1 John 1

Inductive Study of 1 John

OUTLINE

I. Jesus – Word of life (1:1-4)

II. Jesus – The message (1:5-3:24)

III. Advice to Believers (4:1-5:12)

IV. The end (5:13-21)

OBSERVATION

Reading through 1 John there seems to be the common thread of practical advice to

believers. John admonishes believers to have common fellowship and walk in obedience to the

message that has been proclaimed and heard (1:1, 5). One of the major emphases John brings

forth is the simple advice as to the indicators of what the Christian community looks like.

Christian community refuses to be lead astray (3:7), seeks to act in righteousness by guarding

against sin (3:8-10) and finally by acting in love toward one another (3:11-15). This community

is held together by two common elements: Christ and obedience. The Christ laid down His life

and thus becomes the example of how believer should lay down their lives for each other (3:16-

20). Jesus’ demonstration of love offers the believer life without condemnation and instead

provides confidence to live in Him by obedience to the commands (3:21-24). The practicality of

John’s advice is evident as he instructs and warns the believers on how to recognize the enemies

of true doctrine. Believers are told to “test the spirits” (4:1-6) by identifying those who profess

Christ came in the flesh and show His love (4:7-21).

The letter gives us several key words to help us understand the emphasis of this book.

One such word is “heard.” This word repeats 8 times (1:1, 3, 5; 2:7, 18, 24; 3:11; 4:3). This word

of often connected with the phrase “the message” and “from the beginning.” This seems to be
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John’s way of encouraging the believers to not forsake the genuine message but stand against

those who oppose Christ. There are also three other words that recur throughout 1 John: light,

life and love. Light occurs 6 times (1:5, 7; 2:8-10) and seems to be symbolic of the revelation of

Christ and the essentiality of believers remaining under that light. The second word is “love,”

which recurs 35 times throughout the book but is especially stressed in Chapter 4 (vv. 8-12, 16-

21). John introduces God’s love in vv. 4-10 by establishing the general principle that God is

love. Then John explains the effects of God’s love in vv. 11-21 by giving particular examples of

how love is worked out in the life of believers. This seems to be indicative of John’s purpose in

encouraging the believers in the face of attack from those who are attempting to distort the

message of Christ. The third word, “life,” recurs 14 times in 1 John. Like other Johannine

writings this word seems to take on a more powerful usage than mere living but connotes an

abundant and life procured by belief in the Son of God.

Question(s): What is John’s purpose in repeating these words? What did these words mean to the

original hearer?

Other Recurring Words:

• Command (5x)

• Know (33x)

• Obey (4x)

• Dear (15x and usually combined with either “friends” or “children”)

• Anti-Christ (3x)

What are the purposes of these recurrences and how do they work to help build John’s purpose

and arguments?

Other relationships occur in 1 John and help to reinforce John’s purpose of advising the
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believers in community life. One such structural relationship is found in the contrasting of

“light” and “darkness.” Believers walk and live in the “light” while non-believers/anti-Christ’s

live and walk in “darkness.” This contrasting structure seeks to draw the line between those who

are with Christ through proclamation and obedience to the “message.” On the other side are

those who oppose the message of Christ who is both divine and human. Other contrasting

relationships are seen in John’s comparison of those who sin and those who walk in

righteousness. He uses the contrasting terminology of “children of God” and “children of the

devil” (3:7-10).

John also concludes the book by summarizing his arguments (5:13-21).

INTERPRETATION

The contrasting relationship John uses between “light” and “darkness” helps to empower

believers to recognize those who oppose Christ.

Light
God is light (1:5)
Light is “already” shining (2:8)
Living in light is an indication of loving your
brother (2:9) and tied to loving God.
Darkness
In God there is no darkness (1:5)
Darkness is passing (2:8)
Hating your brother is walking in darkness
(2:9) and walking darkness is to be away from
God.

This contrasting relationship seems to imply that those who oppose Christ can be

recognized by how they treat their brother. To love God and walk in light means to love your

brother and walk in light with him. Walking in darkness indicates your distance from God and

thus a correlary distance from your brother. This suggest the basis of true and healthy human

relationships begins with a true and healthy relatinship with God.

APPLICATION