I John

Stain glass depiction of John the Apostle.

The First Epistle of John (I John) is a letter in the New Testament. In terms of its main purpose, 1 John was written to encourage faithful struggling Christian believers who were holding on to the truth and to help them persevere while others had been deceived by false teaching.

It is short epistle that is a little over 2,000 words long. This short book contains 6 references to "eternal life" which is more than every other book in the Bible except the Gospel of John, demonstrating their common authorship.

The author identifies himself as John, historically considered to be the Apostle John, who also wrote the Gospel of John along with II John, III John and the Book of Revelation. Liberal theologians are in liberal denial about this, conceding only that all three epistles were likely written by the same person.

Theological themes of I John

See also: Attributes and character of God and Christology and Salvation and Agape and Love and Christian love, fellowship and joy and Truth and Holiness and Righteousness

The main theological themes of 1 John focus on the nature of God (which is described in terms of light and love), Christology (Affirms the incarnation of Jesus Christ which counters Gnostic beliefs that denied the physical reality of Jesus. See: 1 John 1:1-3), the blessed assurance of salvation through Jesus Christ, and the importance of love and Christian fellowship among the community of Christian believers. The letter emphasizes that that God is both perfectly holy and perfectly loving, and that these godly attributes are reflected in the lives of Christians who abide in him. 1 John also serves as a practical test for true believers and highlights the importance of walking in the light (both truth and righteousness) and confessing one's sins.

Content

Armenian icon of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, 13th century

The theme of the book is love and fellowship with God. This is demonstrated in part by one of its more well-known verses, 1:9 ("If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.")

5:7–8

For a more detailed treatment, see Johannine Comma.

I John also contains one of the more controversial verses (in terms of whether it is in the original or not): 5:7, commonly known as the Comma Johanneum ("For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.") The verse is considered to explicitly support the doctrine of the Trinity; it is included in the King James but excluded from some modern versions (other versions include it but with footnotes that it is not found in most original documents). Modern scholarship has questioned whether it was in the originals or if it was a later addition; adherents of the KJV Only movement often make this a point in claims that modern translations are "corrupt". David Cloud of Way of Life Literature (a KJV Only advocate, though not to the radical extreme in his views) wrote a defense of the Comma at his website.

See also

• Translating eternal life

External links

• Book of 1 John, BibleStudyTools.com
• 1 John, Bibleref.com

Videos:

• 1 John - video playlist, Video playlist