1 John 1
About 1 JohnWritten by AI
First John reads more like a sermon or pastoral letter than a typical letter. It has no greeting and names no author, but from the earliest days the church linked it with the apostle John, the same voice as the Gospel of John. It was likely written late in the first century, perhaps from Ephesus. Some scholars credit it to a community or leader shaped by John's teaching.
A group had left the church, teaching that Jesus had not truly come in the flesh and that how we live does not matter. The writer's readers were shaken. He writes so that they may know they have eternal life.
The letter circles rather than marches, returning again and again to three tests of real faith: believing that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh, obeying God's commands, and loving one another. Watch for the words know, abide, light, and love, and for the simple heart of it all: “God is love.”
Before you read 1 John 1Written by AI
The letter opens with the Word of life, heard, seen, and touched by eyewitnesses, so that readers may share fellowship with the Father and the Son. God is light, with no darkness at all. Claiming fellowship while walking in darkness is a lie, and so is claiming to have no sin. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive.
The Word of Life
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life. And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write these things so that our joy may be complete.
Walking in the Light
And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.