Get Ready
The Apostle John is the author of five different books in the Bible: the Gospel of John, the three letters and the Revelation. In this he ranks with Moses and Paul in providing the content of scripture. The letters were probably written between 90 and 100 CE, from Ephesus.
Author
Most scholars agree that John, the Apostle and brother of James, (sons of Zebedee), wrote these three letters. In the second and third letters he identifies himself as “The elder.” But in the first letter he does not identify himself directly; instead he offers a very personal description of Christ and his relationship to the author: and concludes, we are writing these things so our joy may be complete, [1 John 1:4].
Context
All three letters were written toward the end of John’s ministry, probably between 90 and 100. At this time the author is living in the Roman province of Asia (modern Turkey).
The Roman Empire is increasing its persecution of believers and the church. The emperor Domitian has declared that people must worship him as a god; anyone who does not is persecuted and excluded from all commercial activity. Obviously this created a difficult and dangerous situation for Christians (as well as for Jews).
The church was also dealing with false teaching (that would eventually be known as Gnosticism), which John deals with in his letters (as do Peter and Jude). The central heresy is that all matter is evil. This leads to two other false beliefs:
- Christ did not actually have a physical body, he only appeared to be “of the flesh.”
- Since the physical body will be destroyed, it does not matter what a person does with his or her body in this life. (Although some adherents did follow a rigid discipline about their behavior in order to be “pure.”)
Gnostics also believed that knowing “the truth” was more important than living consistent with that truth.
Structure
There are significant differences between the first letter and the second and third:
- The first letter does not follow the pattern of ancient letters. It is more like a tract or printed sermon arguing a specific point of view. The second and third letters do follow the traditional
structure: an opening greeting, the body of the letter and final greetings. - The first letter is addressed to the church at large (“My little children” in 2:1), whereas the second and third are addressed to specific recipients: “the elect lady and her children,” and “the beloved Gaius,” (although many scholars believe the “lady” of the second letter is a church and “her children” are church members.
- 1 John is considerably longer and deals with more aspects of the believer’s relationship with Christ and the effect of that relationship on the person’s life.
Major Themes
John’s letters have two predominant messages:
- Jesus Christ is fully and completely human – he is God “in the flesh.” Christ is the manifestation of God the Father in our world; he shows us who God is.
- God is love – God’s essential and defining characteristic is love. Followers of Christ demonstrate their relationship with God in their love for one another.
Both messages refute the growing heresy facing the church and assure believers of their relationship with Christ. John actually tells his readers the purposes of his letters:
- We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete, [1 John 1:4].
- I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin, [1 John 2:1].
- I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you, [1 John 2:26].
- I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life, [1 John 5:13].
The same ideas carry over into the second and third letters. In the second letter John says, Be on your guard, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but may receive a full reward, [2 John 8]. 3 John cautions, Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God, [3 John 11].
John also stresses two primary images of God – light and love (these images also figure prominently in his Gospel). Christians walk “in the light” because they have a relationship with God, the source of light. And Christians love one another because they are intimately connected to the source of love: Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, [1 John 4:7].
Get into the Word
1. Who wrote these letters? How does the writer identify himself in the different letters? What else did this author write?
2. When were the letters written? Where was the writer at the time? What was the situation of the church at this time? Who was persecuting believers? Why?
3. What was the internal situation for the church at this time? What were the “false” teachings? What did this say about Christ? About our physical bodies? About our lives? Why was this important to John? To believers?
4. What are the similarities among the three letters? How do the letters differ from each other? Who are the intended recipients of each letter? What is the subject of each letter? Why is the first letter longer than the other two?
5. What are the major themes of these letters? What message is John working to convey to the churches? Why are these points so important for John? Why are they important for the church in John’s time? Why are they important for us today?
6. What purpose does John give for these letters? How does he describe his reasons for writing? Do you think these purposes are still valid for believers today? How does he describe the purpose in the second and third letters?
7. What images of God does John present in these letters? How do these images relate to the argument John is making about our relationship with God? How do they relate to our daily lives?
Bible Trivia
John closes the second and third letter by saying he has “much to write” but doesn’t want to use “pen and ink.” This could be an allusion to the persecution of believers, or just his belief that face-to-face communication is best.
Key Point
Even though the letters are full of fairly specific guidance about how believers should live, John is not setting out a test or qualifications to become a Christian. Nor is he making a checklist a person must complete in order to continue following Christ. He is describing how we can identify light from darkness, truth from error, and “know that we are God’s children,” [1 John 5:19].
78: Living as children of God –1 John 3:1-24
Get Ready
Many of our habits and ways of acting come from our family—we adopt what we saw around us as children. In some cases we were told, “this is the way we do things in this family.” Can you recall any specific actions or behaviors that were followed “because that’s what our family does?”
The Word
3See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
8 Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. 10 The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.
Love one another
11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. 16 We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. 17 How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
18 Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. 19 And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him
20 whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; 22 and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us. NRSV
Get into the Word
1. How does John “measure” the amount of God’s love for us? How do you respond to this concept? When do we become God’s children? How does this affect other people?
2. What effect does our status have on our lives? On our actions? Why does John state that we should avoid sin? How are we able to not sin?
3. What is the difference between people who are part of God’s family through Jesus and those who are not? How does John describe people who aren’t children of God?
4. What does loving others prove about a person? What is a person who doesn’t love other Christians? How do we know we are loving other Christians? How does this affect our relationship with God? How does this affect our daily life today?
Get Personal
How is God’s Spirit infecting your daily life? In what ways have you “given up” your life for others – placed their needs or comfort or happiness above your own – recently?
Notes . . .
3:1. Children of God — people who are in a relationship with God through Christ: For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God, [Rom 8:14]. This phrase has often been translated “sons of God” but the Greek noun refers to both male and female children.
What we are — John is consistent, as are the other New Testament authors, in putting the new life and status as God’s “children” in the present tense. This is not some state in the future but is available to believers right now! Paul is just as definite in Galatians: And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God, [Gal 4:6-7].
3:4-6. Commits sin . . . sin . . . sins — the Greek word [originally “missing” or “off-target”] can refer to an individual act or action, but also the basis or cause of the action and the situation or state of being leading to such actions. John appears to be using all these meanings in this paragraph.
3:7. Righteous — faithful, truthful, just.
3:8. Devil — in the Greek the word is not capitalized, but John often referred to evil as if it were a specific individual [Satan].
3:11. Love one another — John is using agape, the Greek word for active, selfless compassion and kindness to another person, the result of a decision and not the emotions or feelings of family, friendship or sexual desire. It is a love that does not come naturally or from this world, but
from God, and only those who are in a relationship with God can love in this manner: Support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love, [2 Peter 1:6-7].
3:12. Evil one . . . evil — the Greek word includes active harm, pain, hurt, sorrow.
3:14. John is echoing Jesus’ statement, Very truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life, [John 5:24].
3:16. We know love — Jesus used similar language: This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends, [John 15:12-13].
3:17. John’s explanation of active love parallels James: If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead, [James 2:15-17].
3:23. His commandment — Jesus set out the commandment in John: Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent,” [6:28-29] and I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another, [15:17].
Memory Verse
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, [1 John 4:7].
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Jude: True faith
