Introduction to 1 John
Introduction to 1 John
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life,” - 1 John 5:13
Introduction
One of the greatest figures of church history is undoubtedly the German reformer Martin Luther. Luther rediscovered the doctrine of justification by faith alone when all of Christendom was lost in the grips of works based religion. Luther translated the Bible into the common tongue, inspiring others all over Europe to do the same, at a time when reading any Bible other than the Latin Vulgate bore the death penalty. Luther was used by God as the wrecking ball of revival that shook the world back into pure religion. However, one thing that is commonly forgotten about Martin Luther is the tremendous doubts and inner spiritual turmoil that he struggled with throughout all his life. As Catholic monk, he was so terrified of the wrath of God revealed against the enormity of his sin that he wouldn’t even be able to perform the mass. Even later as a Protestant figurehead, feelings of despair would plague his conscience until he literally thought he would die because God had forsaken him. Luther called these episodes anfechtungen, in English we can understand this word to mean deep spiritual distress.
There are times when God will call all His children into the valley of the shadow of death, plagued with guilt, wondering if they are even saved at all. It is not just the weak, but the strong; not just laymen, but even leaders of the church; not just the timid, but the courageous that struggle with assurance as Christians. The 1689 Baptist Confession says:
“True believers may in various ways have the assurance of their salvation shaken, decreased, or temporarily lost. This may happen because they neglect to preserve it or fall into some specific sin that wounds their conscience and grieves the Spirit. It may happen through some unexpected or forceful temptation or when God withdraws the light of His face and allows even those who fear Him to walk in darkness and to have no light. Yet they are never completely lacking the seed of God, the life of faith, love of Christ and the brethren, sincerity of heart, or conscience concerning their duty. Out of these graces, through the work of the Spirit, this assurance may at the proper time be revived. In the meantime, they are kept from utter despair through them.”
Times of questioning one’s salvation can be among the most painful seasons a Christian can be forced to endure. Yet at the same time, we are called to do so in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” and again in 2 Peter 1:10, “give diligence to make your calling and election sure…” It is painful, but it is necessary and even healthy, for Christians to look back on their lives with a discerning eye to be sure they are really saved. Jesus made it clear that many people who call Him “Lord” will be cast into hell (Matthew 7:23, 25:41-46). Because of this solemn reality, we must endure the testing of our faith. It is on this very subject that 1 John was written.
It is not subjective spiritual experiences that assure us of salvation; nor is it our own bullheaded assertion that we just know we are headed to heaven; it is the humble examination of our lives in the light of God’s holy Word alone that is to tell us for sure whether we are saved or not. 1 John is meant to be that Scriptural test, either encouraging the true believer or exposing the false convert. 1 John is not just one of my favorite books in the Bible, to me it is among the most precious pieces of literature ever written. I recently heard a preacher say, “People who don’t read their Bibles think Revelation is complicated, and 1 John is simple. People who read their Bibles know Revelation is simple, and 1 John is complicated!” While I don’t think Revelation is a simple book, it is correct that 1 John is so much more than the basic epistle many assume it to be. 1 John is a wellspring of life for believers in all cultures and generations. It deals with the character of God, the nature of this world, the identity of a Christian, and above all, the way to possess true assurance of salvation. By way of a simple introduction for such a colossal epistle as this, I’d like to just deal with the author, audience, and assurance of 1 John.
The Author of 1 John
The unanimous testimony of church history tells us that John is the author of this epistle. Although he never signs his name to it, the manner in which he writes matches his other work and even assumes that his audience knows it's him that’s talking. This is John the apostle who wrote the Gospel of John, as well as the book of Revelation. John has been known by many names throughout the years: John the revelator, John the divine, John the Presbyter, etc., but the two names I believe capture his character the most are “Son of Thunder,” and “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” I like these names best because they show us the way Jesus thought of John, as well as the way John thought about himself.
“Sons of Thunder” was a title for John and his brother James that came straight from the Lord Himself. There is a famous story found in Luke 9 where the two of them ask the Lord if He would have them call down fire upon the Samaritans to destroy them! Jesus rebuked them, saying, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them (Luke 9:55-56).” But something about their rambunctious spirits must have amused the Lord, and so he nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder (Mark 3:17).” I think the Lord’s point in giving them this name was that they had zeal! Maybe that zeal was a little misplaced at times, but they wanted to give God glory and didn’t care how foolish it made them look!
The second name comes from John himself. Throughout the Gospel that bears his name, John refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Some think this title to be prideful, assuming he thought of himself more highly than the other disciples. However, nothing could be farther from the truth! The title is an incredible show of humility. While recounting his time with Jesus, he wasn’t even willing to name himself for that would have shone too much of a spotlight on him rather than the work of Christ. This name also shows us that John understood something incredibly significant about the love of God. For example, if you look at the life of Peter you’ll find that he depended on his love for Jesus to get him through. John however only identified himself by the love Jesus had for him. Because of this, John followed Christ all the way to the cross and stood with the Lord in His greatest hour of suffering while the other disciples had already fled.
