(Write comparisons out on board)
WELCOME
PRAYER
WORD TO MUSIC
SILENCE
After silence show NEW CAMPUS SPOT
1st John Introduction
March 27th 2016
Okay my friends, we are exiting the realm of Peter and into the realm of John in His FIRST GENERAL EPISTLE.
It is generally accepted that this epistle was written by John the beloved (also known as the Evangelist ) and probably at Ephesus when he was up in years.
In the very first verses he declares the reason He has penned this letter – “to declare the Word of Life to those to whom he writes, in order that they might be united in fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.”
Let’s talk a little about the epistles authenticity.
There are, generally speaking, two sources of evidence in regard to ancient writings:
the external evidence, or that which may be derived from the testimony of other writers;
and the internal evidence which may be seen in some marks of the authorship in the writing itself.
Unlike Peter’s epistles both the external and internal evidences are strong regarding this epistle of John’s.
Let’s talk about the external evidence first or what comes from outside the epistle itself.
Early Church People
It is quoted or referred to by the early Christian writers as the undoubted production of the apostle John.
It is referred to by Polycarp in the beginning of the second century.
It is quoted by Papias, and also by Irenaeus.
However, Origen said, “John, beside the gospel and Revelation, has left us an epistle of a few lines. Grant also a second, and a third; for all do not allow these to be genuine.”
Dionysius of Alexandria admitted the genuineness of John’s first epistle; so also did Cyprian.
All the three epistles were received by Athanasius, by Cyril of Jerusalem, and by Epiphanius.
Eusebius said this, “Beside his gospel, his first epistle is universally acknowledged by those of the present time, and by the ancients; but the other two are contradicted.”
Mss evidence.
It is found in the old Syriac version, probably made in the first century but take note, the second and third epistles are not present there.
The genuineness of the first epistle was never extensively called in question, and it was never reckoned among the doubtful or disputed epistles.
It was, however rejected (or doubted) by those who also rejected John’s gospel and for the same reasons.
Some small sects of those who were labeled “heretics,” rejected all the writings of John, because they conflicted with their views but this was confined to a small number of persons, and never seemed to affect the general belief of the church.
In terms of Internal Evidence
There is strong internal evidence that the same person wrote this epistle who was the author of the gospel which bears the same name.
These similarities The resemblance in the mode of expression and
the topics referred to.
In other words, what is common to John’s Gospel is common in His first Epistle and such things are not found in the synoptic gospels at all. In other words, there is nothing in the epistle which would remind us of the gospel of Matthew, or Mark, or Luke; but it is impossible to read it and not be reminded constantly of the gospel by John.
This language in the epistle.
Very similar to Gospel.
The passages referred to are in his style; they show that the mind of the author of both was turned to the same points, and those not such points as might be found in all writers, but such as indicated a peculiar mode of thinking. They are not such expressions as Matthew, or Mark, or Luke, or Paul would have used in an epistle, but just such as we should expect from the writer of tho gospel of John.
It must be clear to any one that either the author of the gospel was also the author of this epistle, or that the author of the epistle meant to imitate the author of the gospel, and to leave the impression that the apostle John was the author.
But there are several things which make it clear that this is not a forgery.
The passages where the resemblance is found are not exact quotations and are not such as a man would make if he designed to imitate another.
They are rather such as the same man would use if he were writing twice on the same subject, and should express himself the second time without intending to copy what he had said the first.
If it had been an intentional fraud or forgery, there would have been some allusion to the name or authority of the author; or, in other words, the author of the epistle would have endeavored to present himself by some distinct reference to the apostle, or to his authority, or to his well-known characteristics as a teller of truth.
But nothing of the kind occurs in this epistle. It is written without disclosing the name of the author, or the place where he lived, or the persons to whom it was addressed, and there are no allusions to the gospel, except such as show that the author thought in the same manner, and had the same things in his eye, and was intent on the same object.
It is, throughout, the style and manner of one who felt that his method of expressing himself was so well understood, that he did not need even to mention his own name; as if, without anything further, it would be apparent from the very epistle itself who had written it, and what right he had to speak. But this would be a device too refined for forgery. It bears all the marks of sincerity and truth.
