1 John 1: An Overview

Today is Boffer group again and the following is the lesson I will present for the boys. I first presented this study at a Wednesday night Bible study at my former church. I doubt that I will be able to complete this whole study today because we set aside about 10-15 minutes for the study, but that's ok because I can always finish it at our next gathering! :)

Well here it is:

1 John 1

Background of the book:
Unlike his next two letters, 1John was always an authenticated book. By this I mean that the authority and authorship of this book was never in question, and it was never among the "doubtful or disputed epistles." The internal and external evidence in regards to this book was always extensive enough as to leave no doubt.
In regards to the external evidence, we have the fact that 1John was extensively quoted by the early Church fathers, including Origen, Polycarp, Papias, and Cyprian. The book is also found in the Old Syriac Version, which is believed to have been made in the first century!

As for the internal evidence, a reading of 1John will show many similarities with the Gospel of John:
Note 1John 1:1 and compare the style to John 1:1 and John 1:14.
Note 1John 3:1 and compare to John 1:12
Note 1John 4:12 and compare to John 1:18
Note 1John 5:13 and compare to John 20:31

In reading and comparing the above verses you will note the similarities not only in style of writing, but in points of concern. As Barnes points out in his commentary, the expressions are not the same as Matthew, Mark, Luke, or even Paul would have used. No, they are unique to John. So either John wrote it or someone wanted us to think that John wrote it.
How do we know this is not a forgery? For the following reasons, and I should point out that these same reasons convinced the early Church!

The passages noted above are not quotes, "and are not such as a man would make if he designed to imitate another. They are rather such as the same man would use if he were writing twice on the same subject, and should express himself the second time without intending to copy what he had said the first." [Albert Barnes]

The author does not identify himself. Any forgery would attempt to make the connection clear. Instead we have a letter written by someone who was confident that his readers were aware of who he was, and would recognize his authorship.

Since we have established that 1John is indeed worthy of being canonical, although I am confident we did not need to do so, the next question becomes when was it written?

The answer is: We don't know!

What we DO know is that it was written after the Gospel of John (1 John expounds upon truths from John, assuming those were already known).

Most commentators believer it was written during John's older age, either at Ephesus or Patmos. Furthermore, the letter is believed to have been sent as a circular and not addressed to any specific church.

There are three main truths testified to by the Apostle, and they are this:
1. The doctrine that Jesus IS the Christ.
2. The understanding that a sincere Believer is motivated by love of the Lord.
3. The understanding that loving our Lord means we OBEY our Lord.

Let us begin:

Read 1 John 1:1-10

RE Verse 1)
Here we have John's rebuttal of the idea popular among certain Gnostics that Jesus did not really come as a man, but only as a spirit looking like a man.

"That which was from the Beginning" is a reference to Jesus, very similar to what John has stated in his Gospel in John 1:1-4. It is a declaration of Jesus' deity, His Authority, and His Power!

“which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life”

Here John testifies to the authenticity of what he declares. He is an eyewitness! He is not repeating second-hand information.

No, he heard the words of our Lord when He walked as a man, he saw (Greek horao = stared at, discerned) the Lord with his own eyes, he looked upon (Greek theaomai = look closely at, to perceive) our Master, his very hands handled (Greek pselaphao = verify by contact) the Person of our Lord, whom He identifies as the Logos!

As we read his words, I can see with my own eyes the excitement with which he wrote these words. John and the other Apostles except Paul were with the Lord during his earthly ministry! After his resurrection they were transformed from defeated men into bold warriors of the faith! They were transformed from cowards to fearless proclaimers of their Lord! (Romans 1:16)

Ask: What caused this transformation?

Matthew 14:6 & Revelation 1:8! The final realization that Jesus WAS and IS God! With this realization came the loss of fear (Matthew 10:28), for if Jesus is God, then He is that same one who makes that powerful declaration in Isaiah 44:6-8. He is Lord and Master!

RE Verse 2)
“the life was manifested” refers to that life of verse 1, the “Word of life,” whom is Jesus.

“and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-” We see that John is emphatic about Jesus and his own witness to the reality of His existence in the flesh. He himself bears witness to the truth. Furthermore, He proclaims the Pre-Existence and eternal nature of Christ! And he again puts forth the assertion that Jesus was the physical manifestation of God the Father, not merely an assumed appearance.

RE Verse 3)
“that which we have seen and heard we declare to you,” Again the call to the truthfulness of which he speaks, similar to 2 Peter 1:16.

“that you also may have fellowship with us;” the purpose of the declaration is that the hearers will come together in fellowship, partaking of the joy that comes from belonging to God our Savior! Read Galatians 3:26-27 & 29.

“and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” Albert Barnes wrote in relation to this verse the following: “The fellowship which Christians have with God relates to the following points, an attachment to the same truths, and the same objects; love for the same principles, and the same beings. The happiness of God is found in holiness, truth, purity, justice, mercy, benevolence. The happiness of the Christian is of the same kind that God has. we have fellowship with God by direct communion with him, in prayer, in meditation.”

