Inductive Study of 1 John OUTLINE I. Jesus Word of life (1:1-4) II. Jesus The message (1:5-3:24) III.

I. 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 Johns 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 Johns 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 Gods love in vv. 4-10 by establishing the general principle that God is love. Then John explains the effects of Gods 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 Johns 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 Johns 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 Johns purpose and arguments? Other relationships occur in 1 John and help to reinforce Johns purpose of advising the 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-Christs 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 Johns

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 corollary distance from your brother. This suggests the basis of true and healthy human relationships begins with a true and healthy relationship with God. APPLICATION As with all scripture applications abound that help to strengthen Gods children. One, however, seems to come to the forefront. That is, as believers we are admonished to discern those who are seeking to lead us astray. John provides the church with criteria by which we judge whether or not peoples lives are full of light or of darkness. In other words we can know who is with Christ and who is not by applying the criteria set forth by John. If someone is attempting to lead us away from Christ we can know it and we can refute it.