In terms of the place and time that the epistle was written we know very little.
Theories include the idea that it was at first part of the gospel and later became detached from it or that it was sent as an epistle at the same time with the gospel, and to the same persons.
Some have supposed that it was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and of course we have others who suggest that it was written long after.
There are actually very “few marks of time” in the epistle, and none that can determine the time of writing it with any degree of certainty.
In reality the only “marks of time” that are in the epistle are the following:
First, in 1st John 2:18 John writes that it is “the last time.”
From this expression we might suggest that it was penned just before the destruction of Jerusalem or that John supposed that the end of the age was near.
Second, it seems evident that the epistle was composed after the gospel was published. We can say this because John writes as if the contents of the Gospel is known when he writes the epistle.
One scholar, named Lucke, says
“the more brief and condensed expression of the same sentiment by the same author, especially in regard to peculiarities of idea and language, is always the later one; and the more extended statement, the unfolding of the idea, is an evidence of an earlier composition.”
In other words if we have a gospel and an epistle written by the same person, and one describes concepts in detail AND (and this has to be an and) AND the other mentions the same idea in a way that assumes there is knowledge of the idea existing in the reader we can assume that the exhaustive record came first and the assuming record came second.
That makes sense to me.
In the case of dating 1st John this insight doesn’t help much because the dating of his gospel is uncertain, but we can say, with great confidence, that the Epistle was written after the gospel.
Finally, some scholars suggest that the style of the epistle is that of an aged individual and shows that it was penned in the last years of John’s life.
Not so sure I see or agree with this point myself.
In terms of the place where the epistle was written we are as much lost as we are about the time.
There are no local references in it; no allusions to persons or opinions which can help us to determine where it was written. As John spent the latter part of his life, however, in Ephesus and its vicinity, there is no impropriety in supposing that it was written there.
Nothing, in the interpretation of the epistle, depends on our being able to ascertain the place of its composition.
Hug supposes that it was written in Patmos, and was sent as a letter accompanying his gospel, to the church at Ephesus.
Lucke supposes that it was a circular epistle addressed to the churches in Asia Minor, and sent from Ephesus.
To whom the epistle was written is also unknown.
It bears no inscription, as many of the other epistles of the New Testament do, and as even the second and third of John do, and there is no reference to any particular class of persons by which it can be determined for whom it was designed.
Nor is it known why the name of the author was not attached to it, or why the persons for whom it was designed were not designated.
All that can be determined (relative to place) and from the epistle itself is:
It seems to have been addressed to no particular church, but rather to have been of what they call a circular character, designed for the churches in regions of the country where certain dangerous opinions prevailed.
It is noteworthy that Hebrews and Ephesians are the only other NT books that are NOT specifically addressed to specific churches or people but to “believers in Christ.”
Additionally, it seems that the author of 1st John assumed that it would be automatically known or understood who wrote it, either by the style, or by the sentiments, or by its resemblance to his other writings, or by the messenger who bore it, or by the fact that it originally was attached to the Gospel under his own name. So that it was unnecessary to affix his name to it (as he does to the second and third Epistles).
In terms of where it was written and to who it was directed there is an ancient tradition that it was written to the Parthians.
Since the time of Augustine this has been the uniform opinion in Roman Catholicism.
And while the “Venerable Bede” wrote that “many of the ecclesiastical writers, among whom is St. Athanasius, testify that the first epistle of John was written to the Parthians,” there is nothing to support the claim – no reason it would have been written to them and nothing in the epistle that suggests this tradition is true.
How about the purpose or object of the Epistle?
First of all it is quite evident (from the epistle itself) that there were some prevailing errors thriving amidst those to whom it was written and that one object of John was to counteract those errors.
However there have been a number of opinions set forth regarding the nature of the errors and the peaudience whom the John had in mind as he wrote.
Some (Loeffler) say that Jews and Judaizers are the persons being opposed but others (Semler, Tittman, Knapp, and Lange) say that they were Judaizing Christians, and especially Ebionites, or other apostate Christian groups.
