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Grace Bible Church

4000 E. Collins Rd.   P.O. Box #3762   Gillette, WY  82717   (307) 686-1516

 

- Preaching the Living WORD through the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 -

 

 

 

“FULL JOY OF FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD”

(Introduction to 1 John)

Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming

Pastor Daryl Hilbert

 

I.     THE TITLE OF 1 JOHN

 

A.    The title of this epistle is, “First John” because John has written three epistles (style of a letter).

B.    Because there is no mention of specific recipients, church, or location the letter is called a “general epistle.”

C.    However, there is no question that 1 John is an intimate letter with terms of endearment (“my little children” - (2:1; and “little children” 6 times).

 

II.    THE AUTHOR OF 1 JOHN

 

A.    Even though the author does not identify himself, he does imply that he is an apostle (“we have heard… seen… touched… testify… proclaim - the Word of Life, vs. 1-2).

B.    The early church (Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian etc.) unanimously attributes the authorship to the apostle John (cp. Mat 10:2).

C.    This same John was the Son Zebedee as was his brother James (Mat 4:21). He was a fisherman (Luk 5:1) who was called by Christ (Mat 4:21-22). He was named a “son of thunder” (Mar 3:17) by Christ but was one of the disciples of the inner circle (Mar 5:37; Mar 9:2), maybe even the closest to Jesus (Joh 13:23).

D.    He was the same John who wrote the Gospel of John (Joh 21:23-24).

 

III.  THE RECIPIENTS OF 1 JOHN

 

A.    As was mentioned earlier, the epistle does not specify its recipients. However, we do know that they were Christians (“little children” - 1Jo 2:1, 12, 28; 1Jo 3:1).

B.    Furthermore, we know that the author was writing to various stages of the Christian life (1Jo 2:13-14).

 

IV.  THE OCCASION OF 1 JOHN

 

A.    The author writes to encourage the recipients in their salvation and fellowship with God. He writes about maintaining fellowship with God (1:5-10), the obstacles (pitfalls) to fellowship with God (1Jo 2:15-17), evidences of fellowship with God (1Jo 2:3; 1Jo 5:13), and false teaching contrary to fellowship with God (1Jo 4:1).

B.    No specific false teachers were mentioned, but there is enough information to know that the author included warnings against false teachers.

C.    Church history tells of Ebionites, Pre-Gnostics, and false teachers like Cerinthus, a contemporary of John. They claimed to have a high degree of knowledge and an intimate communion with God yet disregarded God’s holiness and truth.

 

The Gnostics, against whose errors it is supposed this epistle was written, were great pretenders to knowledge, to the highest degrees of the Divine illumination, and the nearest communion with the fountain of holiness, while their manners were excessively corrupt. (Clarke, Clarke’s Commentary The New Testament, Vol 8 in loc.)

 

D.    The author identifies the teaching of the false teachers so that they were recognizable to the recipients.

1.     They had an antichrist spirit (1Jo 2:18, 22).

2.     They did not fellowship with true believers (1Jo 2:19).

3.     They had no evidences of regeneration (1Jo 3:7).

4.     They were false prophets (1Jo 4:1)

5.     They denied the reality of the Incarnation (1Jo 4:2-3).

 

V.    THE THEME OF 1 JOHN

 

A.    The theme of this epistle is found in the first four verses of chapter one. John is a witness of Christ (1:1). True fellowship with God only comes through Christ (1:2-3). Full joy comes through having a fellowship with God (1:4).

B.    Therefore, everything in this epistle falls under the umbrella of “Full Joy of Fellowship with God.”

 

VI.  THE OUTLINE OF 1 JOHN

 

                     FULL JOY OF FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

 

I.     ENJOYING FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD (CH 1)

A.    Prologue: Fellowship with God (1:1-4)

B.    Maintaining Fellowship with God (1:5-10)

II.    ABIDING IN FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD (CH 2)

A.    Growth in Fellowship with God (2:1-14)

B.    Dangers to Fellowship with God (2:15-29)

III.  EVIDENCES OF FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD (Ch 3, 4, 5)

A.    Evidences of Obedience (Ch 3)

B.    Evidences of Love (Ch 4)

C.    Evidences of Truth (Ch 5)

 

VII. THE INTERPRETATION CHALLENGE

 

A.    There is not only an interpretation challenge in this epistle but theologians have debated over John’s black and white tests for the evidence of salvation. Is John maintaining perfection as an evidence of salvation?

B.    The answer is found within the text. First of all John prefaces his tests with the disclaimer that unless one admits that he has sinned, the truth is not in him (1:8). Therefore, John knows the believer cannot live up to sinless perfection.

C.    Secondly, John says that he writes so that the believer does not sin. However, if the believer does sin, he has an Advocate, Jesus Christ (2:1). Again, this is not the assumption of sinlessness.

D.    Finally, when John speaks of living righteously (1Jo 3:10), he uses the present tense of the participle poiṓn. This suggests that John is speaking of a lifestyle rather than a single incident. The NASB uses the translation, “practice,” which gives the vary idea of a forward progress as opposed to perfection.