RE Verse 4)
“And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” All of the previous verses are designed by John to bring joy to our hearts! We should rejoice at the knowledge that Jesus is God! We should rejoice at the knowledge that there is an entire body of people who should love us as brothers and sisters upon our declaration of faith!

It should fill us with an insurmountable joy and gratitude to know that Jesus our Lord, the Pre-Existent eternal Lord of creation loved us so much that He was willing, eager even, to lay His life upon the altar to erase our sin!

Questions or Comments?

Re-read verses 5-10
Re Verse 5)
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.“ There is a specific message (Greek eppagelia = announcement, divine assurance) John intends to impart to his readers, and it is a message from Jesus Himself.
As an aside, we also have here a beautiful picture of the difference between an apostle and the Apostles. While there can still be apostles, there were only a few Apostles, these blessed men who were called for the express purpose of carrying the message from Christ, who walked with Him or saw Him as Paul did.

The message being imparted from John? “God is Light”

Matthew Henry wrote the following: “This report asserts the excellency of the divine nature. He is all that beauty and perfection that can be represented to us by light. And then the absoluteness and fulness of that excellency and perfection. There is no defect or imperfection, no mixture of any thing alien or contrary to absolute excellency, no mutability nor capacity of any decay in him.”

Indeed, God is perfect! We dare not hold him to blame for the evil in this world. Whatever He does is good, whatever He allows to happen He does out of the goodness of His Being. Whatever His judgments may be, they are Just! Jeremiah 9:23-24 spoke powerfully to me as a younger man (share). We may be tempted to blame God for our misfortunes, but I urge you instead to hang on to the testimony of the Word and remain true to your calling as Saints of God Almighty.

RE Verses 6)
“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” I say it with no hesitation, if we live in habitual sin our profession of faith is false! Does this mean a Christian will not sin? Of course not.

Ask) What does it mean?

The Christian life should be characterized by a desire to please our Lord, by a desire to obey His commandments, and by a deep regret when we walk into sin. If we are complacent in our sin, if we are indifferent to our sin, then we cannot rightly be considered sons of God.

RE Verse 7)
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” To be a Christian is to belong to Christ. Our lives are no longer our own. He has redeemed us, bought us, with His blood.

Ask) Is there any sin that the blood of Christ cannot make atonement for?

NO!

It is error to even imply that this may be the case! Therefore, if we have been made alive by the power of the blood of Jesus, our walk is consistent with the teachings of the Master. We are enabled by Christ to do the works He prepared for us. Ephesians 2:10

RE Verse 8)
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" If we cannot confess that we have sinned, then we have deceive ourselves into thinking we are NOT in need of salvation, and this is the kind of deception that Satan wants for us!

Albert Barnes: "We are at all times, and in all circumstances, to admit the painful and humiliating truth that we are transgressors of the law of God, and that we need, even in our best services, the cleansing of the blood of Jesus Christ."

RE Verses 9 & 10)
"If we confess our sins He is faithful and Just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His Word is not in us."

Proverbs 28:13

Confession MUST be present for forgiveness to take place. And confession, as discussed above, comes from a realization that we ARE sinners and NEED Christ to redeem us! Once we are aware that our sinful natures keep us from God and, that indeed the "wages of sin is death," then we turn to the only One who offers Life in repentance, acknowledging and confessing our sin before Him.

Note the latter part of verse 9, "He is faithful." To what is He faithful? To Himself! Because God is God, we can know without the shadow of a doubt that sincere repentance and confession WILL result in forgiveness! He is faithful AND He is Just!

Note that the word for just is the Greek dikaios, which means equitable in character. The justness of God in forgiveness is not related to the forgiving, but to the forgiver. When the Lord forgives He is being merciful, and therefore not strictly just. The verse applies the word to God in the sense that He is just to Himself and His character, the same as with the word faithful. He is true to Himself and to the work of our Lord Jesus. Speaking of the coming Messiah, God said through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 53:11 "...By His knowledge My righteous servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities." Paul mimics the language of this prophet in Philippians 3:8-11.

It is to this work of the Lord Jesus that God is Just!

Ask: What does this mean for us?

That there is not one person in this world who will be refused forgiveness if he repents and believes and asks the Lord for forgiveness! And again, He cleanses us from some unrighteousness, right?

NO!

His Word says ALL unrighteousness!

Verse 9 is among the most beautiful verses in Scripture because of this wonderful promise and assurance the Lord gives us!

Note the ending of this chapter, "If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us." In verse 8 John condemns those who say they are not in sin, that they are perfect. Here in verse 10 John condemns those who say not only do they have no sin now, they never have! John equates the saying of such a thing with calling God a LIAR!

This brings us to the end of the chapter, so let us recap what we have learned from this lesson, we have seen in this chapter:

The declaration of the Incarnation (1:1-2)
The call to unity and fellowship because of this Incarnation (1:3)
The call to rejoice in this knowledge (1:4)
The assurance that God is Light (1:5)
The call to reject darkness in our lives (1:6-8 & 10)
The promise that God will be true to Himself! (1:9)

Any questions or comments?

Let us close in prayer