Again some (Michaelis, Kleuker, Paulus) believe that it was the Gnostics who are being referred to) while others (Schmidt, Lucke, Vitringa, Bertholdt, Prof. Stuart) suppose that a sect known as the Docetae were the ones being principally opposed.
LISTEN – it is impossible now to determine with accuracy to whom particularly John referred.
And the writer himself, under the influence of the Holy Spirit DOES NOT tell us – have you noticed this?
All that we can really know on the subject that can be certain must come from the epistle itself and within it there are really very few direct clues.
However the clues that are present to the issue make the problems clear:
First of all, the persons referred to had been professing Christians, and were now apostates from the faith.
This is clear from 1st John 2:19 which, speaking of anti-Christ’s, John says,
“They went out from us, but they were not of us,”
Additionally, they were probably of what was known as “the sect of the Docetae. A branch of Gnosticism which believed that Jesus body was a ghost or phantom.
The term docetae comes from a Greek root word which means “to seem” and so the idea among them was Jesus only seemed to be present with us on earth but was actually a non-material being.
So while he seemed to speak and eat, suffer pain, and die, this was merely for appearance sake assumed by the Son of God for important purposes only known to God.
In other words, Docetism teaches that Jesus had not real humanity.
Edward Gibbon, author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire said of the Docetae:
“They denied the truth and authenticity of the gospels, as far as they relate the conception of Mary, the birth of Christ, and the thirty years which preceded the first exercise of his ministry. He first appeared on the banks of the Jordan in the form of perfect manhood; but it was a form only, and not a substance; a human figure created by the hand of Omnipotence to imitate the faculties and actions of a man, and to impose a perpetual illusion on the senses of his friends and enemies. Articulate sounds vibrated on the ears of his disciples; but the image which was impressed on their optic nerve, eluded the more stubborn evidence of the touch, and they enjoyed the spiritual, but not the corporeal presence of the Son of God. The rage of the Jews was idly wasted against an impassive phantom, and the mystic scenes of the passion and death, the resurrection and ascension of Christ, were represented on the theatre of Jerusalem for the benefit of mankind.”
Sorry but it’s sort of fun to hear the ideas of others living 350 years ago on subjects still prevalent today.
Anyway, these views began to prevail in the latter part of the first century and so it seems that John had this specific group in mind when he penned at least part of this epistle.
In fact, John has made it a point in both his Gospel and here in his first epistle to address the “Docetae” as in his Gospel he opens up with:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. (14) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
And then here in the Epistle to begin with:
1st John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
There is little doubt that he had the doctrine of the docetae in his eye and deemed it to be important, as a first hand witness, to show that the Son of God had actually come in the flesh; that he was truly and properly a man; that he lived and died in reality, and not in appearance only.
Later in the epistles we will read:
“Many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know we the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God; and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come,”
Additionally, in 1st John 5 and at verse 13 John is going to tell us the main reason that he has written and says:
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
Here John directly tells us his main intension of writing and from it we can see that he is writing to believers (not the unbeliever) and it is solely that we who believe . . .
“may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
We will discuss this at length when we get to it.
But in connection with this general design, and also keeping in view the errors John seeks to expose of the Docetae, he seems to appeal to two leading trains of thought, though often in a very intermingled manner, throughout this epistle.
First, the doctrine that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord and Savior, and second
Second, the importance of love as an evidence of being a true follower of Christ and being united to him.
Both these points are characteristic of John and they are also found in his gospel.
When we consider the focus John places on Christian love here I don’t think it is by mistake that he is known as “the beloved,” in scripture.
He seems to understand its utter import.
I did a word search comparison through the New Testament to help discover the main focus of this epistle and was frankly blown away by the statistics.
John mentions “phos” (light) a few times. In fact there are only two other NT books that mention it more.
He also mentions miseo (our hate) and again there are only two other NT books that mention it more.
Paul uses harmatano (sin) more than John in Romans than John does in this epistle, but again it is mentioned second most here.
