Biblical Theology LVIII: 1 John

The First Epistle of John is not addressed to any one church. It is a work that is meant to affirm the salvation of those who have held onto the apostolic testimony concerning Christ, the gospel, and the Christian life. In doing so, it combats the gnostic and antinomian errors of false prophets that are within the church, but have rejected apostolic teaching. 

John writes to let his readers know that those who have remained, and will remain, faithful to both confess and live out the truth taught by the apostles can know for sure that they have eternal life. He gives four criteria by which one can know he is saved: (1) Whether one believes in orthodox Christianity, (2) whether one pursues purity, (3) whether one confesses his sin when he commits it, and (4) whether one loves fellow Christians in tangible ways, especially when they are in need of resources. 

As always, John conveys throughout his works that it is God who has regenerated us to believe the truth, seek Christ through purity, seek to be restored to Him when we sin, and love both God and fellow believers in the way that God first loved us.

Theology: John argues that the teaching of the apostles is not some personal religious opinion about the nature of true Christianity and Christ with which they have sought to compete with other religious opinions about Christ and Christianity; but rather that they have merely reported what they saw, heard, touched, etc. themselves. Their testimony is not conjured up by their religious imagination, but comes directly from Christ Himself.

Hence, those who follow the apostolic teaching are following Christ. Those who distort Christ and Christianity are not of the apostles, and therefore, do not hold to genuine Christianity, but rather the religion of antichrist taught by false prophets following various spirits that are leading them away from the truth. 

If one wishes to know whether he is truly saved, he must affirm apostolic orthodoxy concerning God and Christ (and by extension, apostolic orthodoxy in general). One who does not affirm orthodox Christianity should actually doubt his salvation, but one who affirms it has one of the evidences that he has eternal life.

Ethics: John counters the antimonian spirit of Gnosticism’s overrealized eschatology by arguing that Christians are still in a time (the last hour of night when both light and darkness still exist together) when they are in danger of denying the faith, and in a time when they still might commit sin and are in need of confessing it. It is only through repentance that the blood of Christ can cleanse them from all unrighteousness. 

Likewise, there is a need to pursue purity as Christ is pure because Christian perfection has not yet come to fulfillment. The one who is truly born of God does not live in sin.

Along these same lines, it is not merely personal purity that one who has eternal life is to pursue, but a holiness that distinguishes him from the children of the devil by his love for other Christians. This is especially displayed when other Christians are in need. Hence, John is not merely speaking about some generic, good-will feeling one has for other Christians, but rather a love that sacrifices one’s own security in his possessions to take care of the needs of other Christians (a sacrifice that mimics Christ love for us).