduced as a disciple of John the Baptist (John 1:35). We read of his introduction to Jesus (John 1:35-39), and how he began his life as a disciple of Christ. This relationship grew to the point where John becomes an intimate friend of Jesus, part of Jesus’ inner circle (Luke. 8:51; 9:28; Matt. 26:37), and is referred to as the one who Jesus loved (John 13:23; 20:2; 21:7; 21:20).

There are only a few scattered references to John in the rest of the New Testament. After the ascension of Jesus he remained in Jerusalem, waiting with the other apostles for the coming of the Holy Spirit. He appears with Peter in two important scenes in the book of Acts- the healing of the lame man (Acts 4:1-22), and the missionary work in Samaria (Acts 8:14-15). He is described by Paul as one of the pillars of the early church (Gal. 2:9).

Tradition tells us that he spent his last years in Ephesus, ministering to the seven churches of Asia. He did spend some time exiled on the Isle of Patmos (Rev. 1:9) He died about the end of the First century.

Date and Occasion

Like the epistle of James, these Epistles are written to a scattered flock from the heart of their loving Pastor. It is thought that they were written after the Gospel of John.

We think this was the case because these Epistles refer to ideas which are more fully dealt with in John’s Gospel. It would appear that the readers of these Epistles were expected to have knowledge of the Gospel and what it contains. Second, the refutation of the doctrines of docetism are strong here, but absent from the Gospel, and since docetism did not become an issue until later it would seem logical that these Epistles were produced later.

The main thrust of 1 John and 2 John are to deal with the false teaching that denied that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh (cf. 1 John 4:2-3). This false teaching is called docetism. Generally, docetism taught that Jesus only appeared to have a body, that he was not really incarnate, (Greek, “dokeo” = “to seem”).

This error developed out of the dualistic philosophy which viewed matter as inherently evil,  that God could not be associated with matter, and that God, being perfect and infinite, could not suffer.  Therefore, God as the word, could not have become flesh per John 1:1,14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.. ”  This denial of a true incarnation meant that Jesus did not truly suffer on the cross and that He did not rise from the dead.

The basic principle of Docetism was refuted by the Apostle John in 1 John 4:2-3.  “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.”  Also, 2 John 7, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

3 John has a slightly different purpose. In this 3rd letter we see the Apostle lamenting the petty rivalries that so easily develop among Brothers. The results of these petty squabbles is often division, impotency in kingdom work, and an ineffective witness.

These Epistles may be outlined as follows:

1 John
I. Introduction: Eternal Life Has Appeared (1:1-4)
II. Contrast Between Light & Darkness (1:5-2:27)
A. Walking in the Light (1:5-2:11)
1. Fellowship in the Light (1:5-10)
2. Our Advocate and Our Propitiation (2:1-2)
3. Our Response- Keeping God’s Commandments (2:3-6)
4. Loving Your Brother (2:7-11)
B. Escaping from Sin (2:12-17)
1. Overcoming the Wicked One (2:12-14)
2. Overcoming the World (2:15-17)
C. Counsel for the Last Hour (2:18-27)
1. Apostasy (2:18-21)
2. Denial of Christ (2:22-24)
3. Reminder about the Anointing (2:25-27)
III. The Life of the Righteous (2:28-4:6)
A. Sonship and Hope (2:28-3:3)
B. The Practice of Sin in the Believer (3:4-10)
C. Love Vs. Hate (3:11-15)
D. Love and Generosity (3:16-18)
E. Assurance (3:19-24)
F. Testing the Spirits (4:1-6)
IV. Love is Perfected in Us (4:7-5:12)
A. God is Love (4:7-14)
B. Salvation and Love (4:15-21)
C. Belief and Obedience (5:1-13)
V. Epilog (5:14-21)
A. Prayer and the Sinner (5:14-17)
B. Life in God (5:18-21)

2 John
I. Salutation and Greeting (vv. 1-3)
II. Love and Obedience (vv. 4-6)
III. The Dangers of False Teaching (vv. 7-11)
IV. Conclusion and Farewell (vv. 12-13)

3 John
I. Salutation and Greeting (vv. 1-2)
II. Faithfulness to the Truth (vv. 3-4)
III. The Importance of Hospitality (vv. 5-11)
IV. Commendation of Demetrius (vv. 12)
V. Conclusion and Farewell (vv. 13-14)

Characteristics and Themes

As we mentioned, John spent the later years of his life ministering in Ephesus and the churches in Asia Minor. As such he was the successor to Paul in the work of the Gospel in that area. John was not involved with church planting, as Paul had been, but rather his ministry was that of nourishing and pastoring the churches that were already established. The result of his efforts was evident in the second century when the churches of Western Asia Minor proved to be the most spiritually effective and prosperous of all provinces.