And then John uses koinonia (fellowship) second most of all the NT books.
But no other book in the New Testament – no matter how short or long – mentions the following words more:
Skotia (darkness)
Ginosko (know or knowledge)
Or Love (agapao or agape)
In fact, love is used 31 times in this short epistle – the closest to it in number in the epistles is I Corinthians (with 13) and if we include the Gospels is John’s with 29.
So from all of this I think it is VERY safe to say that the major thrust of John’s message is
“BY AND THROUGH AGAPE LOVE WE, BELIEVERS, CAN/WILL KNOW WE HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD
WHO IS LIGHT.”
(repeat)
The negative or reverse message then (which is also supported by word-count) might be:
“IN THE SIN OF “HATRED and DARKNESS” we CAN KNOW we have NO FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD who is light.”
This is profound, my friends.
In addition to be the epistle the promotes promotes promotes LOVE LOVE LOVE, we might go so far as to use it as the best book in the Bible that a Christian can use to KNOW if they are really a Christian.
In ministry we get this question rather frequently – “How can I really know (ginosko, used more in this epistle than any other book in the Bible) if I am His? If I have His Spirit in me, if I have been born again.
This epistle goes a long way to describe what such a person is like as it abounds in statements on the actual characteristics of Christianity.
Finally, there are abundant comparisons between the Gospel of John and this Epistle.
We might consider this one of the best internal evidences that it was, in fact, composed by John the beloved.
So even though the Holy Spirit was leading John to write it is interesting that patterns of a persons writing style – what they focus on, mention, appeal to – is not lost, even in composing Holy Writ, and that these evidences are just another witness of God working in and through real human beings.
Let’s wrap out time up today looking at these similarities. There are 17 of them
EPISTLE
In 1st John 1:1. That which was from the beginning (o eyeasameya) which
we have contemplated, concerning the living Word.
1st John 2:5. Whosoever keepeth his word truly, in that man the love of God is perfected.
1st John 2:6. He who saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so
to walk, even as he walked.
1st John 2:8. I write to you a new commandment.
(AND)
1st John 3:11. This is the message which ye heard from the
beginning, that ye should love one another.
1st John 2:8. The darkness passeth away, and the light which is true now shineth.
1st John 2:10. Abideth in the light, and there is no stumbling
block to him.
1st John 2:13. Young children, I write to you, because ye have known the Father.
(AND)
1st John 2:14. Because ye have known him from the beginning.
1st John 3:7-9. Every one who worketh righteousness is begotten of
God.
1st John 3:1. Behold how great love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God!
1st John 3:2. We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
1st Joh 3:8. He who worketh sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.
1st John 3:13. Do not wonder, my brethren, that the world hateth you.
1st John 4:9. By this the love of God was manifested, that God sent his Son, the only begotten, into the world, that we might live through him.
1st John 4:12. No man hath seen God at any time.
1st John 5:13. These things I have written to you, who believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life; and that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God.
1st John 5:14. If we ask any thing according to his will, he
heareth us.
1st John 5:20. The Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in
him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
GOSPEL
John 1:1. In the beginning was the Word:
John 14:23. If a man love me he will keep my words, and my
Father will love him.
John 15:4. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot
bring forth fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more
can ye, except ye abide in me.
John 13:34. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one
another, as I have loved you.
John 1:5. The light shineth in darkness.
(AND)
John 1:9. That was the true light.
John 11:10. If a man walk in the night he stumbleth, because
there is no light in him.
John 17:3. This is the eternal life, that they might know thee,
the only true God, And Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
John 3:3. Except a man be begotten again,
John 1:12. To them he gave power to become the sons of God,
even to them who believe on his name.
John 17:24. Be with me where I am, that they may behold my
glory.
John 8:44. Ye are of your father the devil; he was a murderer from the beginning.
John 15:20. If they have persecuted me, they will also
persecute you.
John 3:16. God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish,
but have eternal life.
John 1:18. No man hath seen God at any time.
John 20:31. These things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name.
John 14:14. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
John 17:2-3. Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he might give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
And this is the eternal life, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
