1 John 1
AOSNAbout 1 John.
The First Letter of John
Purpose
To affirm correct belief about Jesus Christ
To strongly encourage believers to love one another
To provide assurance about eternal life
Author
Likely the apostle John
Date
Around AD 85–90
Setting
Written to a community that had recently experienced a schism (a split or division) due to the emergence of a heretical faction that promoted false teachings about Jesus
John’s first letter shares his testimony about Jesus Christ and its impact on Christians. Jesus Christ offers eternal life, so we can know through our actions and experiences that we have eternal life. Jesus reveals God the Father, giving us confidence in our relationship with Him.
Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to everyone who is spiritually born. This allows us to live daily in the Spirit. Just as Jesus called his first disciples to love one another, John encourages Christians to show that love in action.
Setting
John and the other apostles probably had to leave Jerusalem by AD 68, or earlier. This was because abuse increased against the church and the Romans attacked Jerusalem. Later, probably after AD 70, John moved to the Roman province of Asia, now the western part of modern Turkey. He started a successful ministry, mainly among the gentiles (non-Jewish people). By AD 90, John had written his gospel for these Christians.
Soon after this, some members of the Christian community left to form a rival group. This group was a heretical faction (false teachers) that spread ideas about Jesus Christ which opposed the teaching of the apostles. For example, they denied that Jesus was truly God in human flesh (see 1 John 4:1–3). These wrong teachings later became known as Gnosticism. Gnosticism is a religious system that values hidden or secret knowledge instead of faith in God.
By leaving the fellowship of the apostles, these rivals showed that they were not truly part of God’s family (1 John 2:18–19). However, their false teachings still affected Christians. So, John wrote this letter to correct these lies, guide Christians back to the basics of Christian life, and strengthen their faith.
John may have confronted the heresy promoted by Cerinthus, a leader of Gnostics with some Christian beliefs. Cerinthus taught that Jesus was not born to a virgin. Instead, Cerinthus said Jesus was a regular human born to Joseph and Mary. He believed Jesus was simply more holy, sensible, and wise than others. Cerinthus also claimed that when John baptized Jesus, "the Christ" descended on Jesus like a dove from the eternal Father.
"The Christ" then revealed the unknown Father and performed miracles. Eventually, "the Christ" left the man "Jesus," who then suffered and died. "The Christ" remained without change, since he was a spiritual being. John may be directly challenging the heresy of Cerinthus or his followers in 1 John 5:5–8.
He sent this first letter to the churches under John's care (including those mentioned in Revelation 1:11) around AD 85–90.
Summary
John wrote this letter to encourage Christians in the Roman province of Asia to remain strong in their faith in Christ. He criticized those who had left the community and the teachings of the apostles. John stressed that Christians must remain loyal to the apostles of Jesus. These were those who followed Jesus (the disciples) during his life and knew him personally. Dedication to the apostles would protect against false spiritual ideas and heresy.
John urged his Christian readers to:
remain loyal to the apostles. In doing so, they would unite or have fellowship with God, who is light, by living in the light he provides;
confess their sins to God to receive the support and guidance of Jesus Christ, the righteous one;
honor Jesus Christ as the Word of life and the Son of God;
love God, who is love, and love other Christians;
remain in Christ, become like Christ, and spiritually clean themselves of the desires of this world;
personally know and experience God and understand his truth through the Holy Spirit;
identify false teachings with the help of the Holy Spirit. Recognize the spirit of false prophets and the antichrist (someone who denies Jesus is the Christ); and
be confident in the hope of eternal life.
Author
Some scholars suggest that a Christian elder named John, not the apostle, wrote 1–3 John (see 2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1). They base this idea on a quote from Papias (bishop of Hierapolis in Asia, AD 100–130). Papias mentioned John the apostle and later mentioned John the elder:
"If I met someone who followed the elders, I would ask about the elders' words—what Andrew, Peter, Thomas, James, John, Matthew, or any other of the Lord’s disciples had said. I would also ask about what Aristion and the elder John, the Lord’s disciples, are saying." (Eusebius, Church History 3.39.4)
This quote has led some to think Papias was talking about two different people named John. But that is not necessarily true. Papias noted what the “elders” (including the apostles like John) had said (past tense) about Jesus and what two of the Lord’s disciples (Aristion and John) were still saying (present tense). The apostle John lived to be very old (an elder), and Papias heard him speak in person.
Most conservative protestant scholars believe John the Apostle and John the Elder are the same person. The writing style of John's Gospel is very similar to that of these three letters. The Apostle John was a personal witness to Jesus and among the first to follow him. In John's Gospel, John is called "the one whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20).
He was one of the twelve disciples and a close friend of Jesus. The author's claim to be an personal witness is as strong in the letters as it is in the gospel (see 1 John 1:1–4; John 1:14; 19:35). The author of 1 John claims to have personally heard, seen, and touched the eternal Word (Greek logos) made flesh (1 John 1:1–4). It is reasonable to conclude that the "elder" of 1–3 John is the Apostle John.
Meaning and Message
John’s first letter continues the themes and teachings from his gospel. The Gospel of John shows that the mission of Jesus was to reveal God the Father. He also came to unite Christians with the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit. John’s first letter emphasizes how Christians experience God daily through their relationships with other church members.