These are great aspects of Christian faithfulness every believer should seek to emulate. We should be a people who only identify by the love Jesus has for us, and then zealously stand for His truth no matter the cost. Perhaps no other disciple personified speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) as well as this Son of Thunder whom Jesus loved. If you and I want to know something of the flames of zeal or love, we need to listen to John. If we want to know how to make bold stands for the truth, or commune with Christ on an intimate level, John is the one to consult. As we study 1 John together, we will find both of these sides of the apostle speaking. At times he will shake us to the core calling out our deepest sins, while at other times we will receive more comfort than any other parts of the Bible can give.
The Audience of 1 John
While Peter and Paul began their epistles slowly and specifically to individual churches or Christians, John just abruptly began this book, getting right to the point! John knew false teachings were spreading through the early church and that he needed to fight them. Therefore, this epistle is written to all believers in all times who deal with the subjects he addresses. For his audience though, there were two specific heresies he wanted to address: Gnosticism, and Docetism. Gnosticism was an ancient belief system that varied from teacher to teacher. However, it’s basic tenets were that the body is evil and the spirit is good. The way to be delivered from the evils of the body came from receiving secret knowledge that only the Gnostic leaders had. Docetism was basically a denial of the authentic humanity of Jesus. Like the Gnostics, they didn’t believe a spiritually good God could ever be joined to physically evil human flesh. They believed Jesus only appeared to be human, that His body was only a mirage. Today, many struggle to believe in the deity of Jesus, but have no problem believing in him as a good human teacher. That was not the case in the 1st century. They had no problem believing He was God, they just couldn’t possibly accept Him to be human.
These beliefs had scattered throughout the early church, and their followers were difficult to distinguish from genuine believers. If a Christian fell captive to the influence of these destructive heresies, they would begin to live in one of two ways. Some Gnostics would punish their bodies with harsh denial of every earthly pleasure, because they believed anything physical/earthly was sinful. Others would take the opposite extreme, and give themselves over to hedonism with unashamed indulgence of every sin imaginable. Gnostics could easily justify either lifestyle, and many early churches found themselves mixed with these kinds of error.
As those in the early church read 1 John, they would have either been exposed or encouraged; John’s work would either assure them that they had truly been born again, or that they were living the counterfeit “Christianity” of Gnosticism or Docetism. John reasserted the basics of Apostolic Christianity in direct contrast to the claims of these heresies. He did that by laying down a series of doctrinal and practical tests to distinguish genuine believers from the false. The book calls upon all who read to examine their Christian faith and practice. 1 John asks and provides the answers to these questions: What do you believe about Jesus? How are you living your life as a result?
You may think this doesn’t apply to you today, but you are wrong. Any religious teacher claiming to have found the mysteries of Christianity through dreams, visions, or prophetic revelation outside what God has revealed of Himself in Scripture is following in the footsteps of the Gnostics. Mormons and Jehovah’s Witness missionaries denying the divinity of Jesus or His true humanity are doing the same. If you have ever felt the need to punish yourself after falling into sin, you have been influenced by the same deception as the Gnostics 2000 years ago. If you have ever thought it didn’t matter if you indulged in sin because your spirit is saved and the body doesn’t really matter, you desperately need to hear what John has to say in this book. But above all, if you have ever doubted if you are truly saved, 1 John is the book for you.
The Assurance of 1 John
John tells us exactly why he wrote the things he did. In his Gospel, he said, “...these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name (John 20:31).” Now, here in his first epistle he tells us, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life (1 John 5:13).” Paul Washer helpfully explains these parallels in John’s writings this way:
“John wrote his gospel so that his readers might believe in Jesus Christ and receive eternal life. Correspondingly, he wrote his first epistle so that those who had truly believed might possess full assurance that eternal life had been granted to them.”
John’s gospel was evangelistic, written so that unbelievers could hear about Jesus and come to salvation through faith in Him. His first epistle on the other hand is pastoral, written so that professing Christians could know whether or not their faith in Christ was genuine.
There are four kinds of people in the world. First, there are those who are lost and know they are lost. These people have heard the gospel a hundred times, and just don’t care about it. You may do everything you can to reach out and show them the love of God, but like pillars of stone, they remain unmoved. Sadly, this is the fastest growing religious group in the post-Christian United States, as well as the rest of the western world. It is hard to find someone in our country who doesn’t know who Jesus is, yet most remain unbelieving.