However, this rich soil was rife with heresy and contention, with rank weeds marring its prolific growth. Paul had even warned the church in Ephesus that this would be the case (Acts 20:29-30). His letter to that church marked the beginning of these apostasies.

John also wrote to battle the growth of heresies in these churches. His seven letters (Rev. 2 & 3), though written earlier than this epistle give ample evidence of his concern for these churches.

The three short letters we will be considering are full of expressions of his concerns for the “false prophets,” “deceivers,” and “antichrists” that were in their midst (1 John 2:18-19; 4:1; 2 John 7-11; 3 John 9-10). With pain and anger he writes to his flock “concerning those that seduce you” (1Jn 2:26). Yet in all his concern his method is not to engage these deceivers’ arguments on a point by point basis, but rather to forthrightly assert the truth of the Gospel, and the strength of pure doctrine.

This is a theme we will see over and over again in our studies of these short letters- doctrinal truth victorious over falsehood.

John’s approach is to battle these deceptions with the force of the truth rather than to engage in hand to hand combat with the arguments of these wolves. His approach is to boldly set forth “the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” (1 John 1:1)

In other words, John refutes by better instruction. He thrusts out error by confronting it with the reality it denies. How do we dispel darkness? By turning on the light.

John’s short letters move through contrasts of light and darkness, truth and falsehood, love for God and hatred of God, Christ and Antichrist, Spirit of God and spirit of error. His purpose is to instill in his readers discrimination of the truth (Heb. 5:14). John is very concerned with confusion in his readers’ thinking and the compromise in doctrine that inevitably follows such confusion.

Is this a problem in our day? Has the Churches’ abandonment of doctrinal purity resulted in an influx of false teaching and an ineffective witness to our culture?

You bet it is, and it has. The reason for this may not seem obvious at first.

Turn in your Bibles, please, to 1 Cor. 1:10. Notice that when Paul speaks about unity, he always includes truth. God commands His people to avoid schism, but “to be of the same mind and the same judgment.” And just before that, he commands them to speak the same things. There is a private duty of confession (e.g. 1 Tim. 6:13; cf. Mt. 27:2). But Paul is speaking a corporate duty here in 1 Cor. 1:10. And as each individual church and the church at large begins to do this, then the church grows together in unity.

One of the fundamental principles of warfare is that if you would conquer your enemy, you must divide him. In dividing him, you can pick off each segment at your leisure. At this point, the church is fragmented and scattered. We look at ourselves as a collection of individuals, rather than a household. God has built strength into the church—if it pays heed to the truth of God’s Word.

And so we have the National Council of Churches, and we have Christians praying to Allah, and all sorts of other foolishness. What each of these latitudinarian viewpoints misses is that there is no unity apart from the truth.

The cure for muddled thinking, creeping syncretism, and outright heresy is not to run, not to argue, but to simply confront these false teachings with the truth of Scripture. Let the opposing forces be clearly seen for what they are, and those who love God and want to serve Him will know what side to take (1 John 2:20-21).

There is a second and more subtle approach taken by John in these epistles. Whereas his direct expression of truth to combat falsehood is clearly seen throughout these letters, there is also an ethical denunciation which is more subtle. That is to say, John’s writing is based upon presuppositions which he cannot help but express and his condemnations flow from these presuppositions.

The Apostle John condemns moral insensibility and insincerity, conformity to the world, the lowering of the standard of Christian purity, and above all the lack of brotherly love among believers. But he does not do so directly, but rather by passing back and forth between these evils in such a way as to show that they form part of a general conflict with our duty to love God and serve Him, and to love and serve our neighbor.

In other words, his presupposition is that of our duty to love God and our neighbor, and he almost seems surprised when his readers are not doing these but are rather being seduced by the world around them. (cf. 1 John 3:18-23) Oh that we had this mind in us!

So with these background comments we will begin our examination of these short letters with the aim of increasing our understanding, sanctification and our usefulness in our King’s service.