Introduction to 1 John

John most likely writes his first Epistle as an elderly man.  Most of his fellow apostles have been martyred by this time and the church has been under severe attack for many years by this time.  Some of these attacks came from outside the church in the form of Roman or Jewish persecution and some of the attacks came from inside the church in the form of false teaching and ungodly living.  These circumstances had a tendency to leave the church living in uncertainty.  John's focus in this book is to try to help his readers to be able to discern between true faith that leads to eternal life and the false faith of people who might be within the physical fellowship of the church but do not have true fellowship with Christ.  These are important distinctions that we must learn to discern in the church and our own lives today.  There are many people who profess faith in Christ but their attitudes and actions do not align with this profession.  On the other hand, Satan is constantly seeking to fill the minds of believers with doubts about their relationship with God.  This Epistle gives us some clear and practical ways of distinguishing between genuine believers and frauds as well as discerning the reality of our own faith.  There are basically two tests that we must apply to determine the authenticity of our own faith as well as the faith of others.

LIVING IN GOD’S LIGHT: We live in a world that is made dark by sin.  We have hearts that have been darkened by sin.  There is an eternal future for many that will be utter darkness.  This is a harsh reality that should shake every man, woman and child to the core.  By God’s grace darkness does not have to dominate or present or our future.  Jesus came into the world to bring us light.  God does not want to see us flailing in darkness but longs to see us thrive and rejoice in the glory of His blessed light.  Jesus came into the world to show us how to live in God’s light.  One of the true tests of the authenticity of our faith and our fellowship with Him is if we are walking in the light of His Word.  That does not mean that we will not sin, it simply means that we recognize our sin, confess it and bring ourselves afresh into His light were we find grace and forgiveness.  Dealing with our own sin is the essence of walking in light.  That fact of forgiveness should never be considered a license to sin.  However, when we do sin we can be assured of Christ’s intersession on our behalf.  Unbridled sinning is clear evidence that we are not walking in the light.  Authentic faith follows the path of the Lord Jesus Christ.  That path is a path of obedience and also a path of love.  Lack of love is synonymous with a lack of light.  Each phase of our lives it is vital to walk in the light of God’s Word.  The world system in which we live is full of darkness and those that are against Christ.  We must not walk in this way but walk in the way of light described for us in Scripture and demonstrated to us by Jesus.  As His children we must learn to abide in His light.

LIVING IN GOD’S LOVE:  God has lavished His love on us by paying for our sin through the sacrifice of His son.  We now have the honor of being His children.  When we understand the beauty of this truth and the depths of His love it will have a dramatic impact on our lives.  First of all we will seek to walk in obedience to His will.  Second, we will love others as we have been loved.  Christ’s love for us was unconditional and sacrificial so that is type of love we will have for others when we are living in light of His love.  John sums up the essence of the Christian life as simply believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and loving one another.  This is what God has saved us for and how he expects us to live.  There are those who present themselves as believers but they do not demonstrate these characteristics.  We are to test them just as we are to test our own faith.  We must not be deceived by the claims of those how have a counterfeit faith.  Testing the faith of others may be perceived as being harsh or unkind but, in reality, is the essence of true love.  God loves us in that manner.  He does not just gloss over or ignore our sin.  He confronts us and calls us to repentance because that is what is best for us and that is at the heart of genuine love.  God expects us to love others as He loves us. That is not always just agreeing with us and letting us live lives of sinfulness.  If we love our brothers in Christ we will confront their sin and urge them to examine the reality of their relationship with God.  Love will lead to a true dealing with sin and will help us to overcome the sinful world in which we live.  This can only be accomplished by faith and fellowship with God.  This is how we can know that we are children of God and how we can help others recognize the authenticity of their faith as well.  God has called us into a life of love as we walk in the light of His will.