1 John
About this date: Dates are broad scholarly estimates of composition or final editing, not dates of the events narrated. Traditional attributions and scholarly assessments can differ.
1 John speaks in a homiletic style about light, confession, love, and the identity of Jesus Christ. It lacks the usual greeting and conclusion of a letter. The work has strong connections with the Johannine Gospel while its exact author remains debated.
Key points
- Claims to know God are tested by conduct and love of fellow believers.
- The work insists on Jesus Christ's real coming in flesh in a setting of disputed teaching.
- Assurance and warning recur in cycles rather than a simple chapter-by-chapter outline.
Scripture
- 1 John 1:1-2:6 — The opening links witnessed life, fellowship, light, and confession.
- 1 John 3:11-24 — Love is made concrete through the example of Christ and care for others.
- 1 John 4:1-21 — Testing spirits, confession of Jesus, and love are held together.
Primary sources
1 John 3:18 states:
The writer defines love through action and truth, following the concrete example of sharing with a person in need.
My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.
Passage context and translation
Love is made concrete through the example of Christ and care for others.
Before the excerpt
But whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, then closes his heart of compassion against him, how does God’s love remain in him?
After the excerpt
And by this we know that we are of the truth and persuade our hearts before him,