Bible Commentaries

Commentary on The Letter of First John

NOTE: The comments below were used when I taught on First John at various churches. Other than the Holy Bible, the main source used was The Letters of John & Jude from The Daily Study Bible Series by William Barclay, published by The Westminister Press and copyrighted in 1976.

Introduction to I John

The first letter of John was written by John, the son of Zebedee. This is the same "John" who wrote the Gospel of St. John. Two major differences one finds in this letter is that there is no salutation, or greeting, and no benediction.

Purpose

John wrote this letter to awaken his readers to the dangers posed by certain ideas and practices which could weaken, or possibly destroy, the Christian faith. The primary practice that John appears to refute is Gnosticism.

Gnosticism was one of the most powerful heresies of this age. Some examples of what Gnostics believed are:

That one isn't saved by faith alone

That the world is evil

That God, as creator of the world, is evil

That all matter is evil

That Satan was good because he offered Eve the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge

Knowledge is the saving gnosis

Certain people were given divine knowledge which would allow them to escape this godless world (These were the aristocratics)

"Christian" Gnostics

A group of people referred to as "Christian" Gnostics, believed in Jesus and certain Gnostic practices. Their beliefs were very different from Christians. They believed that Jesus was good, therefore, they said that He could not be God's Son. They also believed that Jesus was Spirit because the body was evil. Therefore, as Spirit, He could not have suffered pain, died or been resurrected. They said that Jesus was in no way human.

These gnostics took one of two life forms:

Since all matter was evil and must be avoided, they became hermits

Since matter was evil and gnostics were of the spirit, they could do anything and it would not harm them

Relevance For Today

We see similiar beliefs today. Numerous beliefs in our world today, could, by definition, be labeled "heresies." Therefore, John's message is still timely today. Of particular interest should be passages that remind us of New Age type ideology. Other beliefs which John's writings seem to bring to mind, could include the Christian Science faith and some of the cults which were so prelevant in the eighties and nineties. The point is clear, just as Christians in John's day were called on to "wake up" and be aware of what the other beliefs were really saying, so you and I need to "wake up" and be aware today!

Chapter One

Check back soon for more of my commentary...sorry, but I'm still under construction! God bless you!

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