Second, there are those who are lost but think they are saved. Although found all over the world, today this group may be the most prominent in what we call the “Bible Belt.” Cultures and countries that have been “Christianized” are filled with these kinds of believers. In places like this, it is too easy for children to be socialized into the religion of their friends and family without ever actually laying hold of the finished work of Christ or experiencing the new birth. In our context, the people in this group may attend church and live somewhat conservative lives. If you were to ask them if they were Christians they would say “yes” without hesitation, and maybe even fight you if you said they weren’t! However, their faith doesn’t extend past an empty profession. They know nothing of the Bible, prayer, holiness, or saving faith. They have a myriad of private and public sins they unrepentantly indulge themselves in on a regular basis, but they just know they are on their way to heaven! This is the group who will one day hear Jesus say, “Depart from me I never knew you,” despite the fact that they earnestly called him “Lord (Matthew 7:21-23).”
Third, there are those who are saved, but think they are lost. This may seem like a strange group of people to you, but they are among the primary groups John is addressing. When Jesus instituted the Lord’s supper, He told the disciples that one of them was a devil. Immediately they began to ask with spiritual anxiety, “Lord, is it I (Matthew 26:22)?” This is the mindset that constantly plagues the third group. They desperately want to follow Christ, but cannot come to the peace of conscience that assures them of their salvation. They are the “bruised reed” and “smoking flax” (Isaiah 42:3) who feel as though they are ready to be extinguished or fall apart completely. Every inkling of remaining sin causes this group to despair. They know Jesus is the Savior of the world, but their humility blocks them from thinking Jesus could have loved them individually because they are surely the greatest of sinners.
Some Christians live life on the mountain tops of faith. Those believers had radical conversions like the man of Gaderenes (Mark 5), and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have been delivered of their demons and belong body and soul to Jesus. Yet others find themselves in the valleys of the faith. Their testimonies don’t sound as “impressive” as the others; they were raised in Christian households and never lived an outwardly immoral life. They are stuck comparing themselves to other more “spiritual” people. They have had powerful times with God, but cannot take their obsessive minds from the darkness and doubt that yet remains within. They believe, but confusion plagues their conscience, even though their lives bear great evidence of being truly converted.
Lastly, there are those who are saved and know they are saved. These are those who have the “witness of the spirit” spoken of in Romans 8:16. The Holy Spirit indwells these believers in such a way that He speaks to them through the Word and tells them of their forgiveness and adoption into the family of God. The old hymn Blessed Assurance sings about “echoes of mercy, whispers of love.” That’s the essence of what the fourth group lives with from day to day. This group looks to Christ in spite of their sin and knows it was for them that He died and rose from the dead. This group doesn’t trust in their own testimony or salvation experience to save them. They look to the cross and trust in Christ alone. Laying hold of Christ, they find boldness to proclaim, “to live is Christ, to die is gain (Philippians 1:21).”
My goal in this sermon series is to bring everyone in the first three groups into the fourth. If Judgment Day was forced upon us now, I think we would be shocked to find that even the most “spiritual” among us were actually lost; to find that the most seemingly weak and immature were actually the ones possessing true saving faith. You and I need to know that our church consists of regenerate disciples. If you are not truly saved, these sermons are going to feel like a knife in your gut every week. However, if you are genuinely converted, these sermons will be among the most healing and comforting words you may ever hear. My purpose is to raise the alarm for the false converts in our midst, and calm the fears of true believers who sometimes doubt their salvation. I want everyone here to have full assurance that if they were to die today, they would be with their Lord in paradise.
For many years I struggled with assurance. In Texas, I would call my pastor all the time and weep over the phone about how unworthy I felt for my sin. I had been baptized at the age of seven, and hadn’t barely missed church on Sunday but a handful of times in all my life. I didn’t say cuss words or go to parties, but once I started to pursue a deeper relationship with the Lord, I was tormented for years thinking I wasn’t saved. When I discovered the tests of faith in 1 John, things started to change. One day, I had enough of the doubts and confusion. I sat down for almost an entire day and journaled out an account of my entire Christian life. Then I compared that brutally honest report to the tests of faith in this epistle. When I laid my head down to sleep that night, I knew I had eternal life; not because I joined a church, had been baptized, had a good testimony, or lived a moral life, but because of the truth of God’s sufficient Word. There have been dark days since then, but in the midst of every valley I have known He was with me.
Conclusion
We have been in the process of relaying the foundations of FBCLW. John’s main message in this epistle is of the work of Christ and its effect on our lives. The eternal Word of God became flesh, Jesus was truly God and man for us. He upheld the Law’s demands of righteousness and justice on our behalf. He died on the cross for our sins, and offers to us His own perfect obedience. He does not demand that we strive to earn this salvation, only that we humble ourselves and believe. Salvation is a gift received through faith, not a reward earned by work. As a result of receiving this gift, our lives will look different from the rest of the world. The Word of God contains the message salvation, and the evidence our lives will produce for believing it. My desire for you is John’s purpose in writing this book, that you would know you have eternal life.