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