Page 127 - New Testament Survey Student Textbook

sacrifice for sins. Because God is light, believers can walk in the light.
Because God is love, believers know what love looks like and can respond
in love.

Background

Author

There is no internal evidence about the authorship of 1 John. However,
the early church regarded the Apostle John as the author of both the Gospel of John and 1 John.
Because these texts share a similar writing style, it is common for them to be ascribed to the same
author—whether this is understood to be the Apostle John or someone else. The letters of 2–3 John, as
well as Revelation, may also be the work of the Apostle John, but this possibility was more disputed in
the early church (see the “Introduction to 2 John” and “Introduction to Revelation”). 168

Recipients, Provenance, and Date

The recipients of 1 John are not identified in the text. However, the author of 1 John knew the recipients
of his letter and likely had a close relationship with them. If the Apostle John was the author, this
community probably lived somewhere in western Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). According to
tradition, John spent his later years in Ephesus, a major city in that region. Considering that 1 John
seems to build on the Gospel of John, 1 John was likely written after the Gospel, toward the end of the
first century (AD 85–95). 169

Occasion and Purpose

The false teachers had left the church (2:19), but were harassing the church and enticing it from outside.
John’s audience needed reassurance that what they had embraced, that Christ had come in the flesh
was true. John assures his audience of this truth as well as the truth of the Gospel in general on two
grounds: (1) he was an eyewitness to Christ (1:1-3), and (2) the Spirit bore witness to their spirit that
these things were true (2:20, 27). But the occasion was not just polemical; John had an edificatory
objective as well. The repeated refrain “I have written these things to you in order that you (to those
who believe in the name of the Son of God) might know that you have eternal life.”

Structure

What is interesting about 1 John is that the author shifts recurrently between teaching doctrine and
giving practical advice. The only downside to this is that, it is difficult to outline a book like that.
However, one way to outline the letter is by recognizing the five broad categories he hits across. In the
introduction (1:1–4), John establishes his trustworthiness by asserting that he was an eyewitness to
Jesus’ earthly life. The second major section (1:5–2:17) builds on the claim of 1 John 1:5 that God is light.
God’s forgiveness through Jesus is offered to those who know God (2:1–2). People who know God also
strive to confess their sins and live like Jesus.

In the third major section (2:18–3:10), John speaks more clearly about the false teachers. They denied
Jesus, which means they denied the Father as well (2:23)—and those who deny the Father cannot be
called His righteous children (3:1–10). The fourth section (3:11–5:12) focuses on love as the primary

168 Barry, J. D., et al.
169 Ibid
126