We must show our love for God by loving one another. Jesus directly gave this command (John 13:34; 15:17). John repeats it often (1 John 2:7; 3:11, 23; 2 John 1:5–6). Since God is love, everyone who claims to know God must love others.
Loving other Christians does not mean accepting everything they say. Nor does it mean accepting what all that independent teachers say. Some people left the Christian community. They denied that Jesus is the Christ, the unique Son of God, or that he came as a human being.
Anyone who denies that Jesus Christ was fully human and fully God is an antichrist. This letter strongly warns against those who teach such heresy. It also warns against those who lead Christians away from fellowship with the true apostles of Christ.
History shows that many false movements have entered the church. But the truth has survived these attacks. We must be cautious of teachings that oppose the apostles' teachings. The word of God and the Holy Spirit guide us.
1 John 1:1-4
This opening section, written in the form of a poem, is similar to the message of the beginning of John’s Gospel (John 1:1–18).
The we language in the introduction refers to John and the other apostles, and perhaps to other Christians who had seen and touched Jesus Christ. The apostles personally saw Jesus and had personal fellowship with God through him. John, representing the apostles, now invites those he is writing to join in that fellowship.
1 John 1:1
That which was from the beginning: This means Jesus existed before time began and is eternal (John 8:58). When Jesus became a human, the apostles gazed upon and touched him (John 1:14). This statement is important because some early groups, such as Gnostics and Docetists, denied that Christ was truly human (see 1 John 4:2–3). These groups taught heresies (false teachings) about Christ
Jesus, the Son of God, is the personal expression of the invisible God. He is the giver of eternal life (John 1:1–4).
1 John 1:2
This is the life: Throughout the New Testament, the Greek word zōē (which means "life") is used to describe God’s own eternal life (for example, Ephesians 4:18). This life is found in Christ, and he gives it to all who believe in him.
this is the life that was revealed to us: Jesus, the Christ, was known to his apostles as a human being during his earthly ministry.
1 John 1:3
What we have seen: The Word of life had, as a human being, revealed God to the apostles.
this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son: After the Spirit gave the apostles new life (regenerated them), they entered spiritual fellowship with the Father and the Son.
you also may have fellowship with us: Whoever entered into fellowship with the apostles by associating with them while they were alive, or enters now by remaining in their teaching, has fellowship with the Father and the Son through them.
1 John 1:4
so that our joy may be complete: The joy that the apostles have comes from their fellowship with God the Father and the Son (1:3). Those John is writing to will share this joy when they also enter into this close relationship with God.
1 John 1:5-2:6
Here John focuses on the first part of living in fellowship with God. To live in the light means that Christians see that they are sinners. It also means they understand that Jesus is their Advocate, the one who speaks for them and makes them right with God (see Ephesians 5:6–13).
1 John 1:5
God is light: This means that God is completely pure, good, and true. When Jesus Christ lived on earth, this light shone through him to everyone he met. His life exposed the sin in people’s hearts, because his words and actions showed God’s perfect standard. At the same time, his light also helped people understand what God is really like—his goodness, his mercy, and his desire for people to walk in truth (see John 1:4–5, 9; 3:19–21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35–36, 46).
In the writings of John, “light” stands for God’s holiness and his clear revelation of what is right. “Darkness” refers to false teaching and to living without self-control or obedience to God. These two ways of life cannot mix. People who walk in the light live in the truth of God. People who walk in darkness follow what is false and harmful (1 John 1:6).
1 John 1:6
This is the first of several times when John challenges the claims of the Gnostics. These teachers had separated themselves from the fellowship of the apostles, so they were living in spiritual darkness. They claimed to have fellowship with God, but they did not show God’s character, which is light.
Jesus warned the Jewish leaders of his day not to let the light they believed they had become darkness (Matthew 6:23). Their religious beliefs kept them from receiving the true spiritual light that Christ offered. In the same way, the Gnostic teachers believed they were enlightened, but their teachings actually led them into darkness.
They claimed to receive spiritual experiences from God. Yet they rejected fellowship with the apostles, who had truly seen God in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:7
Christians share fellowship with each other and with God when they live in the light. A person cannot claim to have fellowship with God and then refuse fellowship with God’s people. This was the behavior of the Gnostics. The apostles of Christ had known Jesus Christ as God in the flesh, and they continued to have spiritual fellowship with him (1:3).
1 John 1:8
If we say we have no sin: This is the second false claim of the Gnostics (see 1:6). They trusted they could be free from sin because Christ had removed their sins forever. They believed that their special knowledge put them in a position where sin no longer mattered. But Christians do still sin when they live in their old nature (see Romans 7:14–25). A true Christian both acknowledges this sin and trusts Christ to take it away (1 John 1:9).
1 John 1:9
To stay in continual fellowship with God, we need to confess our sins to him. God promises to forgive and cleanse us, and we can trust this promise because God is faithful and just. Christ died for our sins, and his death satisfies God’s justice and removes our guilt.
1 John 1:10
If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar: God's word highlights how sin affects everything deeply (see study note on 1:8).
Aquifer Open Study Notes © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Study Notes © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.