I John 1 Some Background: John the Disciple/Apostle writes this.

He is the same John who wrote the Gospel of John, John II & III and Revelation. He was one of the three disciples along with Peter & James who were closest to Jesus. John was at some of the most significant moments in Jesus ministry including the transfiguration (Matthew 17) & the crucifixion (John 19). John writes this probably from Ephesus to churches in Ephesus that he had oversight of. A main theme in this book is truth - what it is and how to hold on to it. Ephesus was a modern city in every way. Think Chicago, New York, London, Paris, wherever. The only major difference between this city and our modern cities would be electricity & our communication technologies. Ephesus was home to a multi-cultural population with a range of socio-economic classes from the poor & slaves to the most to a merchant middle class to the very wealthy and powerful. Homes had hot & cold running water and indoor heat. The city placed high priority on education and science. It was home to a prestigious library, medical school and many teachers educating students. Ephesus was originally a Greek city that became Roman when Rome conquered Greece. It was 2nd in importance in the Roman world only to Rome itself. The goddess Artemis was protector of the city and Ephesus was home to a wonder of the world, the temple of Artemis. The city was also home to many other gods & goddesses and their temples. It was a religious melting pot as were most Greco-Roman cities. We see this attitude reflected in Acts when Paul talks with the Greeks in Athens (Acts 17). They worshipped any and every God they could find, placing on them equal importance. This was true in all Roman cities. Rome was tolerant of almost all religions. Most cities did have a supreme deity that protected the city but other gods or goddesses were added to the city and worshipped as well. This was true in Ephesus. Artemis, a fertility goddess, was supreme in the city and was the cause of much financial success among the merchants there. People came from all over to see her temple and to worship. This was a source of business for hoteliers, restaurateurs, souvenir shops, idol makers, food vendors, etc. When Christianity began to take hold and grow in the city those who made their living from Artemis were threatened financially. At one point, Paul is grabbed by a mob of silversmiths and taken to the arena where they riot and worship Artemis for about two hours (Acts 19). They are angry as they perceive that if people turn in mass to Jesus and Christianity their businesses, which depend on peoples acceptance of a multitude of gods, are done.

Because of this multi-religious approach, the modern Roman mind was taught early to seek out many religious beliefs and practices and to accept the one that worked for them. This often included a mixing of several gods and their practices. Many temples would be associated with a profession. So, you would be devoted to your professions god, Artemis because you were Ephesian and possibly add in another one or two gods known to work for certain needs such as love, fortune or health. Worship of these gods could include offerings at the temple, celebration of the gods holy day, special diets or other acts to do with the body, sexual practices with temple prostitutes, etc. This is the culture the early Christians came from. And Christianity then as today was counter cultural. The Roman culture did not value life. Unwanted babies were left to die of exposure regularly. People flocked to the games and even small remote Roman towns had some kind-of arena to entertain the citizens with vicious and violent battles where humans were murdered in a multitude of creatively horrific ways. Roman culture valued success, wealth, your rights as a Roman citizen, sexual freedom, education, tolerance, the body, entertainment, fame, beauty. Sound familiar? Christianity or The Way as it was referred to originally, taught all life was valuable to God, all were equal before God through Jesus, there was only one way to God and that was through Jesus, your body was of some importance but of more importance was your spirit, there was no middle ground with God you were all in or not at all, God gave wealth and when he did he had a purpose for it to be used to build his kingdom, seeking entertainment and pleasure were worthless goals that ended in an empty life and true beauty came from your spirit and the fruit your life was bearing. Christianity then as now was markedly different from the culture at large. ~ What contrasts do you see between Christianity and our modern day culture? READ: I John 1:1-4 1. 2. John is introducing himself: he was an eyewitness to Jesus life & ministry John is proclaiming the truth that Jesus is the ONLY way to God. This echoes his claim at the opening of the Gospel of John

~ Is it ever difficult for you or do you feel judgmental proclaiming that Jesus is the Only way? The only truth? 3. This is why Scripture instructs us to renew our minds or to have the mind of Christ. Our thought processes are inevitable cultural and we will bring those as a filter to our Christianity. Instead, God wants to train us that our Christianity filters our culture. This is a process!!! (Ro 8:6-7, 12:2; I Cor 2:6-16).

READ: I John 1: 5-10 1. 2. 3. Now John is refuting a specific false teaching prominent in the Ephesian churches. Notice I said churches, it was prominent among the Christians. John is dealing with the belief that we do not inherently have a sin nature. He is re-teaching the truth that Jesus came to free us from all of our sins and is the only way to be cleansed of sin and to come into fellowship with God.

~ Do you see this belief about sin in our culture today? ~ How do you think we deny sin in ourselves? 4. V 9 provides the truth of how to deal with sin. a. We deal with our sin at the point of our salvation when we confess our sin and Jesus forgives us and makes us right with God. This is called justification, and from this moment on we are right with God. We continue to deal with sin though even as Christians. We will recognize and be convicted of our sins by the Word and the Holy Spirit. When this happens we need to again confess, receive forgiveness and move forward. This is an ongoing process in our lives called sanctification.

b.

This is the point of Johns teaching in Chapter One: Jesus is the ONLY way. There is Sin and the ONLY way to deal with it is through Jesus. There is NO middle ground, this is why he contrasts darkness & light. Once there is light darkness cannot remain.