📖 The Book of 1 John
Start reading →New Testament · 5 chapters · Epistle
Assurance of eternal life — knowing you are in the light, love, and truth.
Who wrote 1 John?
Author
John (Apostle)
Written
c. AD 90
Genre
Epistle
Why 1 John was written
John writes to believers who have been shaken by false teachers (proto-Gnostics) denying Christ's humanity, assuring them that true fellowship with God is evidenced by love for one another, obedience, and confession that Jesus has come in the flesh.
Outline of 1 John
- 11: The prologue; walking in the light
- 22: Not loving the world; the tests of fellowship
- 33: Love as the mark of God's children
- 44: Testing the spirits; God is love
- 55: Assurance of eternal life
Key verses
1 John 1:91 John 3:161 John 4:81 John 5:13
How 1 John points to Christ
1 John 4:9-10 — 'God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.'
How 1 John begins
1That 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;
Read 1 John 1 →