Introduction to 1 John

Background of 1 John

Unlike many other letters in the New Testament (NT), 1 John does not tell us who wrote the letter, nor who was the intended audience. This is probably because the author was known to the recipients of the letter. He was a respected teacher and leader in the church–John the apostle. And this letter wasn’t just written to one church, but to a group of churches in the region around the city of Ephesus. This explains why he didn’t name a specific church as the letter’s recipients.

John was able to write one letter to many churches because they were all facing a similar problem. After the writing of the Gospel of John, certain false teaching began to arise. False teachers denied the incarnation: that Jesus was the Son of God who had come in the flesh (1 John 4:2-3). They also denied that the death of Jesus was necessary for the forgiveness of their sins (1 John 5:6-7). This teaching, particularly about the denial that Jesus had come as a human, was an early form of a teaching called docetism, from a Greek word meaning “to seem.” Docetic teachers taught that it only seemed like Jesus had come in the flesh, but he was actually just a spiritual being. This is why John opens the letter by writing, “We proclaim to you the one [Jesus] who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands.” John emphasizes that he physically touched Jesus, so Jesus couldn’t be a spirit or ghost as the Docetics taught.

Those who held to these false beliefs eventually left the church (1 John 2:19). That did not end their influence, though. The group sent out teachers who tried to win people over to their views (1 John 2:26; 4:1-3; 2 John 7). This caused problems for many Christians who began to doubt their understanding of what the Apostles taught.

2 and 3 John

In response to this predicament, John wrote 2 John, which was directed to one of the churches that being threatened by these false preachers. The letter urges the church members not to take in these teachers. In order to encourage those preachers who were teaching the truth, John wrote 3 John. In that letter, he commands Christians to provide for those who are sharing the true Gospel. They are to be received and supported.

Authorship

Although 1 John doesn’t name the author, the letter provides good evidence of who he is. The author claims to be an eyewitness to the life and ministry of Christ (1 John 1:1). He gives the churches the message that he has heard from Christ. And he expected not only to be heard but obeyed (1 John 4:6). John writes with great authority. This is the authority that would only belong to one of the Apostles of Jesus. As an elderly pastor, he writes with all the wisdom and confidence of one who has fought many battles for the faith.

Many scholars point out the similarity in thought, vocabulary, and style between the Gospel of John and 1 John. The two books emphasize words like “light,” “love,” “eternal life,” “truth,” and “new commandment.” Outside of 1 John, early church fathers such as Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian all supported John’s authorship.

Date of writing

1 John was probably written around A.D. 90. The Gospel of John was probably written between A.D. 85-90. And this letter comes after it. In fact, it seems that John believed that his readers were already familiar with the content of the Gospel of John. John’s other letters were probably written shortly after 1 John.

Article for this topic by Scott Creps and Daniel Martin.